realistically....like....

on a performance level, I think its too early to get carried away with McShane, though he seems a very strong lad, he should have covered the goal angle more for koller, douglas seemed to play quite well especially in the second half. i have to agree with eirebhoy, if we had carsley in the centre against czechs I think we would have done an awful lot better. oshea was in and out of the game. you could see though how much the goal meant to him ( and others obviously )

still we are severly lacking that luck required to get through the group stages and it is that bit of luck, we should have won yesterday but we didnt, I'm not saying its simply luck but the luck that helps you win those games, is the dif between qualifying and not.

realisitically from a qualifying point of view, I honestly see the difference being the 3 points lost in cyprus i.e. we will be in and around 3 points from qualifying come the end of this campaign.

I agree with you, Paul. I was directly behind the goal where Ireland scored so it's hard for me to assess him properly and I had no decent view of the Czech goal. However from close proximity to him in the first half he was sturggling with Koller in the air (as would most to be fair) and on the ground. He got to grips with the game as it went on and made an excellent interception at one point. I'm hopefully he can develop into a good partner for Dunne but I'm not sure if he's the second coming of Paul McGrath.

Lee Carsley should have been man of the match. He should also be made captain. Excellent game. McShane had a very good debut. Was at fault for the goal but overall he brought a presence to the team we have been lacking. And he is only 20. I thought O'Shea had his best game for Ireland last night too. We will need a miracle to qualify (like Cyprus beating the Czechs or at least getting a draw). But lets not get carried away yet. We need to keep playing like last night for the rest of the matches.

what last nights performance did was open up the competition to get in the starting line up.

Anyone that has slackened should now be on their guard. Lets hope Staunton has the b@!!s to reward those who performed well last night for the next game depending on injuries.

Our main problem area is in front of goal - goals win matches. Keane seems to be going through a confidence crisis at the moment. we urgently need to to blood some of the upcoming underage lads e.g. rooney / stokes. the san marino games would be ideal for this.

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Originally Posted by greendeiseboy

what last nights performance did was open up the competition to get in the starting line up...
... Lets hope Staunton has the b@!!s to reward those who performed well last night for the next game depending on injuries.

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Totally agree, he needs the balls to drop the Keanes, o shea's, morrisons and co when they are not in form. I hate fellas getting into the team, just because 'they used to be good' or 'they play for a good prem team'. Robbie Keanes job is to score goals, Clinton Morrison's job is to score goals, John O sheas job is to stop goals. Do your job, or sit on the bench. Simple as. There is no room in this team for people that have zero value to add.

I think you have to take into account the circumstances surrounding MacShanes debut when assesing how well he did. Everyone thought it would be a massacre and the fact that it wasnt was in no small amount down to the way he asserted himself throughout the game. fair play to him. whether he turns out to be a great player I dunno but he hasnt started too badly.

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Originally Posted by Poor Student

I was directly behind the goal where Ireland scored so it's hard for me to assess him properly and I had no decent view of the Czech goal. However from close proximity to him in the first half he was sturggling with Koller in the air (as would most to be fair) and on the ground. He got to grips with the game as it went on and made an excellent interception at one point. I'm hopefully he can develop into a good partner for Dunne but I'm not sure if he's the second coming of Paul McGrath.

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i was in south terrace also and your nuts if you are going to critise him for struggling with koller in the air! i thought he dealt with him well all through the first half. ando'shea picked him up for all set pieces. they looked organised and had a plan how to deal with the big man and baros never got a sniff. as with yourself didn't have a great view of the goal so maybe mcshane did have a part to play but on the whole i thought he had a smashing debut - bear in mind the lad is in the championship and has never played a game for us before so it is a fair step up.

as regards paul mcgrath's second coming - nobody should even have the burden of being compared to the great one!

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Originally Posted by greendeiseboy

Our main problem area is in front of goal - goals win matches. Keane seems to be going through a confidence crisis at the moment. we urgently need to to blood some of the upcoming underage lads e.g. rooney / stokes. the san marino games would be ideal for this.

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While I agree that we do have a problem scoring goals at present, I totally disagree with the urgent need to blood the underage players as stated above. Doyle hopefully will be back for the rest of the matches and Jason Byrne should also be brought back into the squad as IMO he is a better forward than Morrison and Lee.

Finally, watching last nights game it was very interesting that Morrison didnt come on, I thought he would have got the last 15 mins or so and repalced Keane who would have tired the longe the game went on. Have we seen the last of Bling bling? Here's hoping.....

I thought McShane had a cracking game. He was shouting orders out to a player from Liverpool and another from Man Utd. He led the line superbly and at the age of 20 it was as good a performance you could ask for. Koller rarely beat him in the air and he was eventually booked for consistantly fouling him.

I'd have to see the goal again but I certainly didn't think McShane was in the slightest bit at fault for it. He brought Koller wide and Koller took an excellent shot out of the blue. I think Henderson should have definitely saved it but maybe it took him by suprise.

Anyway, excellent debut and if he keeps it up he has a great future.

McShane had a grand game, but we will see what happens.

Enjoyed his personal celebration just after he was named MOTM.

why what did he do after being named man of the match

It was the best debut I witnessed since Liam Brady, no question about that, I could even put it on a par. And exactly as we knew what we witnessed in Brady then McShane did it last night and for that he fully deserves all the plaudits. He appears to take it all in his stride with such self confidence, authority and intelligence.