Weakest Irish Squad in 30 years!

We were in the pup and talking about making it to SA in 2010, all very positive and running down the opposition, when it finally dawned on us that this Irish squad of players is rubbish.

This is not just negativity but realism. If you strip Given, Dunne and Keane out of the team they are a bunch of
past-its,
maybe's and
never-will-be's.

Finnan totally unfit, past-it. --- replacement Steve Kelly never-will-be
O'Shea midfielder ? never-will-be --- replacement Bruce scarey! never-will-be
Kilbane winger past-it ---replacement Delaney never-will-be
Hunt super-sub never-will-be --- Duff injured Past-it
Whealan honest never-will-be --- Miller never-will-be
Reid 30 mins in Norway! maybe --- Reid still over-weight maybe
McGeady chang club maybe --- Keogh out-of-position never-will-be
Doyle pity about Spurs move maybe --- Long needs to play for his club maybe

Given good --- replacement Kieley unlucky to be with Given past-it
Dunne good --- replacement Mcshane champioship player never-will-be
Keane fustrating good ---Murphy champioship player never-will-be

Think realisticaly, how many of this squad would make the england squad? Would any make the team.

I will still believe before every match that we can win because all realism fades in the hour before kick-off. I am not sure I like the way Trap is going about the business of qualifying but if he makes it, then it will be thgreatest qualification of any manager based on the players available.

yeah so take out our best players and we're not that good. What's your point? :confused:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ordinary Fan

We were in the pup and talking about making it to SA in 2010, all very positive and running down the opposition, when it finally dawned on us that this Irish squad of players is rubbish.

This is not just negativity but realism. If you strip Given, Dunne and Keane out of the team they are a bunch of
past-its,
maybe's and
never-will-be's.

Finnan totally unfit, past-it. --- replacement Steve Kelly never-will-be
O'Shea midfielder ? never-will-be --- replacement Bruce scarey! never-will-be
Kilbane winger past-it ---replacement Delaney never-will-be
Hunt super-sub never-will-be --- Duff injured Past-it
Whealan honest never-will-be --- Miller never-will-be
Reid 30 mins in Norway! maybe --- Reid still over-weight maybe
McGeady chang club maybe --- Keogh out-of-position never-will-be
Doyle pity about Spurs move maybe --- Long needs to play for his club maybe

Given good --- replacement Kieley unlucky to be with Given past-it
Dunne good --- replacement Mcshane champioship player never-will-be
Keane fustrating good ---Murphy champioship player never-will-be

Think realisticaly, how many of this squad would make the england squad? Would any make the team.

I will still believe before every match that we can win because all realism fades in the hour before kick-off. I am not sure I like the way Trap is going about the business of qualifying but if he makes it, then it will be thgreatest qualification of any manager based on the players available.

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Remind me that if I ever have to go into battle with you at my side to shoot you first.
And stay out of that pup you pervert!

I'm not sure championing players to get into an England side is a positive at the moment. At least we look like we've a purpose. Plus they've about 15 times the population we have. If you're compare us to someone, use Scotland. And we'd get a few in that team laddie.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ordinary Fan

We were in the pup and talking about making it to SA in 2010, all very positive and running down the opposition, when it finally dawned on us that this Irish squad of players is rubbish.

This is not just negativity but realism. If you strip Given, Dunne and Keane out of the team they are a bunch of
past-its,
maybe's and
never-will-be's.

Finnan totally unfit, past-it. --- replacement Steve Kelly never-will-be
O'Shea midfielder ? never-will-be --- replacement Bruce scarey! never-will-be
Kilbane winger past-it ---replacement Delaney never-will-be
Hunt super-sub never-will-be --- Duff injured Past-it
Whealan honest never-will-be --- Miller never-will-be
Reid 30 mins in Norway! maybe --- Reid still over-weight maybe
McGeady chang club maybe --- Keogh out-of-position never-will-be
Doyle pity about Spurs move maybe --- Long needs to play for his club maybe

Given good --- replacement Kieley unlucky to be with Given past-it
Dunne good --- replacement Mcshane champioship player never-will-be
Keane fustrating good ---Murphy champioship player never-will-be

Think realisticaly, how many of this squad would make the england squad? Would any make the team.

I will still believe before every match that we can win because all realism fades in the hour before kick-off. I am not sure I like the way Trap is going about the business of qualifying but if he makes it, then it will be thgreatest qualification of any manager based on the players available.

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Jesus wept.

As Gabrielle Marcotti pointed out on a recent podcast I was listening to, that the Croatian team which is much adored has absolutely no depth.
Players are forced to play out of position(Simunic, Srna) and others like Kovac(the older one) only play because there are no better younger alternatives.

