Armenia v Republic of Ireland - Tuesday, 9 September 2025 - 2026 World Cup Qualifier

You’d have to wonder how a team with three club captains starting can have so little leadership. It feels like they’re all captains because they’re “good pros” rather than traditional leaders.

I’d question the managers decisions in terms of the wider squad too. He’s left out Molumby who seems to be a character, loud a bit obnoxious on the pitch. He’s left out Festy, another lad who’s not afraid to fight his corner. I thought he was the type who’d go looking for those qualities, the bit of a ******* for want of a better term. But he’s gone the other way and picked the quiet and obedient types ahead of them.

I never thought I’d see the day I’d try to make a case to have James McLean recalled but at least he’d bring that bite. The same with Coleman, he might not be fit but he brings real leadership. As has been pointed out, he’s included players like Dunne and Kenny, who it seems he was never going to give any minutes to, so why not go with the experienced characters who bring urgency to the squad. I know it’s a hard sell and I’d have probably been moaning about it at the time, but it certainly looks like something that needs to considered for the next squad.

Just on taking Taylor off, I did say during the first half that he was bringing some much needed physicality in the middle, but was sloppy with it and giving away silly fouls. Taking him off just made it worse. It looked like there was a last minute decision to try something different with the shape of the team and they hadn’t trained it at all. I think it was a panic response to the awful start against Hungary rather than a considered tactical decision and it really showed in the complete lack of coherence.

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Originally Posted by passinginterest

It looked like there was a last minute decision to try something different with the shape of the team and they hadn’t trained it at all.

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Was it? 😊

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Originally Posted by ifk101

Same shape as before?

Out of possession:
Kelleher;
O’Brien, O’Shea, Collins, Manning;
Ogbene, Cullen, Knight, Azaz;
Ferguson, Taylor.

In possession:
Kelleher;
O’Brien, O’Shea, Collins;
Ogbene, Cullen, Knight, Manning;
Azaz, Taylor;
Ferguson.

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For me, it’s on the coaching. I feel we were way too stretched and leaving too much space between our lines. It made it difficult for us to play combinations and get momentum, and made it easy for Armenia to play through us. Of course, lack of pace, urgency, aggression, coherent plan of attack, individuals having nightmares etc etc plays into it as well but the buck stops with the coaching and HH.

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Originally Posted by ifk101

HH needs to step down. He talked up 6 points and delivered 1. If that’s the culmination of one year’s preparation, he’s not doing his job. I like him as a person, and think he talks a lot of sense, but let’s be real here and move on.

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His contract is up in November isn't it?

Could easily be back into another 8 months of managerless limbo ahead of the Nations League in September.

Yay.

The only argument in favour of him staying on is that last night was the first real bad competitive result. Up to now we've done what was expected - beat Finland and Bulgaria home and away, recovered to take a point off Hungary, even held England scoreless in Wembley until a silly red card.

Equally though, the last three games have been pretty dismal - the draw in Luxembourg (a June friendly), the first half against Hungary, and now last night. Eloratings has us 5 points lower now than after Kenny's last game, and 1 point lower than our lowest rating under Kenny (after the draw with Azerbaijan)

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Originally Posted by elatedscum

Ogbene is clearly not match sharp, even if he’s fit. He’s a raw player at the best of times and when he’s not match sharp, and his touch isn’t right, then he’s half the player he normally is. It was clear on Saturday even if he was still effective at times and it was worse tonight with more minutes. Pretty clear in the first half why Ipswich have shipped him out. When you think of Ebosele sitting at home watching the TV, the mind boggles.

Does anyone think it was a good idea to leave Seamus Coleman out for Jimmy Dunne? Seamus’ leadership was missing across the two games and he played 90 minutes on the Wednesday before the squad met up and came off the bench the day before the squad met up.

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Coleman and Festy are hardly march sharp either in fairness. Coleman has six league appearances in the last year, mostly as a late sub. That recent 90 minutes was against Mansfield. Festy has started only four games all year and was taken apart more than once when Basaksehir lost to Craiova in the Conference League last month.

