Kevin Kilbane

From someone who has been a long time Kevin Kilbane fan my views might be a bit biased. He is the most hardworking player in the Irish team and if we had 11 of those in Basel we might have stood a chance !

Of all the Irish players in the prem league at moment he is the player in the best form. Form players should be picked !

And to andy reid i was at the sunderland notts forest game on sat and he was brillant. I think with kilbane on the left and reid on the right we can provide a real threat !

Jason Mc had a good game as well so i think he could come back into play !

I've always been amazed at the various analyses of Kilbane's performances for Ireland. To some he's the epitome of hard work, consistency and earns accolades like "one of our top performers in the World Cup" etc. To others he's an abject donkey who couldn't kick a hole in a wet paper bag.

There have even been games where I've read people's opinions (including journalists) that he has been absolutely appalling, and others which say he was outstanding. What, I wonder, is cause of this wide divergence in opinion?

For my money he's always tried 100% and bled green blood, but sadly that hasn't been enough to mask his lack of skill. The fact that the official FIFA coaches report after the WC last year said that Ireland improved greatly when Duff went to the left wing spoke volumes to me. Much as I may claim to know my football, I won't claim to know as much as a panel of experienced international coaches.

I haven't seen him for Everton this year, but if he is playing out of his skin in a central role, I reckon he's defo worth a run there in a friendly. We can't afford to dispense of his services too lightly. However that said, I'd agree with the view that we are more potent with Duff on the left, almost irrespective of who plays on the right or partners Robbie upfront.

He's had some awful games, no denying that, but he never hides like so many others. We really need someone like that in the middle right now, and he has to be worth a shot.

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Originally posted by Éanna
he should be given a chance in the centre- christ knows we've nothing else there

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Discounting Kinsella again? I think he and Matty Holland had a great partnership during the world cup in the middle.

I'm a big fan of Kilbane and probably always will be, but I can't see a place for him in the national side at the moment. Still the problem of who to put on the right though. I'm not a fan of playing people out of position; it rarely solves anything long-term.

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Originally posted by Falconblade
Discounting Kinsella again

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nothing against the man, but I'd discount him at the moment, he's not playing first team football at all, he hasn't gotten a look in at Villa since he went there.
he should definitely be behind Holland, Delap, Kavanagh, Kilbane for the centre spots.

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Originally posted by tiktok

he should definitely be behind Holland, Delap, Kavanagh, Kilbane for the centre spots.

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Miller and Andy Ried should be given a chance to show what they can do as a central midfield partnership. My reasoning behind this is that what was there for the European Chapionship qualifiers is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Why, we didn't ****ing qualify!

Our strongest midfield might prove to be Duff on the left, with Andy Ried partnered by a more heavyweight player like Delap or Healy in the middle with Miller on the right.

One thing is for sure, things need to change, cause what was there for the qualifiers was a disgrace to the county.

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Originally posted by carnstien
Miller and Andy Ried should be given a chance to show what they can do as a central midfield partnership. My reasoning behind this is that what was there for the European Chapionship qualifiers is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Why, we didn't ****ing qualify!

Our strongest midfield might prove to be Duff on the left, with Andy Ried partnered by a more heavyweight player like Delap or Healy in the middle with Miller on the right.

One thing is for sure, things need to change, cause what was there for the qualifiers was a disgrace to the county.

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For once, I tend to agree with you. Where I differ slightly is that I think Matty Holland can still do a job for us and will provide useful continuity in the centre of the park, although longer-term I would hope to see Delap used there and Miller and Reid establish themselves. I'm not sure that I agree with using Miller on the right though, as when he's played there for Celtic this season he's been largely anonymous. I think Andy Reid could adapt to do a job for us there, or - here's hoping - if Steven Reid recaptures the form that saw him earn a move to the Premiership, other options will then exist.

