Ireland v Wales - Post Match Thread

[eekers]

McShane was immense.

When did this become an acceptable phrase? i run into it everytime i go near a 'pro evo' or 'fm' forum.

[onceahoop]

I think Hunt tries to run through them rather that at them.

:eek: He committs defenders so he can go through them, by
them, around them. Duff at the moment goes just crouches down and stops, then goes backwards:rolleyes: .

[co. down green]

Just home from the game.

What a depressing crowd of ******* on this site.

Get the impression that many would be gutted if we actually qualified.

But then how many actually go to games !!

[craig7042]

When did this become an acceptable phrase? i run into it everytime i go near a 'pro evo' or 'fm' forum.

It means he was good. I thought we did well getting the win today. Good win without playing well. Fair enough... Its called football people....

[craig7042]

Just home from the game.

What a depressing crowd of ******* on this site.

Get the impression that many would be gutted if we actually qualified.

But then how many actually go to games !!


Fair play to you. I agree.....Bunch of **** in here. I hope Stan survives to sicken them.

[sligoman]

Crappy match alright. Was surprised with Bellamy, expected a lot more from him. Hunt looked great when he came on, Wales players couldn't cope with him so took him down every time. Thought Ireland had messed up with the goal at first, it looked like he had hit the ball too far ahead of him just before he rounded the keeper. I was towards the RTE studio end of the Hogan stand and twas funny when a guard went up to Ian Rush to get a photo taken with him:D.

Whoever brought the "Chelsea Irish" and the tri-colour with "Chelsea" painted on it should be banned from the ground.

[gustavo]

Just because people critisize doesnt mean they dont care. I dont think anyone can be happy with that performance , granted we won but its not a good sign if we can only just scrape over the line against a woefully poor Wales team

[Leejo]

On the way down to croker...no atmosphere

in croker during the match...no atmosphere

quailty of football...none

That doesn't hold anything compared to a sunday afternoon going down to croker where there would be:

Excitment walking down

better atmosphere than anywhere else in the world

and better stuff to watch than that shtie i saw today

[pineapple stu]

its time now to drop the likes of keane and duff who think they are world class and let the guys who are hungry show them what they can do.
Disagree. Duff was our best player today. Not his fault nobody was willing to show for him today.


robbie keane is **** and no one will convice me otherwise!!i remember a time on this everyone was giving out about steve ireland.. ha saved us twice now!
Stephen Ireland is sh!te. Fair dues to him, he's scored three in a row, but he's not international standard as yet,


stephen hunt impressed me today when he came on,looked dangerous every time he ran at the defence
Yeah, looked quality alright. Drew two, if not three, bookings in ten minutes. If he'd have done that from the start, the Welsh defence would have been all over the place,


Ireland is out of the game Wednesday, due to a groin injury. Who do you start in his place?
Hunt. See above.

Overall, a shocking game between two very poor teams. Slovakia are very definitely favourites for Wednesday...

[Soko]

Fair play to you. I agree.....Bunch of **** in here. I hope Stan survives to sicken them.



Stan won't survive because he is a clueless bluffer and is detrimental to Irish soccer. I'm going to Slovakia/Czech Republic but probably won't bother crossing the road for the matches. I'm sick of his **** already


Great quote from Cascarino in todays Racing Post

"Staunton looks angry as he enters press conferences, he's gunning for confontation. We all want him to succeed and be on his side"

The man is an idiot trying to create some siege mentality against the media when its his petulance and inept team selection which is ruining our football side. Today could have been a great day but instead it was a damp squib. He is a disgrace

[Mento]

Have to agree with many of Craig 7042 points.
Some of the abuse towards certain players here is obscene.

For me, Keane ran his ****** off playing on his OWN up front. His confidence with Ireland aint great at the moment, and it certainly doesn't help when ****** so called supporters are on his back before he gets a chance to control the ball.
Speaking of *******, to the eejits who booed Robbie when he was taken off, and to the those who sang 'Who Are ye' - do yis think this will help his current lack of international confidence?
He worked hard today, and he will come good again. IMO he needs backing and support and not boo boy *****s.
Although I agree Robbie aint captain material, Keane is such an easy target for people sitting behind keyboards.

- People thought Doyle should of started? In 2007, Doyle has made three appearances for reading - 70 mins v Man U in Cup; 14 minutes last week and another sub appearance. Hardly good preparation.

