Republic of Ireland V Georgia - Wednesday, 11th February 2009 - World Cup 2010 Q

The day after the night before .
Well to see all the goals in the lower Dav stand was a first , well maybe be not . Just ashame we had lots of empty seats again around us .
As for the game with 20 mins to go I would have taken a draw to be honest but when Robbie scored the winner everyone around me went nuts just loved it really and I don't care what people say as the full time score will always read 2-1 . Fair play to Mypost I am in the same boat as you and only think positively at the moment .:)

Aye, there's plenty of time to be negative. Let's just enjoy this for the moment.

Absolutely delighted for Robbie that he got the (genuine) winner. You could see what it meant to him after the last 6/7 weeks he's had to endure.

Shocking performance last night, but thanks to a joke of a penalty Ireland sneaked a win. First half Ireland played far too narrow. 2nd half to be fair they used the wings alot more, especially McGeady. Set pieces last night where shocking. Ireland had plenty of chances from free kicks/corners to test a dodgy keeper but poor deliveries never took advantage of it.

To be fair to Ireland & Trap we have alot of average footballers in the squad, especially in centre midfield. An injury prone Steven Reid & the enigma that is Stephen Ireland the only real quality players who can play there. Not a whole lot Trap can do about that.

Last night Andrews & Whelan looked out of their depth & where chasing shadows at times. Andrews unlucky to have the goal disallowed but the distribution at times was terrible and Andrews in particular gave away alot of fouls with poor tackling.

I thought McGeady was our best player last night, especially in the 2nd half. Contanstly ran at the fulll back & even when Georgia tried to double up on him they struggled to deal with him.

Center midfield lacking quality in terms of attacking ability but defensively fairly good, Kelly was caught cold but was fairly ok after that, thought Dunne and O'Shea were solid, defo best game in a green shirt for McGeady and i was in the singing section and everyone around me agreed mcgeady was good. Need to work on set pieces we had so many that lacked good delivery. Why did Whelan hit that free kick when he refuses 9 out off 10 to shot from play on the edge of the box but is happy to hit a free?? I understand trap's style in terms of defending but at home surely we could have a holding midfielder and a creative attacking midfielder, don't know the ins and outs about S Ireland but what i do know is that he is class would almost say world class and he is Irish, i wish they would just bury the hatchet and he would play again for Ireland.

30 minutes to go unbareable final whistle 3 points in the bag job done roll on the 28th!! Come on you boys in green!!

Incidentally, I think that was the first competitive game since Andorra in 2001 that we came from behind to win

stuff the quality, smell the points.

Only for a truly awful first 20 minutes from Kelly we weren't that bad. I agree with endabob that it looked like Dunne should have gone for the header, JOS should have picked up the flick and Kelly should have remained at RB, but it loooked like each was sucked forward one position. Clearly an error by Kelly but in cold light of day the defensive unit got it mixed up too.

I actually wanted Kelly to play but I suppose we can now look at McShane's inadequacies at full back in a better context and hope that Finnan or Foley can step in.

I thought Andrews had a very good game, covered lots of ground and was a presence where we've often lacked it. I thought the disallowed goal was harsh. In the old rules fair enough but in the new interpretation of offside I thought it was ok, perhaps Doyle being active because he was so close to the defender. I thought Doyle was slow out but I suppose the new rules don't necessarily encourage him to get back.

Shay is a rock. How easy did he make that catch look in injury time?

On the positive side I thought once we went ahead we never looked in danger which is rare for us. Full marks to KK for his commitment at the end.

When we won our Euro 88 group we drew 0-0 at home to both Scotland and Belgium and came from behind to beat Luxembourg 2-1. Look what happened next! OK, we had better players then but it's all about the points, nothing else. The circumstances were fortunate but there were positives and bar Kelly's nightmare most others played well. Not sure about Whelan but I do think he won some good tackles late on.

I think before the game last night all anybody wanted was the 3 points. It wasn't the best of starts but these things happen. The group looks great and if we beat Bulgaria the Italy game will be huge, especially if they slip up against monty on the Sat before.

Overall its another game out of the way and we got the 3 points needed, still some tough games ahead!

I felt so good after the game last night, contrast that to the Cyprus game where there was a real depressing mood after that game.

I thought Duff was very good, but yet again if we just had a proper playmaking midfielder in there we would be well on our way. I really hope Ireland could be with us for the fixtures against Bulgaria and Italy, surely if he doesn't come back then the DOOR MUST BE SHUT.

We're not Brazil. We wont be in my life time. Skill and Brilliance are not our thing. We should accept that and move on.

The thing however that is our thing and that has disappeared from Irish football since the last penalty kick against spain in Japan was heart, spirit and togetherness. Whether that died within the Irish camp after the shenanigans with Roy or not we will never know. Post traumatic Stress Syndrome maybe for a lot of young impressionable lads.

McCarthy called for its return, I didnt come and he knew when the right time to go and he went
Kerr called for it (and maybe deserved it) but it didnt happen - no juice in the tank. Players happy to use him as a scapegoat.
Staunton didnt have the ability to call for it and the players didnt have the willingness to offer it in the absense of leadership

Last night we walked off at half time after,at times, one of the worst 1st halfs Ive seen in 4 years. I sent a message to a friend and it read "This is Scary stuff. The sad thing is we have nobody that we can bring in that can make a difference" - No changes were made by Trappatoni. The crowd were muted and I felt that we were starting to accept defeat even at that stage. Maybe we were not good enough.(AFAIK the boos were directed at the referee rather than the players BTW)

I watched a 2nd half performance, with the exact same eleven filled with passion, effort, heart, courage and togetherness. And the crowd in the Singing Section responded and respected the effort of all involved. We're not Brazil, We dont have Ronaldinihos, Romarios and Ronaldos. We're Ireland - We have Duffs, We have Dunnes, We have Doyles.

