Republic of Ireland V Serbia - Saturday, 24th May 2008 - Friendly

Thursday's game is surely the time to experiment? Let us see whether Garven/Rowlands/Scannell can make an impact at this level. Liam Miller has had enough chances now to impress and I hope he gives Whelan a new partner for Thursday night.

Kiely

Kelly-Dunne-O'Shea-Deleney

McGeady-Whelan-Garvan-Duff

Keogh-Long

I'd have given Dunne the rest but without his presence a McShane/O'Shea pairing could have scared the team for life. Bring on Scannell and Rowlands at half time and let us see if they become squad players for the big games to come in September.

Hunt had a poor game but if we discarded everybody who had a poor game in a friendly ....?
If he had an unexpected poor game then I wouldn't write him off.
He was his clubs player of the year, at least he is still a nr. 1 or 2 sub?

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Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar

We can't play McShane as its like giving the opposition a goal start. The thought of Toni or Barbatov against McShane is scary stuff. Playing Kelly at center half is worth a tryout before the serious games start. I would even consider trying out Delaney at center half.

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I think McShane would do well against either of those players. His best performances have come against target men, man of the match when up against Koller and also man of the match when marking Berbatov last season.

It would be madness to try a fullback at centre back- we're not desperate for a CB. O'Brien (hopefully) and O'Shea are both solid options at there and add in St Ledger, who has been getting very good reviews, and we're covered.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Reid, Reid, Carsley, Garvan, Delap (neat and tidy, physically strong and athletic and a great throw in...), Rowlands, Gibson, O'Toole & Potter are all better players yet of these only maybe 3, max 4, could be trusted in the upcoming competitive games IMO. I'd like to see Rowlands get a start on Thursday if he's fit.

Hunt's poor showing may open the door for McGeady or Liam Lawrence in due course, with Duff reverting to the left.

If ever there was a case for playing some variation of a 5 man midfield, preferably an attacking 4-2-3-1, the last 3 games have been it. I suspect Trap will arrive at this conclusion though he says he wants to change things only slowly.

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I'm with you on this one Stutts. No reason why we should be playing longball stuff with the players at our disposal. Very exciting that we could have a good midfield with players who are all comfortable with the ball, and even still have some left on the bench.

Would prefer to see Duff on the right and McGeady on the left though- I think that would suit the formation a bit better.

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Originally Posted by stojkovic

Yes, I hate Croker also and cant wait to get back to Lasndowne.

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+1. Such a difficult place to get to and has even more event junkies.

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Originally Posted by TheBoss

Is Kiely, pronounced Keely or Kily, I think its Keely myself.

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Kylie. :D

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Originally Posted by mypost

Kylie. :D

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Yes as in Kylie Minogue, now is they some celebrity whose name sounds the
same Keogh? As most people (including me) don't know phonetic spellings it's
the only way to be sure of the correct prounciation, especially if you are in the UK.

It is Kyo, not Key-O, right?
And Kinsilla not Kin-Sella, right?
McGra not McGrath?

Forgive me, I've been raised on the wrong ways

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

I'm glad I'm not alone in singling out Miller as being abysmal, yet again.

Our central midfield is crying out for someone with presence and someone with the courage to look for a simple pass from whoever is on the ball.

Apologies for my poor understanding of astro-physics here but Miller is like a black hole. It's not just that he has no presence, it's worse: he has negative presence. His very being there seems to create room for the opposition. He sucks the ball from our team and out the other side to the opposition.

Despite some thrilling attacking moments in the CL for Celtic and the occasional decent game for Sunderland (including at the Emirates in a 5 man midfield), the R5 Live commentary on his MUFC debut against Chelsea now looks generous - "neat and tidy but no more". God, if only he could even be neat and tidy for us it'd be a big step up.

Reid, Reid, Carsley, Garvan, Delap (neat and tidy, physically strong and athletic and a great throw in...), Rowlands, Gibson, O'Toole & Potter are all better players yet of these only maybe 3, max 4, could be trusted in the upcoming competitive games IMO. I'd like to see Rowlands get a start on Thursday if he's fit.

Hunt's poor showing may open the door for McGeady or Liam Lawrence in due course, with Duff reverting to the left.

If ever there was a case for playing some variation of a 5 man midfield, preferably an attacking 4-2-3-1, the last 3 games have been it. I suspect Trap will arrive at this conclusion though he says he wants to change things only slowly.

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Yeah - its been so painfully obvious that our "Engine Room", ie, Central Midfield is one of the poorest functioning midfields in International Football for how long now?

It always warrants discussion as its imperative that this area is organised correctly (albeit with our limited resources at present) if we've aspirations on not being humiliated in the 2010 qualifiers never mind seriously challenging to qualify.

Miller has had a number of chances to impress and establish himself in the team and has failed yet again to make any impression. No presence, no composure, no urgency and conducts nothing from an area that demands a player with the ambition to at least try and impose himself on the game.

When the Training Camp and these friendlies were announced I thought one of the possibilities would be that Whelan and Garvan would get the opportunity to play their way at least into the squad. Trapp's eye for a player would dictate that Whelan and Garvan would get a chance. This hasn't happened for Garvan as yet.

Thursday would be the opportunity for Garvan to at least be offered a chance to establish himself and offer an alternative to whats currently on offer. I understand that both Whelan and Garvan could not be thrown in together.

We're crying out for some footballing intelligence and an ability to pick a pass from the centre alongside a holding player. Andy Reid fits the bill and (dare I say it) Stephen Ireland is also from this mould of player.

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Originally Posted by theworm2345

It is Kyo, not Key-O, right?
And Kinsilla not Kin-Sella, right?
McGra not McGrath?

