Republic of Ireland V France - Monday, 27th March 2023 - Euro 2024 Qualifier

[Kingdom]

Hope so. There is something very effective about him. And coaching somewhere other than Rotherham might also improve certain of the rougher aspects to his game. Although he has improved at Rotherham so maybe that is unfair by me.

But there is definitely more to come from him and I would love to see him take a punt outside of the Championship because I think if he has a decent agent there is a body of work for Ireland and some good performances, as well as a versatile, game player and great lad, that could have an impact in a lot of places

His decision-making could be better st times, but he is a legimiate threat and a handful.

There was a great 4 v 3 break around 60 mins where he had Ferg, Knight and Molumby all in support and he should have rolled the ball.in front of Evan. It was an excellent opportunity from where we were.

[Kingdom]

Hope so. There is something very effective about him. And coaching somewhere other than Rotherham might also improve certain of the rougher aspects to his game. Although he has improved at Rotherham so maybe that is unfair by me.

But there is definitely more to come from him and I would love to see him take a punt outside of the Championship because I think if he has a decent agent there is a body of work for Ireland and some good performances, as well as a versatile, game player and great lad, that could have an impact in a lot of places

His decision-making could be better st times, but he is a legimiate threat and a handful.

There was a great 4 v 3 break around 60 mins where he had Ferg, Knight and Molumby all in support and he should have rolled the ball.in front of Evan. It was an excellent opportunity from where we were.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Hopefully last night will end the talk that our players can't compete. They've been talked down constantly by management teams and supporters. We may not have many players near the top of the premier league anymore but that's because the landscape has changed, we have players that are as good or better as we've had in the past. Also, the talk that we can't get results from games against anyone at home should end. Like I said before the game, a full house in Lansdowne and anything is possible. It's been the same for 40 years.

Last night the atmosphere was like the Denmark game under McCarthy and our best performance since then. Against Denmark we came up short and unfortunately, we did again last night. That has put us on the back foot in the group, we have to go and beat Greece next. France were there for the taking last night. I think they were a bit complacent and they made numerous mistakes. A few of them were really rattled by the pressure from our players and the noise from the crowd. So it's disappointing not to get a draw at least. Collins effort goes in against most keepers.

But even with defeat, this group isn't over. Holland may be missing a few players but they are struggling. Only 3-0 at home against a 10 man Gibraltar after a whipping in France. After last night is anyone saying that we can't beat Holland at home? We can qualify from this group. Let's have confidence in our players. Coleman was outstanding last night. Every player gave every last bit of energy they could, Molumby is a warrior, as is Knight. They all are. Let's not have any talking up of teams like Greece next. We should expect to go and beat them and obviously Gibraltar a few days later. Because of the defeat we're going to have to beat Holland at home I think but it can be done. Hopefully some supporters who were calling this group over before a ball was even kicked have changed their tune. We're going to the Euros!

BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!!

[Eirambler]

A very decent effort and the players can be proud of their performances. However, in the context of the group it's a point dropped nonetheless, I doubt France will win all their away games so someone will take advantage of the fact we ultimately took nothing from the game.

In the context of the group it is one of five huge games for us - France away is a free hit and everyone will beat Gibraltar twice - so the other five games are the ones that matter. Having taken nothing from the first of the five we really need to beat Greece in June now. In another group a point there would be a good result, but not in this one. If we're only on one point after two of our five critical games, we're already all but gone unfortunately.

The playoff picture is looking bleak at this point also, it looks like we're going to miss out by one or two places sadly.

[backstothewall]

Maybe it was harder to see in the stadium but Ferguson was ******ed. His head was down at times as he tried to keep up the pressing. He'd put in a good shift but I don't think he had anything left in the tank. Idah did well I thought, particularly when he played McClean in.

That said it might have been nice to have Ferguson sniffing about in the six yard box when we had those corners. Nobody else quite has that strikers instinct and maybe one of those balls would have fallen his way.

You must have thought Collins header was in for a second? Still can't believe that save. I've watched it back a few times. Brutal.

Agree on Molumby. Didn't think he had it in him. He wasn't just pure grafting either, he was smart with the ball.