Not to say you don't have either in the squad - though if we're relying on a practically finished 37-year-old Coleman to turn things around in Portugal next month then we're clearly in big trouble - but just that I think the problems are way deeper than just one or two squad selections. And how you fix a problem that big, I really don't know.

But I still expect that squad not to be torn apart by Armenia.

HH's substitutions just felt totally random to me. It's really hard to see how Molumby and Ebosele could have been left out completely, Ebosele's fitness maybe a mitigant.

Collins, O'Shea, Azaz and Cullen were just dreadful. Ferguson and Kelleher were very good. Idah showed some quality early in his stint but got dragged down to everyone else's level. The rest meh at best.

As said by others, HH is very likeable but he had one clear job and already it's virtually over for us. I wouldn't be sad if he went but we don't have a functional FAI so what chance is there of getting anyone better? I have seen nothing in John O'Shea that makes me think he has any managerial credentials at all.


Separately, I was watching the Armenian build up to their disallowed third goal. They played it short at the back, we pressed and their left back passed the ball under pressure to a midfielder deep in that corner. The midfielder took a difficult pass with ease, quickly turned 180 degrees and suddenly he had the whole pitch to attack. They worked the remaining passage of play well but that was the moment that did it. I thought all night our midfielders laboured with their first touch and rarely had the courage to turn. We really lack technique and courage on the ball in midfield, one of the real basics of the game. We slow everything down and can never find space between lines. It's been the same since 2002 or shortly after.

Scanning Peter, it's called scanning. Irish players have an issue with it, whether it's at centre-back or centre-midfield. It's either not being taught, or it's not being heard. Because the Hungary goal on Saturday to put them ahead doesn't happen with cb's scanning, and we - whether its the MNT vs Armenia, or the U21s vs Andorra - don't have a problem creating, if we scan and communicate.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

he had one clear job

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What was that clear job?

Qualify for the World Cup. He was hired specifically for this campaign.

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Originally Posted by Kingdom

Scanning Peter, it's called scanning. Irish players have an issue with it, whether it's at centre-back or centre-midfield. It's either not being taught, or it's not being heard. Because the Hungary goal on Saturday to put them ahead doesn't happen with cb's scanning, and we - whether its the MNT vs Armenia, or the U21s vs Andorra - don't have a problem creating, if we scan and communicate.

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Ah that's part of it. But it's also the bravery to show for and receive the ball, and the technique to pull it off. It's a fundamental part of the game. I mean even yer man Styles (WBA) looked like a proper midfielder on Saturday. Maybe it's just my lack of confidence in them, but our midfielders never seem to relish having the ball. Wales' and Northerrn Ireland's players look more comfortable than ours.

It's almost certain the FAI will try to (re-)install O'Shea when Hallgrimsson goes, isn't it? There will be no stomach for another long search, and they seem to (possibly mistakenly) think we're automatically qualifying for Euro 2028, so I suspect their perspective will be why bother searching for another manager when there's little to go after in a competitive sense.

Can any patriotic benefactor subsidise Carsley? Conor McGregor maybe? :)

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Originally Posted by Eirambler

It's almost certain the FAI will try to (re-)install O'Shea when Hallgrimsson goes, isn't it? There will be no stomach for another long search, and they seem to (possibly mistakenly) think we're automatically qualifying for Euro 2028, so I suspect their perspective will be why bother searching for another manager when there's little to go after in a competitive sense.

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the whole oshea thing has been a farce from the outset. if they give him the gig after this.... jesus wept.

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Originally Posted by Eirambler

It's almost certain the FAI will try to (re-)install O'Shea when Hallgrimsson goes, isn't it?

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If that goes as badly as it potentially could, then at least it'll be out of the way before too long.

Just our home Euros wasted...

Ahh. We're awful.

From what I saw of it we certainly deserved to lose that game by more than the odd goal in 3. I say 'from what I saw of it' as I simply could bear putting it back on for a good while after half time.