We just remembered that last night.

Im not saying there isnt room for improvement. There always is. Im sure Trap would agree that theres lots of room from improvement tacticly and technically. Im just saying Its just great to hear fans sing all the way back to Connolly Station. It's been a long time coming.

Were the Irish Independent reporters at the game last night? Bizarre comments in todays edition.

Apart from the freakish early goal conceded, the game was standard fare,
2 nil is the barometer.
Of teams who have been seeded lower than us, this is a strong bunch of 4th 5th & 6th seeds. I wouldn't at all be surprised if Italy just manage a point against Montenegro and be happy about it.
I wonder what Lippi made of it? I don't think he would be too perturbed but we know that we have at least one heroic performance somewhere in our repetoire.

We are in a better position now than before the game.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

On the positive side I thought once we went ahead we never looked in danger which is rare for us. Full marks to KK for his commitment at the end.

---

When called upon, the man is instinctively fearless.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by geysir

Apart from the freakish early goal conceded, the game was standard fare,
2 nil is the barometer.
Of teams who have been seeded lower than us, this is a strong bunch of 4th 5th & 6th seeds. I wouldn't at all be surprised if Italy just manage a point against Montenegro and be happy about it.
I wonder what Lippi made of it? I don't think he would be too perturbed but we know that we have at least one heroic performance somewhere in our repetoire.

We are in a better position now than before the game.

---

its so far so good. as already stated we are not brazil but a win is a win. i do share the other concerns about playing better quality teams though. i think most agree that the two reids are the strongest pairing we have. every manager has their preferences for players but to not have andy reid in the 22 is just silly. in my opinion we dont have 11 better players than him never mind say 25! in saying that we are in a great position to qualify and i hope trap makes us all look like idiots!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blobbyblob

Were the Irish Independent reporters at the game last night? Bizarre comments in todays edition.

---

Super post all round, but I read the Indo too and agree with you entirely - esp David Kelly. Midfield was "obliterated"? I actually thought that while it usually is obliterated Andrews stood up and was counted last night, even making clever fouls when needed. David Kelly also blamed the first goal on our midfield. Was it not from a long crossfield ball that went over our midfield? Can't really remember the eaxct circumstances.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by geysir

When called upon, the man is instinctively fearless.

---

It was a super second performance. It was very exciting watching it from the canal end. At half time it was looking ominous. I thought Mc Geady outstanding throughout!!! Always trying!!! Duff and Doyle not far behind him. Well Done....

Andrews did well I thought. Stephan Kelly is as poor as you'll find. I sorry but he is worse than Mc Shane.

Bottom line is, Ill take 3 points any day regardless.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BigmanCas

It was a super second performance. It was very exciting watching it from the canal end. At half time it was looking ominous. I thought Mc Geady outstanding throughout!!! Always trying!!! Duff and Doyle not far behind him. Well Done....

Andrews did well I thought. Stephan Kelly is as poor as you'll find. I sorry but he is worse than Mc Shane.

---

one thing overlooked about McGeady's performance was his tracking back, he broke up quite a few attacks down his wing with some super tackling...fair play to the lad, a performance of skill and passion which should be acknowledged...

I honestly cant believe the negativity on this forum sometimes. Maybe it was different watchin it on tv or something but I came out of the ground last night thinking that it was a very good 2nd half performance and was buzzing.I made a comment to one of my mates on the way out that was one of the more exciting games Ive been too for a while, and credit to the crowd there was a very good atmostphere in 2nd half.

We were pretty poor in first half but the manager did what he is paid to do at half time and we were a different team in 2nd half.Aiden McGeady and Kevin Doyle in particular were brilliant and took the game by the scruff of the neck.We got very lucky with both goals to be fair, but its about time, Ive lost count of the amount of time Ive come out of games cursing the ref or our luck so I'll quiet happily take some good while its going.

Im not getting carried away though because it wasnt all positive.Glenn Whelan was so far out of his depth it was scary. He is not a defensive midfielder.Steven Ireland, Andy Reid, Owen Garvan to name 3 attacking midfielders would be able to do a better defensive job than him and also give us more going forward. I dont see Trap changing his mind so I just hope it doesnt come back to haunt us

But anyway we are now join top with Italy and when alot of people we predicting that Italy and Bulgaria would be fighting it out for the group Im sure they would have taken this situation....... Organisation and team spirit have improved a thousand times since the Staunton campaign

Kelly can play much better, I am not too perturbed about rb. Anyway he is not the first option.

Trap talk.
“I am always proud of this team. At half-time in the dressing room, I was calm and gave them security because I believed it was possible for them not to lose the game.

“We showed great character and heart in the second half and I think over the 90 minutes we deserved to win. It was an important reaction with good spirit.

“Yes, we were a bit lucky with the penalty but I think Shay Given had only save to make in the second half. We suffered a little bit but we won.”

Trap paid tribute to the work rate of his two wingers.

“Aiden McGeady is very, very important and can improve more with confidence. He and Damien Duff worked very hard, front and back - the same with Kevin Doyle.”

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba

one thing overlooked about McGeady's performance was his tracking back, he broke up quite a few attacks down his wing with some super tackling...fair play to the lad, a performance of skill and passion which should be acknowledged...

---

Wasn't overlooked by me or those around me, i thought he was excellent tracking back nicking the ball away or hassling their players. Great to see him play like that, especially the working back its as important as attacking.

one thing which will stay with me forever is when georgia scored the second, everyone just went completely quiet and then SUDDENLY it was disallowed and the celebrations were class.