Possibly a Macedonia's commentary on Robbie's second goal!Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Possibly a Macedonia's commentary on Robbie's second goal!Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
I take your point but Uruguay have serious footballing history, New Zealand only just qualified for one tournament from Oceania, Trinidad similarly from Concacaf. The others sure, we should aspire to qualify as regularly as them, but Slovenia only make the odd tournment and Denmark and Croatia often miss out too. Point is people seem to expect us not only to qualify but to play super football getting there. It just doesn't seem realistic to me. Especially since the European teams you mentioned, with the occasional exception of Croatia, play pretty mediocre stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
Macedonia was dire. Ireland was a little bit less so.
The last game I watched was Barca v Man U, was this really the same sport?
A win is a win.
If you look at the team in terms of where they have been playing for much of the season it was a good result.
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Given that there was no Doyle, Duff, Dunne, St Ledger the result was good and great that Robbie reached the 50. He might start getting a bit of respect now.
Liam Mackey bang on the money with this write up as usual in my opinion.
Critics of the lack of coherent football from Ireland should also remember that this was a side unsettled by the loss of Richard Dunne, Damien Duff and Kevin Doyle and which also had to cope with a rash of recent injury concerns as well as a chronic shortage of game time for some of its key personnel. It was a measure of the side’s battling spirit that four players on the pitch required pain-killing injections to help get them through — Keane and O’Dea beforehand and Given and Hunt at half-time.
But you know what the pop psychologists like to say: no pain, no gain. Ireland put flesh and even some blood on the theory in Skopje on Saturday and, in the end, the outcome was as welcome as it was deserved.
I like Malone and think, bar the odd sh1t stirring, Dan McD is decent - he's certainly a fan of Irish football, but Mackey has seen it all and I think instinctively "gets" what's going on and what the mood is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I like all three, but McDonnell is my favourite purely because he is on a one man crusade to rejuvinate the public's interest in the League of Ireland. There's always been a raft of journalists willing to fill column inches on the Irish national team but are less opinionated when it comes to issues surrounding our domestic league. Dan McDonnell I genuinely think gets more of a kick out of a Friday night in Sligo or Derry or Bray than being in Skopje or Moscow, and its that fervent enthusiasm for the local game that I really admire.
Yes, I think that McDonnell's genuine enthusiasm for the whole spectrum of Irish football is great.
I know in the past we have attributed The Indo's hostility to Trap and the FAI (wrt international football anyway) as being dowbn to their staff and editorial support for Venables. However, isn't Denis O'Brien persona non grata at INM's board level because he is a trouble-making / rebel activist shareholder? Maybe this explains it?
Maybe they just think Trap is a stubborn man with bad communication skills and a boring brand of football.
I don't read a big enough spread of journos (or even take note of the writers name for the most part) to make selection of a 'favourite' any way significant but I share your enthusiasm for Mackey. Humour, level head and crucially, downright correct the majority of the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
There are a few journalists from the nationals who attend a lot of LOI games. Daniel McDonnell and Mark McCadden from the Star are both regulars at (I think) Bohs. Richie Sadlier and Miguel Delaney from the Examiner are usually at Bray home games.
This Examiner?Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Attachment 1768
There is a general sense of dissatisfaction with Trap in the journalism fraternity because at press conferences and interviews its very hard to discern any real footballing insights from his quotes. Much of the journalists work involves a level conjecture and interpretation of what his musings actually mean and many would simply prefer interview him in Italian and translate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Also I think a lot of the time Manuela the interpreter uses creative licence a bit too much to interpret what he is saying. Her "the players are living the life of riley" quote springs to mind.
One and the same. Angry Fans is particularly hilarious/lacking in self-awareness.Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
Loved this quote from Trap for some reason:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...298468227.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by Trap
I wouldn't object if Trap had ambitions about improving our passing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
I reckon that's stage 2 after he steals the underpants.
I'll give Whelan the benefit of the doubt in that regard, he was injured and the pitch was awful. Fahey has been carrying an injury by the sound of things, and Gibson was, eh, not there. Those 3 can pass. Of course it helps if the receiver has a decent touch and shows intelligently.
I'd like to see the Guardian Chalkboard, or similar technology, show where our midfielders are making passes when we are ahead, and when we are chasing a goal. My guess is that they're further up the pitch when we're chasing, and hence they're nearer the front two.
Remember the away friendly in Norway? Whelan and S. Reid dictating the first half in their half of the pitch. Norway couldn't get out of their half. What has happened since?!