I honestly believe we have as good players as Croatia.....I really do, its easy to say 'oh croatia have wonderful technical ability blah blah blah'....the roots of their success is they have a manager who knows what he is doing, and there is a sense of togetherness in the squad of players. From what the players appear to be saying(Westwood, Garvan, Long) Trapattoni is instilling this in the players.

It doesn't matter if none of our players would make the England Squad, I happen to believe a few would, and perhaps pushing for a starting place, but its irrelevant, International Football is too sparodic, the point of it is pride in the jersey, pride in representing your country etc. etc.

So back to the point about 'weakest squad in 30 years'......so what!!!!!

I enjoy supporting Ireland through thick and thin. I have great respect for the players we have at our disposal, I don't care if they don't have the glamour of being selected for top clubs, but whats important is they are our players....people like Kilbane, Steven Reid, Hunt, McGeady and Robbie Keane are why I love the Irish National team.

I happen to believe we have a good side, with reasonable enough depth, and are more than capable of getting to major competitons.

:mad:
This doesn't help... look at Bulgaria, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Denmark, Norway, Scotland, Poland, Sweden, Greece, Serbia, Belgium... they've all qualified for WC or EC tournaments in recent years with just 1 or 2 good players and mostly pretty mediocre players playing in pretty mediocre leagues, we have a handful of decent players and some mediocre players sure enough... but we also have a smart coach and our teams generally give it everything in tournaments and play a high tempo, physical game that many european sides don't like... so I don't know why there's all the doom and gloom, we've done it before and other teams have qualified with poor squads, so let's just wait and see.... I think if we get a good start we can do qualify or get a play-off, Italy are poor with real trouble scoring goals, Bulgaria are well coached but not as good as us, Cyprus we know, Georgia are poor and Montenegro are the dark horse, however with the exception of Vucinic (Roma), they're playing in poor enough sides.
Let's give the boys a break and see what shakes down in Mainz and Podgorica....
For the record; Given, Dunne, Keane, 2 Reids, Hunt, McGeady, Ireland (if he's arsed) Duffer, Doyle are all GOOD players, not World beaters, but that's the basis of a decent side....

If Silva from Valencia is called a world beater, then I believe so is McGeady.


Good post Sanchez, but I disagree about the 'high tempo stuff'....I haven't seen an Ireland team play high tempo in my time watching them(circa1998, perhaps against Spain in World Cup and against Holland and Portugal in 2002 qualifiers)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ordinary Fan

This is not just negativity but realism.

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Of course it's negativity.

I'd say if you had to pick 11 players between the Irish and Bulgarian's the Bulgarian's would get maybe 3 in it. They'd get M.Petrov and Berbatov in there. Stillian Petrov certainly wouldn't be getting in ahead of either of the Reid's. Their left back might get in. He plays for Levski Sofia but it's still our weak spot. And the rest of the Bulgarian squad would have no chance of making our team. I know you can't judge a player by the club he plays for but when it's a Leicester player vs Dunne or a Bursaspor player vs Given or a Shinnik Yaroslavl player vs Duff and so on, I think you can.

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Originally Posted by eirebhoy

And the rest of the Bulgarian squad would have no chance of making our team.

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Perhaps, but that does not mean we will be able to beat them.

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Originally Posted by Brendan 82

Perhaps, but that does not mean we will be able to beat them.

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That's not the point though. He's talking about our individual players.

I know, and I actually agree with you. I think its pointless to harp on about how we "don't have the players", especially when we actually do. And that is exactly what I was alluding too in my post. The importance of the quality of player is less important in international football than the system and team spirit. Just look at Brazil in the last World Cup, they were gash and remember the players they had?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ordinary Fan

We were in the pup and talking about making it to SA in 2010, all very positive and running down the opposition, when it finally dawned on us that this Irish squad of players is rubbish.

This is not just negativity but realism. If you strip Given, Dunne and Keane out of the team they are a bunch of
past-its,
maybe's and
never-will-be's.

Finnan totally unfit, past-it. --- replacement Steve Kelly never-will-be
O'Shea midfielder ? never-will-be --- replacement Bruce scarey! never-will-be
Kilbane winger past-it ---replacement Delaney never-will-be
Hunt super-sub never-will-be --- Duff injured Past-it
Whealan honest never-will-be --- Miller never-will-be
Reid 30 mins in Norway! maybe --- Reid still over-weight maybe
McGeady chang club maybe --- Keogh out-of-position never-will-be
Doyle pity about Spurs move maybe --- Long needs to play for his club maybe

Given good --- replacement Kieley unlucky to be with Given past-it
Dunne good --- replacement Mcshane champioship player never-will-be
Keane fustrating good ---Murphy champioship player never-will-be

Think realisticaly, how many of this squad would make the england squad? Would any make the team.

I will still believe before every match that we can win because all realism fades in the hour before kick-off. I am not sure I like the way Trap is going about the business of qualifying but if he makes it, then it will be thgreatest qualification of any manager based on the players available.