If there was one problem that stood out to me above all others it was the lethargic way we went about everything. That's true of all but 45 minutes over 2 games unfortunately. Every possession seemed to begin with a couple of meaningless passes around the back. Collins would give it to O'Shea, who would give it to O'Brien, who would give it back to Collins, then they would either play a ball into midfield and we would lose it, play it long, or on a number of occasions they make a complete pigs ear of it and a misplaced pass would go out for a throw in.

I saw someone above saying we need to embrace chaos, and i agree with that. There's no point playing a long ball after giving the opposition 20 or 30 seconds to get in position and get organised. Any international team will have enough about them to deal with that. A long ball needs to be played early while the opposition are in transition. Under those circumstances we have a cracking centre forward who is capable of winning a ball that's been played long and bringing other supporting players into the game, then getting into the box and being ready to take a chance if/when the opportunity comes his way.

If we can afford it HH should be relieved of his duties. I doubt we can afford to do that, but if we can I'd say Damian Duff or Jim Goodwin should be the front runners.

As to the future, there were very few positives over the 2 games, but Kelleher and Ferguson have both done well. And i thought Manning was the best of the rest in a problem position for us. If Brady is available again for Portugal he should start, with Manning playing ahead of him on the left side. There's no doubting the ability of Collins, but he looks a shadow of the guy who plays for Brentford when he finds himself in a green shirt. With the repeated mistakes I don't think we can take a chance on putting him up against the 2nd best player who ever laced up a pair of football boots. And Doherty should never be called up again. Coleman may not have to many games left, but he should come back for this one. We need his experience, and a way to take the armband away from Collins without humiliating the guy.

Oh. And I know he plays there for Everton, but Jake O'Brien is never a right back.

So for the next tine out I'd go with a back 4 of Coleman, O'Brien, Omobamidele, Brady.

Omobamidele has only played 45 minutes this season, but he's always looked decent in an Ireland shirt, and quite frankly the guys ahead of him have played their way out of the team.

I think maybe now is the time to experiment with Collins in midfield. If nothing else it would be nice to know that there's another line of defence behind him given his performances in this round of games. And I'd like to see Smallbone come back into the side beside him. He offers the same physicality as Taylor, but with the added threat of being able to make something from set pieces.

On the right I think it's between Ogbene, Ebosele and McAteer. Ogbene is a loose cannon, but maybe there's a place for that. Perhaps with Coleman behind him keeping him in check it would work. McAteer is a more conservative option and i can see the argument for either of them tbh. But i would go with Ebosele. It would be good to get a look at him against a strong standard of opposition, and he could do a lot of running for Coleman.

With Ferguson up from that leaves one spot for someone who will be the 3rd body in midfield, but also be the first to offer support to Ferguson. It's maybe a job for Szmodics. I know I've seen all I want to see of Jason Knight for quite a while.

Kelleher
Coleman O'Brien Omobamidele, Brady
Ebosele Collins Smallbone Manning
------------- Szmodics ---------------
------------- Ferguson ---------------

Of course this means nothing without a change in our approach to play with a lot more urgency. That's far more important than the individuals chosen to play.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Qualify for the World Cup. He was hired specifically for this campaign.

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You will be aware this is not directed at you specifically,
If that was the M.O. then the M.O. was wrong to begin with and he was hired to fail - because this team, and it's clearly this team, is grossly incapable of achieving that goal through the means we are trying to employ.
I would love if it was possible to FOI the selection process that resulted in his appointment.

Our target must be - and this cannot be stressed enough - putting together a team that is uninhibited crossing the touchline, who will not embarrass the country at EURO28. That we are involved in hosting is a disaster because it stops the real shift necessary in Irish football.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Ah that's part of it. But it's also the bravery to show for and receive the ball, and the technique to pull it off. It's a fundamental part of the game. I mean even yer man Styles (WBA) looked like a proper midfielder on Saturday. Maybe it's just my lack of confidence in them, but our midfielders never seem to relish having the ball. Wales' and Northerrn Ireland's players look more comfortable than ours.

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It's courage.

I've referred to it in the 21s thread in this post https://foot.ie/threads/297838-2027-...=1#post2231145

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Originally Posted by Kingdom

It's courage.

