I don't think Randolph was selected ahead of him, Westwood was injured that time too. I'm not sure MON seems fully convinced by Westwood's attitude, going by the little piece in that press conference I linked.
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I don't think Randolph was selected ahead of him, Westwood was injured that time too. I'm not sure MON seems fully convinced by Westwood's attitude, going by the little piece in that press conference I linked.
I don't think it's going to be a scrap at all - I think it'll be one of the most open games of football that we'll have been involved in for years.Quote:
Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton
I said when the draw was made, the best way to nullify Bosnia would be to attack them. Either a Bosnian journalist, or their manager said this week that they're weak at the back, and the only way they can play is full-on attack, hence why they leak goals. If we sit in for a draw like we usually do in Eastern Europe, we're inviting trouble.
Does anyone fancy an appearance from Judge? He can play on the wing or in the hole and is making things happen regularly at Brentford. The midfield is pretty up in the air. I think Hendrick, McCarthy and Whelan are nailed on. After that, there's Brady, McClean, Gibson and Meyler in with a shout but only two of them are wide players (Brady and McClean) and neither Gibson or Meyler would be playing 10 behind Murphy, if we go with one striker. I think McGeady's lack of games have him out of the frame.
Hendrick could play 10 but that would mean we wouldn't have anyone to play on the right.
I think there's going to be a wildcard in that midfield. There has to be if we go with one up front because I don't fancy us to start Hoolahan at all.
I wouldn't imagine Westwood would want to pull out for a play-off seeing as how Randolph got on coming off the bench.
I would have Westwood as out number 1 personally.
I remember Dean Kiely getting mightily pi$$ed off, and probably rightly so, at how Trap treated him for a friendly but I think this is a bit different. I think he's just injured
I was thinking the same when i put that team together. I went with McGeady as that wildcard as I feel O'Neill will feel he is the safer option for the away leg, but I would imagine he will revert to the diamond for Dublin, and I could easily see Judge or even Arter playing off Long & Walters. It won't be like O'Neill to go with Hoolahan away from home but with so many injuries for the first leg, and an extra man in midfield as a result of only having 1 up front, i think he will want him in the team.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
There are a lot of possible ways we could play though, and we are very badly short of pace. I also considered a 4-1-4-1 with Christie at RB and Coleman RM.
On Whelan. I know most will be expecting him to play, but he came off very early against Poland, and the contrast with McCarthy in that role against Germany was stark. I'd say he must be behind Hendrick and McCarthy at this stage, if not others
Could this have been the final straw?....
Oh please make that happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by backtowalsall
As Robbie's cousin once wrote: "I haven't had a dream in a long time, y'see the luck I've had can make a good man bad. So, for once in my life, let me get what I want, lord knows it would be the first time (in about 60 caps)"
Which came first? The attitude or Given being selected ahead of him? If I was Westwood, I'd be mighty peeved as well. Forde must have also wondered what happened when he lost his place to Given.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
To title this "Glen Whelan's career highlights" is so wrong in many ways for someone who has given it all when he has played for us and has done a great job. A lot of this anti-Whelan stuff goes back to when Trap was playing him instead of some other players, including Gibson, and is just wrong and unfair.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
I don't even know if there is an attitude but yeah I could 100% understand his frustrations at Given starting ahead of him (or anybody else for that matter). MON made reference to him not wanting to play in the League Cup game against Arsenal, despite Sheffield Wednesday thinking he was okay. Just seemed a little strange.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
I wouldn't take it too seriously. I can't say I agree he's done a great job though but many agree with you.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
Plenty of players have been made to look stupid by Lewandowski. Not to excuse Whelan, but he's waiting for the ball to come to him, Lewandowski gets in the way, wrong foots him, Whelan is caught off balance and Lewandowski is gone again.
It's Krychowiak, not Lewandowski. He's caught badly but these things happen, it's just one minor clip. Looks kind of funny though.