And KK can be used to warm the bench, coming off it to run at defences for the last twenty minutes when we need him. There. Everyone's happy now. ;)

:D PP

Andy Reid isn't a central mid fielder. No disrespect to them, but if we weren't playing against Canada we'd have found that out, he's a wide man or an 'in the hole' player. You'd need Miller in the middle and Reid on the right for that to work, not in his best position, but he's versatile enough to cope and if you give him freedom to rome he'd do a very good job there for us.

I'd have holland and Kinsella out of the squad in the morning. Holland is a waste of space who wouldn't know a decent tackle if it kicked him up the hole, Kinsella might be worth a shot if he gets some first team football again.

Funny, I thought Holland had his best game in a long time against Canada. Lots of running in the middle of the park, made a mess of tackles and kept possession well. Kind of like Neil Lennon at Celtic, everyone complains he doesn't get forward enough and doesn't contribute to the game, yet when he's missing the results tend to suffer.

On top of that do you think any international manager in the world is going to leave out the captain of a side in serious contention for a Champion's League spot?

i got a t shirt amde up last summer and i got a lot of positive comments about it, i got just "Kevin Kilbane is sh*t" printed on the front, a lot people wanted to buy one and asked were there ian Harte ones available

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Originally posted by Éanna
I'd have holland and Kinsella out of the squad in the morning. Holland is a waste of space who wouldn't know a decent tackle if it kicked him up the hole, Kinsella might be worth a shot if he gets some first team football again.

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I agree, I'd still have Holland in the squad but only as backup.

Holland and Kinsella showed that they are not good enough in the qualifiers and changes definatly need to be made.

I disagree that Andy Ried is not a natural central midfielder. I think he is played on the left because he is left footed, but in reality he is an ideal attacking central midfielder, with his toughtness, excellent passing and ability to score bags of goals from midfield.

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Originally posted by carnstien
I disagree that Andy Ried is not a natural central midfielder. I think he is played on the left because he is left footed, but in reality he is an ideal attacking central midfielder, with his toughtness, excellent passing and ability to score bags of goals from midfield.

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"toughtness", eh? I haven't seen the lad play other than the Canada game of which I missed the first half, but I was under the distinct impression that he reckons tackling is a rugby thing.

If not Kilbane or Kinsella, who would you play in the middle? Miller or Reid (both attacking players) would leave us too exposed at the back.

I agree it's tough to put Kinsella in when he hasn't played, but I think we're suffering from a lack of options.

Delap and Miller is a better combination then any involving Kilbane or Kinsella. Maybe they'll prove me wrong in the friendlys, but Kilbanes 50 caps and Kinsellas being a former Villa reserve leads me to doubt they will.

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Originally posted by Falconblade
If not Kilbane or Kinsella, who would you play in the middle? Miller or Reid (both attacking players) would leave us too exposed at the back.

I agree it's tough to put Kinsella in when he hasn't played, but I think we're suffering from a lack of options.

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I think either Miller or Andy Ried need to play in the middle, with the other one, (I'd say Miller, but I'm not sure) on the right.

This is because the centre of our midfield is totally devoid of creativity and that is not going to be provided by Kilbane and Kinsella.

Miller or Ried will need a holding player beside them, I think Delap deserves a chance but is ultimatly a limited player. Colin Healy looks a real talent, but looks like he will be stuck in division 1 for a while, John O'Shea anyone?

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Colin Healy looks a real talent, but looks like he will be stuck in division 1 for a while

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That and the broken leg, Mark Kinsella can do a job til he comes back

Reid on the right, we have **** all else out there.

Kilbane deserves a place somewhere, but i can't see it. Certainly if we ever loose a striker, move duff up and put kilbane on the left. Kilbane has been playing quality football for Everton and Ireland whether we like it or not. For the first time in years his club form actually deserves a call up

Andy O' Brian and O'Shea should be a centre back partnership for the next 10 years.

Throw someone in at the deep end for 3 or 4 games at left back, see if they sink or swim

Time to blood a new-look young first 11, and play them together for a while.