I've referred to it in the 21s thread in this post https://foot.ie/threads/297838-2027-...=1#post2231145

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I would say it's a combination between technical ability and confidence to pull off that ability. All of that comes through years of practice where you've been able to learn these things in an environment where there isn't a fear of failure. Like learning a language, you get there by practicing, mistakes and all and making a fool of yourself, until the mistakes disappear. I know multiple languages, and while the teachers were a help, I ultimately learned the languages by failing over and over again. Fluency in languages and fluency in football are similar.

Did these guys get the opportunity to practice playing proper football growing up without the fear of making a mistake? Did they get that opportunity when they moved over to England? Yeah, they might have good coaches that have badges and everything, but what is the culture like at training and during youth matches? Is it all about winning at all costs? This can be a problem with "elite" academies.

Because you see the same issues with the England team, just with better players. The same happens to them as what happens to Ireland, just in the finals part of the tournament. Suddenly England get found out, some team ranked lower of them passes them off the pitch, etc.

Also, when Ireland are playing at home in Dublin (or England in London) and they have the ball on the edge of the box, 50,000 fans are screaming at them to whip the ball into the box. That adds further pressure. Are the Spanish fans doing that?

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Originally Posted by Eirambler

It's almost certain the FAI will try to (re-)install O'Shea when Hallgrimsson goes, isn't it? There will be no stomach for another long search, and they seem to (possibly mistakenly) think we're automatically qualifying for Euro 2028, so I suspect their perspective will be why bother searching for another manager when there's little to go after in a competitive sense.

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Personally I'd rather have Mick back. It wouldn't be a progressive move, but it would hopefully enable us to put out a team with a plan and a shape that would mitigate against further shameful embarrassment. The most depressing thing is that no-one has any faith in the FAI's ability to recruit the right new manager or restructure the game in Ireland in a way that would radically improve our talent pool. They are a failed and irredeemably unsalvageable organisation. So here's a desperate option. The FAI should dissolve. They should finally admit that the schism with the IFA was a tragic mistake for which they are now heartily sorry. They should beg to be reconciled with the one legitimate and seemingly semi-competent football association on the island - throw in their lot and humbly ask FIFA if they would allow it to transfer the allegiance of all their players to the mother association. OK this is shocking and unconscionable, but I have now reached a point where playing all our games at Windsor Park and seeing our team standing respectfully while they play GSTK could hardly be any more shameful than this ongoing national humiliation.

Join the IFA, why not. Surely we can come up with an anthem that we can all get behind. And I like their kit.

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Originally Posted by brine3

I would say it's a combination between technical ability and confidence to pull off that ability. All of that comes through years of practice where you've been able to learn these things in an environment where there isn't a fear of failure. Like learning a language, you get there by practicing, mistakes and all and making a fool of yourself, until the mistakes disappear. I know multiple languages, and while the teachers were a help, I ultimately learned the languages by failing over and over again. Fluency in languages and fluency in football are similar.

Did these guys get the opportunity to practice playing proper football growing up without the fear of making a mistake? Did they get that opportunity when they moved over to England? Yeah, they might have good coaches that have badges and everything, but what is the culture like at training and during youth matches? Is it all about winning at all costs? This can be a problem with "elite" academies.

Because you see the same issues with the England team, just with better players. The same happens to them as what happens to Ireland, just in the finals part of the tournament. Suddenly England get found out, some team ranked lower of them passes them off the pitch, etc.

Also, when Ireland are playing at home in Dublin (or England in London) and they have the ball on the edge of the box, 50,000 fans are screaming at them to whip the ball into the box. That adds further pressure. Are the Spanish fans doing that?

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100%.

We don't take shots at goal outside the box anymore, we don't work opportunities to take shots from any kind of distance. We are easy to defend against. Opponents can defend deep, crowd Ferguson, not worry about second ball loss and possible shots at goal and can focus on breaking at speed because they know we'll be stretched. It's criminal.

Backstothewall - surely our midfield problems are bad enough without putting a centre back who has never played in midfield and seemingly can't even competently play in his own position when he puts on a green jersey in there? If I was moving Collins anywhere it would be onto the subs bench.