Republic of Ireland V Luxembourg - Saturday, 27th March 2021 - World Cup Qualifier

I would also be behind maintaining a similar side again. Connolly didn't look right coming off and might be best off sitting this one out because Collins did well upon his introduction and should be able to cause Luxembourg problems.

I'm really undecided on the Travers conundrum. In the first half, he didn't come off his line quick enough for the Vlahovic goal (great finish though and the knock on was tidy) and he was too far off it for the two Mitrovic goals. However, I don't know if he is at fault for all the goals, two of them or even one of them. I really don't know enough about goalkeeping, if I'm honest.

Do you drop him and let him know that he is shouldering some blame? Is that even helpful? Or do you keep him in there and play Bazunu then against Qatar? Personally, I'd have started Bazunu last night. I thought it before the game and think it now. But I'm a softie and Travers looked gutted last night- I'd hate that feeling to be compounded with a dropping.

I would say that I'd like to see Knight start also but the midfield functioned well for 60 minutes without him so if all three are fit then its difficult to drop one of them for Knight.

Give me: Travers, Doherty, Coleman, O'Shea, Clark, Stevens, Cullen, Molumby, Browne, Robinson, Collins/Connolly

I made my feelings clear on Bazunu v Travers clear before Serbia game so Im not going to get into it again except to say that Travers looks like he will have a career in the lower leagues whilst Bazunu could be a star. I would start Bazunu on Saturday but I dont think he will.

Other than that I would go with the exact same side if everyone is fit. There were some players that didnt do as well as they should have yesterday but not so bad that I would drop them. Im thinking of Connolly and Doherty in particular. To me Doherty has done nothing in a green shirt to justify changing the formation of the team to fit him in. To me he is a very good back up right back to Coleman.

Connolly has a big summer ahead of him. He needs to get his head down and get fit and get back to what he showed in potential last season, otherwise he'll end up as an average Championship player if hes lucky. I know hes only coming back from injury but to see a 21 year old go down with cramp after an hour was ridiculous. At that age I could run all day and I was far from a professional.

That said I would still start both on Saturday in the hope it might spark something in them and we see the players they can be.

If Kenny persists with 3-5-2, I think Collins should start, maybe with Long. They are two proper out and out strikers capable of playing off each other well as the second goal demonstrated. Connolly cramping up after an hour didn't look good and contentious non-penalty aside I don't think he contributed much overall. He'll be a good option off the bench.

Thinking Kenny would stick with 4-3-3, I initially thought he might go with Parrott as the lone striker the other night, but considering he wasn't even in the matchday 23 it doesn't seem likely that he'll be involved. That said, Kenny can always spring a surprise.

I don't know why people aren't talking more about the fact that we conceded three very poor goals. They were fairly soft. Midfield issues were a major factor in them, but Liam Brady is right: Clark should have done a lot better with headers for goal 1 and 3 (he probably should've been tighter to Vlahovic or dropped off in the lead-up to 2 too) and though 2 was very much in Travers' remit, O'Shea (who was solid enough otherwise) didn't cover himself in glory there either.

Doherty's crossing last night was actually abysmal as well, even though one of his crosses inadvertently (via deflection/clearance) fell into the path of Browne for our goal. Had he not done so well at RCB, I'd nearly be inclined to put Coleman RWB.

I'd drop molumby for knight and drop travers. I thought molumby was a losse cannon last night.

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Originally Posted by Kingdom

One last thing - this match is absolutely must win for the squad, for the public, and for SK. But it's worth remembering, that no Irish manager has had to wait 10 competitive games before getting their first "banker" match.
Charlton had 6 games, but had the Iceland tournament under his belt; (Lux A)
Mick PI 1st game (LTN A)
Kerr 3rd (Alb H)
Stan 2nd (CY A - ha!~) or 4 (SNM H) depending on your perspective.
Trap 1st (GIA N) or 3 (CY H);
ONeill 2nd (GIB H) - again 1st game was away to GIA
Mick PII 1st (Gib A)
SK 10th (Lux H)

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Isn't it nine competitive games, and ten overall? The England game was a friendly

