Republic of Ireland V Sweden - Friday, 6th September 2013 - World Cup 2014 Qualifier

Well even if that happened it Rio is still a long way off.

We always say we are due a big win, but that means nothing really and nothing to suggest we are going to get a long overdue win against similar opposition.

But on the bigger argument, its just not as cool to follow football anymore. Rugby and GAA is the cool thing, GAA was always cool, but now its cool for the Rugby crowd to play GAA too!! Its patriotic and nationalistic! A win against Sweden wont change that. I didnt hear about that big effect the Euros had really. I know from London and i cant fathom it most of my mates who would play GAA and who like soccer just dont really care for the national team. They would rather watch their local premiership team on the tele(spurs or arsenal). I can't fathom it to be honest. I'd say more than half dont even know we are playing Sweden and Austria in the next couple of days.

Personally, I love all three sports equally and in particular the passion of all Irish sporting supporters, whatever the sport. Getting excited about tomorrow's game and maybe I'm a born optimist, but I sense a win coming on!

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Originally Posted by gastric

Personally, I love all three sports equally and in particular the passion of all Irish sporting supporters, whatever the sport. Getting excited about tomorrow's game and maybe I'm a born optimist, but I sense a win coming on!

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Out of interest, how do you usually watch the games in Oz? Is tomorrow the first time you'll have had a chance to watch the game live on television rather than via an internet stream due to that lad buying the rights, assuming you'd be willing to subscribe or get to some establishment broadcasting it?

He gets up in the middle of the night (sorry, day) and watches it pirated with the lights off via his black market Chinese made Apple. (Known in Oz as the Apricot.) Generally he has a big steak topped with Crocodile bits and an oil can (or ten) of Fosters Bitter. Sometimes his Surfboard slips off the spot he rested it on, hits him in the head, and he gets knocked out for a few minutes. He wakes up to INXS drifting into his house from a nearby Barbecue and takes his shirt off.He admires Tiger Lily Geldof though he tells his wife this not. You sometimes can see a few kangaroos poking their heads into his window when he posts a selfie of the whole ordeal. Occasionally they spit on him. Lately, Mick Dundee has been coming by with a boomerang to join him though Mick understands the finer points of the game not. Whilst a poster of a topless Nicole Kidman wafts gently in his bathroom for whenst he decides to celebrate Irelands latest debacle with a good self rogering. He has boxers he bought on a holiday in New Zealand with pictures of Hugh Jackman on them and he marvels at the direction that his wee wee gets flushed when he emptys his kidneys of said Fosters poison into his loo bowl. Also whenst the Dominos pizza comes the pizza delivery guy (or gal) shakes his hand to make the delivery official in the tradition seen on the Undercover Boss episode I mentioned last winter on here (to great controversy.) On Occasion during stressful parts of the match, assuming the power is still on, he puts his finger in his ear then tastes it.

Crosby, do you have a beard or some form of facial hair?

Not much happening on the sports headline front,
'O'Dea ready to fill Dunne's shoes if needed' What is Darren going to say, 'If Richard gets injured, don't shove me on'?

"McCarthy not distracted by Everton move" well, it's not as if Everton are Barcelona, what's there to get distracted about? it's basically the same job - just down the road a bit.

Not a patch on the creative reporting of old about some scandal or another, concerning Robbie.

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Originally Posted by paul_oshea

Well even if that happened it Rio is still a long way off.

We always say we are due a big win, but that means nothing really and nothing to suggest we are going to get a long overdue win against similar opposition.

But on the bigger argument, its just not as cool to follow football anymore. Rugby and GAA is the cool thing, GAA was always cool, but now its cool for the Rugby crowd to play GAA too!! Its patriotic and nationalistic! A win against Sweden wont change that. I didnt hear about that big effect the Euros had really. I know from London and i cant fathom it most of my mates who would play GAA and who like soccer just dont really care for the national team. They would rather watch their local premiership team on the tele(spurs or arsenal). I can't fathom it to be honest. I'd say more than half dont even know we are playing Sweden and Austria in the next couple of days.

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i don't see that as a decline in popularity though. It has ever been thus. GAA was always huge. Rugby internationals have almost always been sell outs, unless against Fiji or Romania. The only difference is that there is a successful pro rugby "club" product now. Footy has had its peaks but more often than not in my lifetime qualifiers have not sold out and many have been sparsely attended.

I disagree with Grafter. I don't think there is any great passion across all 3 codes. We are a nation that needs instant gratification, with no patience for the slow grind of a qualifying campaign. Inter county GAA and most rugby games are glamorous, few Irish football games are. Irish football fans get their fix by attaching themselves to British teams. The national team, especially under Trap, is a poor substitute in terms of glamour and quality. The more our players are drawn from those British clubs not supported by Irish fans, the longer this will persist.

I do think that things will improve if we get a more progressive manager, ideally Irish, and we can play to a second seeding regularly and play home games in an assertive rather than cautious manner.