The atmosphere today, after all the hype – very poor. I dont remember paying nearly a euro a minute to do a Mexican Wave

Soko, go back and support the rugby

[Marked Man]

Lads, can youse all calm down. We're level on points now with the Czechs. OK, they have a game in hand. But they have to go to Germany, and we don't.
We are back in this, which, after the Cyprus game, no-one thought we would be. Do we have to improve? Of course, But our destiny is in our own hands again.

If we lose Wednesday, then by all means go through the doom and gloom; but for now, enjoy the fact that we won.

[Soko]

Soko, go back and support the rugby


I will. At least they have some sort of method to their madness. My anger is directed at one man and one man only for the time being - Steve Staunton. If you can't see what he is doing to us then I really couldn't care less what you think. I'll continue to watch on the box and I might even venture in to the ground when we meet the Czechs and Slovaks away. I know the only way that I'll see a team without that idiot at the helm is with defeats so there's my catch 22. We need to see beyond the trees here. We are not qualifying for this tournament and the WC is our objective. That maniac is only going to reduce us to a 6 seed before he's done

[gilberto_eire]

Whoever brought the "Chelsea Irish" and the tri-colour with "Chelsea" painted on it should be banned from the ground.[/QUOTE]

ya saw that chelsea flag at the end of the match.... you might aswell put rangers on it or better still put it on an english flag same thing!!

[gilberto_eire]

I will. At least they have some sort of method to their madness. My anger is directed at one man and one man only for the time being - Steve Staunton. If you can't see what he is doing to us then I really couldn't care less what you think. I'll continue to watch on the box and I might even venture in to the ground when we meet the Czechs and Slovaks away. I know the only way that I'll see a team without that idiot at the helm is with defeats so there's my catch 22. We need to see beyond the trees here. We are not qualifying for this tournament and the WC is our objective. That maniac is only going to reduce us to a 6 seed before he's done

by doing what playing with less then 11 men!!.... dont matter who's manager same pool of players this isnt club football you cant do as you please with your squad to change it!

[bellavistaman]

Stephen Ireland is sh!te. Fair dues to him, he's scored three in a row, but he's not international standard as yet,

what a load of ****e of a comment pineapple stu, the young lad was out of position and he was poor to be fair but when put into position he was one of 3 or 4 bright sparks on the ireland tem. i felt him duff keane and given were class today. saved us.thought keane did very well being a lone striker and duffs runs were very good today. how many times must stephen ireland save our country before getting a slight bit of credit. i fel if it was stokes who scored that goal but did nothing else all game it would be nothing but plaudits for him! seriously back our manager our captain and our country. oour players are ****ting themselves because they know every bad move they do will be scrutinised and they'll be hammered by supporters and jounalists like dunphy and co. if we beat czech were in a good posiition to qualify. back our country our, team doesn't matter whos in charge there still our country wearing our colours its about time people support everybody to to do with the team. for christs sake like :mad:

[OwlsFan]

robbie keane is **** and no one will convice me otherwise!!i remember a time on this everyone was giving out about steve ireland.. ha saved us twice now!

Who played the pass through to Ireland? Let me think. Oh, yeh Robbie Keane. Keane cannot play on his own up front and to expect otherwise shows a huge lack of any football knowledge. Keane never had a chance in a 4-5-1 formation and he needs a strong centre-forward along side him. Until then we'll never see the best of Robbie again.

Were you one of the 4 middle aged men sitting behind me wearing no colours who spent the whole game jeering and moaning about Keane? :mad:

[Hobbes]

I hate this ****e "Whoever brought the "Chelsea Irish" and the tri-colour with "Chelsea" painted on it should be banned from the ground.[/quote]

ya saw that chelsea flag at the end of the match.... you might aswell put rangers on it or better still put it on an english flag same thing!!"

Why, surely, Irish chelsea is not all that different from Irish Kilburn...and if we allow celtic supporters, why should we not allow rangers fans

[livehead1]

Some of the vitriolic abuse placed in this thread is highly embarressing and makes me question whether some of you people actually know anything about football. I have just had the chance to watch the full game as I had a match myself on Saturday at 3pm so missed the live game. I noticed a couple of things that I will point out.

Stephen Ireland's range of passing is outstanding for a young player. He is a very gifted young man, an example would be the cross-field raking ball which set Keane through in the first half. He also showed a confidence that has been lacking in the side for a while with his cool finish, a finish any striker would be proud of.

