Republic of Ireland V Serbia - Saturday, 24th May 2008 - Friendly

[dublinmick]

I was very impressed by Delaney. I thoughht Whelan had a fine game.
I was extremely unimpressed by McShane.
Dunphy was right about him.

[shakermaker1982]

so glad Ryanair whacked the prices up on the flights for the weekend (20 quid to 180 in the space of a couple of days) which meant I had to send the tickets back to my cousins.

Duff and Delaney (at last someone who is over 5 ft 5") were the only positives from the starting 11. Lovely volley by Keogh. Hopefully he starts with Long on Thursday.

Miller and McShane are always going to be accidents waiting to happen. I was disappointed we didn't use our bench earlier - an injection of pace was needed.

Hitting long balls aimlessly in the air to Keane is just a waste of time. Dunne must have surely realised that it wasn't working after the 14th time he tried it? I don't know if we have the creative players in the centre of MF to utilise Robbie Keane's true potential. I was crying out for Garvan to come on to see if he got his foot on the ball something might happen but we left Miller on. I was impressed with some of the Serbian's slick football, a good young team with lots of potential.

[Paddy Garcia]

Overall a very poor performance.

Drop Hunt to the bench
Drop McShane out the squad
See more from Delaney
Encourage Duff to fully recover
Get McGeady back
Get Andy O'Brien back
Get St Ledger in
Central midfield needs serious beefing up.
Try Garvan
Try Scannel
Don't whinge about Keane - one of our few gems.

[FarBeag]

Overall a very poor performance.

Drop Hunt to the bench
Drop McShane out the squad
See more from Delaney
Encourage Duff to fully recover
Get McGeady back
Get Andy O'Brien back
Get St Ledger in
Central midfield needs serious beefing up.
Try Garvan
Try Scannel
Don't whinge about Keane - one of our few gems.

Nail on head!!

[shakermaker1982]

Thinking about it the only certs for places in the team at the moment are:

GK - Given if fit
CB - Dunne
LW/RW - Duff
FW - Keane

The other 7 positions are all up for grabs. Finding a decent centre back to partner Dunne is a top priority.

[theworm2345]

so glad Ryanair whacked the prices up on the flights for the weekend (20 quid to 180 in the space of a couple of days) which meant I had to send the tickets back to my cousins.

Duff and Delaney (at last someone who is over 5 ft 5") were the only positives from the starting 11. Lovely volley by Keogh. Hopefully he starts with Long on Thursday.

Of all people why Long?

[dublinmick]

Thinking about it the only certs for places in the team at the moment are:

GK - Given if fit
CB - Dunne
LW/RW - Duff
FW - Keane

The other 7 positions are all up for grabs. Finding a decent centre back to partner Dunne is a top priority.

Surely it has to be John O'Shea?

[shakermaker1982]

Of all people why Long?

Keane and Doyle have had long seasons and we know what they can do. Long is fast and brings something different to the table. I think they'd make a good combination for Thursday's game, they are unlikely to force their way into the starting 11 for the two big away games in September but if something happened to Keane and Doyle I think it's important Long gets real game time instead of 10 minutes.

[FarBeag]

Thinking about it the only certs for places in the team at the moment are:

GK - Given if fit
CB - Dunne
LW/RW - Duff
FW - Keane

The other 7 positions are all up for grabs. Finding a decent centre back to partner Dunne is a top priority.

Andy Reid is a definate...Keogh instead of Doyle...Keep Kelly...Delaney was not at fault for the goal as someone suggested and deserves his place. Anyone instead of McShane .Get rid of Miller for good.McGeady has to start and Hunt to remain an impact sub.Lawrence needs to be in the squad and lets hope we can get Steven Reid fit.

[theworm2345]

Keane and Doyle have had long seasons and we know what they can do. Long is fast and brings something different to the table. I think they'd make a good combination for Thursday's game, they are unlikely to force their way into the starting 11 for the two big away games in September but if something happened to Keane and Doyle I think it's important Long gets real game time instead of 10 minutes.
I'd prefer Keogh and Murphy or even Keogh and Scannell. Best case would Keogh and Keane in the second half. Morrison, Folan, and yes, Connolly (if he recovers in time) will be available next fall to take Long's place anyway

[shakermaker1982]

FarBeag yep your right I'd include Andy Reid as one of the CM.

