ireland v russia update

[Ruairi]

1-1 at half time.

duff deflected goal form the edge of the box after 35 minutes, scrappy russian goal (Given at fault?) 7 minutes later.

ireland playing poorly, we'll be lucky not to lose at this rate

[Ruairi]

finished 1-1.

poor game, russians just sat back. missed robbie.

pished off now

[MikeW]

OK, I think this is how it stands now:

Played Points
Swiss 6 12
Irish 7 11
Russians 6 8

Depending on the result of the Russia v Switzerland match, which is both of those teams game in hand over us:

If Russia win we must win in Switzerland to get 2nd place.
If its a draw we must win in Switzerland for 1st place only, draw puts us third.
If Switzerland win we must win or draw in Switzerland for 2nd place either way.

This is assuming Russia beat Georgia at home as you'd expect them to.

Can anyone confirm these scenarios, 'cos its only off the top of my head at the moment? But if its right it does mean we can still win the group, contrary to what the idiot reporter on RTE news thinks, if the game on Wednesday ends in a draw of course.

[NigeSausagepump]

Jesus that was appalling.
I'm struggling to remember a performance so marked by an utter paucity of imagintation and verve. The Ruskies repelled almost everything that was thrown at them with ease, which was not a particularly onerous task given the utter apathy which seemed to afflict most of our boys.
What I found most depressing was the fact that it was some of the great Irish hopes who disappointed the most. Granted you shouldn't make too much of one performance, but if Reid & Healy in particular, and to lesser extent Morrison, can't show more passion for such a crucial game I find it very depressing.
The U-21s showed much more wit and invention on Friday - surely a case can be made for having the option of springing someone like Andy Reid, Tommy Butler or Liam Miller from the bench rather than Gary Doherty.


:(

[Condex]

I've followed Ireland sice 1981 & I'm off to Switzerland at some
point , so this is my opinion.

Back four played, Kilbane played well, Duf played well.
F*ukcin hell but Harte played well.
What a pile of crap crap Carsely is(he wouldn't make the Donegal League) . Did Morrison do anything to suggest he worth selecting. And then the strars Holland & Healey absolute rubbish. Reid done nothing except stand around,

I've got a fligh to Austria next month hope its not waisted.

Cheers
Connell

[Slash/ED]

Copied and pasted from someone else off a different board, but here's the long and the short of our group...


Here's an updated table after the Albania v Georgia match... 3-0 to Georgia

Team P W D L GF GA Pts
Switzerland 6 3 3 0 12 7 12
Rep Ireland 7 3 2 2 10 9 11
Russia 6 2 2 2 12 10 8
Georgia 6 2 1 3 3 8 7
Albania 7 1 2 4 8 11 5

We need to hope for a draw between the Swiss and Russians.... AND a Georgia win over Albania works in our favour too, here's the skinny...

#) If the Swiss win on Wed........... then they automatically qualify as group winners, irregardless of their result against us in Basle, as they will be 4 pts clear of us and 7 clear of the Russians. We would still need to at least draw agaisnt the Swiss to get the play-off spot.

#) If the Swiss and Russkies draw...... then we can still win the group by beating the Swiss in Basle, a draw might or might not be enough.. it would depend on the Russia v Georgia game the same day.

#) If the Russians win..... then a win in Basle would mean we get at least the play-of spot, but winning the group would be dependent on the Russians drawing or losing to Georgia.... i.e if we are level on points with Russia, they go through because of the better head to head result (5-3 agg in their favour.)

Also keep in mind that Georgia beat Albania 3-0 today and if they beat them again on Wed in Tirana then they will have 10 points, that's 1 point behind us!!!
So they will be in the mixup for a spot, though I don't think that technically they can win the group. But still this is good for us as they will have great incentive when they play Russia.

So if the Swiss and Russians draw on Wed and the Georgians win over Albania, then going into the final day the table will look like this.

Team P W D L Pts

Switzerland 7 3 4 0 13
Rep Ireland 7 3 2 2 11
Georgia 7 3 1 3 10
Russia 7 2 3 2 9
Albania 8 1 2 5 5

As for todays preformance, I think it shows the lack of creativity we have when we use Duff up front. We were playing long ball which was never going to work with Morrison and Duff, Kilbane worked hard but created nothing, we need Duff on the left and Reid on the right who didn't do an awful lot but his presence gave a little more space to Carr.

We missed Keane badly, and Healy got very tired late on in the game which completley limited our mid field options, I thought he and Holland had a good first half but a poor second one.

