Good (or slightly better) feeling

Personally i cant help but feel slighly better now that scotland, NIre and England all failed in their attempts to qualify. For the past two months we have come to realise we are in trouble-weve realised were not as good as we think we are but know that we cant get any worse and that a new manager will and in some ways can only improve our situation. We are in the middle of sorting this out

England on the other hand are in pieces with too mang big egos to contend with and are only starting to REALISE that they are a team in trouble

Scotland and NIre cant live off this luck forever and i think will be brought down with a bang when the feelgood factor passes over and the next qualifiers kick in.

In many respects with a new manager we are in a better positions than most. We know our limitations and are not living off a feelgood factor - we will put the heads down and really work to achieve in the next qualifiers!

Just a thought!

Hmmm - maybe. It's obvious we have some good players but they really just don't seem to have the heart for playing in the green jersey anymore. Could it be their pampered existence earning more in a week than most of us earn in a year but there definitely seems to a lack of that inner drive and fight missing from the current Irish squad. It's obvious we are not the most technically gifted team in the world but we always evened things up with an extra bit of fire and passion (I know it sounds like a typical Irish cliche sorry).

Don't know what the answer is but to play for your country is the ultimate honour and regardless of the size of your bank balance and how great you think you are. The phoenix shall rise again though.

I totally agree. With the exception of Given Dunne, Doyle, Hunt and Keane there is no fire in the team. If it meant it would affect o'sheas position at utd if he played for ireland you know what hed do, feck off back to manchester. And dont get me started on finnan- the way he turned his back on the cross against wales was awful, he has no passion when he plays for ireland, hes merely going through the motions. So what if hes the so called best right back in the premiership, his performances for ireland arnt up to standard

a good manager would inspire the respect of thse fellas and cut loose the dead wood, we have the personnel to achive just as much if not more than Norn Iron or scotland , the right choice this time by the FAI could really pay dividends fast.

I think you'll find the vast majority of the players on the Italian, Croat, Russian & French teams earn more in a week than most of their countries populations do in a year too, but it didn't do them any harm...


I think it's little to do with Bank balance and more to do with having a collective group of people who know how to win football matches. What did Italy do when a determined Scotland pulled one back in their do-or-die clash? They kept at it until they scored a winner. What did Croatia do when they were pegged back to 2-2 against England? They went and scored a third. What did countless teams who scraped 1 goal wins in the qualifers do when the going got tough? They bloody well made sure that they didnt conceed a poxy goal through a watery midfield and a sleepy defence in the last 10 minutes, thats what they did.

The players, from lowest to highest paid on the Irish team played with little or no direction throughout the campaign, and that sadly, was what was needed, but sorely lacking.

I have no doubt about the dedecation or willingness of the vast majority of the Irish squad to play games for their country. It's the belief that we can actually win them, and in many cases deserve to win them , that appears to be missing.

Hopefully that will change when Venables is ignored in favour of a manager who will be hired because as well as being 'good at football' , he can instill a bit of self belief in a group of players who should really, at this moment, be celebrating the home & away wins against Cyprus & the Czechs that would have seen us through, and were there for the taking by a no-more skillful, but simply better prepared team.