If Finnan comes back I'd have him as RB with Kelly in reserve.

Dublinmick - John O'Shea is a bench warmer at Man Utd and the times he does come on he plays at full back. If he moved on and made a name for himself as a central defender then yes but we need players who play there week in week out. Andy O'Brien if he can be tempted back is the best of an average bunch.

[beepbeep]

duff was our main threat i thought, hunt didnt play at all. miller is just average and a whinger. im always impressed with long, hes definitly hope for the future. delaney was good left back. mc shane is a bit of a lost cause at the mo

[zenokelly]

duff was our main threat i thought, hunt didnt play at all. miller is just average and a whinger. im always impressed with long, hes definitly hope for the future. delaney was good left back. mc shane is a bit of a lost cause at the mo


The only positive imo was Delaney, but I don't want to judge him on one game.

At least we didn't win 3-0! because you know where that leads us to!

[livehead1]

Positives
- We didn't lose
- Dean Kiely, assured as ever
- Kelly, improving and looks to be a reliable defender
- Miller & Whelan. Whelan in particular; outstanding for a debut infront of 65,000. Was very impressed, if only he could play with the left and right. He may be slightly predictable turning but all in all very good.
- Keane didn't look as impressive individually as he might for Spurs but he's playing further up the pitch so should have more chances
- Keogh; confidence will be sky high and we may have unearthed a David Healy
- It may sound perverse but I was actually as pleased as you can possibly be when your own side concedes a goal. It is something that can be worked on and I wouldn't imagine we'll see it too many times in the future. Its probably better that errors like that appear early on and in games with nothing riding on them.

Negatives
- Didn't create anywhere near as many chances as we need to; although we beat Sweden 3-0 in Staunton's first game and look what happened so maybe perspective is required
- Delaney didn't quite look up to it. Needs to pass the ball better and I actually place the blame with him for their goal. I would imagine the shout came to get out, or indeed he should have been level with kelly on the other side. (just saw others have said they were very impressed so i thought i would clarify...I thought he had a decent game, but i hold him partiallys to blame for the goal (it can be ironed out the more he plays) but more importantly i thought some of his distribution was questionable and against other sides who hold onto the ball better this will be more costly.
- McShane: Forget the goal, a poor backpass nearly cost us and he simply doesn't look quite up to it at the moment. Communication clearly wasn't the best at times.
- Duff: Diving. Final product was poor but this will surely improve given games.

[SkStu]

Paddy Garcia:

Drop Hunt to the bench - totally agree, have said this all along.

Drop McShane out the squad - needed as cover unfortunately, but agree in principle.

See more from Delaney - excited about his performance.

Encourage Duff to fully recover - fingers crossed he can. Have my doubts about him and his future...

Get McGeady back - yup

Get Andy O'Brien back - definitely yup!

Get St Ledger in - would like to see what he can do - his reviews here sound promising.

Central midfield needs serious beefing up.
Try Garvan - why not?

Try Scannel - seen him play a couple of times for palace, will be a very good player.

Don't whinge about Keane - one of our few gems. 100% agree

_________________________________

would also like to see him experiment with our formation.
4-2-3-1 could be magical when you consider who our strongest players are...

Whelan did very well - one to keep.

Kelly looked solid.

[NeilMcD]

Positives
- We didn't lose
- Dean Kiely, assured as ever
- Kelly, improving and looks to be a reliable defender
- Miller & Whelan. Whelan in particular; outstanding for a debut infront of 65,000. Was very impressed, if only he could play with the left and right. He may be slightly predictable turning but all in all very good.
- Keane didn't look as impressive individually as he might for Spurs but he's playing further up the pitch so should have more chances
- Keogh; confidence will be sky high and we may have unearthed a David Healy
- It may sound perverse but I was actually as pleased as you can possibly be when your own side concedes a goal. It is something that can be worked on and I wouldn't imagine we'll see it too many times in the future. Its probably better that errors like that appear early on and in games with nothing riding on them.