Norway are now in pot 1 :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Anyway, Norway are not a great example. They were practicing their version of the catenaccio in advance of Egil Olsen's second coming.
They tend to bi-pass midfield technology and depend upon a pair of Alan O'Briens to do the running
It amazes the way some Irish fans react to good results i.e. never happy. The same fans were probably telling us all how tricky this game was and how Trap is useless and we'd be lucky to get a draw. Some journos are as bad, listening to smug Dion Fanning on newstalk talking down Trap or his tactics or his selections, what the fcuk does a nobody whos father runs the paper know about football in comparison to Trap.
We should all know now how Trap plays. Is it a coincidence that we start games so well under Trap score quite early and then defend/counter attack for the rest of the game. Most of the time it works and we are getting better at it. We were particularly good at it in the second half on sat. So much so that I almost have more confidence in Ireland playing away from home these days than at home. Its not the most attractive to watch and it can be nerve wracking but we're not Barca and anyone who compares the CL final to last saturday really isnt getting it. The extreme buzz of Ireland scoring a goal, more than beats watching silky football ala Barca for me.
All in all a great nights work. Keane and Shay were immense. McGeady is finally proving his worth for us, did his job excellent, provided a creative outlet when needed. I thought Andrews did well and is more composed on the ball than Whelan. The defence was shaky at times and we were lucky to keep a clean sheet. Hunt worked his socks off. But to a man they gave it their all and you gotta be proud of it, id say there was some serious tired bodies after. Thats the commitment you want to the cause, limited talent maybe but no doubting commitment - certain absentees take note.
We're in a damn fine position now. A win at home (difficult and all as it will be) to Slovakia would almost guarantee second spot and would leave us heading to Russia in high spirits. Please lets keep the main men (Shay, Dunne, Sledge, JOSH, Keane, McGeady, Duff, Hunt, Andrews) fit and god let us do it this time!!!
I agree with most of your post Noely but I have to take issue with this part. Fahey is a level above Andrews as a midfielder IMO. Andrews constantly gave the ball away - in particular the 2nd half. I think a midfield of Fahey Whelan would have much better balance and we'd be able to keep the ball better.Quote:
Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar
Also, several posters have said Long did no better than Cox when he came on. Do people not realise how much more difficult it is to make your mark on the game as a sub? I thought Cox was anonymous besides the disallowed goal - Long should have started and should definitely be third in line behind Doyle and Keane.
Aside from the above, I'm over the moon with the result and I was shocked that we closed out the second half so easily. Awful at the back 1st half, excellent 2nd half.
I think Fahey was off his game against Scotland - suffering with migraine?
The point is Stutts (as Eirebhoy observed) with Steven Reid, is that apart from having ability, he had the intelligence and confidence to know what to do, what Trap wanted and more. And if a player has that, Trap is not going to read the riot act to and stick a straightjacket on. Whelan in that context (with Reid) was more than compatible. The Montenegro away game (not the Norway game) was an example of that and that was with an injured Reid.
I would be worried if Trap thought that we had reached some nirvana in all aspects of our game.
"When we have the ball we play and look to score" There is a lot of room to improve on what we do when we have the ball and Trap believes more consistency leads to more confidence against the better teams.
I almost missed this bit at the end of Malone's IT article, sounds ominous but not a finality.
“We had 26 or 27 players in the squad, now the priority will be those who came and played,” he said. “I don’t forget (Darron) Gibson or (Marc) Wilson but obviously they have to show that they deserve their place.”
Cox's movement created a lot of space for others, in particular Robbie who suddenly had the ball in front of their back four a few times, including the one which created the first goal. Cox also scored a very good goal which was wrongly disallowed, hard to say he was anonymous.
As for Fahey/Andrews, Fahey definitely distributes the ball better than Andrews, but Keith is a much more destructive player and helps keep the shape of the team very well by being very disciplined. When you've got a back four of O'Dea, O'Shea, Kilbane and Kelly it was absolutely the correct decision to make to give them as much protection as you could in front of them to prevent Pandev and his mates running at the dodgy centre of defence. Not least after Fahey had failed to really impose his passing game in the Nations Cup game just before Macedonia.
In fairness the keeper and defenders heard the whistle and stopped playing a good 3 or 4 seconds before the ball hit the back of the net. Far from certain to say he would have scored that, had the ref allowed play to progress.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jicked
More like a split second.
