Welsh fans seem confident

[shakermaker1982]

I've been surfing some Welsh football fan forums (similiar to this one) and by and large they seem to be confident of pulling off a famous win away from home and keep their hopes of qualification alive. 2 nil away wins are not uncommon postings. Now I now its a 'home' forum and confidence is often OTT on these kind of things but it just got me wondering. I thought the Welsh would be happy settling for a point......

No offence to the Welsh side but other than Giggs and Bellamy (both quality players) am I missing something? Are we that bad? Do Wales have more strength in detail than I first thought? They seem to have lost their better defenders to injury and other than Simon Davies I can't see any depth. If the worst case scenario does happen this Saturday and we lose then Stan has to go. This is a must win game for Stan and I'm expecting his players to play for his job.

[Anto McC]

If i was a Welsh fan,looking at Irelands last few results and knowing who is managing the team,i'd be confident too.

[Jaime]

I'd say the cautious ones are fairly confident of getting a draw, and the over confident ones are confident of getting the win with a clean sheet. I certainly don't think they should be expecting to lose to us anyway. How could they fear us after watching a video of the San Marino fiasco?

[cheifo]

I never thought I would hear myself saying this but Lee Carsley is going to be a very important player for us in this match.I actually fancy Robbie to do the biz for us this time, hes playing great stuff for Spurs.

[theworm2345]

I'm confident the Welsh will win as well as Slovakia. Do I want them to? Of course not, but I do believe they will

[sligoman]

hes playing great stuff for Spurs.He generally is on form with Spurs. Still not near as good for us though. Overvalued in the Irish squad imo.

[Jaime]

I never thought I would hear myself saying this but Lee Carsley is going to be a very important player for us in this match.I actually fancy Robbie to do the biz for us this time, hes playing great stuff for Spurs.

Wishful thinking? He's had great spells at club level in the past but never really done it for us, not sure this spell he's having is going to be any different.

[Noelys Guitar]

I've been surfing some Welsh football fan forums (similiar to this one) and by and large they seem to be confident of pulling off a famous win away from home and keep their hopes of qualification alive. 2 nil away wins are not uncommon postings. Now I now its a 'home' forum and confidence is often OTT on these kind of things but it just got me wondering. I thought the Welsh would be happy settling for a point......

No offence to the Welsh side but other than Giggs and Bellamy (both quality players) am I missing something? Are we that bad? Do Wales have more strength in detail than I first thought? They seem to have lost their better defenders to injury and other than Simon Davies I can't see any depth. If the worst case scenario does happen this Saturday and we lose then Stan has to go. This is a must win game for Stan and I'm expecting his players to play for his job.

I agree about the no names in their squad. If we had a half decent manager I would expect us to beat them everytime. But we don't. And Wales can make it hard for teams like us who are unsure of what we are doing. This match will not come down to players skill levels but their attitudes. If Wales go a goal up then I feel it will be curtains time. A good manager with our squad would be able to cut off the supply to both Giggs and Bellamy. Stan again is embroiled with who should be in and who should be out of the squad. He and the players are under severe pressure. And though this helped us get a result and a performance against the Czechs I wouldn't bet on it this time. We are favourites this time. And yo yo performances are always by teams going nowhere fast.

[onenilgameover]

And yo yo performances are always by teams going nowhere fast.


IMO a very good point...I can can seeing us getting a moral victory against the Welsh and losing to Slovakia and Stan staying in the job...which would obviously no good for us....

[eirebhoy]

He generally is on form with Spurs.
He's not really. He's rarely in form form for Spurs coming up to internationals.

[reder]

Whats the welsh forum url?

[shakermaker1982]

dragonsoccer.co.uk

[gspain]

Wales have some really bad players. They are poorly organised and have a poor manager. We have far better players but have Stan so no contest then Wales to win. :mad: :mad:

[cavan_fan]

He generally is on form with Spurs. Still not near as good for us though. Overvalued in the Irish squad imo.

Sorry but I disagree completely, generally he has performed better for us than Spurs. As someone poitned out on another therad he tends to have a few good months every season and that's what's happenign now.

[DmanDmythDledge]

I checked out their team.