Negatives
- Didn't create anywhere near as many chances as we need to; although we beat Sweden 3-0 in Staunton's first game and look what happened so maybe perspective is required
- Delaney didn't quite look up to it. Needs to pass the ball better and I actually place the blame with him for their goal. I would imagine the shout came to get out, or indeed he should have been level with kelly on the other side. (just saw others have said they were very impressed so i thought i would clarify...I thought he had a decent game, but i hold him partiallys to blame for the goal (it can be ironed out the more he plays) but more importantly i thought some of his distribution was questionable and against other sides who hold onto the ball better this will be more costly.
- McShane: Forget the goal, a poor backpass nearly cost us and he simply doesn't look quite up to it at the moment. Communication clearly wasn't the best at times.
- Duff: Diving. Final product was poor but this will surely improve given games.



Would not agree wit that I thought that Delaney and Duff were our best players. Mc Shane was totally at fault for the goal. He pushed right up on his own and Dunne and Delaney did not push up at all. I am not sure McShane is up to it at all. Delaney was very good on the cover and looks to have decent pace and good height. With confidence we will see him more as an attacking player also.

[TheBoss]

I thought that Ireland were OK, they were not really bad or spectacularly good, It is an improvement as the team look to be knowing what they were doing much more.


My Ratings:
Kiely (7) - Did what he had to do, did well.

Kelly (7) - Looked really solid, has had a decent season and continued it.
Dunne (6) - Did OK, could have been a little better
McShane (4) - Not only as he poor for the goal, he was a little out of his depth
Delaney (8) - He was really good, defended well when needed to to.

Duff (7) - He was near his best, but his delivery was not great.
Miller (5) - Was poor, never in the game, his passing was poor mostly.
Whelan (7) - He was OK in the 1st Half, but the 2nd half, he was a lot better.
Hunt (6) - Never in the game, he is better used as a sub rather than a starter.

Keane (6) - Still not performing in the green shirt, needs a spark to get him going
Doyle (6) - Again, was not his best and could do better

Keogh (7) - Did well, brought an injection to the team and scored the goal
Long (7) - Was a bright spark and gave the team an attacking edge
Murphy (7) - Did well, set up the goal with his header.

[livehead1]

Would not agree wit that I thought that Delaney and Duff were our best players. Mc Shane was totally at fault for the goal. He pushed right up on his own and Dunne and Delaney did not push up at all. I am not sure McShane is up to it at all. Delaney was very good on the cover and looks to have decent pace and good height. With confidence we will see him more as an attacking player also.


I agree that Duff was one of our best players, my point was that his end product wasn't very good.

You say Delaney had good height and decent pace..But you could give a list of 50 players with those particular attributes. For a debut i thought he was reasonable, but felt there were a number of aimless balls; he wasn't the only culprit though. I just think there is a long way for him to go.

[jmurphyc]

I thought there were a lot of positives to be taken from the game. I was relatively happy with the performance. The two newcomers were both very solid. It's the first time I've seen both play and Whelan seems to be able to defend well and has a good range of passing. He seems to spread play to the wingers a lot, which I always like in a player. I didn't think Miller was as bad as people are making out; he had a poor second half but in the first half I thought him and Whelan were both quite good. Judging be his solid display, Delaney also looks like he could potentially be a good starting left back for the qualifiers.

A few things which worry me are our attacking set pieces, mainly due to a lack of height which is another problem and also our central midfielders not attacking the box enough. In terms of set pieces, our movement was quite poor for them and needs to be improved. Too many players are static in the box when the cross comes in. Another thing I found weird was that McShane always seemed to be the player who was attacking the front post on them. He seems like an odd choice to do this, surely Doyle would be the best as he's good at attacking in the air and could either score or get a flick on. One thing which we're still doing which we did under Staunton is targeting Doyle when we play a long ball. We need to have more variety instead of playing it to him every time.

As for the central midfield, one thing which we've lacked a lot in recent times, and was again evident today, was players attacking the box from deep. Whenever the Serbians headed the ball clear it was always one of their players who picked it up because our players were never near the box. Hopefully Steven Reid coming back will help us in this regard.

Overall though I'm quite happy. Our passing seems to be much improved from the Kerr and Staunton eras. We seem to play the ball a lot more intelligently - Whelan was good in this regard - and seemed better at exploiting gaps in the opposition defence. With Andy Reid back we should be even better in this regard. Plus, Duffer had an excellent first half IMO and if he can keep fit he will obviously be a massive asset to us in qualifying.

