Ireland v Wales - Post Match Thread

[Soko]

Qualifying? We'll be thumped in Prague and Bratislava and be lucky to get anything in Cardiff. The pitch might save us on Wednesday but we are ****e. Complete and utter rubbsih because this bafoon of a manager doesn't know his arse from his elbow. Crappy wins like this only paper over the cracks

[Den Perry]

Keane plays regularly for Tottenham. A Premiership club. With and ahead of world class players like Berbatov and Defoe. McShane plays for West Brom. By all accounts he's struggled to even get into the team this year. Ferguson doesn't rate him. Nor, evidently do the 19 other Premiership managers. There's a reason for all that.

Just because McShane has gotten a lot of plaudits for his demeanour on the pitch, and Keane has taken the majority of criticism for the performances under Stan because he's a star (along with DUff) and captain doesn't obscure the fact that he is class and McShane will always be a journeyman pro.

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.

Stephen Ireland was absolutely abysmal, save for the goal. The "barstoolers" behind you were absolutely right. Part of the reason he was crap was because he was played out of position.

Stephen Hunt did well and deserves a start. But don't expect him to turn in that sort of performance for 90 minutes of any game.

very good post! i cannot understand this hysteria with regard to McShane..he was if i'm harsh, at fault for the Czech goal and didnt cover himself in glory in San Marino either. Yet the Ole Oles rate him higher than Keane judging by some posts.....

[soccerc]

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.

This photo (http://www.chatsoccer.eu/images/robbieclaim.jpg)appears to show him taken from behind but you can also see his hand raised for the penalty claim.

One of the best views of the day (http://www.chatsoccer.eu/images/jenkins.jpg) ;)

An this Lady nailing her views firmly (http://www.chatsoccer.eu/images/delaneyouttshirt.jpg) :D

[Dublincelt67]

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.

Van Basten The Netherlands and also Rijkaard back in the day. Do you want anymore names because there is more :rolleyes:

[Dublincelt67]

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

Well that is just great. One less of the Ole Ole brigade. You were probably one of the so called fans that walked out of lansdowne when 3 down to the spanish in 93. Or do you even remember that game. So called supporters like this we do not need:mad:

[McGinty]

thought is was a poor game, the performance in the last 15 mins was the only encouragement for Wednesday to be honest

the atmosphere was very slack on Saturday, but the Slovakia game on Wednesday under floodlights hopefully it'll be a different story!

i'm hoping stan will pick a decent front 2 against the slovaks, surely he cant be thinking about not starting Doyle anyway, match fit or not

[Qwerty]

Beat Wales and the Slovaks away.

We can beat Wales away but I really doubt we can beat the Slovaks. Getting a drraw away to the Czechs will be a challenge and beating the Germans at home is probably beyond us. I think we'll get no more than 9 points out of the remaining games, maybe 10.

[Noelys Guitar]

We can beat Wales away but I really doubt we can beat the Slovaks. Getting a drraw away to the Czechs will be a challenge and beating the Germans at home is probably beyond us. I think we'll get no more than 9 points out of the remaining games, maybe 10.

I have seen the Slovaks play and they are no better than Wales. They are like Macedonia. And yes I do remember what happened in those games. But I feel the way we are playing under Stan is now so cautious that we will be winning these type of games. Almost like boring the opposition into submission. It works. It is awful to watch but it works.

[lim abroad]

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

I agree but can anybody on here honestly see him getting the sack?I for one can't but hopefully i'm wrong.

[Soko]

Well that is just great. One less of the Ole Ole brigade. You were probably one of the so called fans that walked out of lansdowne when 3 down to the spanish in 93. Or do you even remember that game. So called supporters like this we do not need:mad:



No, I stayed in my west lower seat. Is this the first Ole Ole brigade reference in this thread? If so, congrats

[DeNiro]

Was at Croke Park yesterday. Strange atmosphere I felt, very different to the Lansdowne games. I think people are right when they say it was full of one dayers! I'll be there Wednesday again but I reckon a lot of what I saw yesterday won't!

