Ireland 1-0 Slovakia Post Match Thread [Archive] - Page 2

Piltownpossy

29/03/2007, 7:30 AM

Got back from the match at 2, in here at work at 8 - bloody wrecked.

Bualadh Bos to the lads though.

Great game, huge improvement on Saturday both on and off the pitch. As has been said, Duffs best game with years, Doyle playing the lone striker role perfectly, Kilbane ran his *******s off - all credit to him, McShane and Duff were very good at the back with Given.

My only low lights were the positioning of Finnan - always coming back onto his right foot is extremely limiting, unlike all the posters here I thought the game passed Stephen Ireland by and finally McGeadys distribution after all his good work was poor. All three very much easy to correct before September.

The future is somewhat brighter this morning.

;)

greendeiseboy

29/03/2007, 7:56 AM

a good result - 3 points and joint top - ok they have games in hand, but they still have to win these games.

but we shouldn't get too carried away.

I think the positives were

We got 3points in the bag
Kevin Doyle - should now start instead of or definitely alongside keane
Shane Long - showed confidence, skill and aggression, has the potential
to be a world class striker
Stephen Hunt - he's everything we love about football
despite the fact that he looks like wurzel gummages
lovechild
They seemed to be more motivated last night
Shay Given - has to be among the top 3 in the world
Robbie Keane - he didn't play so lets hope that this a wake up call

The negatives

We still have a tendency to let the opposition come at us when we
have a slender lead instead of going at them
Slovaks dominated majority of 2nd half just like Welsh on Saturday
Still playing some out of position
Gameplans have to worked on
Ball still being given away cheaply
Need to up the goalscoring ratio

But all in all we're back in with a shout even though i dont think we'll qualify given that we have 3 tough away games and a home game against the kaisers

And as for stan - well before the weekend i wanted him out - now i'm probably 30% with him - so lets wait and see

G-Man

29/03/2007, 8:03 AM

Much improved performance. More determination and effort to this one than was evident on Saturday. There is room for Robbie Keane in that team, but Doyle showed how to play the lone striker, not like Keane who persisted in playing his style of game rather than play up front for the benefit of the team. I wonder too does the captaincy affect hings more on the pitch. With Given leading by example, and Keane not so much, would that be an influence on players around to lift their game? I'd like to see Doyle as the front man and letting Keane play his own game off him then.

Long did well when he came on too, as did Hunt. Fecking ALan Quinn nearly gave everyone a heart attack. Duff was good too, a few lazy hoofs up the field at times, but worked hard. McGeady for all his faults was at least looking for the ball on the ground and was willing to take things on. Final ball needs improvement. Back line did well. Swap O'Shea nd Finnan tho for gods sake.

And that fcuking god damn mexican wave. that pi$$ed me right off. Again, started when the opposition are getting on top. Fair play to what I assume were the EL fans at the back of the Davin for stopping it by singing stand up FTBIG.

macdermesser

29/03/2007, 8:15 AM

And that fcuking god damn mexican wave. that pi$$ed me right off. Again, started when the opposition are getting on top. Fair play to what I assume were the EL fans at the back of the Davin for stopping it by singing stand up FTBIG.

I think that should be the response every time the gobshi'ites start the wave. The "stand up FTBIG" antidote.

anto1208

29/03/2007, 8:39 AM

I think that should be the response every time the gobshi'ites start the wave. The "stand up FTBIG" antidote.

The only thing worse than the wave is that stand up nonsence ..... no wait i stand corrected ole ole ole :o

Im delighted to see stan finally settling on a decent side i allways said it would take him a good few games to settle and get the youngsters settled aswell , i just wished the idiots had realised this too and laid off him .( bar the finnan o shea thing i dont get that )

Now if he would just drop kilbane and not give into the start hunt brigade we ll do ok

elroy

29/03/2007, 8:50 AM

All I asked of last night was three points and signs of progress and we def got that. I wouldnt get too carried away though, I still dont think we are good enough to qualify. But our defence is certainly a plus point, over the two games we were rarely troubled. I said it before the two games that JOSH has been playing well for united and i thought sat and particularly last night he did quite well so hopefully people will lay off him now.