Robbie Keane was unbelievable against Wales. Playing effectively as a lone striker for long periods of the game he managed at times to occupy all of the three welsh central defenders. His success in this role can be evidenced by Wales inability to cope with Damian Duff who was allowed time and space on the ball due to Keanes hard work. Then there is Keane's through ball, with barely even a look up Keane played the ball round the corner and Ireland finished cooly, giving Ireland the three points. That is the difference at international level and Keane provided that yesterday.

Jonathon Douglas & Lee Carsley, whilst not being the most creative of players, carried out a key role in Ireland's midfield, to great affect. They consistantly disrupted the play, not allowing Wales any time on the ball, it was due to this that the threat of Giggs was nullified in many ways, as he did not receive any service from his midfield.

I could go into greater detail on all of the above subjects, but I think you get the jist of it.

One final point:
Ireland have 10 points from 6 games.
England have 8 points from 5 games.

I here very few people in the English media calling for Steven MacClaren's head...

[green army]

awful game with two awful teams. finnan starting at left back is disgraceful. thought duff did very well.skined bale a good few times.doyle won his fair share of headers when he came on. ireland (apart from his well taken goal was poor).but we let wales have too much of the ball in the second half and sat back too deep. mc shane had decent game....we need to improved 100% for wednesday night. to qualtify we were always going to have to take something out of the double header in september and that is still the case.

[youngirish]

Just back from the game and the associated drinking that went on afterwards. Have to say Ireland were overall very poor. Luckily Wales were even worse. Robbie Keane was wa*k again and the fact sky sports gives him an 8 out of ten proves to me what I've always known. They don't watch the matches.

He spent most of the game on his ar*e, moaning. He has no pace. He also nearly cost us the result by being stupid and losing possesion by trying silly tricks just outside our 18 yard box which led to Ryan Giggs freekick. Luckily Bale had been taken off by then. He should never have been chosen as captain.

Kilbane was also terrible. He gave possesion away constantly. Why he was left on the pitch all match I'll never know.

On the plus side our defence was solid enough though McShane made a couple of mistakes. Dunne was outstanding. Finnan was very solid. Even O'Shea was ok for once.

Duff was our best player I thought. He used the ball well and always looked dangerous. Hunt was also excellent when he came on but should have got more than 15 minutes.

Overall an improvement but Slovakia won't be too worried. Note to Stan stop punting long balls up to our 5 ft 8 inch striker. We just end up giving away possesion.

[Colbert Report]

One final point:
Ireland have 10 points from 6 games.
England have 8 points from 5 games.

I here very few people in the English media calling for Steven MacClaren's head...

If England lost 5-2 to ANYONE, never mind CYPRUS, and scrape a 2-1 win deep in injury time away to Andorra on Wednesday, then we'll talk.

[Raheny Red]

I reckon this thread will be in the bin by tomorrow afternoon :rolleyes:

[livehead1]

If England lost 5-2 to ANYONE, never mind CYPRUS, and scrape a 2-1 win deep in injury time away to Andorra on Wednesday, then we'll talk.

Why? Football is a results driven business, if we continue to win from here on in I for one will not have a problem.

[zenokelly]

What was the story with the pockets of free seats. Front of the Cusack upper centre was abandoned, another few pockets in the Cusack lower and there was 3 seats free behind right behind me, and the Nally was only really half full. Did the FAI forget to sell these cos as it showed on the Welsh ticket thread here that there were plenty of people still looking for tickets?????

And was really p!ssed off with the lack of atmosphere, thought it would have been netter than the rugby.

[Gaillimh Al]

A terrible performance by 2 poor sides. The pitch didn't help and was it just me or was it very big. Lots of open spaces. Lee Carsley's post match quote reveals all about the shambles that is Steve Staunton's management.

"He just named the team but didn't go through any roles to be honest" :(

[OwlsFan]

Just back from the game and the associated drinking that went on afterwards. Have to say Ireland were overall very poor. Luckily Wales were even worse. Robbie Keane was wa*k again and the fact sky sports gives him an 8 out of ten proves to me what I've always known. They don't watch the matches..

Strangely enough a lot of people also thought Keane had a reasonable game so perhaps it's you who doesn't watch the game. I am not sure what you expect from someone who is left on his own up front when that is patently not his game. I suppose you didn't see his through ball to Ireland either for the goal ? No? The only time I saw him on the floor moaning was when he was through on the keeper and claimed a peno for a tackle from behind. Haven't seen the replay so I don't know whether the claim was justified. He worked hard on his own up front chasing down the Welsh back 4 with little support.

See also the comment at the start of his thread by the Welsh fan on Robbie.