As regards the game;
I think Staunton was worried about Wales, he played O'Shea and Finnan opposite positions to where they normally play. Logic is that you judge players on their best positions but he seems to want to mess things around alot. Equally Stephen Ireland, now one of our most creative players, was on the right. However, I get the feeling Staunton is riding his luck majorly, but as someone previously posted, he could freakishly get this team to second place in what is a very poor group. Wales are seriously average and we should beat them over there! If we win Wednesday and he's gets his act together before September, i.e. use friendlies to sort out a few things, we could be in with a shout. Wednesday is a big test though. The novelty is gone from the ground after one game. They have to lift it a bit more, but I don't think we have a player who can lift it anymore. However, Hunt, I feel, showed Duff how wing play should be done!

[Captain Tinrib]

The bottom line is we lost 5-2 to Cyprus, that in itself is unforgiven, Stan u havent a clue.. Slough are looking for a new manager, You should apply.

[stojkovic]

Robbieeeeeeeeeee is suspended on Wednesday.

Every cloud.....etc

[Captain Tinrib]

But Staunton will still be the manager, no bright side im afraid...untill he F**** Off

[pineapple stu]

This photo (http://www.chatsoccer.eu/images/robbieclaim.jpg)appears to show him taken from behind but you can also see his hand raised for the penalty claim.
Bit harsh; if you're tackled like that - regardless of whether the tackle was good - your hand is going to go like that to try and control your fall and keep some sort of balance.

[TommyT]

I have seen the Slovaks play and they are no better than Wales. They are like Macedonia. And yes I do remember what happened in those games. But I feel the way we are playing under Stan is now so cautious that we will be winning these type of games. Almost like boring the opposition into submission. It works. It is awful to watch but it works.

The Slovaks have some very good players, similar to Wales, but fewer bad ones. They are in better form too.

Staunton is not deliberately making the team ****e as some sort of master plan, the team was the opposite of cautious in Cyprus and was not cutious at all in San Marino, just appalling.

There's way too much condemnation of players on this thread, a lot of guys did all right considering the set up of the team and the fact that they were out of position.

Soko it's important for the game that we stay competitive throughout the group, we're still unlikely to qualify and Staunton will be gone soon enough.

[SUB of the day]

How flat was that? at the end of the game the sense of resignation among fans was palpable, 3 points, but so what?.We're going nowhere fast and we know it.We may not have the range of talents available as in previous years, but we are NOT this bad.A day I thought I would never see came and went, with a profound sense of anti-climax.Stan is so far out of his depth, its frightening, and sad.His team selection and formation yesterday actually defy belief.I don't have the time or stomach to list the myriad of reasons why stan should go, but go he must.Im sick of this car crash melo - drama, that is his tenure as our national manager.Please Stan, just go.

[citizenerased]

Disgrace, the fact that we only beat that atrocious welsh team 1-0 says alot,,there was no obvious game plan again, the midfield was a mess, all over the place.. and what about wrong siding both O'Shea and finnan, i would love to know the genius behind that thinking....Annoyed with some of the more reserved sections of the crowd..or the one dayers as someone reffered to them as!!

[gilberto_eire]

whats everyones problem or have we all forgot the past??.... most here seem to think we'r one of the big boys!!... we'r not!... we usually dont qualify for tournaments.... we made it to 4 in total, 3 world cups and 1 euro and we basically had the same team btw..... we've drawn before with liecheinstein(who are about as bad as san marino and with a stadium like a eircom 1st division team) and also with macedonia... i dont really mind the lads having a go at the players but its not stauntons fault, the players there are all we have, they train with there clubs all year, all an international manager does is picks the team basically and i can only say finnan and o'shea should have been swopd but maybe he wanted crosses curling into the goal area from his wing backs or maybe he taught o'shea would have done a better job on giggs on the right had he played left wing, we won the match, we should have won by 2 had keane buried that last effort. anyone whos on here saying ''they gave away tickets caz he's manager'' or jeered the players, or and i did meet a few the last day ''wouldnt go wednesday if we lost saturday'' then dont go and dont moan but you'll soon be back looking for tickets if we qualify for the finals like the rest of them. we'r a lil country with a p*ss poor population in sporting terms and then you have also the fact soccer isnt the number one sport in the country on top of that!.