I think you actually get a better idea in the stadium of how much someone has left in the tank. A couple of shots of someone on TV can give an impression that isn't real. At that stage I felt it was the midfield where we needed fresher legs. Molumby was great but he looked like he was running in treacle.

In any case I don't think it matters. Running on fumes or not, he's demonstrated he has a poachers instinct and we needed a goal. IMHO we needed to get him more support, not hook him. I'd have gone to 4 at the back and thrown Obafemi or Parrott on beside him and at that stage.

Given how important set pieces were obviously going to become, I'd also have liked to have had Smallbone on the field.

[Razors left peg]

We are very lucky in this small football fan community of ours to have people that are such experts they are able to see what no one else can. I wish word could have been communicated to the coaching staff that their monitoring of a player was wrong and he in fact was not too tired at all. Everyone else watching the game who could see the player was out on his feet were wrong too.

Blessed we are to have such experts!

[EAFC_rdfl]

Ferguson was definitely spent at that stage. It was also far too early to go more offensive or 4 at the back. That plays right into their hands to make one quick counter attack and get mbappe away, game over. It was vital to keep it at 1-0 and try make one chance stick, which Collins almost done

[weldoninhio]

Its actually becase he trusts his players to come good. Im sure people can see the good and the bad in terms of taking someone off early. As Ive said before, its one area that baffled me on occasions when he was at Dundalk - a tactical change doesnt need to reflect on the player or indeed the managers starting off thinkig.

Ok so we were beaten by one of the outstanding teams in world football, one pass goes astray and we were punished. But by and large that was a good erformance and yes some will say its a result base game but once again we see how this squad is being developed. They were fearless considering who they were facing, not hammered by any means. The French will grab those points as not just with the Collins effort we finished on the font foot and they killed the game with subs and getting frees. To be expected! I'm a bit disappointed not to have gotten a result and thats is a guage of where things are going imo.

Beaten by one of the outstanding teams in World football who didn't seem to move out of first gear.

[Razors left peg]

Beaten by one of the outstanding teams in World football who didn't seem to move out of first gear.

Wouldn't cross your mind to consider they were kept in low gear by a team who didn't allow them to get out of it?

[Jd2793]

Beaten by one of the outstanding teams in World football who didn't seem to move out of first gear.

impartial analysis

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

It was actually our first home defeat in European qualification since 2010 and we've played some excellent teams in that time. Including beating the reigning World champions in 2015. So although there were some encouraging signs, in the cold light of day, it's really disappointing not to get a draw at least. But we should be looking to pick up maximum points from our remaining home games and then we're going to have to get victories on the road. Then it will go down to the game in Holland on the last day.

[Real ale Madrid]

If we played like last night all the time there wouldn't be a whole pile to quibble about. A magnificent performance. Defensively excellent but unfortunately not perfect - but not far off either and when we condensed the game down to that last 15 min spell we were a touch unlucky not to salvage a result.

Looking back to go forward - consistency is an issue for us but I really think the change from 3 game windows to 2 game windows is going to help us a bit. We can treat both Greece games like cup finals as we play Gibraltar 3 days after both and the last game away to the Netherlands is a stand alone game for us. Kenny may wish to "throw" the game in Paris to keep his best XI for the Dutch game 3 days later on the 13th of Sept - it will be interesting but the fact that we could maximize our limited resources into those 4 games with Greece / Netherlands after the effort last night gives me some hope anyway. The Greece away game becomes crucial - the championship finishes 6 weeks before the Greece game so we should be well prepared and acclimatized by the 16th of June anyway! Its the hope that kills you.

[backstothewall]

Blessed we are to have such experts!

It's just a pity none of those experts raised concerns about exposing him to a needless friendly in the buildup to a massive home qualifier.

Perhaps if he had been rested for that game he might have made it through the 90 minutes.

[mark12345]

France were not there for the taking last night, not even close. And we will not beat Greece - we will melt in the heat of Athens. And after that we'll struggle to score more than one against Gib. Last night may well have been the highlight of our campaign

[mark12345]

One more thing. The last creative midfielder we tried to incorporate into the team was Jack Byrne. How far are we removed from that.