Good performances throughout except maybe McGeady and Ireland in patches. Hunt is such a crowd lifter, even when he was warming up he got the crowd going. Am sceptical though if he started would he have the same impact, he does an awful amount of running when he comes on. Doyle did well, still short of full fitness and Long was a good subsitition when we were hitting them on the break. Overall, am happy progress made now keep it up!

And what a difference in atmosphere compared to sat, no more 3 o clock starts please, was in the Hogan near the canal end last night and the support was superb, stopped the stupid mexican wave too! And the whistling at the end - DEAFENING. All in all a good nights work!

Countyman

29/03/2007, 8:54 AM

I'm suprised nobody mentioned Lee Carsleys contribution last night. I thought he was very effective. Richard Dunne didnt deserve man of the match. That should have been Duff. I though McGeady did quite well actually. Most of the irish players were guilty of poor distribution but there were a couple of passages of play that were a joy to watch and finally its omething that can be built on.

Although I'm no fan of Stan I'm a bit more positive this morning. Its still going to take at least 10 or 11 points from the last 15 to qualify which will be a tall order.

Long and Hunt definately made a difference when they cam on as we were under pressure up to that point. Dare I say it but should the manager get credit for those substitutions?

citizenerased

29/03/2007, 9:00 AM

Stand up was great last night..when i seen that mexican wave startin again i went spare...fair play to the ultras on the lower davin!!

Billsthoughts

29/03/2007, 9:04 AM

People need to back off the team now and the manager. They havent qualified for anything yet, but they've earned respect, so lets have it please. A lot of people in that crowd tonight had very straight faces at the end.
If you hadnt been so vicious previously, maybe you might have been able to enjoy the night to the full like some of us who supported the team through the tough times.

Good man Stan. Fair play. And well done to the team on 6 great points against the odds. Good team spirit.

tough times? 2-5 against Cyprus and 0-4 against holland and a last minute winner against san marino are not tough times. they are clueless and inept times. We bet an understrength Slovakia team one nil at home. We far from hammered them. At least we played with a bit of passion. people are well within their rights to give out about the muck that was served up on sat. Hunt in his post match comments was right when he said you show the crowd early on that you are willing to get stuck in and they will get behind you. Anyway I wouldnt get too carried away with the smugness just yet....could be more "tough times" ahead....

youngirish

29/03/2007, 9:15 AM

Improvement was noticable last night. Still some puzzling selections by Stan though but we won.

Positives:
Duff - Brilliant, MOTM by a distance. Defended and attacked like a man out to prove a point.
Hunt - Excellent when he came on. Created an excellent chance for Long who should have buried it. Why does he not start Stan?
Mc Shane - Another top class performance. Outstanding in the tackle and also looks comfortable on the ball. Could be a top player for us in the future.
Finnan - Another solid performance from our consistently best defender in recent years even though he was played out of position.
Long - Looks a player. Had a few chances when he came on and he should at least have came away with a goal. Strong and quick and good in the air I rate this lad a better prospect than Stokes at present.

Negatives:
Mc Geady - Shocking, he gave the ball away everytime he got it. He always struggles against decent opposition and is living off one decent performance years ago against Milan and his club performances against rubbish defences in a crap league. He's not up to it lads. Hunt and S Quinn should be in front of him for selection in the next few matches.
Kilbane and JOS - Surely we need to replace these by now. Not one of their worst games but they didn't contribute much either.

In the end though we still have a long way to go we could easily have drawn the game last night if Slovakia had been half decent. The Czechs and the Germans would still have beaten us if we play like we did last night against either (and we need at least 4 points against both IMO).