[charliesboots]

w... i dont really mind the lads having a go at the players but its not stauntons fault, the players there are all we have, they train with there clubs all year, all an international manager does is picks the team

:rolleyes: and he can't even pick the team right.

ever heard of motivation, prepararation, inspiration, tactical awareness. I'd like to have an international manager that can handle at least one of these.

[tetsujin1979]

Carsley in the Indo this morning: http://www.unison.ie/sportsdesk/stories.php3?ca=12&si=1800201

His midfield colleague Lee Carsley also raised eyebrows with his post-match analysis. "He (Staunton) just named the team but didn't go through any roles to be honest"

Carsley this afternoon: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/6494113.stm

Staunton has been accused of being tactically naive but Carsley insists that preparations were "fantastic".

"Everyone knew their roles in the team" said Carsley on Sunday.
Carsley said that "the quotes were taken out of context."
"Any question of unrest in the dressing room is wide of the mark. We prepared properly and everyone knew their roles in the team.

"Preparation is more or less the same for every game. We will watch videos on the opposition and set up how we are going to play.

"We'll have some idea of what system they're going to play, and we will work from there."

Despite the criticism that has surrounded Staunton following his appointment, Carsley said: "I've been very impressed (with him).

"He's a good manager to play for, we're well prepared and we're enjoying it."

Hmmm, one of those "I never said them things boss, honest", or what really happened?

[charliesboots]

Carsley in the Indo this morning: http://www.unison.ie/sportsdesk/stories.php3?ca=12&si=1800201


Carsley this afternoon: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/6494113.stm


Hmmm, one of those "I never said them things boss, honest", or what really happened?

It's grand Stan wouldn't even notice who said what to who. He was probably playing twister with Mick Byrne and John Delaney.

JD: "No Stephen, that's your right hand, your left hand is the other one"

SS: "I'm the Gaffer"

MB: "your good at gaffs alright boss, ha ha ha"

JD: "Oh dear!!"

[eirebhoy]

Yesterday's performance was something you'd usually see from England. No coincidence.

[backstothewall]

...its not stauntons fault, the players there are all we have...

But thats not strictly true is it

We have Stephen McPhail, Stephen Quinn, Andy O'Brien, Joey O Brien, Alan Lee, Sean St Ledger, Paddy McCarthy, Liam Miller, Martin Rowlands, Jay Tabb, David Connolly and Stephen Ward to name a handful of people i would have in the squad ahead of a 27 year old never will be like Alan Quinn (who Neil Warnock obviously doesn't consider to be as good as his wee brother). Apologies if any of them are injured or otherwise unavailable, but they can't all be.

[craig7042]

good man great way so support your country .. muppet

Yeh I agree. He must be proud of himself. Pity some of the people on this website dont get the same critique that Staunton gets. He's one man against the nation. He played 100 times for his country at the top level and we all act like we have the right to abuse him.

Whats the big deal about Finnan and O'Shea's positions by the way??? Since when was that a big issue in that match? I dont understand? Finnan is well able to play either position and O'Shea is a weak link wherever he plays. but he's a Man Utd player and it would be highly unusual not to play a Utd first team player. (I support Liverpool by the way).

I know the performance wasnt good, but look at England, Scotland, France, Italy.......Its not like we're the only ones struggling to play fluid football.

We won...end of story...