Apart from Giggs, Bellamy and a half decent youngster that is Bale the rest of their team is Championship & Serie B trash.

The fact that they fancy their chances just shows what terrible, unacceptable form we're on at the moment.
We're lucky that some of their best players will be unavailable. Koumas is suspened, Earnshaw is injured, Gabbidon is injured.

[SÓC]

Most of the people I speak to over here dont seem all that confident. They think that Wales SHOULD win but that whenever they should do something they find a way to mess it up

[Lionel Ritchie]

I've been surfing some Welsh football fan forums (similiar to this one) and by and large they seem to be confident of pulling off a famous win away from home and keep their hopes of qualification alive. 2 nil away wins are not uncommon postings.

I happen to agree with them. I think Wales will win with clear sky between them and us on the scoresheet. 0-2 ...0-3 even. And that's just Wales. Slovakia might very well DESTROY us.


If the worst case scenario does happen this Saturday and we lose then Stan has to go. This is a must win game for Stan and I'm expecting his players to play for his job.

He should be gone already. I also believe this "playing for the manager" thing is overstated ...usually because Kilbane ran to the bench after scoring against Czech. Players are unlikely to show any public dissent or even passive lack of support as they'll know from sorry experience just how petty too many people in this game can be when it comes to grudge bearing.

[jbyrne]

He generally is on form with Spurs. Still not near as good for us though. Overvalued in the Irish squad imo.

by far and away our highest scorer in the current or indeed any Irish squad ever

[Cymro]

I think you are underestimating us a little bit. For the most part our squad has no big names, Giggs, Bellamy and Bale aside, but we have got a good manager who has achieved a lot in European football, and even down to our bare (and I mean really bare) bones we got a draw at Windsor Park last month which is not a bad result these days. In this campaign so far we've been pretty unlucky, should have drawn away to the Czechs. Slovakia wasn't as one-sided as the score suggested either.

I think even if you still had Kerr we'd be fancying our chances of a shock, but with Staunton many of our fans would have us as slight favourites.

[reder]

I think even if you still had Kerr we'd be fancying our chances of a shock, but with Staunton many of our fans would have us as slight favourites.

Kerr was pox lad, the man thought Carr was better than Finnan. Stan is completely clueless though. Toshack is a far better bet as a manager, he has had plenty of experience and understands players and the game.

Watched you against the Czech's and you were robbed but that seems to happen to most teams that go there. Thought Slovakia were lethal up front against you, they were clinical in front of goal and am extremely worried about playing them.

PS: You gonna stick us for £34 (€50) when we visit you and stick us in the worst seats in the ground? I thought not. Let the world know about that during the game.

[elroy]

I think this Irish team is on a last chance with an awful lot of Irish supporters this weekend. The Cyprus game was taken as an one off blip, but the SM performance was inexcusable. Sat is a big day for Irish football, first game in croker etc and the team really need to put in a big performance and a win.
This game will be decided by the midfield, our worst area. Our best performance of the campaign was against the Czechs and one of the reasons for that was that our midfield were up to the job that night (we had 3 in CM), if our midfield match that performance sat, we'll be fine.

If we can at least match wales there we will win. I have no doubt that we can score in this game, given the quality of our attacking players, the wide open pitch and the sub standard welsh defence.

With Shay in goal, I have confidence in our defence but giggs and bellamy need to be kept under control.

[shakermaker1982]

worries me how many of you think Wales have a good chance of victory. I'll be gutted if we only draw. It's 6 points or nothing for me. Without Gabbidon our chances of victory surely increase.

[Cymro]

I think we both need six points from our next two games to be honest. Qualifying isn't on the radar for us but it's crucial we get a good seeding for World Cup 2010 where we will hopefully have a strong squad. At the moment we are in the fifth pot of seeds for that so we need to move up to the fourth. So we need every point.

If I'm honest, and I apologise if I cause offence here, I don't think Ireland can qualify either. I think we will be competing with you for fourth place in this group with Slovakia, Germany & the Czechs all being better sides at the moment.

So this game could well have a bearing on who finishes fourth........that's the way I see it anyway.