[Razors left peg]

I think the most positive thing to come out of this game is that Damien Duff proved that he is far from finished as top footballer as some people on this forum have been saying recently. Im confident that after getting a good full preseason behind him he will back to his best at the start of next season

[craig7042]

Lets see how we play on Thursday. I thought a few of our established players like Hunt looked knackered. Duff played well as did Delaney. Kiely looks like he never left and is a confident goalkeeper. Kelly played well. McShane's confidence is shot. His backpass to Kiely before the mistake for the goal was just horrible. Miller not good enough for international football. Keogh took his goal brilliantly and Long played well when he came on.

I agree its early days and a real end of season performance from everyone. Trap,Tardelli and Brady were great when the goal went in! That was great to see.

But shocking how many people left before the end. Cant and will never understand that...

[FarBeag]

I think the most positive thing to come out of this game is that Damien Duff proved that he is far from finished as top footballer as some people on this forum have been saying recently. Im confident that after getting a good full preseason behind him he will back to his best at the start of next season

Yeah you are correct. Duff always plays well for Ireland and even if not at his best is still one of the most important players we have.

[jmurphyc]

I agree its early days and a real end of season performance from everyone. Trap,Tardelli and Brady were great when the goal went in! That was great to see.

But shocking how many people left before the end. Cant and will never understand that...

Yeah, the stadium was half empty about 10 minutes before the end. It was only a friendly but considering it was Trapattoni's first game the atmosphere was shocking. It was probably the worst that I've experienced so far. Judging from today's showing from the crowd you'd think we only had one song. At least the mexican wave died an early death though. We really need to get working on new songs or at least air our current ones as much as possible.

[Flawless]

Duf was very lively all night, really impressed with Delaney too. Whelan was pretty wuiet in the Middle, and Doyle was terrible p front, cant lay too much fault on him though as the service wasnt great!, McShane was totally at fault for the goal, Defenders dont do what he did. I was sitting in the Davin stand and had a great view of it, he was all at sea!

[Noelys Guitar]

I have a feeling Duff and Keane are going to thrive under Trap. Duff's final ball was sometimes poor but he gave the runaround to some of the best defenders I have seen at Landsdowne for awhile. The Serbians have some top players and I love the way they play football. Yet you could see they had real respect for Duff. Very pleasing part of todays game. If the old Duffer turns up for the whole of the next campaign then we can qualify.

[cavan_fan]

Agree with much of this but I completely disagree about Whelan. Thought he was awful, CM is our biggest problem, Miller looked poor though one or two good balls. Whelan gave the ball away too much, not imposing enough, easily my vote for weakest player.

Duff was good, Dunne, Keane, Kiely did OK. Delaney is a possibility. I was impressed with Kelly, looked very composed. Hiunt enhanced his supersub reputation. Goal well taken by Keogh.

[carloz]

A little disapointed in the complete lack of creativity in the midfield aside from Duff. We seemed lackluster and a little uninterested. Was happy with the performance of Whealan and Delaney and they can bot be relativly happy. Both are tough commanding players which is what is needed.
McShaneds mistake was something a school boy would do. It was crineworth. I feel sorry for the guy as he had a good game but in every game he seems to have one major howler aved up that he has to use.
Biggest disapointment for me was Hunt. I thought he was awful and proved to me anyhow that he wont be in the starting 11 come the qualifiers. I thought he was a big let down.
Despite his tough year i think Doyle showed some great touches and was much the better of our two striking options. Nice to see Trap shw that Keane is not an untouchable.
Keogh took his goal excellently and it was nice that we showed a bit of fighting spirit.
however i still fell a sense of disapointment about the game. When the Serbians attacked they looked to have a lot more about them and a lot more running off the ball. We seemed very lacklustre and stern

[irishultra]

The game was so...well meh.

Delighted for Trap that Keogh scored.


In relation to atmosphere I and a few others tried our best to get some stuff going on the Hill, but to no avail.

[Jicked]

How did you expect to get anything going when the Hill was practicaly empty?

Overall it was quite promising, certainly looked like they had more of a clue than they did under Staunton. Delaney was good enough, and may be a possibility for the campaign ahead, but can't see Whelan being anything more than another Potter/Douglas who isn't going to a complete disaster, but really is way away from being international class.