[The-Beer-Baron]

hunt was very impressive when he came on. he has that "i dont care who you are attitude". we need more players with the mentality like him. thats what we had in the late 80s and early 90s. we were a team that nobody liked playing against. yes we did play puke football but we can still play good football now but be more aggressive and not care who we are playing. we shouldnt give any team respect be it germany or san marino.
team for wednesday
given
oshea
mcshane
dunne
finnan
hunt
carsley
ireland
kilbane
duff
doyle

prediction 2-1 ireland

[eirebhoy]

Yez won the bloody match!!!
Where's the patriotism? :)

[craig7042]

[QUOTE=OwlsFan;651856]Who played the pass through to Ireland? Let me think. Oh, yeh Robbie Keane.

Yes. Robbie played Duff through for his chance in the first half. He put Ireland through for his goal, and he flicked on a beauty of a header for Doyle's crossbar shot....
And most significantly he ran his heart out for us.

Lay off him. He deserves better.

[Soko]

Yeh I agree. He must be proud of himself. Pity some of the people on this website dont get the same critique that Staunton gets. He's one man against the nation. He played 100 times for his country at the top level and we all act like we have the right to abuse him.

Whats the big deal about Finnan and O'Shea's positions by the way??? Since when was that a big issue in that match? I dont understand? Finnan is well able to play either position and O'Shea is a weak link wherever he plays. but he's a Man Utd player and it would be highly unusual not to play a Utd first team player. (I support Liverpool by the way).

I know the performance wasnt good, but look at England, Scotland, France, Italy.......Its not like we're the only ones struggling to play fluid football.

We won...end of story...


Were you saying "we won - end of story" after be scraped past San Marino?

Stauntons playing career has nothing to do with his managerial career. He has been an utter shambles as a manager, if he started his playing career like this he'd have been playing gaelic football by the time he 15. He is beyond pathetic and doesn't have the tactical nous to change things for the better. The only thing he can do is make us worse and it won't be pretty

Were you there yourself on Saturday?

[Rosco]

pure sh**e !!! keane on his arse as usual and moaning away at the ref as per normal, john o shea !!!!! spare me the "he plays for man utd" rubbish.
As for Staunton, the sooner he goes the better. Steve Ireland saying he's uncomfortable in that position, smacks of the coach not having a clue.
As for Keane ( THE OTHER ONE ) "Prawn Sandwich Brigade", spot on, just never thought i'd see it in Croker, nuff said !!!

[DeNiro]

[QUOTE=The-Beer-Baron;652226]hunt was very impressive when he came on. he has that "i dont care who you are attitude".


I agree, but will he be able to do it for 90 minutes? Would McGeady not be a better option to start? Hunt could be a better option when we need to take pressure off the defence late in the game.

[loscherland]

"It was a sensational Croker performance - by the crowd"

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1800390&issue_id=15412

"the performance of the crowd was sensational."... What planet is this mongo on? Atmosphere on Saturday was by far one of the worst i've ever witnessed at a home (competitive) international (Obvioulsly not helped in any way by events on the pitch)... Mexican wave :confused: !!? - That basically sums it all up!

[shelbourne1904]

Did anyone notice that we finished the game with 4 wide left players or ,in the old days ,outside lefts???Kilbane ,McGeady,Duff and Hunt??????
Just more confusion

[Ozymandias]

Whats the big deal about Finnan and O'Shea's positions by the way??? Since when was that a big issue in that match? I dont understand?

took a while to confirm who you are..it is clear now what your at and the above comment onlty cements what i have now confirmed.....

[gustavo]

Did anyone else think that Stephen Hunt didnt do that great really? Sure he was all enthusiastic but he had 4 or 5 runs and ended up on his arse at the end of each run.

[tricky_colour]

This photo (http://www.chatsoccer.eu/images/robbieclaim.jpg)appears to show him taken from behind but you can also see his hand raised for the penalty claim.


It just looks like he is claiming as he is going down, which is perfectly legitimate. I supose if his hand was outstretched you would have claimed it showed him diving? Can't win can he?