Ceirtlis

29/03/2007, 9:15 AM

Good result last night, its 6 points on the board that alot of people couldnt see us getting. Good to see a bit of purpose to the play as well. Slovakia will be disappointed they didnt get something as i think they had a few good chances especially towards the end Given really saved us on one occasion. The Slovaks were really on top about 15 minutes after half time and had us penned back but bringing hunt on lifted the team as he was prepared to be adventurous going forward and gave the slovaks something to think about at the back even if he lost the ball a good few times straight away after coming on. Most the team can feel reasonably happy with their performance except for McGeady who i think had a bit of a stinker unfortunately. O'Shea was brilliant i thought, very composed in defence and always made sure to find a man when he had the ball, it was important to keep possesion and he did it well. Carsley played well and was a bit more positive with the ball than he normally is. Kilbane had some right skillful touches in the first half but he really faded i thought cant fault him for effort as usual though. Duff played like he was playing was a few years ago. Still dont think the tactics were right though and id say if we had gone at that team abit more we would have got more goals. It gives us an outside chance of qualifying i suppose but i aint getting my hopes up. Some big big results are needed like winning away against Slovakia and Wales as you can not see the Czechs or Germany dropping points against them and i just dont see that happening at the moment. Realistically if we can hold on to third place and get a fair few points on the board it wont be a bad outcome although it would probably mean Stan keeps his job which i cant see as benefiting to us in the long term.

conlonn

29/03/2007, 9:17 AM

McShane excellent prospect, Hope West Brom get promoted then he will be playing at a higher level every week, Carsley was excellent last night,
Mcgeady has a bit to go yet but he will learn and get better, he three Reading boys were all excellent and the timing of the subs by Stan was spot on. Those subs gave Slovaks something to think about instead of them pushing on.
S Ireladn was very good. Its something to build on. Trips to Bratisvala and pargaue will be tough
Robbie Keane should take note of that perfomance by Doyle ofr effort and workrate and not complaining the whole time. He should not be captain anymore.
S McPhail and L Miller should be in the squad though.
All in all a vast improvement

macdermesser

29/03/2007, 9:23 AM

The only thing worse than the wave is that stand up nonsence ..... no wait i stand corrected ole ole ole :o

Im delighted to see stan finally settling on a decent side i allways said it would take him a good few games to settle and get the youngsters settled aswell , i just wished the idiots had realised this too and laid off him .( bar the finnan o shea thing i dont get that )

Now if he would just drop kilbane and not give into the start hunt brigade we ll do ok

Would much rather that instead of the wave .. think we definitely need a few new tunes though!

Thought Kilbane did well last night. A lot of tracking and running back and energy .. stuff that the more discerning eye will catch. ;)

Long looks a prospect .. thought he was brilliant when he came on and it was a very good substitution by Stan which put the pressure back on the slovak defenders as Doyle was tiring.

Thought he might have taken Duff off as he looked knackered too but we got away with that

Billsthoughts

29/03/2007, 9:27 AM

have to say I like mageady. he can play football which is more than you can say for a lot of them. its up to other players around him to call for the ball when he is beating players as he draws in players there should be more room. he lost the ball a lot cause he wanted the ball a lot. its an improvement on a lot of players who go thru matches afraid to have a go. stephen ireland was no better but because he is flavour of the month everyone says he was great. he went missing for long periods as well. thought kilbane and macshane played well. and finnan also. duff is still a little too prone to looking for frees. he used to get them now he goes looking for them. o shea was better than usual. carsley did enough. was a good performance but far from the finished product and the manger would want to get his act together between now and the next competitive game if we are going to qualify.

Over the post

29/03/2007, 9:55 AM

Nailer77

29/03/2007, 9:55 AM

Massive improvement from whats we've seen so far. The right selection, the right subs and the right game plan. The defence was fantastic though O'Shea still looks the weak link and will probably be pushed by Joey O'Brien (not Carr!)next season. We looked far more direct without Robbie in there complicating things. Its simple, our wingers are our greatest threat and luckily in Doyle we've a striker thats good in the air and has a great ability to hold play up. Thats not to say Keane shouldn't come back but when he does he needs to play the role required of him which is off Doyle not as a 5th midfielder trying to do everything and upsetting matters. And with Andy Reid and Stephen Ireland well capable of playing as a third advanced midfielder it gives us a real alternative.

Given - Excellent in what he had to do. A real captain.

O'Shea - Was good enough on the night but still had too many of his 'moments', just doesn't inspire confidence at all.

Dunne - Immense

McShane - The same, can't believe he's that young.

Finnan - Excellent though you can tell he's not happy that side and as he offers more of a threat going forward than O'Shea I'd be moving him back right but at least we know he can play LB

Carsley - Did his defensive job very well but when you play centre mid you have to offer yourself as an outlet and he was reluctant to do so. Which wouldn't be too bad except that he had Kilbane alongside him who's much the same.