Oh and McShane and Hunt really shouldn't be starting in that side, neither look up to it. Stephen Kelly isn't an international quality player, really struggled in the first half, and his distribution was brutal.
I was right behind the dugout and got to watch Trap all game long. The man is brilliant, completely passionate and radiates enthusiasm, and he did his best not to look too annoyed when there were schoolboy errors from McShane and Kelly. At the final whistle there was a fist pump and you could tell Trap is very, very up for this.

[craig7042]

the atmosphere will improve as the team develops and the games matter more. We're not that bad...

The thing I dont understand is people walking out before the game ends. Thats just strange, weird and very annoying!

[irishultra]

How did you expect to get anything going when the Hill was practicaly empty?

Overall it was quite promising, certainly looked like they had more of a clue than they did under Staunton. Delaney was good enough, and may be a possibility for the campaign ahead, but can't see Whelan being anything more than another Potter/Douglas who isn't going to a complete disaster, but really is way away from being international class.

Oh and McShane and Hunt really shouldn't be starting in that side, neither look up to it. Stephen Kelly isn't an international quality player, really struggled in the first half, and his distribution was brutal.
I was right behind the dugout and got to watch Trap all game long. The man is brilliant, completely passionate and radiates enthusiasm, and he did his best not to look too annoyed when there were schoolboy errors from McShane and Kelly. At the final whistle there was a fist pump and you could tell Trap is very, very up for this.

Just as long as people feel the atmosphere can improve I'm happy....just saying I tried to get something going...wasn't that bad. Probably the first time I've been vocal at an Ireland match.

Anyway love to hear this. The man is a legend in my eyes.

There was a Trapattoni chant on the hill after the goal went in.:D


Oh BTW people leaving early is a joke. That actually did annoy me.

People what I need to know is how to I get in line to get tickets for the forthcoming home qualifiers. I want to be on the hill every time.

[Razors left peg]

Just as long as people feel the atmosphere can improve I'm happy....just saying I tried to get something going...wasn't that bad. Probably the first time I've been vocal at an Ireland match.

Anyway love to hear this. The man is a legend in my eyes.

There was a Trapattoni chant on the hill after the goal went in.:D


Oh BTW people leaving early is a joke. That actually did annoy me.

People what I need to know is how to I get in line to get tickets for the forthcoming home qualifiers. I want to be on the hill every time.

Problem with that is the Hill is usually for away fans

[irishultra]

Problem with that is the Hill is usually for away fans

Really? Damn that sucks. It could really be good if utilised right. They should put the away fans in the furthest corner of the Hogan stand.

[jmurphyc]

Problem with that is the Hill is usually for away fans

Yeah, the only way to get tickets for the hill is if the away team doesn't sell out their allocation (as far as I'm aware) so it's a gamble relying on those tickets for qualifiers.

[tetsujin1979]

thought the defence looked solid, McShane made 2 mistakes, and was lucky to get away with the slack back pass.
Whelan and Miller weren't a great central midfield partnership. In future, I expect it would be one of these + a creative player beside them.
Hunt was poor on the left, and most of the midfield forward play came through Duff, I'd expect him to be dropped on Thursday
Duff played better than I've seen him all season, but still wasn't enough to provide for the front 2.
I find it hard to criticise Keane and Doyle, there was very little support from the midfield and, even if they played the game of their lives, you can't score without the ball
Delighted for Keogh, Trapattoni namechecked him during the week as a player that impressed him, and he delivered.

[Noelys Guitar]

We need a player or 2 to come out of the woodwork or else we won't qualify. Where is our Houghton or Aldridge? I hope just around the corner.

[MariborKev]

Yeah, the stadium was half empty about 10 minutes before the end. It was only a friendly but considering it was Trapattoni's first game the atmosphere was shocking. It was probably the worst that I've experienced so far. Judging from today's showing from the crowd you'd think we only had one song. At least the mexican wave died an early death though. We really need to get working on new songs or at least air our current ones as much as possible.

That and the antics of the numerous clowns more interested in getting Vidic's autograph than watching the game. Seriously why bother coming to a match if you are going to spend it using your mobile to record a player sitting on a bench.

[rebelarmyexile]

Trying to watch the football after the rugby made it seem soooo dull and boring. the rugby was so fast and exciting in comparison.


Ireland seemed improved since the group stages, with a bit more intent when with the ball. Still should get rid of that gob****e robbie keane

[irishfan86]

My thoughts:

Kiely did well, but didn't have much to do. Glad to have him back though, I feel safer with him than any of our keepers apart from Shay.