Manager	1st Competitive	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
Meagan	Czechoslovakia(0–3)	Denmark(1–1)	Hungary(0–4)	Sweden(1–1)	Sweden(0–1)	Italy(0–3)	Italy(1–2)	Austria(1–4)
Tuohy	Austria(0–6)	Soviet Union(1–2)	France(2–1)	Soviet Union(0–1)	France(1–1)
Giles	Soviet Union(3–0)	Turkey(1–1)	Switzerland(2–1)	Soviet Union(1–2)	Switzerland(0–1)	Turkey(4–0)	France(0–2)	France(1–0)	Bulgaria(1–2)
Hand	Netherlands(2–1)	Belgium(1–1)	France(0–2)	Cyprus(6–0)	Belgium(0–1)	Netherlands(2–2)	France(3–2)	Netherlands(1–2)	Iceland(2–0)
Charlton	Belgium(2–2)	Scotland(0–0)	Scotland(1–0)	Bulgaria(1–2)	Belgium(0–0)	Luxembourg(2–0)	Luxembourg(2–1)	Bulgaria(2–0)	England(1–0)
McCarthy	Liechtenstein(5–0)	Macedonia(3–0)	Iceland(0–0)	Macedonia(2–3)	Romania(0–1)	Liechtenstein(5–0)	Lithuania(0–0)	Iceland(4–2)	Lithuania(2–1)
Kerr	Georgia(2–1)	Albania(0–0)	Albania(2–1)	Georgia(2–0)	Russia(1–1)	Switzerland(0–2)	Cyprus(3–0)	Switzerland(1–1)	France(0–0)
Staunton	Germany(0–1)	Cyprus(2–5)	Czech Republic(1–1)	San Marino(5–0)	San Marino(2–1)	Wales(1–0)	Slovakia(1–0)	Slovakia(2–2)	Czech Republic(0–1)
Trapattoni	Georgia(2–1)	Montenegro(0–0)	Cyprus(1–0)	Georgia(2–1)	Bulgaria(1–1)	Italy(1–1)	Bulgaria(1–1)	Cyprus(2–1)	Italy(2–2)
O'Neill	Georgia(2–1)	Gibraltar(7–0)	Germany(1–1)	Scotland(0–1)	Poland(1–1)	Scotland(1–1)	Gibraltar(4–0)	Georgia(1–0)	Germany(1–0)
Kenny	Bulgaria(1-1)	Finland(0-1)	Slovakia(0-0)	Wales(0-0)	Finland(0-1)	Wales(0-1)	Bulgaria(0-0)	Serbia(2-3)

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Gavin Bazunu has been playing senior football for two and a half years, including games with the biggest club side in Ireland at only 16. He's one of the youngest players getting regular football in English football at the moment. He's been called into the senior side for the first time, and people still can't spell his name correctly
If you can spell McLoughlin, Caoimhin, McClean, Ibrahimovic, Gnabry, Mbappe etc correctly without needing to google it, you can get Bazunu correct.

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I read the first bit of this thinking it was some impassioned plea to have Bazunu start against Luxembourg.

Probably the longest spelling correction post I've seen in a while.

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Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

I read the first bit of this thinking it was some impassioned plea to have Bazunu start against Luxembourg.

Probably the longest spelling correction post I've seen in a while.

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Hes right though. I seen multiple posters calling him Bazuna or Bazuno... I normally couldnt care less about spelling but player names annoy me when we can all see what they are. Hendricks is another one I see alot.

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Isn't it nine competitive games, and ten overall? The England game was a friendly