"Robbie Keane looked good though. I don't know why he gets slagged off on here. Him and Duff basically provided the difference between two very bad sides."

[Don Vito]

Anyone know if the rte analysis is online anywhere?

[Dan K]

I dont know what world you're all living in. The level of arrogance in these comments is shocking. I sat there today and saw a team win a game of international football. (what about Scotland? What about England? Everyone struggles to find form. Its normal. The win is the win is the win.) They didnt play as well as they can, but in moments there were clear positives. McShane was immense. Hunt and Doyle changed things with great determination when he came on. Given obviously saved us again. Dunne did well. Duff was far more creative especially in the first half. Kilbane, Carsley and douglas did okay. Ireland didnt do well, but you'll struggle to get a better international goal. Keane ran himself into the ground, but struggled. He's honest...lay off him ya gits. O'Shea was okay...frustrating...but ok. The fans cheered everything positive and where I was sitting there was almost no abuse thrown at the players from start to finish. Moments of frustration...no abuse though. The atmosphere at the start was good..there was a lull in the first half until the goal. (As a Liverpool fan having a lull in a game is not unusual. Liverpool regularly have lulls that last 80 minutes. ditto Chelsea)
After everything...a win is a win is a win.

They did well as a team and it sets things up for Wednesday to start to build again.

I just dont understand you people with your comments..............It wasnt a good game??? Really??
Since then did that ever matter????

Can't argue with any of that.

[tetsujin1979]

Post match interviews here: http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0324/irelandsoccer_av.html

[Tir Oilean]

I think a lot of posters on this thread are missing the point. You are venting your frustration at the players and manager. The blame clearly lies with Delaney. World class manager my foot. It has to be the only team in the world that appointed a manager with no experience.

[Noelys Guitar]

That was dire stuff. I agree with other posters about the booing of Robbie Keane as ridiculous. We had five in midfield at home against Wales! and Keane was isolated up front. I thought he played well. The tactics are all over the place. A left full playing at right full. And vice a vesa? Would anyone on here please try explain that. Is Stephen hawking ever on this board? I thought Carsley played well. We are playing another very poor team on Wednesday in Slovakia and should win that too. Why some on here believe the Slovaks are any good is surely only based onthat game against the Welsh. I have seen them play and they are at best very ordinary. So by Wednesday evening we could be 2nd. Unbelievable.

[zinedineontour]

You really have to stop this annoying you. It will not get any better with Staunton in charge. Its not possible. I gave away my tickets for the game today and will do so for all games that he is responsible for. I just can't bear that ****e

good man great way so support your country .. muppet

[geysir]

The only time I saw him (Keane) on the floor moaning was when he was through on the keeper and claimed a peno for a tackle from behind. Haven't seen the replay so I don't know whether the claim was justified. He worked hard on his own up front chasing down the Welsh back 4 with little support.
The defender got all of Robbie and none of the ball. Basically a tackle from behind chopping down a player who was one on one with the goalkeeper but the ball had already drifted too close to the goalkeeper making the goalkeeper favorite to win the ball. Is that a penalty?

ATM we are looking good for 4th spot.
Team selection re positions and formation was deflating and the team played reflecting that. Incredibly it looked like our team was set up to stop Wales from playing whatever it is that Wales play.
It is ignorant to put Finnan on the left, he offers nothing more than ordinary out there.
The GAA are the winners, €1.5m for that.
I can't say that I have any hopes for the Irish team if we are looking at Douglas/Kilbane/O´Shea to partner Carsley.

Impressed by Hunt and his attitude, straight into the thick of whatever was happening and played his game. He is ready and good enough to start and ahead of Mc Geady imo.

[zinedineontour]

Disgusted with the behaviour of some of the so called " fans " at the game yday. The constant jeering and booing of keane who had a decent game was uncalled for. The people in the row behind me were wondering when firstly " shane hunt " and than no " stephen long your man who kicked in the chelsea keepers head " was gonna come on. Then when Doyle came on aul lad in front of me asked his mate was doyle not playing all the game ?? Too many people there yday who just went cause it was the first game .. Wonder will they still turn up on wed night with all the after work traffic to get through !