I went off Whelan when Trap called him something preposterous like Ireland's Michel Platini and in subsequent interviews it was clear he believed the hype.
Slow, wasteful, a coward, incapable of passing forward and passes out of play ALL the bloody time, as un-dynamic as a midfielder gets and with a horrible sense of self-entitlement (has anyone mentioned him being a leader this week as he played back in Paris? No, me neither).
I don't like what I know of the man and I think he is an utterly brutal footballer for Ireland.
If he does a job at Stoke, grand, I don't care and best of luck to him.
McCarthy/Hendrick is a few crucial degrees more functional than a McCarthy/Whelan pairing.
Gattuso maybe? Definitely still an overstatement but considerably less preposterous :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Yard of Pace
Agree on most of the above points, particularly re pace. If we're playing zero goal Murphy up front then we're somewhat shy a goal-threat and speed. We need to stack our midfield with players who can make a goal happen, within reason. That's why I'm wondering if Judge will get a look in. That's also why I'd like to see Brady playing further up the pitch as opposed to left back.Quote:
Originally Posted by backtowalsall
Someone has Brady in the hole and McClean on the left. That sounds like a runner to me. I really think he's just going to let Wes on the bench, mindful of the second Poland game and the fact that it's an away game.
Also, it looks like we'll have to drop the diamond because we're missing Walters and Long and so we haven't much options for a striking duo. There's always the possibility of Keane partnering Murphy.
Remember when it wasn't cool to like the Smiths? It being to cool to dislike Glenn Whelan should be consigned to history with that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Yard of Pace
I think that is happening a bit. It has become 'cool' to understand Whelan and what he offers, stuff that was ignored or overlooked previously. I think there might even be a pretentious element to it with some people, a kind of 'you have to understand the game to see what he brings' sort of thing. I'm sure this stems from top manager after top manager picking him and it's been kind of difficult to fathom at times. I wouldn't be as harsh as YOP though, I think he's had a good 2015 overall for club and country but, yeah, I'd prefer if he was phased out as an automatic starter at least.
Apologies, yes. But still quite preposterous. He compared James McCarthy to Platini.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mac+is.....-a0300112113
Make up a compilation video of him attempting 5 yard passes to players on the wing and the ball going out of play.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
I actually don't feel I need to say any more. Get him out and never have him back.
Is there a vine of Whelan being roasted by a 37 year old Anders Svensson?Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Johnser Keane wrote that?Quote:
Originally Posted by Yard of Pace
Green is Gattuso.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
meyler out for 2 months. real pity as he has done well when called upon and seemed to be in great form over the last while for Hull...
http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2015/...to-two-months/
[QUOTEIf we sit in for a draw like we usually do in Eastern Europe, we're inviting trouble.[/QUOTE]
We'll be sitting in for a draw and inviting trouble.
Feck, that's a bit of a blow. I agree with CD that he could have been important in some capacity over the two games. Brucie won't be happy either.Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
Very disappointed for Meyler and midfield options shorten again.
Time to deploy the joker. Enter Alan Judge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
I kind of understand what you're saying here DeL but, at the same time, Glenn Whelan and 'coolness'? Unfortunately, not even Glenn has come within a sniff of crossover hipster appeal. He ain't propping up many Sagres-fuelled footy arguments in Shoreditch is what I'm saying.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
The main problem with the Whelan argument is it gets real emotive, real quick. Hysterical and hyperbolic. Like this...
Whelan's had a decent year for Ireland, after a bad run. Wasn't great in Poland but I think he's got a good bit to offer in Bosnia not least as an organiser and a leader in a team shorn of most of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yard of Pace
I wouldn't have him as an automatic starter, but with the players missing I'd shoe him in for the away leg and have him give way to McCarthy at home.
Bould aul' prediction there Kingdom. If I wasn't skint, I'd offer a wager. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingdom
It's not necessarily about sitting back looking for a draw, it's about 22 players already accustomed to the nip and tuck of international football playing in a two-legged cup final with a highly emotive prize in line for whoever can hold their nerve.