Kilbane - No centre mid but put in all the effort in the world and didn't give them a break, Steven Reid should claim this spot when he's fit

Stephen Ireland - Did the role asked of him to the best of his ability but thought he was always gonna struggle playing as close to Doyle as he started off. Again showed real ability, but I'd prefer to see him a bit closer to the others in midfield, collecting the ball and making things happen.

Duff - Fantastic, vintage stuff. Hope he keeps it up.

McGeady - Thought it was a bit typical of McGeady from what I've seen of him. Flashes of brilliance but often overdid it or took the wrong option. Still it was a big occasion and he's got plenty of time, did a lot of good as well.

Doyle - Brilliant, a real centre forward. Scored, created chances, held the ball up well to allow Duff and McGeady to get up and won plenty of ball of their defenders.

Subs
Hunt - Another brilliant cameo, should probably get McGeadys spot in the next game. Can cross a ball.

Long - Good stuff. Probably should have scored but showed real talent after the unfair abuse he got off some after San Marino.

Quinn - Not on long but still managed to balls one passage of play completely which almost led to a goal, don't really know what he was doing.

So encouraging but its only one win and there's a way to go yet. If we can continue to improve on this and still don't qualify Stan will deserve two more years. But the danger is we revert to a Cyprus or San Marino as we did after Germany and Czech. This game can only be taken positively if we build on it. Stan has a game plan now and the personell to carry it out, he needs to be brave with his selections an reintroduce players and the expense of others and maybe leave some established players out if thats whats needed. And please no more statements about only picking PL strikers or putting his faith in the kids. If there are older players or lads in the Championship doing the business then don't hold it against them, we don't have a huge pool to pick from. And you need a friendly or two to really start looking at another CB or two if something happens to Dunne or McShane.

And Fair play to the crowd last night, haven't had an atmosphere like that since the Holland game in 2001.

Nailer77

29/03/2007, 10:01 AM

Didn't get to see the match unfortunately but it's great to see the enthusiasm and optimism here and in the press.

One thing that worries me though is that the "shots on target" count was 7-3 in Slovakia's favour and Given, Dunne and McShane seem to have been our most outstanding performers (Dunne getting man of the match). It's true that there seems to be plenty of potential with Doyle, Duff, Ireland and Hunt looking good going forward, but according to the stats (read them in the Indo) the Slovaks had the lion's share of both the possession (55/45) and the chances.

Not wishing to rain on anyone's parade, the Slovaks (even at full strength) are no world-beaters and I wouldn't be getting too excited just yet. Still, as I say, great to see a bit of enthusiasm about the place.

And fair dues to Norn Iron, top of a group containing Spain, Sweden and Denmark!

Probably agree with most of that. They definitely had more possession and at times I was going mad that we couldn't keep it more but this is were the Reids will hopefully make a difference cos Carsley and Kilbane didn't take enough ownership of the ball and even left the wide lads stranded at times looking for an outlet. The fact is that was a new setup last night with Doyle, Duff, Ireland and McGeady in attack so it'll take some time to get it right but the signs were encouraging. And yeh this performance will only stand the test of time if we build on it, no point in reverting to what we've seen recently or it won't be worth a sh1te.

OwlsFan

29/03/2007, 10:27 AM

What has pleased me about BOTH games is that the defence has been pretty solid. O'Shea defended well last night (caught out of position once and one poor header but overall did well). McShane was also excellent along with Dunne.

McGeady, other than the quick stop party piece didn't achieve much and I would say he was the only one I wasn't pleased with on the night. But there's time yet for him and the bumpy pitch didn't suit him.

Kilbane will be retained for his physicality and height until Stephen Reid returns.

The absence of two strikers told a few times when crosses went in to the back post and our one striker had made a run to the near post.

We're not back in it as a number of people have said (trips to Slovakia and the Czech Republic are unlikely to yield much) but we have regained respectability and some pride. To be honest I would have expected 6 points from both games (I never thought we were as bad as some said) but at least we're not laughing stocks anymore. Glad for Stan.