Manager	1st Competitive	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
Meagan	Czechoslovakia(0–3)	Denmark(1–1)	Hungary(0–4)	Sweden(1–1)	Sweden(0–1)	Italy(0–3)	Italy(1–2)	Austria(1–4)
Tuohy	Austria(0–6)	Soviet Union(1–2)	France(2–1)	Soviet Union(0–1)	France(1–1)
Giles	Soviet Union(3–0)	Turkey(1–1)	Switzerland(2–1)	Soviet Union(1–2)	Switzerland(0–1)	Turkey(4–0)	France(0–2)	France(1–0)	Bulgaria(1–2)
Hand	Netherlands(2–1)	Belgium(1–1)	France(0–2)	Cyprus(6–0)	Belgium(0–1)	Netherlands(2–2)	France(3–2)	Netherlands(1–2)	Iceland(2–0)
Charlton	Belgium(2–2)	Scotland(0–0)	Scotland(1–0)	Bulgaria(1–2)	Belgium(0–0)	Luxembourg(2–0)	Luxembourg(2–1)	Bulgaria(2–0)	England(1–0)
McCarthy	Liechtenstein(5–0)	Macedonia(3–0)	Iceland(0–0)	Macedonia(2–3)	Romania(0–1)	Liechtenstein(5–0)	Lithuania(0–0)	Iceland(4–2)	Lithuania(2–1)
Kerr	Georgia(2–1)	Albania(0–0)	Albania(2–1)	Georgia(2–0)	Russia(1–1)	Switzerland(0–2)	Cyprus(3–0)	Switzerland(1–1)	France(0–0)
Staunton	Germany(0–1)	Cyprus(2–5)	Czech Republic(1–1)	San Marino(5–0)	San Marino(2–1)	Wales(1–0)	Slovakia(1–0)	Slovakia(2–2)	Czech Republic(0–1)
Trapattoni	Georgia(2–1)	Montenegro(0–0)	Cyprus(1–0)	Georgia(2–1)	Bulgaria(1–1)	Italy(1–1)	Bulgaria(1–1)	Cyprus(2–1)	Italy(2–2)
O'Neill	Georgia(2–1)	Gibraltar(7–0)	Germany(1–1)	Scotland(0–1)	Poland(1–1)	Scotland(1–1)	Gibraltar(4–0)	Georgia(1–0)	Germany(1–0)
Kenny	Bulgaria(1-1)	Finland(0-1)	Slovakia(0-0)	Wales(0-0)	Finland(0-1)	Wales(0-1)	Bulgaria(0-0)	Serbia(2-3)

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Yes, we need the victory, I would go with Long-Collins partnership with Callum Robinson in the hole, Browne and Cullen keeping the flow, 3 at the back with Stevens, who was very good yesterday and Doherty attacking from the sides. If we play wide with a 3-4-1-2 we need presence in the box, Connolly and Parrott from the bench when they are a bit tired

Ditto this, Travers will play I think Kenny will back him up. I would go with O'Hara

--------------------O'Hara---------------------

-------Coleman O'Shea Clark--------


--Doherty Browne Cullen Stevens--

---------------- Robinson--------------------------

-------Long--------------Collins

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Originally Posted by Razors left peg

Hes right though. I seen multiple posters calling him Bazuna or Bazuno... I normally couldnt care less about spelling but player names annoy me when we can all see what they are. Hendricks is another one I see alot.

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McLean :mad:

Really worried about this one to be honest. Luxembourg aren't, like, Iceland or anything, but they've been a better team the last few years than I think some people realise. Since that 0-0 draw with the French team that won the World Cup a year later they have draws with Bulgaria, Senegal, Moldova, Lithuania and Azerbaijan, and wins against Belarus, Hungary, Malta, Georgia, Cyprus and Montenegro. A few of those were friendlies, but still. They lost to Serbia by the same scoreline we just did last year, and kept the Asian Champions to a 1-0 win yesterday. When the draw for this group was made, you know their management were eyeing us up as the scalp they wanted to take.

Just feel there is too much automatic "Oh, it's only Luxembourg" type thinking around. It isn't like we were battering Gibraltar not too long ago under McCarthy.

I was thinking yesterday that the Nations League makes this a bit trickier too - Luxembourg got ten points in that last year (v Cyprus, Montenegro and Azerbaijan) and it may give them a little bit more confidence that they've won a few competitive games in a row now. Whereas ordinarily they might get the odd good result here or there (like the France draw), now they feel they can string some results together.

It's absolutely one they'll be targetting alright. I know we scored twice yesterday, but I don't think we were all that great in the final third (and our lack of forward options is well known at this stage), so if they sit deep and hit us on the counter, we could struggle to open them up a bit.

I'm more confident now than I was 24 hours ago, but that's not a ringing endorsement.

We have to go in with the expectation to win. If we play like we did yesterday we will be fine, we've always had a bad habit of playing down to the level of poorer teams though. I think Kenny will have them pumped up to get the no win monkey off their back and Id expect us to be good from the start.

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Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA

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In fairness, Kenny had 2 matches against a dreadful Bulgaria.

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No, he didn't - in fairness. Bulgaria were no great shakes absolutely, but this narrative that is getting around, that we're expected to be beating teams like them or from pot 2, 3 and even 4 - I specifically referred to Kenny not having a "gimme" game yet - (to use golf parlance) a gimme is a game that you're expected to win comfortably. Bulgaria away is not a gimme. The rest is not directed towards you BOOMSHAKALAKA, so don't take offence.