I'd love it to be open, stretched and end-to-end - can't see it though.
Sure, I wouldn't have used the word cool only for the way the conversation fell. Still, I think he's getting a lot of plaudits for remaining in the Stoke side despite the influx of more glamorous names. He's starting to be embraced as the vital cog that allows the others to express themselves. He got high praise from the Soccer Saturday crew on Sky recently which can carry a lot of weight amongst the watching public. I'm not begrudging him this sort of publicity and a part of me is even a little proud of him when I hear the Sky lads signalling him out for special praise, one of our own and all that. However, I have to draw the line at getting sucked in to thinking he's actually better than he is, even within the restraints of his specialised role. I think it's been proven, in my mind at least, that we don't miss him when he's absent and midfield generally functions better e.g. Sweden (a), Italy friendly and Germany (h).Quote:
Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton
Surely McCarthy will start both games either way?Quote:
Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton
The42.ie published this earlier - What does Glenn Whelan do for Ireland: http://www.the42.ie/analysis-what-do...37941-Nov2015/
Why would he bother coming over though in the first place without a guarantee if that was really what was up? Are you suggesting he might have come over, realised he wasn't set for a start and buggered off again in a huff, with the injury claim now being used as cover to safeguard his reputation and the notion of squad harmony? He was photographed sitting out of training next to O'Neill; of course, it's possible that your conspiracy theory might be true, but it'd be a very elaborate act. I'm not sure it's plausible. Do we even know that he was going to be playing second-fiddle in the first place?Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
All the more important that we take advantage then, considering away goals are up for grabs (although I think the chances of us going on the attack in the first-leg of a play-off away from home are slim).Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingdom
Right Lads and Lassies, time to put aside our bias and dislikes of team selection and players and get behind the Boys in Green.
We have a play off to win....
Come on Ireland!
Ah, there's at least another 24 hours of speculating yet! No harm in it. I'd go withQuote:
Originally Posted by the doc
Randolph;
Christie, Keogh, Clark, Ward;
McCarthy, Whelan;
Coleman, Hendrick, Brady;
Murphy
4-2-3-1
Bench: Forde, Henderson; Duffy, Pearce, Wilson; McClean, Hoolahan, Arter, Gibson, Judge, McGeady; Keane, Doyle
Live stream of the press conference on RTE player: http://www.rte.ie/live/
I know what you mean, but I personally see that as just due for a guy who's a pretty decent player when he plays well but has gotten absolute dogs abuse for us. It's ok, people who praise him arn't trying to set a dirty trap to trick you into thinking he's an unheralded genius. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Definitely, I mean they'll play together away with McCarthy moving into the deep-lying midfielder role for the home leg. I think he can play a good role for us - he's got an awful slagging for what, to me, was more an issue of bad form than being a bad player. But at home, I'd stick with McCarthy.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
It's the anniversary since we played Iran too. Mad some of the players we had then! https://beanbagsports.com/blog/2015/...-are-they-now/
Randolph
Coleman Clark Keogh Ward
McCarthy
Hendricks Arter Brady
Hoolahan
Murphy
Bad luck with the injuries and the suspensions. I'd be tempted to play Keane but I know he doesn't suit the lone man role and unless we can guarantee him some action in the box we've got to go with Murphy. He's surely due an international goal....
Randolph
Coleman Keogh Clark Wilson
Hendrick Whelan. McCarthy
Hoolahan. Brady
Keane
Picked Keane as Murphy is never going to score for us. 14 caps & no goals at 32 years of age is not what we need from a striker. Anyway Keane will be up against at 35 year old defender in Spahic. I'm sure he can still out pace him. Picked Meyler as he is playing well & flying high with Hull & I feel we need to be quite defensive in Bosnia. Think Brady offers far more as an attacking player than a left back which is why Wilson comes in for me.