Drumcondra 69er

29/03/2007, 10:29 AM

Very positive performance last night, hard to fault anyone. Very surprised to see McGeady being criticised, while by no means outstanding he was quite effective and was available as an outlet pretty consistently. Carsley really dictated things from where he sat in midfield, again not exceptioonal but constantly cajoled those around him, gave clear instruction and was a major part in the team keeping it's shape. Hunt has culty hero written all over him, gave teh ball away 3 times in his first 3 minutes but as I said to the lads with me at the time last night, to get on the ball that often straight away is something in itself, he's the polar opposite of a player who hides and was excellent with his possesion after that. Long really should've scored from Hunt's exceptional second cross. Doyle took his goal superbly, back 4 were very solid, Given got Quinn out of jail with that late save after Quinn had needlessly conceded possesion but would be loath to fault anyone really.

Roll on September, still don't think Stan's the man for the job but we've given ourselves a chance.

Crowd were excellent for getting behind the team but mexican waves should be illegal unless there's a 2 goal cusion minimum! And what has happened all our songs? I recall when the likes of Molly Malone being regulalrly sung amongst other, now we only have 4 songs, Ole ole, come on you boys in green, stand up for the boys in green and Ireland, clap clap clap. Should do better!!

Nailer77

29/03/2007, 10:34 AM

Wouldn't say Carsley dicatated things. You need to get on the ball to dictate play. Defensively he was excellent, solid and covered the ground well but to get the best out of Carsley you need to let him do just that and and Kilbane alongside him was never going to offer himself as much of an outlet. Stephen Reid and Andy Reid will be better partners for Carsley. Thats not a criticism of him by the way, he's limited but at least he knows it.

drummerboy

29/03/2007, 10:36 AM

My ratings from the Hogan stan

Given 9: two vital saves, consistant as ever.
O'Shea 7: Passing was a bit better, his man only got by him twice
Finnan 9: Excellent performance despite being handicapped by playing on his wrong side. Made some telling tackles in the 2nd half, nothing went by him all night.
McShane 8: Had a real battle with his bigger opponent. But despite getting clattered a few times, kept to his task. Its a pity he is not a little bigger.
Dunne 9: Excellent perforance by the big man.
McGeady 6: Bet his opponent many times, but gave the ball away 90% of the time. Not ready yet.
Carsley 7: Done what he was there for: to protect the back for and break up their play.
Kilbane 7 What he lacks in style he makes up for in effort.
Duff 9: Excellent, vintage Duff. I was beginning to think that his legs were gone, but after last night I could be wrong.
Ireland 7: Looked a lot more confident last night that Saturday. Made some nice passes, best is yet to come.
Doyle 8: Worked tirelessle, despite not being fully fit.
Hunt 8: Great work when he came on, he really lifts the crowd and looks as if he really cares.
Long 7: Some nice touches, could have scored 2. Certainly one for the future

CROWD: EXCELLENT, Got behind the team from start to finish.

Despite all this, I don't think we have much of a chance against Slovakia and Czech Reputlic away from home.

greendeiseboy

29/03/2007, 10:40 AM

I recall when the likes of Molly Malone being regulalrly sung amongst other,

that's because us culchies ( who now make up the majority of the team) dont know the words - we might give ye a blast of boolavogue or slievenamon or a few val doonican numbers at the next one - come to think of it didnt he sing delaney's donkey!!

Jerry The Saint

29/03/2007, 10:48 AM

well done to the team on 6 great points against the odds.

To be fair, we were healthy favourites for both home games so it certainly wasn't 6 points against the odds. The important thing is that it keeps (slim) hopes alive for the double-header in CzechnSlovakia and leaves us in a strong position to finish 3rd at least.

That kind of performance is really what Ireland should be doing every time - not world-beaters but at least watchable. :) Most games up to now the players have been playing below their true level - last night (and Czech at home, possibly Stuttgart) I feel they played at about their right level which was good enough for a narrow win. The next step is to bring it to a higher level and play above themselves, like the Ireland teams that qualifed before, for all their remaining matches (we could conceivably drop points in each of the remaining games if we slip back to the Cyprus/San Marino/Wales standard of performance again).

Nailer77

29/03/2007, 10:55 AM

To be fair, we were healthy favourites for both home games so it certainly wasn't 6 points against the odds. The important thing is that it keeps (slim) hopes alive for the double-header in CzechnSlovakia and leaves us in a strong position to finish 3rd at least.