Forgive me, I've been raised on the wrong ways

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Mark Kince-illa
Andy Ki-yo! As in KiYo muthafcuka!

I think people are reading a bit too much into who was picked last sat. To be honest I think he is going through a process of removing dead wood, after all I find it hard to believe that Whelan, Garvan Scannell haven't impressed in Portugal against our other limited players, when they've been impressing all round during the season.
Trap was being practical last Sat. Serbia was always going to be the harder of the two games, so it made sense to keep experimenting to a minimum given that he wouldn't have wanted to get off to a bad start as manager. Having said that Miller has played his way out of the squad if the others show even a modicum of ability.

Its a pity Rowlands was injured, I've seen him before and he's tough as nails.

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Originally Posted by theworm2345

It is Kyo, not Key-O, right?
And Kinsilla not Kin-Sella, right?
McGra not McGrath?

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Obviously we say McGrath :) Pronounced McGrah not McGratt

lesson nr 2
How would you say
Andy Keogh went to Kehoes last night?

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Originally Posted by theworm2345

It is Kyo, not Key-O, right?
And Kinsilla not Kin-Sella, right?
McGra not McGrath?

Forgive me, I've been raised on the wrong ways

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ah the good aul yanks:

moran -> mo ran
mahoney -> ma ho ney
kehoe, keogh, whats the third way of spelling it again? the "ke" are not said separately rather the whole word is run together.

There are many more names that are backstardised, sorry i mean americanised.

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Originally Posted by paul_oshea

ah the good aul yanks:

moran -> mo ran
mahoney -> ma ho ney
kehoe, keogh, whats the third way of spelling it again? the "ke" are not said separately rather the whole word is run together.

There are many more names that are backstardised, sorry i mean americanised.

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I would pronounce mahoney more like MA HAN EY. Maybe it's a dub thing. The way you list it above paul reminds me of a character played by Steve Guttenberg in a crap 80's series of police comedies.

As for the match the other night - replace McShane with a half decent central defender, replace Whelan and Miller with two out of of S Reid, J O'Brien, A Reid, S Ireland or Garvan and use Hunt as an impact sub and we should be on the right track.

I agree with Stutts suggesting Miller is a waste at International level. I'd drop him from the squad and replace him with a younger player with a bit of potential. I'd also drop McShane for a while from the team and the bench until he recovers some form at club level as he's proving a liability at the moment.

Hopefully we can uproot a good partner for Dunne before the qualifiers kick off as this is our weakest position (and no John O'Shea is not the answer as his previous 7 years in an Ireland jersey should have made painfully obvious). Maybe St Ledger or O'Dea can do a job.

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Originally Posted by youngirish

I would pronounce mahoney more like MA HANEY. Maybe it's a dub thing. The way you list it above paul reminds me of a character played by Steve Guttenberg in a crap 80's series of police comedies.

As for the match the other night - replace McShane with a half decent central defender, replace Whelan and Miller with a combination of S Reid, J O'Brien, A Reid, S Ireland or Garvan and use Hunt as an impact sub and we should be on the right track.

I agree with Stutts suggesting Miller is a waste at International level. I'd drop him from the squad and replace him with a younger player with a bit of potential. I'd also drop McShane for a while from the team and the bench until he recovers some form at club level as he's proving a liability at the moment.

Hopefully we can uproot a good partner for Dunne before the qualifiers kick off as this is our weakest position (and no John O'Shea is not the answer as his previous 7 years in an Ireland jersey should have made painfully obvious). Maybe St Ledger or O'Dea can do a job.

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Police Academy crap?

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Originally Posted by irishultra

Police Academy crap?

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The first one was okay but the sequels were dire.

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Originally Posted by youngirish

The first one was okay but the sequels were dire.

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Ah now, come on.

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Originally Posted by geysir

Hunt had a poor game but if we discarded everybody who had a poor game in a friendly ....?
If he had an unexpected poor game then I wouldn't write him off.
He was his clubs player of the year, at least he is still a nr. 1 or 2 sub?

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I agree. Hunt was a classic example of a player in "end of season" mode. I wouldnt read too much into it.

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Originally Posted by craig7042

I agree. Hunt was a classic example of a player in "end of season" mode. I wouldnt read too much into it.

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The worrying thing is though that Hunt has yet to really perform whenever he has started for us. Hopefully it's just taking him a while to settle at international level.

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Originally Posted by jmurphyc

The worrying thing is though that Hunt has yet to really perform whenever he has started for us. Hopefully it's just taking him a while to settle at international level.

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I'd high hopes for Hunt and admire his commitment and attitude. That said, I'm beginning to wonder if he's a "school yard" type of player in that he has no real rhyme or reason to his play. This isn't solely based on the Serbian performance but rather having observed over a period of time.

Everything is at a hyperactive, break neck speed with not much composure brought into the equation. He has a great delivery of the ball but rarely gets himself into positions to take advantage of this.

I'm not a fan of the term "Impact Sub" but it's a possibility that he may deliver his best performances for us in that role. There may be games where we are struggling or under pressure with 20 to go where he could take the pressure off the back 4 - provided he keeps the head and doesn't do a Czech Republic on it and get sent off.

There's a thin line between unorthodox and plain chaotic.

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Originally Posted by jmurphyc

The worrying thing is though that Hunt has yet to really perform whenever he has started for us. Hopefully it's just taking him a while to settle at international level.

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IMO Hunt is a fairly limited player who's more useful for hounding the opposition when we are away from home trying to hang on for a draw or to a one goal league than being played from the start at Lansdowne or Croker when we need to win.

We need someone more creative in the wide area for games we expect to win. Possibly McGeady (who I've yet to be impressd by for Ireland) or Scannell are the way forward. Lawrence and S Ireland could also be useful options though I think Ireland would be better played in the centre.