For Ireland, for the players that make up our squad, and those within that squad that consider themselves first-team regulars at their clubs, Bulgaria is not a gimme.
Like, we've had far superior Irish teams go to places like Montenegro, Cyprus, Slovakia, Bosnia, Israel, and not win. This team could have done with such a gimme win in the run up to this campaign, but such is life.

Yesterday we selected:
- a novice international and sub at second division Bournemouth;
- a novice international and sub at to-be-relegated West Brom;
- a novice international at underachieving Anderlecht;
- a novice international and sub at second division PNE;
- a novice international playing out of position at PNE;
- a novice international without a senior goal at struggling Brighton;
- a novice international and sub at to-be-relegated West Brom;

- using a formation we've not played in a generation,
- where the highest goalscorer was the returning centre-back - who's been out of favour for two campaigns at least - with two goals.

and it was only when the:
- multiple international capped first team players with international tournament finals experience were subbed on, that we fell apart.

yet I still see the manager being questioned! and brian Kerr - BRIAN KERR!!! having a mini-go at the manager for the formation and this, that and the other, and that there's no time like the present. Why not question yourselves? Somewhere up there ^^^^ there's the suggestion of using this campaign, and the next NL to bed in the players that we're going to be relying on. It's not a suggestion, it's happening, as it has to happen.

It's absolutely infuriating watching, listening and talking to people who like football, but really don't have an absolute clue what they're talking about.
People online, and in the media are looking to hang the manager to dry over his goalkeeper selection - and this is a direct point to you Bielsa: catch yourself on. There must be 5 posts in a row where you talk about using Sean McDermott, or Colin Doyle. We saw Colin Doyle play for Ireland - he was ****e, and not at the level required. Sean Mcdermott as has been pointed out elsewhere, hasn't started back yet in Norway. It would have made as much sense to pick James Talbot as McDermott. - he had a crap hand to pick from, and he made a calculated decision.

"Hmmm do I pick the 3rd choice (debatable) keeper who's been in some of my squads, and has had some recent first team football in the new year that I know - or do I pick the 5th choice keeper that nobody rates, or the newbie who has no big-game experience and no international experience?". If he picks Bazunu and he similar to Travers makes an error, then he's goosed.
Either way - he is goosed. It's not the Italy 98 squad where the choice is Buffon, Toldo or Pagliuca, and if they're damaged we can fall back on Peruzzi, Marchegianni or Bucci!

We need perspective, and a lot of it.

In a years time, we could have quite possibly Kelleher in goals, Nathan Collins, JJ Finn in midfield with Idah, Parrott and Noss leading the line for us. Now, more than ever, we are feeding off scraps in the UK, where it's becoming harder and harder for our better players to feature because competition is so fierce. The emboldened bit is half ****take, half serious - done to underline the seriousness of the situation we're in. We've absolutely no control over what happens to those young seriously talented players that leave Ireland to further their careers. none. Finn and Noss could easily fizzle out, and likewise Parrott and Idah.

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Originally Posted by ontheotherhand

Calls for Duffy to play based on the idea he would have beaten Mitrovic to the header are odd to me. Duffy would have be sliced apart multiple times by Tadic long before he had a chance to make amends by winning that header. The lad probably needs a break from football and there's no shame in that.

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Bingo, and I agree totally. Bulgaria, Finland, Wales, there's three games in the last competition where he (and Egan - equal opportunity critic here) were both turned on the inside for a goal or clear-cut chance. Same happened OShea last night, but he was still ok. Duffy plays last night - I don't see us doing 3 at the back, and like you say, I do see Tadic slicing him open.

I would love - i'd be giddy even - to see the amount of corners and free-kicks we've had in the past 4 campaigns where we've swung ball after ball in to Duffy, and see how many headers have been on target, and how many goals, just to see the ratio (in reference to a liam brady critique I heard about this morning).

For all the whining about not having Duffy in the air - they had what 11 corners? did they get two clean headers? one perhaps?

Super post Kingdom

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Isn't it nine competitive games, and ten overall? The England game was a friendly

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That's what you took from that post? That small and in the scheme of things insignificant error, when you consider that he's had to play 3 times as many games before getting the handy opportunity to get the monkey off his back compared to every manager since Charlton?
Go team!

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Originally Posted by ontheotherhand

Calls for Duffy to play based on the idea he would have beaten Mitrovic to the header are odd to me. Duffy would have be sliced apart multiple times by Tadic long before he had a chance to make amends by winning that header. The lad probably needs a break from football and there's no shame in that.