That kind of performance is really what Ireland should be doing every time - not world-beaters but at least watchable. :) Most games up to now the players have been playing below their true level - last night (and Czech at home, possibly Stuttgart) I feel they played at about their right level which was good enough for a narrow win. The next step is to bring it to a higher level and play above themselves, like the Ireland teams that qualifed before, for all their remaining matches (we could conceivably drop points in each of the remaining games if we slip back to the Cyprus/San Marino/Wales standard of performance again).

Bang on there. Finishing 3rd in this group would show an improvement on Kerr and Stan would deserve a further 2 years to build but like you say we've seen this before against the Czechs only for the team to revert to type against San Marino and Cyprus. We've a game plan now and the players to do it so lets hope we don't complicate things needlessly. We can build on what we saw last night.

tetsujin1979

29/03/2007, 11:05 AM

Few pics from the night here, was up in the gods, so some are a bit blurry, got a snap of the foot.ie flag though: http://picasaweb.google.com/tetsujin1979/IrelandSlovakia

eighties mullet

29/03/2007, 11:28 AM

How did the reaction to Hunt come across on TV? He's a bit of a cult hero. :D The atmosphere was 20 times better than Saturday. It's always a good sign when you can't hear yourself sing. It got quiet a bit but that was just because the Slovakians were dominating at that point.

The bloody mexican wavers are annoying me. Who are they? About 100 people in the Canal corner with white tops on. The game was really tense at one point and all they care about is starting a mexican wave off.

The Slovakian fans were a lot better than the Welsh which helped the atmosphere. When they sang we sang.

Yea that mexican wave does my head in,
that craps for boring friendlies,

DeNiro

29/03/2007, 11:35 AM

Here's my take on last night!

Given - Excellent. Kept us in it with an early save.

Finnan - Got some criticism in the papers. I thought he did ok. The left doesn't suit him.

Dunne - Absolute colossus. Can pass the ball as well. Transfer from City would benefit him.

McShane - An outstanding talent. Will get better as well. Hard to think he is that young.

O'Shea - clumsy at times. Seriously slow.

Duff - back to the good old days. Faded a little I thought. He doesn't act like a senior player. Rarely encourages those around him.

Carsley - Strong. Where was he on 7 October?

Ireland - not as good as Saturday. Huge Potential though.

Kilbane - He tries. I do think if he wasn't there we'd miss his effort.

McGeady - nothing major yet. Hard to believe his Champions League material on last night's show.

Doyle - Absolute class. Epitomises the 'play for the jersey' motto.

Hunt - Excellent. Danger of starting him is he could fade very easily with all his efforts.

Long - Interesting sub. Expected Stokes. Looks neat.

Anyone with a DVD recording of last night's game? Will cover costs.

Drumcondra 69er

29/03/2007, 11:57 AM

Very positive performance last night, hard to fault anyone. Very surprised to see McGeady being
Wouldn't say Carsley dicatated things. You need to get on the ball to dictate play. Defensively he was excellent, solid and covered the ground well but to get the best out of Carsley you need to let him do just that and and Kilbane alongside him was never going to offer himself as much of an outlet. Stephen Reid and Andy Reid will be better partners for Carsley. Thats not a criticism of him by the way, he's limited but at least he knows it.

Not saying he dictated things in the same way that a Keane or a creative player would have in the past, was actually talking about the way he organised the payers around him when he hadn't got the balll. Whenever the play was in front of him he was barking out orders, telling Kilbane when he could push up and when to stay back and generally making sure we held our shape.

Wolfie

29/03/2007, 12:46 PM

On the specifics of last nights performance - glad to say the team delivered what many had been calling for: commitment, urgency and at least some cohesion to their play with a few great individual performances and of course - the win.

The start was crucial. Having weathered the early bits of pressure, the team gained in confidence and the crowd became more vocal as a result. Both semmed to buzz off each other after that.

I was right next to the Slovaks section and that lot can whip up some racket. The Slovaks away will be an intimidating place.

Dunne and McShane seem to complement each other well and were solid.