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Why should making the England team be a yardstick. Last time I checked they were ****e.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ordinary Fan

We were in the pup and talking about making it to SA in 2010, all very positive and running down the opposition, when it finally dawned on us that this Irish squad of players is rubbish.

This is not just negativity but realism. If you strip Given, Dunne and Keane out of the team they are a bunch of
past-its,
maybe's and
never-will-be's.

Finnan totally unfit, past-it. --- replacement Steve Kelly never-will-be
O'Shea midfielder ? never-will-be --- replacement Bruce scarey! never-will-be
Kilbane winger past-it ---replacement Delaney never-will-be
Hunt super-sub never-will-be --- Duff injured Past-it
Whealan honest never-will-be --- Miller never-will-be
Reid 30 mins in Norway! maybe --- Reid still over-weight maybe
McGeady chang club maybe --- Keogh out-of-position never-will-be
Doyle pity about Spurs move maybe --- Long needs to play for his club maybe

Given good --- replacement Kieley unlucky to be with Given past-it
Dunne good --- replacement Mcshane champioship player never-will-be
Keane fustrating good ---Murphy champioship player never-will-be

Think realisticaly, how many of this squad would make the england squad? Would any make the team.

I will still believe before every match that we can win because all realism fades in the hour before kick-off. I am not sure I like the way Trap is going about the business of qualifying but if he makes it, then it will be thgreatest qualification of any manager based on the players available.

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Im a pesimist but even I realise that Ireland will win easily against Georgia!!

This is the best Irish team in the last 10 years and they WILL WIN!!!

I think Ireland can beat Italy too, Ireland are Italy's bogey team as we don't fall into their counter attacking trap too easily ;)

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Originally Posted by seanfhear

Remind me that if I ever have to go into battle with you at my side to shoot you first.
And stay out of that pup you pervert!

---

Excellent reply to a stupid post :D

Scotland were the best team from these Isles during qualifiers for 2008 and nobody would rate their individual players.

It is much more about the team and how it plays together than any individuals. That is the reason we are more hopeful this time - for once we have a tried and proven management team.

Good Irish teams of the past have punched above their weight. I was at WC 2002 and it was one of the most sustained joyous periods of my life. The team performed way above expectations against Cameroon, Germany and Spain.

As for England - they are a prime example of talented players continually underachieving because they are not a cohesive team. They might do better to drop the millionaires and pick the best 11 from the lower half of the prem.

Our players generally want to play - with the noticable exception of SI. Andy Reid is very disappointed he is not in the team but is prepared to bide his time and play his way into contention.

The management team seem to have already improved morale and team spirit

From my perspective, I think the Irish teams that qualified for the competitions were not good enough and somehow got through.

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Originally Posted by TheBoss

From my perspective, I think the Irish teams that qualified for the competitions were not good enough and somehow got through.

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Charlton had 5 or 6 fantastic and another 3 or 4 fairly solid international level players at his disposal. Look at the WC 90 squad when we were IMO at our peak:

1 Bonner • 2 Morris • 3 Staunton • 4 McCarthy • 5 Moran • 6 Whelan • 7 McGrath • 8 Houghton • 9 Aldridge • 10 Cascarino • 11 Sheedy • 12 O'Leary • 13 Townsend • 14 Hughton • 15 Slaven • 16 Sheridan • 17 Quinn • 18 Stapleton • 19 Kelly • 20 Byrne • 21 McLoughlin • 22 Peyton

Now look at McCarthy's squad for WC 2002 and it was amazing that we qualified from a group with Holland and Portugal. Although some would put it down to the presence of Roy Keane.

1 Given • 2 Finnan • 3 Harte • 4 Cunningham • 5 Staunton • 6 Roy Keane • 7 McAteer • 8 Holland • 9 Duff • 10 Robbie Keane • 11 Kilbane • 12 Kinsella • 13 Connolly • 14 Breen • 15 Dunne • 16 Kiely • 17 Quinn • 18 G. Kelly • 19 Morrison • 20 O'Brien • 21 Reid • 22 Carsley • 23 A. Kelly • Coach: McCarthy

We had to partner an ageing Staunton and an inexperienced Dunne at CB McAteer couldn't get his game at Blackburn, Harte was 1st choice at LB and Robbie was only a sub at Leeds.

Maybe this all backs up the origianl post but I would say that this squad is on a par with McCarthy's minus the fact that instead of one World-class player we have none this time. Also in comparison to Kerr's squad we are probably better offensively but have a weaker defence without Cunningham and O'brien and probabably a similar strenght midfield.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheBoss

From my perspective, I think the Irish teams that qualified for the competitions were not good enough and somehow got through.

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So even when we are good enough to get to a World Cup, getting through group stages both times, we are not good enough to get there.

Now that is an inferiority complex that I am so glad not to have!

I'm thinking theboss was joking, or something.