There were several times where we knocked the ball long - no pun intended - and it came straight back because Cox and Keane weren't able to hold it up. If Long had started, I've no doubt if he would have held the ball better high up the field and the team would have been able to push up as a unit relieving the pressure. I'll put it this way, if September comes around, Doyle is injured and the choice was between Cox and Long, who would you chose?
With regards Fahey/Andrews, I agree Andrews is more destructive and would be of more use against stronger opposition who would have the majority of possession. However, against Macedonia, if Fahey had started we wouldn't have to be as destructive as we would have kept the ball better than them IMO.
Agree. Also I think people forget that Andrews is by far our most dynamic and athletic centre mid. He really does put himself about while keeping his discipline. And, when it comes to these crucial games in September, I'll be expecting him to reach for the Paris fire that saw him totally merc Diarra.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jicked
I don't think anyone can say Cox had a goal disallowed. What is fair to say is that he was denied a clear chance when put one-on-one with their keeper, with time to take a good touch. The keeper knew he was off, and I think Cox did too, but he was making sure. You'd look like some tool if you just gave up, and there was no whistle.
Definitely more than that. The defenders and keeper had all clearly stopped playing even as Cox lined up the shot, let alone by the time it hit the net. A great chance alright, but far from a definite goal.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
I don't argue that at least the goalkeeper was half hearted after hearing the whistle and the defender had checked his own run.
But that all takes place in the blink of an eye.
4 or 5 seconds is an eternity.
It was way longer than the split of an eye. No-one said it was or 5 seconds. It was blatantly obvious before the shot was taken that none of the defenders (incl the keeper) were going to make any effort blocking it.
Maybe it was a rub of the eye then.
Macedonians launch protests against police brutality. Hmmm fortunate fans are well out of this one.
i really don't see why so many people agreed with this, but then again I generally don't agree with most on here but those that I go to the matches with. If and when we win a Euros/WC come back to me then and say I am wrong. But until we are in a position of "griding out results" like champions, and not getting the rub of the green like we are now, then many of those points made by others(and even you in ranting against them) still stand clear, fair and apt.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
last campaign we didn't get the rub of the green/the luck like we are now, and never qualified for the world cup. Thats what Trap HAS to do this campaign or else he will be seen as little more than a steady hand.
Funny, there were many last campaign saying that all we got was the rub of the green.
There's no way Trap will qualify for the World Cup this campaign.:)
I do actually think we've got lucky at times, but no more than Russia or Slovakia have. Macedonia missed a penno to equalise against Russia, Russia's third was an even worse deflection than Robbie's, and so on...
Also, when you get a lucky break early on, it's not the same as saying that without that lucky break we wouldn't have scored at all. We scored early against Macedonia twice, and got lucky second goals twice. There was still an hour to go in each case. At that point we just did our usual "you have it, we don't need to score".
If we got a lucky break on 87 minutes I'd agree with you more. We've scored when we needed to in so many games under Trap you can't put it down to luck. We do what we have to do in the scoring stakes, regardless of how they come, but rarely any more.
Did you mean to write - No-one said it was 4 or 5 seconds.?Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
I said eternity was 4 or 5 seconds.
Another said as much that Cox had 3 or 4 seconds after the whistle blew before he struck the ball.
Watch the match and use your stopwatch :)
Dogs of a feather lying down together.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
we have alwys scored early and reverted to type. of course it doesn't matter when you get lucky but we got lucky in that the usual quick reply didn't happen because a penalty was never given and another was missed. Against a big team like russia you can be sure that 1 would have been scored and most likely the other given too and also scored.
We were in general, very poor, but so were macedonia i put that down to severe pressure on them, like misplaced passes, individual errors, bad first touch because it was the first game in the new stadium and the crowd were really expectant. It was a different team than at home I felt, and a different one from what I saw of the Russia game.
Maybe, but you find that when you are at a match you see a lot more of what goes on than when watching on T.V.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Equally the same can be said of all on here - but that was probably lost on you when you said, sitting on your pedestal ;).
Serious?
You're a soft target for an obvious wind up :D
Me? Rarely serious. Unless someones tries to rob my manbag.
Or when sky rip me off just to watch one match....
we went out to a tough away game in a hostile stadium with a threadbare defence and got the result. i think we did a good job, you can say the performance was poor but it was as good as was required, i think if more was required we would of been capable of upping it. the only thing that matters was the result and we went there and deliveredQuote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
They were hostile to their own fans. Listening to the game after being there and we were way louder throughout the game.
We got the result we required, with poor players, against poor players with a big dose of luck.