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I'd agree with that. I made the comment about Duffy winning that header (or at least making it way harder for Mitrovic) at the time, and maybe on here too since, but that was disappointment with Clark and O'Shea in that battle and not a suggestion that Duffy should have played.

I read Liam Brady's comments earlier. He didn't seem to think much of Molumby, and I assume he has a fair idea what to look for in a midfielder. But then, he also said Duffy should have started, so I'm not sure what to make of all that.

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Originally Posted by Razors left peg

Connolly has a big summer ahead of him. He needs to get his head down and get fit and get back to what he showed in potential last season, otherwise he'll end up as an average Championship player if hes lucky.

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There are very few younger strikers getting regular games in the Premiership. I'd love to see him kick on, and until he does there'll be the worry that he might not fulfil his potential, but I think you're being a little harsh.

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I know hes only coming back from injury but to see a 21 year old go down with cramp after an hour was ridiculous. At that age I could run all day and I was far from a professional.

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That's nonsense. Fitness isn't binary. He went down with cramp because he was playing with an intensity his conditioning wasn't up to sustaining for 90 minutes. Whether that was down to recent injury, or just him failing to pace himself, I don't like seeing a lad who ran so hard he was cramping up being told to "get his head down". I'd bet he could run all day at a pace that would have made you keel over and die at that age.

Did you think he ran himself into the ground John? I thought he was good at closing down for a bit of the 1st half but did very little after that. I didnt notice him working excessively hard.

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Originally Posted by Predator

If Kenny persists with 3-5-2, I think Collins should start, maybe with Long. They are two proper out and out strikers capable of playing off each other well as the second goal demonstrated. Connolly cramping up after an hour didn't look good and contentious non-penalty aside I don't think he contributed much overall. He'll be a good option off the bench.

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I'd agree with you wrt to Collins. I like him. He looks like a guy who knows what he is. A lump of a boy who likes playing centre forward and having seven bells of ****e kicked out of him. And to be fair, i've not seen much of him, but took the words of a few whose opinion i'd respect who didn't really like the look of him, but last night I thought he moved the ball on well more than a few times, and noticeably was very peeved at himself for not getting on the end of one of mcclean's crosses to the near post. He deserves as much credit as Long for doing what a striker should do.
But I think you're a little unfair on Connolly, and by extension Robinson. We put serious pressure on their back three and keeper last night. It never gets mentioned. We didn't do that under Mick and with Mon and Trap we usually just let the opposition advance to a point. And that has an effect on the strikers, particularly if they are feeding off scraps for the most part. So I wouldn't underestimate that effect on Connolly who has been injured recently. That pressing from the two and Browne put the ****s up their keeper, and I've no doubt this helped with the second goal.

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Thinking Kenny would stick with 4-3-3, I initially thought he might go with Parrott as the lone striker the other night, but considering he wasn't even in the matchday 23 it doesn't seem likely that he'll be involved. That said, Kenny can always spring a surprise.

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Parrott is not a lone striker. Nowhere near it. We've got to start seeing the players that we have and using their skillsets to best suit us. I've a gut feeling that he could start on saturday. If Connolly is injured - it could be a blessing in disguise.

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I don't know why people aren't talking more about the fact that we conceded three very poor goals. They were fairly soft. Midfield issues were a major factor in them, but Liam Brady is right: Clark should have done a lot better with headers for goal 1 and 3 (he probably should've been tighter to Vlahovic or dropped off in the lead-up to 2 too) and though 2 was very much in Travers' remit, O'Shea (who was solid enough otherwise) didn't cover himself in glory there either.

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Fair point. When I saw the team I wondered if Clark might go into the centre with O'Shea on the left. It's absolutely fair to point out that we could have done better, but we've certainly caused ourselves problems overall defensively for some time now. Duffy being on the pitch doesn't stop the equaliser - he plays on the right so wouldn't have been jumping for the header with Tadic (if that was your thinking?) Your association of clark with blame for the second goal is bizarre frankly., and while O'Shea could have been tighter sure he was loose, his position was fine for cutting out danger. The third goal I've watched a few times now, and it's a really really poxy one to deal with as a defender.
first thing that should be said about it, is that Tadic is a genius with the ball at his feet (he's at Ajax by choice O'Shea, not because he couldn't sign for anyone, but because they are his dream club). I can't add pictures here for some reason, but when he has the ball, the defensive line for a 3 is almost perfect.
There's absolutely no way you expect Tadic given the options he has on, to play the ball that he does. If anything Stevens perhaps has to react a little better and could do a bit more to block his run. But absolutely Clark would be disappointed with the attempt.