With Duff out of position and Keane not there our main creative forces were limited and it showed big time. While it was a shocking preformance, I'm still confident we can turn Switzerland over if there's no injurys and we play to our potential on the night, espically with Yakin out for Switzerland.

Butler Reid and Miller were all impressed for the U21s, apparently, I hope all three will play for the seniors on tuesday, we need more options on the bench for when we need a spark and all three can provide that.

Cunningham out for the Switzerland match also means we'll need to play O'Shea centrally with Breen most likely, hopefully Finnan will start and finish the Turkish match as a left back, I'd feel alot more confident with him in the side then Ian Harte.

[sammm]

really missed robbie today,as for morrison he is all talk but doesnt deserve to start,he did nothing today.duff has to be on the wing left or right.i suppose oshea will fill kennys place and harte on the left,also finnan could play in front of carr as this was his original position.bad display today really boring performance u just knew what they were going to do next and all the long balls for morrison-he didnt connect with one of them.healy is not ready to b starting either or carsely.i still think we can get to portugal but as usual the hardest way.it may b better if the swiss win next week meaning they wont need anything out of the match against us,we then only need a point to get to the play offs.come on ireland.

[Slash/ED]

Morrisons not all talk, his record speaks for itself.

How's he supposed to score when we're not creating for him? Morrison is a player who plays off the shoulders of defenders and uses his pace to get on the end of things and is a very good finisher when he does it, he's not a Robbie Keane who'll drop deep, nutmeg someone and make something happen. You need to create the chances for Morrison but when you do it generally he'll put them away, and he's the only person we have who does that. Today he had nothing created for him but I thought he still held up the ball well and used his strenght well. He's the best partner we have for Robbie Keane. I'd agree with the rest though, as for left back, if O'Shea moves inside I hope Kerr plays Finnan for the full 90 minutes at left back agasinst Turkey, he'd do a better job there then Harte I think.

[sammm]

fair point about morrison,maybe i am being too hard on him. the midfield went to sleep in the second half .finnan hasnt played on the left before, i think .also today the set pieces from corners and free kicks were brutal.kerr will learn from his mistakes only time is against him.

[Slash/ED]

He played left back in the second half of the Norway friendly and, as far as I know, has played left a bit at club level. I've definitely noticed he has a very strong left foot for when he cuts back he has a good cross on it. Worth a try in a friendly at least.

[brine2]

Kilbane worked hard, and made Harte look good. But man of the macht? Did they miss Duff?

I think Kilbane should play left back against Switzerland, with O'Shea and O'Brien in the centre and Carr on the right.

It was a different Steven Reid to the one that played against Cameroon, hopefully he can get some games under his belt against Blackburn and do well against Switzerland. One thing for Reid though, he may have stood still on the right, but he held on to possession. Better than Kilbane running himself into problems. I'd play Finnan at right midfield, with Steven Reid and Liam Miller in the centre and Duff on the left.

Robbie Keane and the ever underrated David Connolly up front.

And no ****ing long balls.

So:

Given

Carr - O'Brien - O'Shea - Kilbane

Finnan - Reid - Miller - Duff

Keane - Connolly

Duff the captain, as an example to the rest of them.

[bitored]

I'd play Finnan at right midfield, with Steven Reid and Liam Miller in the centre
Get real ... give a guy his senior debut in such an important match? Can't see it somehow.
I may be mad but I actually thought Mattie Holland had one of his best performances for ages in an Irish shirt - great tackles, aggressive and always made himself available for the ball. Colin Healy was invisible though - maybe he wasn't 100% fit?
I think it would be very harsh on Kilbane to be dropped for the next match - I'd leave him wheer he is cause he covers well for Harte (and Finnan) and I'd stick Duffer on the right

Given
Carr Breen O'Shea Finnane
Duff Holland Healy Kilbane
Keane (please God) Morrisson

[Slash/ED]

Yeah Healys influence lessend as the game went on, he didn't look fit, Holland did play well alright.

Kilbane played well in that he worked hard but the fact is he didn't create anything. For a winger, to be having a good game you really should be creating chances and, despite getting into good positions, his end product was lacking today including one terrible cross. I just think we'd look alot more like scoring with Reid on the right and Duff on the left, it's harsh on Kilbane alright, but somebody has to lose out and he'll be back in if there's injuries.

Otherwise, that's exactly the team I'd be suggesting myself for the Swiss match. I'd be very confident we could get the win needed with that side out.

[Junior]

Thought Reid was poor when he came on, didn't link well with Carr at all, just seemed to get in his way.

That partnership needs some work!!