Thought Doyle led the line brilliantly - took the clatters the opposition dished out and laid the ball off intelligently. Took his goal very well. It was a welcome change from Keane running to take a throw in near the corner flag when he should be in the oppositions box or waving wildly at the ref for some imagined foul. Begs the question is Keane part of the solution or part of the problem?

The introduction of Hunt and Long was the shot in the arm we needed to see out the game. Hunt is far from polished - but his positive running at the Solvaks took some much needed pressure off our back four. Unlike Kilbane, he's more than just a blind runner - he's got an eye for a pass or a through ball.

That bloody Mexican Wave. Feckin Ole Ole.

Even "Stand up..........." is getting a bit played out. The mass need to stand up, sit down, sing and intermittently pray must be a by-product of Sunday Mass that's ingrained in the Irish Psyche.

Block G Raptor

29/03/2007, 12:52 PM

We need to find a left back from somewhere Finnan is not the answer.
Shouldn't have to look too far there was a half decent left back playing right back last night :D

McGinty

29/03/2007, 12:55 PM

That bloody Mexican Wave. Feckin Ole Ole.

Even "Stand up..........." is getting a bit played out. The mass need to stand up, sit down, sing and intermittently pray must be a by-product of Sunday Mass that's ingrained in the Irish Psyche.

i know the repetitiveness of the same 3 songs is annoying, but given the paucity of well known songs its hard to get a new one going

i sang ole ole just for a change, one thing i wont sing is the Fields of Athenry though :rolleyes:

Lionel Ritchie

29/03/2007, 12:56 PM

get a life...this is the night that the negativity....and never ending STUPIDITY of this sort of comment died.........

The headlines on Sunday arrogantly said "Now do it against a good team Stan".

Well he did....so eat that!
you must find it hard to take eh?

There's nothing stupid about 7 points from five games against non-pub teams Craig.

Very relieved we held on for the win. Players deserve a heap of credit but Stan hardly does. I stand over my assertion that anything these players achieve in this group will be in spite of him -not likely because of him.

The-Beer-Baron

29/03/2007, 1:16 PM

its as simple as this...
mcgeady out
kilbane out
hunt in
kelly in and move oshea to midfield
keep robbie on the sideline for awhile then he might realise what it means to represent your country

RogerMilla

29/03/2007, 1:20 PM

cant agree with kilbane out , he worked like a dog and made things easier for duff

eirebhoy

29/03/2007, 1:25 PM

Decent highlights:
http://static.filefront.com/ffv6/video/fullpage.html?v=88934

McShane. :D

OwlsFan

29/03/2007, 2:30 PM

Thought Doyle led the line brilliantly - took the clatters the opposition dished out and laid the ball off intelligently. Took his goal very well. It was a welcome change from Keane running to take a throw in near the corner flag when he should be in the oppositions box or waving wildly at the ref for some imagined foul. Begs the question is Keane part of the solution or part of the problem? .

I saw Doyle waving his hands at least 5 times looking for a foul. If you don't like someone, you find their habits irritating. If you like them, you don't even notice them.

Nailer77

29/03/2007, 2:35 PM

I saw Doyle waving his hands at least 5 times looking for a foul. If you don't like someone, you find their habits irritating. If you like them, you don't even notice them.

Hold on a minute. Robbie is notorious for it, whether he deserves a foul or not. He spends far too much time bitching and moaning and not concentrating on whats going on, and for a captain thats not good enough. He should be leading by example.

Bottle of Tonic

29/03/2007, 3:35 PM

I don't think O Shea is getting enough credit. Looked very solid throughout, strong in the tackle and I don't think Finnan did so much better than most people are making out. Obviously I'd swap them both across but I think O Shea's versatility is a massive bonus for us. We were near enough at full strength for these fixtures but that doesn't always happen at international level(hardly ever does in fact) so to have someone for the next good few years who can play anywhere across the back and slot into CM and look resonably comfortable is a plus.
We now know he's a decent emergency keeper too and also if Stan ever gets sent to the stands we should bring Johno off and put him in the technical area in his place. I've no doubt he'd slot in there successfully too.
Johno for taioseach.

youngirish

29/03/2007, 3:48 PM

By the time the next set of qualifiers (6 months down the road) come around how about this team:

Given

Finnan
Dunne
McShane
Kelly
S Quinn
J O'Brien
Ireland
Duff
Doyle
Keane

Subs
Supple/ Logan
O'Dea/ O'Shea
S Reid/ Carlsey
Hunt/A Reid
Long/Stokes

That looks very strong to me (far stronger than the first 11 of anyone else in this group on paper). Remember Joey O'Brien was far better IMO than Ireland last year and look how much he's progressed so if O'Brien can get himself fit in the summer then he could be class. Hopefully he'll get more games as a midfielder under his belt also (his natural position). Also O'Dea, S Quinn, Kelly, McShane and Stokes should all be regulars in the Premiership or SPL next season so the future looks good.

DeNiro

29/03/2007, 3:56 PM

[QUOTE=youngirish;655965]By the time the next set of qualifiers (6 months down the road) come around how about this team:

Given

Finnan
Dunne
McShane
Kelly
S Quinn
J O'Brien
Ireland
Duff
Doyle
Keane

Subs
Supple/ Logan
O'Dea/ O'Shea
S Reid/ Carlsey
Hunt/A Reid
Long/Stokes

These 3 have 6 caps between them. I wouldn't risk them all in a qualifier. Even Ireland is a bit of a risk at times. Needs Carsley beside him.

zenokelly

29/03/2007, 4:08 PM

Thought it was our best performance easily since Paris and maybe even Korea/Japan especially in first half.

I give Stan a lot opf credit. formation worked well with Doyler on his own. But still was a bit baffled with the full back thing.

Duff's best Irealnd game since Korea/Japan was magnificent getting by players and holding up the ball when no where to go.

Centre halves sensational all night.
Ireland's best game in green even without the ball - passed very well.

Wasn't excited with performance of full backs, thought they were poorest Irish performances last night.
If Stan wasn't so stubborn with Carsley before CYPRUS and the group would be a whole lot different, but 3 wins and 2 draws in AUTUMN and I think it will be good enough for us to have a 2008 summer to look forward to.

Will we do it? very very tough but also very achievable!

Nailer77

29/03/2007, 4:11 PM

cooee

29/03/2007, 4:12 PM

You can't play those 3 inexperienced players. If we've learned anyting it's that we need Carsely in there.

IMHO - the keeper and back 4 will be the same.....playing well as a unit.
Duff/Kilbane/Carsley will start in MF.

The decision is whether 4 5 1 or 4 4 2, with us being away it'll prob be 4 5 1 .
- then Ireland will also play.

That leaves a choice for the stiker - persoanlly Doyle looks a better bet....so up for graps is right sided mf - McGeady/Hunt/Keane.

The big decision is the Robbie Keane one - hopefully Stan won't fudge it like the English are with the Gerrard/Lampaed fiasco.

eirebhoy

29/03/2007, 4:13 PM

That looks very strong to me (far stronger than the first 11 of anyone else in this group on paper)
Jesus I think the Germans might have something to say about that. :) There's tons of Stephen Quinns and the like in the Bundesliga not coming close to a call up.

Collyontour

29/03/2007, 4:14 PM

Stan wouldn't drop Keane. I think one of the Reids should take the place of Kilbane.

youngirish

29/03/2007, 4:25 PM

There's hardly any point in complicating things. Whats wrong with going with the side we had out last night. You basically have our midfield manned by 3 kids there.
Read the post it was a suggestion of our possible team 6 months down the road not today. As for not changing the team, yeah we beat Wales and Slovakia at home so we should never change the team again???????? Roll on Brazil. Good one.

You can't play those 3 inexperienced players. If we've learned anyting it's that we need Carsely in there.

Maybe that's what you learned. What everyone else learned was that you can't play O'Shea or Kilbane in there. Carsley is a very limited player. If J O'Brien is playing and performing well as a holding midfield player for Bolton next year then I'd have a look at him. Of course try him in some friendlies first.

Jesus I think the Germans might have something to say about that. :) There's tons of Stephen Quinns and the like in the Bundesliga not coming close to a call up.

Stephen Quinn is one player of the 11. Anyway the German first 11 has some very average Bundesliga journeymen playing in it. On paper our strongest first 11 is better than theirs if we can agree that the Premiership is a better league than the Bundesliga (which it is).