[tetsujin1979]

Did anyone else think that Stephen Hunt didnt do that great really? Sure he was all enthusiastic but he had 4 or 5 runs and ended up on his arse at the end of each run.
He ended up on his arse because he was getting tackled, he won more frees in 15 minutes than the rest of the team did in the whole game!

[tricky_colour]

One of the best views of the day (http://www.chatsoccer.eu/images/jenkins.jpg) ;)



You quite like Lee Carsley then do you? ;)

[OwlsFan]

pure sh**e !!! keane on his arse as usual and moaning away at the ref as per normal, john o shea !!!!! spare me the "he plays for man utd" rubbish.
As for Staunton, the sooner he goes the better. Steve Ireland saying he's uncomfortable in that position, smacks of the coach not having a clue.
As for Keane ( THE OTHER ONE ) "Prawn Sandwich Brigade", spot on, just never thought i'd see it in Croker, nuff said !!!

This is the sort of knee jerk stuff that is so irritating. Keane was on "his arse moaning at the ref" because he was taken down from behind. Tell me any player in the world who wouldn't do the same in a similar position. Was he "on his arse" when he played the through ball to Ireland for the goal. Was he "on his arse" when up front on his own he tirelessly harried the Welsh back four. Some people have preconceived ideas of players and will just turn a blind eye to their good work.

O'Shea had a better game than normal in what was a solid defensive game by the team as a whole. Sure he gave the ball away with aimless punts up the field but I didn't see anyone showing to take a pass. The crowd are waiting for the misplaced pass etc and then diving down his neck.

There has been a lot of criticism of the switching of Finnan and O'Shea. However, Wales' two best players, Bellamy and Giggs, were kept quiet for most of the game. Did it not work therefore?

[tricky_colour]

Did anyone else think that Stephen Hunt didnt do that great really? Sure he was all enthusiastic but he had 4 or 5 runs and ended up on his arse at the end of each run.

I thought did well, injected some energy into the the attack and usually ended up on his arse because he was brought down, winning us a valuable free kick in a dangerous area. He has had 20(7) starts for Reading this season, a 'top team'. How many of our players would have put away this chance and demolished the corner flag?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BCI7N4UFcQ
Some of our players appear a little too fragile physically and seem afraid to get involved in anything physical on the pitch.

[Scram]

I thought did well, injected some energy into the the attack and usually ended up on his arse because he was brought down, winning us a valuable free kick in a dangerous area. He has had 20(7) starts for Reading this season, a 'top team'. How many of our players would have put away this chance and demolished the corner flag?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BCI7N4UFcQ
Some of our players appear a little too fragile physically and seem afraid to get involved in anything physical on the pitch.

Hunt would have been MOTM if he played for 5 more minutes :D :(

[tricky_colour]

Did anyone notice that we finished the game with 4 wide left players or ,in the old days ,outside lefts???Kilbane ,McGeady,Duff and Hunt??????
Just more confusion

We seem to suffer from having too many left wingers and too few right sided ones. I mean usually you have 1 left footed person for every 10 right footed ones we seem to have have about 1000 times more left footed players than you would normally expect in a given population!!

[Stuttgart88]

Our pattern of play, if you'd call it that was laughable in 2nd half. Full back gets ball, chips it forward 30 yards, front players haven't got the technique to control properly, possession lost, Wales put together 30 passes and our full back gets the ball again 2 minutes later for it all to start again.

I thought the pitch was bad and I think it was quite windy at pitch level, but Wales' ball retention was excellent at times - by a bunch of players with far less "pedigree" than ours, so bumps & wind can't be excuses.

Doyle, Hunt, Ireland and McShane are the players who look hungry and mature these days. Between Kerr & Keane during the week, their comments summarise a lot of our problems, though I think Keane's "anti-Cork" comments are ludicrous when Miller's place has gone to Stephen Ireland. Miller's performances have drawn attention to his ineffectiveness, not his accent.

[Billsthoughts]

Thats because traditionally English clubs recruit in areas were they are weak in so Ireland tend to have more left sided players playing at a higher level while England in general never have many.