Kelly had a solid game at right back. Glad to see him put in a good shift after being targeted unfairly on here a bit.

Dunne didn't have his best game, and was a bit sloppy with his distribution.

McShane and Delaney were both at fault for that goal. McShane should have been closer to his man, and Delaney should have stepped up. Either way, there should have been some communication going on, and unfortunately it only seemed to start happening after the ball was in the net.

McShane is turning into a scapegoat on here and I think that's a bit unfair. Not a great performance by any means, but the way people have turned on McShane since his debut is shocking.

Delaney put in an okay debut, but I think some people are getting a bit ahead of themselves in their praise for him. The amount of attention he's getting on here after this game really shows how much we need a left back.

Glad to see Duff show glimpses of his old self. Hopefully he'll bring more consistency after a good pre-season.

Hunt was disappointing on the left, but you can see he's tired- he really gave his all to keep Reading up and you can see the toll that has taken on him.

Miller was his usual self- he disappeared for large portions of the game, and would then hit a brilliant ball every now and again.

Whelan had a good debut, but again, not as brilliant as some on here would have you believe. But it is a good start, and he's young enough to improve.

Up front, Doyle and Keane were fairly isolated. Not really much to say about them. Again I'm skeptical that they will form a good partnership.

The subs all did well though, and it was nice for Keogh to score after Trap's praise in the week.

I'm always impressed by Shane Long, and I hope he gets the chance of more starting time with Reading in the Championship next season- I really think he'll thrive there if given starts.

I'm not a huge fan of Murphy as a striker, I prefer him more on the wing...but he does add some height to our team of midgets, and might come in handy in the qualifying campaign.

[jmurphyc]

I'm always impressed by Shane Long, and I hope he gets the chance of more starting time with Reading in the Championship next season- I really think he'll thrive there if given starts.


He always seems to give defences a handful, but he desperately needs to start bulking up. He gets bullied and pushed off the ball far too easily.

[mark12345]

Finding a partner for Dunne (shakermaker1982). I agree McShane is not up to it. I've said it all along and nothing has changed my opinion - Steven Reid is the best man to partner Dunne. I know he's a midfielder and it would mean him playing out of position, but it has to be done. Reid has the mobility to make up for Dunne's lack of it and has the aggressive nature required to frighten defenders.

There's simply no one on the horizon among the defenders we have so we're going to have to manufacture one, and Reid is the man!

[irishfan86]

He always seems to give defences a handful, but he desperately needs to start bulking up. He gets bullied and pushed off the ball far too easily.

I watched most of Reading's games this past season, and I'd disagree with you. If anything he gets called for a lot of fouls for barging into defenders.

He wouldn't knock Richie Dunne down, but I've seen him barge over a number of fullbacks.

[kingdom hoop]

Haven't read through the thread as too tired. To keep things simple and draw attention to myself, the highlight of my night was me quick-wittedly saying "ah lads ye'll miss a goal" to the people walking out with five minutes to go. And sure enough, they missed a goal!

Keep the faith! :)

[mypost]

Problem with that is the Hill is usually for away fans

How many Cypriots are coming in October?? :confused: :rolleyes:

I take it that, as a defensive-orientated boss, McShane won't be making more appearances, if goals continue to be given away from balls sailing over his head.

[Lionel Ritchie]

Inclined to think McShane is getting an OTT pasting now. As Tets pointed out -he made two mistakes -in an end of season friendly ...and one of those, the one for the goal, was compounded by Delaney who was playing the Serbian boy on despite having the clearest view of the line. A little more communication and that's sorted. Hardly a banishment offence in any event.

More concerned that too much of what creativity we have, crosses in, goalscoring opportunities and general attacking play involve Duffer which, given his tendency to spend half a season on the treatment table, makes us hostages to fortune when the real shooting war starts.

Set pieces need work too -though our goal had the pleasing look of something that had been practiced about it.

Can't wait to get out of headquarters.

[shakermaker1982]

Lionel - McShane is like Titus Bramble in his pomp, he seems to make at least one mistake a game which always results in a goal. To play the offside trap like that was suicidal. You might try those things if you've worked with your other 3 defenders most of your playing career i.e. Arsenal in the 90s and you have some kind of telepathic relationship going on but not with an untried back 4 that has never played together in its whole life!!!