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Doherty's crossing last night was actually abysmal as well, even though one of his crosses inadvertently (via deflection/clearance) fell into the path of Browne for our goal. Had he not done so well at RCB, I'd nearly be inclined to put Coleman RWB.

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If we're sticking with 3 at the back, then you need the two flanking cb's to be able to use the ball effectively, without being compromised defensively. Seamus does that. To be fair to Doherty - against Wales perhaps? - he slotted in to CB and did ok too, so you could possibly invert them. I'd question if it's a good use of Seamus to have him playing as a sole right-sided player for 90 mins.

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Originally Posted by Kingdom

No, he didn't - in fairness. Bulgaria were no great shakes absolutely, but this narrative that is getting around, that we're expected to be beating teams like them or from pot 2, 3 and even 4 - I specifically referred to Kenny not having a "gimme" game yet - (to use golf parlance) a gimme is a game that you're expected to win comfortably. Bulgaria away is not a gimme. The rest is not directed towards you BOOMSHAKALAKA, so don't take offence.

For Ireland, for the players that make up our squad, and those within that squad that consider themselves first-team regulars at their clubs, Bulgaria is not a gimme.
Like, we've had far superior Irish teams go to places like Montenegro, Cyprus, Slovakia, Bosnia, Israel, and not win. This team could have done with such a gimme win in the run up to this campaign, but such is life.

Yesterday we selected:
- a novice international and sub at second division Bournemouth;
- a novice international and sub at to-be-relegated West Brom;
- a novice international at underachieving Anderlecht;
- a novice international and sub at second division PNE;
- a novice international playing out of position at PNE;
- a novice international without a senior goal at struggling Brighton;
- a novice international and sub at to-be-relegated West Brom;

- using a formation we've not played in a generation,
- where the highest goalscorer was the returning centre-back - who's been out of favour for two campaigns at least - with two goals.

and it was only when the:
- multiple international capped first team players with international tournament finals experience were subbed on, that we fell apart.

yet I still see the manager being questioned! and brian Kerr - BRIAN KERR!!! having a mini-go at the manager for the formation and this, that and the other, and that there's no time like the present. Why not question yourselves? Somewhere up there ^^^^ there's the suggestion of using this campaign, and the next NL to bed in the players that we're going to be relying on. It's not a suggestion, it's happening, as it has to happen.

It's absolutely infuriating watching, listening and talking to people who like football, but really don't have an absolute clue what they're talking about.
People online, and in the media are looking to hang the manager to dry over his goalkeeper selection - and this is a direct point to you Bielsa: catch yourself on. There must be 5 posts in a row where you talk about using Sean McDermott, or Colin Doyle. We saw Colin Doyle play for Ireland - he was ****e, and not at the level required. Sean Mcdermott as has been pointed out elsewhere, hasn't started back yet in Norway. It would have made as much sense to pick James Talbot as McDermott. - he had a crap hand to pick from, and he made a calculated decision.

"Hmmm do I pick the 3rd choice (debatable) keeper who's been in some of my squads, and has had some recent first team football in the new year that I know - or do I pick the 5th choice keeper that nobody rates, or the newbie who has no big-game experience and no international experience?". If he picks Bazunu and he similar to Travers makes an error, then he's goosed.
Either way - he is goosed. It's not the Italy 98 squad where the choice is Buffon, Toldo or Pagliuca, and if they're damaged we can fall back on Peruzzi, Marchegianni or Bucci!

We need perspective, and a lot of it.

In a years time, we could have quite possibly Kelleher in goals, Nathan Collins, JJ Finn in midfield with Idah, Parrott and Noss leading the line for us. Now, more than ever, we are feeding off scraps in the UK, where it's becoming harder and harder for our better players to feature because competition is so fierce. The emboldened bit is half ****take, half serious - done to underline the seriousness of the situation we're in. We've absolutely no control over what happens to those young seriously talented players that leave Ireland to further their careers. none. Finn and Noss could easily fizzle out, and likewise Parrott and Idah.

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You've got it all wrong Kingers, all wrong, the players available for selection are an irrelevance in international football. No bearing on it whatsoever.

Comparing those players with those available to our opponents and their respective club career trajectory, also irrelevant.

Doesn't any fool know that ? ;) :)