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Originally Posted by geysir

Not much happening on the sports headline front,
'O'Dea ready to fill Dunne's shoes if needed' What is Darren going to say, 'If Richard gets injured, don't shove me on'?

"McCarthy not distracted by Everton move" well, it's not as if Everton are Barcelona, what's there to get distracted about? it's basically the same job - just down the road a bit.

Not a patch on the creative reporting of old about some scandal or another, concerning Robbie.

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Try reading Kelly's latest piece about Keane. Someone else can appraise it for its prose this time. I did my shift yesterday.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Try reading Kelly's latest piece about Keane. Someone else can appraise it for its prose this time. I did my shift yesterday.

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Life really is too short to read Mr Kelly's Ireland articles but considering the number of hatchet jobs he has written on Keane this latest article of his is almost an affectionate love letter to Robbie.... in keeping with the national mood towards Robbie post Faroes salvo!

Kelly doesn't count, he's a nobody.

But I suppose real missiles will fly if Trap puts Cox at wide midfield.

For those of us in the US, good news:

20:45/ 2:45pm Rep. Ireland v Sweden.....GOL-TV

The Austria game will also be on Gol TV but tape delay at 6:45pm EST.


Any lineup predictions for tomorrow?

I'd be more interested to hear if anybody has seen pigs flying.

team announced: https://twitter.com/FAIreland/status...25214430048256

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Team to face Sweden: Forde, Coleman, Dunne, O'Shea, Wilson, Walters, McCarthy, Whelan, McClean, Keane, Long #COYBIG #IrlSwe

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Press conference live on rte.ie at the moment: http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/live/7/

As expected: Forde, Coleman, Dunne, O'Shea, Wilson, Walters, McCarthy, Whelan, McClean, Keane, Long

McClean ahead of Brady and Pilkington the only possible surprise but that was always pretty close.

Happy with the team, especially with the defence. Pilks and Brady are better players than James, but McClean is a good player and has a presence about him. Would love to see the pre Euro 2012 McClean come out rather than the McClean of last season!! If the game needs creativity, I'd like to think that Brady might come on at some point. I really think Pilks will make that position is own though in the long run or at least until we get a new manager..Trap doesn't seem to trust Robbie B and Anto has a bit of everything in his locker. Good that we have some real options to pick from.

Hopefully McClean can get the ball past the first defender tomorrow (corners and when in play).

Pleased with the line-up. Forde is deserving of his spot. By the sounds of things, Dunne has started the season well and I think, partnered with O'Shea, helps form our strongest central pairing. Soz, doc!

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Try reading Kelly's latest piece about Keane. Someone else can appraise it for its prose this time. I did my shift yesterday.

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Might give it a miss. That other one put even the most verbose amongst us to shame! :o

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Originally Posted by Bungle

Happy with the team, especially with the defence. Pilks and Brady are better players than James, but McClean is a good player and has a presence about him. Would love to see the pre Euro 2012 McClean come out rather than the McClean of last season!! If the game needs creativity, I'd like to think that Brady might come on at some point. I really think Pilks will make that position is own though in the long run or at least until we get a new manager..Trap doesn't seem to trust Robbie B and Anto has a bit of everything in his locker. Good that we have some real options to pick from.

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Saying it now, a full 25 hours before kick off but Trap has made his bed with that team.

Admittedly there are ten decent choices there (O'Shea isn't a decent choice but he has become the default candidate because Trap has failed to blood a replacement) but to have Whelan in the team instead of Hoolahan is just inviting the Swedes to take the ball in the middle of the park and do what they want with it. McCarthy will spend his time ferrying in front of the back four and be stuck there and have no attacking influence while Whelan will be running around studying cloud formation in the skies above Dublin 4.

Trying to wash the pessism of my hands but it's increasingly difficult these days.

McClean was one of our best players the last game against Sweden. Deserves another chance against them. Pilkington has a good PL record but this was hardly the debut to give him (i.e. from the start). Brady can be counted as unlucky, but I'm sure it was close.

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Originally Posted by mark12345

Saying it now, a full 25 hours before kick off but Trap has made his bed with that team.

Admittedly there are ten decent choices there (O'Shea isn't a decent choice but he has become the default candidate because Trap has failed to blood a replacement) but to have Whelan in the team instead of Hoolahan is just inviting the Swedes to take the ball in the middle of the park and do what they want with it. McCarthy will spend his time ferrying in front of the back four and be stuck there and have no attacking influence while Whelan will be running around studying cloud formation in the skies above Dublin 4.

Trying to wash the pessism of my hands but it's increasingly difficult these days.

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I thought Hoolahan would have been a genuine alternative to Whelan after the Georgia and Faroe Islands games, but he fluffed his audition badly against Wales in being outmuscled, nullified, and forced into conceding dangerous counter-attack ball. Whelan is limited, but the idea of Hoolahan 'anchoring' midfield in a game where we may have to defend intelligently, is a nightmare scenario.