[pineapple stu]

I think Wales will win with clear sky between them and us on the scoresheet. 0-2 ...0-3 even. And that's just Wales. Slovakia might very well DESTROY us.
Wasn't it 5-1 Slovakia beat Wales at home in September?:(

[shakermaker1982]

Wasn't it 5-1 Slovakia beat Wales at home in September?:(


yeah they were lethal in front of goal that night. Remember watching the highlights and they looked clinical. I thought Wales at home could have snatched a draw at the very least before the game.

[Torn-Ado]

Croke Park should do it for us.

Over 70,000 fans screaming. It might sound like a cliche but with a crowd that size, it should and could well act as a 12th man. If the players fail to perform in these two games, with all the support and hype surrounding them, then they should not wear the green of Ireland again.

We are better than Wales and we are better than Slovakia on paper and if those player cannot extend that to the pitch on the days of the matches then they should all be booted back to England by every Irish supporters in Croker.

I think they will do it and it will be about time.

[Ceirtlis]

Like the most of you i reckon if we had a decent manager we should be putting these two sides away. Wales squad looks very weak, if we were to match them for effort and tactically we would beat them fairly easily. As for Slovakia they have had fairly schizophrenic results so far hammering two teams and getting hammered them twice. Lets hope we get them on a bad day.

[Jerry The Saint]

Croke Park should do it for us.

Over 70,000 fans screaming. It might sound like a cliche but with a crowd that size, it should and could well act as a 12th man. If the players fail to perform in these two games, with all the support and hype surrounding them, then they should not wear the green of Ireland again.

We are better than Wales and we are better than Slovakia on paper and if those player cannot extend that to the pitch on the days of the matches then they should all be booted back to England by every Irish supporters in Croker.

I think they will do it and it will be about time.

I think so too. If only the team can pick themselves up and play like actual professional footballers it could be a cracking atmosphere. 70,000 Irish fans and surely less tourists than went to the rugby.

Leaving aside the qualification group, we really need to treat this as similar to a big 6 Nations game (only with WAY more singing from the crowd) and a chance for these wasters to restore some pride against our neigbours.

[Torn-Ado]

Like the most of you i reckon if we had a decent manager we should be putting these two sides away. Wales squad looks very weak, if we were to match them for effort and tactically we would beat them fairly easily. As for Slovakia they have had fairly schizophrenic results so far hammering two teams and getting hammered them twice. Lets hope we get them on a bad day.

Hello C ya dawg.

How ya keeping? :)

[Torn-Ado]

I think so too. If only the team can pick themselves up and play like actual professional footballers it could be a cracking atmosphere. 70,000 Irish fans and surely less tourists than went to the rugby.

Leaving aside the qualification group, we really need to treat this as similar to a big 6 Nations game (only with WAY more singing from the crowd) and a chance for these wasters to restore some pride against our neigbours.

Exactly. Thats why I think they will turn on the style a bit.

About time too.

[Cymro]

Wales squad looks very weak, if we were to match them for effort and tactically we would beat them fairly easily.

Really, there isn't much difference between our bog-standard Championship journeymen and your bog-standard Premiership ones. Yours just get paid more. ;)

[geysir]

Cymro, out of curiousity what are ye paying Toshack?
How many in the management team?

[Cymro]

Toshack's wage can't be more than about £250K p/a as the FAW are tight-fisted ****s. :rolleyes:

He has Roy Evans as his assistant plus a Basque, Salva Iriarte. Bryan Flynn coaches the under 21s and Neville Southall the under 19s.

That's about all I know.

[geysir]

€370,000 p/a. We'll keep that in mind for future reference :)
He's a sound man, knows his football.
Do you support him in the way he stood firm with Savage?

[Cymro]

Hands off! :eek: ;)

And yes, I do support him on Savage, as long as he gets results and performances, which he has for the most part so far.

[citizenerased]

if stan watched the wales slovakia match his match tactics should be take long range shots outside the box(something which we never ever do) as Paul Jones is a horrendus goalie, every long shot the slovaks tokk it seemed to hit the net

[NeilMcD]

Will he be in goals or will it be the lad at Sunderland.