[Billsthoughts]

Our pattern of play, if you'd call it that was laughable in 2nd half. Full back gets ball, chips it forward 30 yards, front players haven't got the technique to control properly, possession lost, Wales put together 30 passes and our full back gets the ball again 2 minutes later for it all to start again.

Doyle, Hunt, Ireland and McShane are the players who look hungry and mature these days. Between Kerr & Keane during the week, their comments summarise a lot of our problems, though I think Keane's "anti-Cork" comments are ludicrous when Miller's place has gone to Stephen Ireland. Miller's performances have drawn attention to his ineffectiveness, not his accent.

Agreed on these players. They show an attitute that seems to be totally at odds with that of everyone else on the team. If we can win on Wed nite(and nothing and saturday suggests its a foregone conclusion) then amazingly given the cyprus disaster we will have a chance of qualifying. Would love to see us giving it a real go. none of this excuses rubbish. I think the fans would get behind a team that was trying to qualify and a lot of the negativity that surrounds the Irish team at the moment might disappear.

[Nailer77]

And if we do qualify it'll be in spite of Staunton not because of him. I think its irrelevant anyway because I've a bad feeling that the Slovaks are going to show us a thing or two on Wednesday.

[irlphily]

3 points against Slovaks and we still have decent chance of qualifying, Stephen Hunt to start on Wednesday!!

[Nailer77]

3 points against Slovaks and we still have decent chance of qualifying, Stephen Hunt to start on Wednesday!!

Those 3 points are not exactly going to be easy to come about if we perform as we have in our last 2 games. We'll need the performance of the Czech game and some more to get them. I'm far from confident.

[youngirish]

I suppose you didn't see his through ball to Ireland either for the goal ? No?
Great he passed the ball a few yards to Ireland who still had it all to do. Through ball me bo**ox. Kilbane could have made that pass. Ireland made that goal himself.

He was on the floor everytime he went for the ball. What about his chance where Kilbane played it through to him 6 yards from an open goal? On his ar*e. Also he could have cost us the game at the end by his silly idiotic play outside the box when he needlessy gave away possesion which resulted in Giggs crap freekick. Would you be singing his praises then? I expect more responsible play from the captain than giving away a needless freekick at the edge of our box in the last few minutes of the game.

Watch it on telly next time man you must have been singing Ole Ole Ole and moaning about the atmosphere for most of the match instead of watching the game.

Also as for all those complaining about the atmosphere it's hard to get excited watching sh*te, frustrating football. Maybe the atmosphere would have been better if the game had even been half decent. Most of the crowd tried their best. The Welsh didn't help either.

[Nailer77]

Great he passed the ball a few yards to Ireland who still had it all to do. Through ball me bo**ox. Kilbane could have made that pass. Ireland made that goal himself.

He was on the floor everytime he went for the ball. What about his chance where Kilbane played it through to him 6 yards from an open goal? On his ar*e. Also he could have cost us the game at the end by his silly idiotic play outside the box when he gave away possesion whicc resulted in Giggs crap freekick. Would you be singing his praises then? I expect more responsible play from the captain than giving away a needless freekick at the edge of our box in the last few minutes of the game.

Watch it on telly next time man you must have been singing Ole Ole Ole and moaning about the atmosphere for most of the match instead of watching the game.

Also as for all those complaining about the atmosphere it's hard to get excited watching sh*te, frustrating football. Maybe the atmosphere would have been better if the game had even been half decent. Most of the crowd tried their best. The Welsh didn't help either.

I'm not a huge fan of Robbie but in fairness to him most of our chances came from him. Doesn't mean he played well but he's got something most of the others don't and thats some sort of creativity. He needs to cut out the f*cking moaning and hand waving and concentrate on whats happening on the pitch, thats what captains are supposed to do. And the reason he spent so much time on his arse was because of the state of the pitch, he wasn't the only one.