[Emmet]

I dont know what world you're all living in. The level of arrogance in these comments is shocking. I sat there today and saw a team win a game of international football. (what about Scotland? What about England? Everyone struggles to find form. Its normal. The win is the win is the win.) They didnt play as well as they can, but in moments there were clear positives. McShane was immense. Hunt and Doyle changed things with great determination when he came on. Given obviously saved us again. Dunne did well. Duff was far more creative especially in the first half. Kilbane, Carsley and douglas did okay. Ireland didnt do well, but you'll struggle to get a better international goal. Keane ran himself into the ground, but struggled. He's honest...lay off him ya gits. O'Shea was okay...frustrating...but ok. The fans cheered everything positive and where I was sitting there was almost no abuse thrown at the players from start to finish. Moments of frustration...no abuse though. The atmosphere at the start was good..there was a lull in the first half until the goal. (As a Liverpool fan having a lull in a game is not unusual. Liverpool regularly have lulls that last 80 minutes. ditto Chelsea)
After everything...a win is a win is a win.

They did well as a team and it sets things up for Wednesday to start to build again.

I just dont understand you people with your comments..............It wasnt a good game??? Really??
Since then did that ever matter????

Well said. Agree 100% with you.

[Emmet]

Doyle's chance was created as a result of Keane's ingenuity (sp). It was a class touch. As was his pass for Ireland's goal. With the service he had, Keane did an awful lot.

Absolutely right ... Keane was one of our better players yesterday. He worked very hard, set up the goal with a brilliant first-time pass, and was unlucky to have a stone-wall penalty turned down because the ref couldn't keep up with play

[sligoman]

Why, surely, Irish chelsea is not all that different from Irish Kilburn...and if we allow celtic supporters, why should we not allow rangers fansI'm not saying it has anything to do with Rangers, why would it? I'm saying I dont like our national flag been defaced with a foreign team's name on it.

[Condex]

That was one crap match, two rubbish teams..

Back four played well..

Douglas was crap..
Kilbane kept giving the ball away..
Ireland was OK..
Carlsey had a quiet game..

Keane played OK, but he kept comming deep and going out on the wings
so who the hell was supposed to be in the box...

Duff was good in patches..

[Paddy Garcia]

I think a lot of posters on this thread are missing the point. You are venting your frustration at the players and manager. The blame clearly lies with Delaney. World class manager my foot. It has to be the only team in the world that appointed a manager with no experience.

Delaney gets plenty of stick on here. Sorry - the blame also lies with the manager. If Stan cares about this country he should do the right thing, recognise his failings from day 1 (Carsley) on-going (Kenny), plus poor team selection, lack of motivation, seige mentality, worst performances I can remember, worst results I can recall, etc etc & walk away.......... for the sake of Irish football.

If I was a kid I'd be inspired by the Irish rugby team to pick up an oval ball.

[Qwerty]

I think the players would do better without Stan. Some of the post match comments by the players were telling:

Carsley: "He (Staunton) just named the team but didn't go through any roles to be honest"

Ireland: "I'm not really comfortable at all on the right wing, to be honest, but eventually they swapped me and Duffer over and soon after we broke through for the goal,"


The criticism of Keane is justified to a certain extent, he certainly created some very good chances but when you have your lone striker constantly moving to the wings you have to be frustrated by his lack of discipline. The captaincy should be given to a different player, after all who is going to tell the captain where he should be playing? Making Carsley captain is probably the best option.

You have to admire Hunt's agression and mongrel qualities but that still doesn't make him international class, it is a sad reflection on the current situation that he is probably a necessary starter for us now.

[DubJohn]

I was in lower Davin and it looked to me like Robbie had it in his head to go down even before the ball was played to him. I think that's what's so frustrating about him, he's constantly looking for favours from the ref instead of just getting on with it.


And what's with this "Who are you" chanting in an English accent? :mad:

It is muppetry of the highest order.

[sligoman]

And what's with this "Who are you" chanting in an English accent? :mad:

It is muppetry of the highest order.It's how they do it in the Premiership...and that's what we want to be like isn't it?:rolleyes:.

[geysir]

I think the players would do better without Stan. Some of the post match comments by the players were telling:

Carsley: "He (Staunton) just named the team but didn't go through any roles to be honest"

Ireland: "I'm not really comfortable at all on the right wing, to be honest, but eventually they swapped me and Duffer over and soon after we broke through for the goal,"

Carsley claimed "the quotes were taken out of context."
He added: "The question was about the instruction coming onto the pitch in the second half when they were on top.
"There wasn't any instruction because you haven't got time to stop the game, look over at the bench and say 'oh, shall we do this'.
: "The preparation was fantastic."
"Any question of unrest in the dressing room is wide of the mark. We prepared properly and everyone knew their roles in the team"

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/07/03/25/SOCCER_Republic_Nightlead.html&TEAMHD=soccer

[Billsthoughts]

have to say I thouht trying to make something of them comments was clutching at straws by the media.
to anyone saying we got 3 points whats everyone moaning about....
it was an awful 90 minutes. how many times did we see an irish player kick the ball out of play under no pressure? anyone happy at that performance is mad.

