Great start. Lawrence and Doyle very good. Better than I expected.
Great start. Lawrence and Doyle very good. Better than I expected.
Yeah, you're right. I had my Derry hat on!Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
According to Sky Sports, Fay-hay has done the job for Ireland tonight :)
Watching the Andorra v Russia game. 2-0 after 62 mins. Terrible decision to give Russia a peno. Blatant dive.
Given 7 = Very solid. Good game
O'Shea 7 = Did nothing wrong and made some vital interceptions
Dunne 7 = His bizarre backward header aside, a colossus at the heart of the defence
St Ledger 7 = Again formed a solid partnership with Dunne. Needs move up at
club level though, fingers crossed he'll get a chance in January
Kilbane 4 = The Armenians targetted the Irish left side with Kilbane kindly giving the
winger the freedom of Yerevan. Absolute liability at this level. Terrible
game.
Lawrence 8 = Really good game. Worked his socks off. Pity he had to drop down to
championship level.
McGeady 7 = Looked really dangerous every time he got the bal. Ireland simply
didn't get him on the ball enough. Taken off early by Trap even though
the tiring Armenian defence would have been ripped to shreds by him if
he had stayed on.
Whelan 7 = Really good first half, faded slightly in 2nd but still made some vital
interceptions.
Green 3 = Feel sorry for the guy. He is hopelessly out of his depth. Almost cost
Ireland 2 goals. Nowhere near good enough. Trap stop this madness now.
Doyle 9 = Superb performance. My man of the match.
Keane 5 = Missed gilt edged chances. His lack of match practice was evident for all
to see.
Subs: Fahy (7), Keogh (6)
Author's verdict = Trap once again proves to be a lucky manager. Good first half from Ireland but did not take their chances. Could have gone either way in the 2nd half. Ireland were very lucky to escape with a win. McGeady should not have been taken off. Green was hopelessly out of his depth but stubborn Trap is likely to continue to pick this "diamond" that he has unearthed. James McCarthy, Stephen Ward and Kevin Foley have started all three of their 3 Premier League games this season (Carr = retired) (Dunne and Duff being the only other two). To not have them in the squad is folly. But it's a results game so Ireland are off to the best possible start with 3 more certain to come (according to Bill) on wed so can't ask for any more than that. If I was going to express my honest opinion, it would be that Trap continues to bluff his way in the job, doesn't have a clue of the players and needs to be ousted with Martin O'Neill instigated in his place. An unpopular opinion I know but we're all entitled to our own
He did fine defensively???!!! Come on man ur having a windie surelyQuote:
Originally Posted by Murfinator
Do Andorra still defend en masse? I imagine they must do to keep the score down to 2. I remember there being 10 of 'em behind the ball for long spells when we last played them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar
I'd reasonably be more confident of us scoring from crosses than Russia tho. Stick Dunney up there and we should be fine. If the Russia score stays low we should really be looking to capitalise on goal difference as unlikely as that sounds
Kelly, Foley, Ward all regular starters in premier league. Kelly and Foley can play right back with O' Shea switching to left. Or we can go with Ward at left back and leave O' Shea at right full if ur happier with that. Plenty of better options in my opinionQuote:
Originally Posted by noddy102
You're not wrong, shocking decision. Hopefully that's the Russian's luck used up now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar
Ward is only getting back into the team again, having been injured more or less all last season - hasn't even got near the Irish squad yet either.Quote:
Originally Posted by tommy_c12000
Kelly has never been a regular at Fulham.
Foley will be regular starter this season - I'd like to see him in the team myself too.
Same starting lineup for Andorra? Is Duff going to play?
It is a really horrible game. Andorra have indeed parked the coach. Russia have been givng the ball away a lot in frustration. Should never have been given the peno for the second goal. Andorra creating very little with 10 men behind the ball. Hope it stays at 2-0 as Russia might well regret the way they are playing here. Wasting time and settling for the 2-0. Very strange.
Kelly has started 2 out of 3 premier league games this season and with Konchesky gone he is likely to continue starting games.Quote:
Originally Posted by noddy102
All I'm saying is that there are better options than KK
I feel that goal difference will be crucial in this group. We should be looking to capitalise on Russia's result and it's not as unlikely as it sounds. We missed loads of chances today and were denied a penalty. Hopefully Robbie can find his scoring boots again!Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelmusic
Ah you know what i mean. The highest we've score in one game since Trap took over is 3, and that in a friendly. Bout time an irish team ran riot and pocketed 5 or 6 though. That 6 record needs to be broke!
slovakia macedonia live now. good stream on betfair.
How does the goal difference actually work now? Are the teams distinguished by head-to-head results in the event of a tie on points or did they revert back to the traditional method?Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelmusic
Lads don't get too bogged down by goaol difference yet. Remember Andorra were the home team here. Russia will probably beat them 4 or 5-0 in Moscow.
I certainly wouldn't have Green in there. Nothing against the guy and he's got a good attitude, but he made some terrible errors that would have been punished had our opponents been more ruthless. Taking his eye off the ball whilst waiting for it to arrive to his feet and passing to the opponent just isn't acceptable at any level. Maybe time for Trap to give someone else a go instead of Kilbane as well considering the nature of the opposition. Otherwise, I'd be content. If Duff is fit, I'm sure he'll be accommodated though. I'd expect McGeady to lose out. Thought Lawrence and Doyle were brilliant this evening in particular.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Just watching Slovakia-Macedonia on IraqGoals. Still 0-0 after nearly 35 minutes gone.