[eirebhoy]

Really, there isn't much difference between our bog-standard Championship journeymen and your bog-standard Premiership ones. Yours just get paid more. ;)
I don't know if you're being sarcastic but I'm suprised that a lot of Welsh fans don't see much between the 2 sides. You may well win but we clearly have the better players.

[kingdom hoop]

Will he be in goals or will it be the lad at Sunderland.

almost definitely sunderland's first choice in-form ward instead of arthritic third choice QPR man paul jones. who, unfortunately for us and him, looks as though he'll suffer an ignominious exit from the international stage:)

[Cymro]

I don't know if you're being sarcastic but I'm suprised that a lot of Welsh fans don't see much between the 2 sides. You may well win but we clearly have the better players.

When we have everyone available, we would be a match for your best XI. We are missing a few players for this game, so I'd agree that the players you will have on Saturday will be better man for man than ours.

We are missing five key players for Saturday: Price, Delaney, Koumas, Earnshaw and Gabbidon.

With those fit we would have a first XI of:

Price, Delaney, Collins, Gabbidon, Bale, Davies, Fletcher, Koumas, Giggs Bellamy, Earnshaw.

Of those six are real Premiership quality and five are top Championship players with the ability to step up to the top level. Not any worse your than first XI.

[eirebhoy]

Yeah I agree but they're not available, tough luck. ;) We're without the 2 Reid's who we could really do with.

[carloz]

We have to put Wales in perspective. they are a pretty poor team, particualrly away from home. I dont understand why we are blowing them up. they got destroyed by Slovakia at HOME 5-1. IMO this result is much worse than our's away to Cyprus. Yes we are awful at the moment but this is Wales.....Wales. We shoud have enough quality in depth to beat them. Slovakia on the other hand, i really cant see us beating them.

[Cymro]

Well carloz, we beat Cyprus 3-1 and you lost 5-2, so logically we should win by 5 goals eh? ;)

The Slovakia result was very flattering to the Slovaks. We actually kept them honest for much of the game, but Paul Jones' **** ups combined with some great long-range strikes saw them home far more comfortably than they deserved.

Slovakia are a good side too and if you're going to use 1 result to reason why you should beat us, then I'd be more than happy to bring up your last match.

[eirebhoy]

Well carloz, we beat Cyprus 3-1 and you lost 5-2, so logically we should win by 5 goals eh? ;)

Considering the way you lot played the last time in Cyprus you'd be lucky to lose by the 1 over there. :)

You simply can't compare Ireland home and Ireland away. The well known fact that a foot.ie user has made famous is we haven't beaten a good team away from home since 1987.

[Cymro]

We were woeful away in Cyprus, but going 800 odd miles away to a completely different climate and isolated stadium is a bit different to a short trip across the Irish Sea.

I am a bit worried we might give a repeat performance in Nicosia though. :(

[Noelys Guitar]

Anybody who thinks this is going to be an easy game is dead wrong. This is a "Derby" type game. If Toshack gets his tactics right then we could be in trouble. We have better players. But not much better. If Duff and Keane have stinkers again then we will be beaten. If they play to their best then we will win.

[dodgycanadian]

Jesus, there professional footballers, now dont be talking rubbish about playing in a different climate, your not playing in the arctic or desert for ****s sakes.

Lewis Price a key player?? wouldnt say that much. Same with earnshaw he is not Premiership quality and koumas is a bottom tiered premiership player. Ya must concede that individually our players are much better than the welsh.

[Cymro]

Earnshaw scored 14 goals in 17 appearances for WBA many of which were off the bench. That was his only chance in the Prem to date because Bryan Robson is a **** that appears to have something specific against him. Even though his goals kept WBA up that year.

Koumas is easily a mid-tier Premiership player, and is widely regarded as the best in the Championship (more so than the likes of Dave Nugent which is no bad thing at all).

Price is a 'key' player because he's our only keeper who's playing regularly. You won't get me saying that he's on a par with Given for example, but neither would you hear many Irish fans claiming say, Kilbane is on a par with Giggs.

I wouldn't go along with you dodgycanadian in saying that your players are much better than ours. If there is a gulf in quality, it's not that great.