[Qwerty]

Carsley claimed "the quotes were taken out of context."
He added: "The question was about the instruction coming onto the pitch in the second half when they were on top.
"There wasn't any instruction because you haven't got time to stop the game, look over at the bench and say 'oh, shall we do this'.
: "The preparation was fantastic."
"Any question of unrest in the dressing room is wide of the mark. We prepared properly and everyone knew their roles in the team"

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/07/03/25/SOCCER_Republic_Nightlead.html&TEAMHD=soccer

So what Carsley is saying is that Stan named the team - an unchanged team - at half time but didn't go over roles because there wasn't time? This make no sense to me. Do manager's normally name a team at half time if they are making no changes? Was the quote manufactured or is Carsley trying to undo something?

[Den Perry]

its time now to drop the likes of keane and duff who think they are world class and let the guys who are hungry show them what they can do.

are you having a laugh? they were the only ones with a bit of class, Keane should have had a peno. In fact the guy beside me (who was obviously a f ucking rugby fan - we were in the premium level!) started giving out about Keane diving...talk about jumpinhg on a bandwagon!So i duly told him to f off.
But as for wanting Duff and Keane dropped, its just ridiculous

[Noelys Guitar]

I have always believed that we are in a very winnable group. I think the Germans are a good team. Certainly not great by any means. The Czechs have some very good players and some very, very bad players. They are going to lose a few games in this group. We can catch them. I am starting to believe we can finish second in this group almost by default. I believe we will again play crap but win on wednesday. We will win all our home games bar the German game and probably play crap in all of them. We can get a draw at least against the Czechs away. Beat Wales and the Slovaks away. And there we are. Stan with Robson are starting to remind me of the old England teams who almost always played crap in qualifiers but seemed to get through their groups. Its going to happen. If Dunne can concentrate for 90 mins plus they I can see us keeping clean sheets for almost the rest of the games. Stan is a lucky ****er to still have the job. He can't get any worse! So watch us get into second. NI and Scotland slip up in their final games as they play much better football than us. And we sneak in. Its going to happen. I have seen much better Irish teams not qualify with better managers. Funny old game anyone?

[mypost]

That was one crap match, two rubbish teams.

If we end up qualifying in November, nobody will give a 4x how crap the game was. Can you ever remember an exciting, thrill-a-minute Ireland-Wales game?? :confused:

It's highly probable that on Wednesday night, Germany, Czechs and us will all be level on 13 points, so even with them having games in hand, and 5 of Germany's remaining games at home, we'll still be in with a shout going to Trnava.

Even still, we would be in a better position if we didn't have a clueless, illiterate puppet, "in charge". :rolleyes:

[dr_peepee]

Some overly harsh comments there...

Keane was gik in front of goal but was involved in the few good things we did produce.. Duffs save, Doyle hitting the bar, Irelands goal springs to mind. He will be missed on Wednesday and for the few minutes him and Doyle were together the partnership looks really promising. Keane did however do his usual sit on his hole waving his hands in the air craic and I wasn't happy with how he handed the armband to Carsley.

McShane brings something to the team aside from his performances.. A level of conviction, focus or whatever. Would love to see West Brom get promoted and him and Dunne play allot of games.

The O'Shea at right full thing may have been tactical to counter the Giggs/Bellamy threat. We'll see wednesday.

A couple of strange substitutions. Kilbane should have came off instead of Douglas. I though him and Carsley were solid enough in there. That said Kilbane came into his own the last ten minutes. Duff looked dead on his feet at the end. He finnished the game practically at right full. Should have been subbed for McGeady long before Keane was.

Doyle changed to whole dynamic of Ireland play when he came on. The ball actually stayed in the last third on kickouts and long balls compared to before his arrival.... Long balls to Ireland or Duff>???? you have to question the logic.

Hunt undeniably played well... But I've seen him for Reading on the box a few times. He's a decent player but doesn't warrant the expectations placed on him here. But he's on form so it's a decision to make.

I think the team wed will be

Given
Finnan, McShane, Dunne, O'Shea
McGeady, Douglas, CArsley, Kilbane, Duff
Doyle