[Razors left peg]

Finding a partner for Dunne (shakermaker1982). I agree McShane is not up to it. I've said it all along and nothing has changed my opinion - Steven Reid is the best man to partner Dunne. I know he's a midfielder and it would mean him playing out of position, but it has to be done. Reid has the mobility to make up for Dunne's lack of it and has the aggressive nature required to frighten defenders.

There's simply no one on the horizon among the defenders we have so we're going to have to manufacture one, and Reid is the man!

Thats a ridiculous post.First of all ,Dunne very moblie and doesnt need help there, people see his size and just automatically assume he is slow and he is far from it, and Secondly Steven Reid has never played Center half in professional football so to start him there at international level would be stupid, especially considering how good a central midfielder he is and how vital he could be to us in the qualifiers in that position. If we had any midfielder that could be converted to a defender it would be Joey O Brien, he did well there against Germany, but unless he plays in that position regularly for his club we shouldnt even consider him there

[Stuttgart88]

Boring game, very disjointed performance. That wasn't football we played, it was just a sequence of discontinuous long punts from defence up the field that invariably resulted in lost possession. Sometimes by chance we'd retain possession in the last third where Duff was erratic in his delivery, but decent at taking on his man.

I've said a hundred times that this'd be a decent team if we had a decent central midfield. It has to be remembered that this is a long way from our best midfield pairing. We have better options.

Once I heard the team I thought Miller & Whelan would struggle to get a grip against taller, more athletic and probably more technical players. It was hard to tell on TV but I felt neither showed for the defenders, leaving Dunne to play it long all the time and invariably inaccurately. I'd like to see Whelan again - I've always liked him as a player - but Miller never again. Miller's passing was very poor and he has no physical presence.

This time last year Potter impressed by doing the simple things. Why can't anyone else look to do the same?

Great to see Kiely back, just the presence we need. Delaney impressed me too. Just look what happens when Keogh, a forward, is played as, eh, a forward. Long looked lively and athletic and Murphy added something. Doyle was off the pace but he's had a long tough season and, yet again, it's hard to fault either Robbie or him because the service was so shocking. Nevertheless his place is becoming very much under pressure.

Hunt had a very poor game.

I still have a feeling that playing some form of 3 man midfield may be Trap's favoured "solution" in the near to medium term.

[finnpark]

Was very impressed with Delaney

Defence wise he was rubbish imo. Hes another McShane waiting to happen. Very inexperienced and doesn't seem to have the quality for this level at all. Did well going forward but its defenders we want not strikers

My thoughts:
1. From the first game he played I knew McShane was rubbish
2. Delaney is rubbish.
3. Kelly is better but not much.
4. O'Shea and Kilbane should be in the defence 1st choice.
5. Robbie Keane should be dropped, Murphy is better than both Doyle and Keane.
6. Duff is rubbish at club level but always puts in a good effort at international level.

Will this team qualify for anything: Not a chance

[Razors left peg]

Boring game, very disjointed performance. That wasn't football we played, it was just a sequence of discontinuous long punts from defence up the field that invariably resulted in lost possession. Sometimes by chance we'd retain possession in the last third where Duff was erratic in his delivery, but decent at taking on his man.

I've said a hundred times that this'd be a decent team if we had a decent central midfield. It has to be remembered that this is a long way from our best midfield pairing. We have better options.

Once I heard the team I thought Miller & Whelan would struggle to get a grip against taller, more athletic and probably more technical players. It was hard to tell on TV but I felt neither showed for the defenders, leaving Dunne to play it long all the time and invariably inaccurately. I'd like to see Whelan again - I've always liked him as a player - but Miller never again. Miller's passing was very poor and he has no physical presence.

This time last year Potter impressed by doing the simple things. Why can't anyone else look to do the same?

Great to see Kiely back, just the presence we need. Delaney impressed me too. Just look what happens when Keogh, a forward, is played as, eh, a forward. Long looked lively and athletic and Murphy added something. Doyle was off the pace but he's had a long tough season and, yet again, it's hard to fault either Robbie or him because the service was so shocking. Nevertheless his place is becoming very much under pressure.

Hunt had a very poor game.

I still have a feeling that playing some form of 3 man midfield may be Trap's favoured "solution" in the near to medium term.

Sums my feelings up on the game pefectly