Hendrick up front/out on the wing?
Not sure that's going to work is it? Horgan's be a better bet there; at least there's a bit of life in him.
Hendrick up front/out on the wing?
Not sure that's going to work is it? Horgan's be a better bet there; at least there's a bit of life in him.
Honestly, I couldnt think who else and just remembered him cutting in from wing brilliantly against Bosnia in play offs years ago. You are right though, Horgan better option.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Im just so deflated tbh that I really dont even know who to pick, I just know who I dont want in the team anymore.
--------------------O'hara-------------------------
-----Coleman--------Duffy--------Lenihan-------O'Shea
Horgan--------Hendrick-- Coventry---------Manning(McClean)
---- Long-----------Parrott---------
I saw this quote from Jason Knight this evening.
"Us young lads coming through need to step up now. This is the international stage and you're here for a reason so it's down to us to ultimately perform and perform when we are asked to.
It was really disappointing after the game on Saturday, a really really bad result against Luxembourg ultimately but we're looking forward to the game against Qatar tomorrow, and trying to put things right. There's a real energy to do that; you can sense it from around the group."
That's exactly the attitude that's required tbf
He will be a very good player for us. Lampard, Cocu and Rooney all love him. Not just talented, but a really good kid. Dara O'Shea and Gavin Bazunu seem the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by backstothewall
Yeah but what is he gonna say. i would play ugly tomorrow with a tight formation but Kenny wouldnt do that, I could go withQuote:
Originally Posted by backstothewall
------------------------------Ohara-----------------------------
Coleman------Duffy---------------Lenihan-----------OShea
Knight------------Mollumby--------Browne-----------Manning
----------------Long----------Collins
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bielsa´s irish
So, what happened in the 17 minutes between these posts to make you change you mind?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bielsa´s irish
That team the 1st if we need to play it expansive business, the 2nd if we wanna keep it tight a la catenaccio.Quote:
Originally Posted by John83
They are the worst team Ireland could play right now.
The are the highest ranking team (58th) that the general public think are brutal.
The reality is they are Asian Champions, beating South Korea and Japan.
They were a guest team at the Copa America and didn't disgrace themselves, drawing with Paraguay in the groups.
They have beaten the likes of Switzerland in friendlies.
And they are playing all three games this window in the same ground in Hungary.
No travel for them just training days.
I'll take a 1-0 win right now.
I have a bad feeling about getting absolutely hockeyedQuote:
Originally Posted by eekers
I dont wanna play a friendly tomorrow, for pride, i want our players to get some bookings because they care, grab the game by the scruff of the neck kind of attitude we were very friendly vs serbia and lux, and thats one thing I dont like about Kenny we look very friendly and this is football
A heavy defeat and the manager could get sacked
Eire to win tomorrow
Ghana beat them 5-1 recently, South Korea beat them, they only had narrow wins against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan. Obviously they have improved greatly with their import of players but this all sounds like getting your excuses in early. We should be expecting to beat these. Prior to Kenny, we only lost 1 match since 2018, that was away to Switzerland. It's a sign of how bad Kenny's reign has been so far if we're talking up Qatar.Quote:
Originally Posted by eekers
If Jason Knight thinks that a result against Qatar tomorrow will "put things right" after Saturday then maybe his attitude isn't what I hoped.
Think that's a really good way of putting it.Quote:
Originally Posted by eekers
A good summary here, if you can stand the ads: https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features...e-on-the-pitch
So, it isn't just the money, the coach with roots in Barca's underage, the importation, it's the fact that they've been working for over a decade with this period as their exact goal. The Ghana result is a bit of an outlier I would say, and God knows there is enough data: they've played nearly 30 games in two years. People can't stick their heads in the sand and pretend Qatar are still the worthless minnows they were when they were awarded the World Cup. Are we really "talking up" a continental champion? Would we expect Ireland to easily beat Japan, Australia, South Korea or Iran with the same ease some think we should have accounting for Qatar?
Now, that doesn't mean I think Ireland should lose, all things being equal. A draw wouldn't surprise me there. But this is Stephen Kenny's Ireland, a few days after a tenure-defining loss that has the manager and the squad in serious question. It's nailed on for Qatar to get a positive result.
What do you expect him to say?Quote:
Originally Posted by sadloserkid
Something that demonstrates an understanding that nothing they do tonight will ever put right what happened V Luxembourg. And further still that nothing they do ever will achieve that. But that they will attempt to hockey Qatar and in doing so offer some tiny crumb of hope that that the present regime and all its contents aren't entirely unfit for purpose.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Anything that doesn't equate a WCQ loss at home to Luxembourg with a friendly with Qatar really would be nice.
I think you can micro analyse what a 20 year old says. Do you really think for a minute a result against Qatar will mean any of them thinks Luxembourg is suddenly forgotten about? I just think it was a stupid thing to pick up on that comment. I'd prefer to focus on the rest of what he said which was that it's time for the kids to man up and get used to being international footballers.
I think stupid is a strong word. And unnecessary.
What Knight said, now that was stupid in the current climate, whatever else he said.
I liked what Knight had to say. He was also fullsome and enthusiastic about his backing for Kenny, in a way that was above and beyond the usual clichés trotted out in these situations.
Wayne Rooney has already put the armband on him for Derby at 20 years old, and I can see him having the right character to follow Coleman as captain of Ireland.
This is what he said:
"Us young lads coming through need to step up now. This is the international stage and you're here for a reason so it's down to us to ultimately perform and perform when we are asked to.
It was really disappointing after the game on Saturday, a really really bad result against Luxembourg ultimately but we're looking forward to the game against Qatar tomorrow, and trying to put things right. There's a real energy to do that; you can sense it from around the group."
So if he had said "trying to improve things" would anyone have batted an eyelid? It's a real stretch of the imagination to equate what he actually said with earning redemption after Luxembourg. It's not advanced English literature where you're trying to assess hidden meaning and nuances. The boy said all the right things and picking on that part of what he said was, well, I've said it already...
This, in a nutshell, is exactly what I'd like.Quote:
Originally Posted by CraftyToePoke
And I think it's stupid to overlook an insipid, blase comment to preserve whatever glorified notion of a player's mentality you hope is there. It was a direct quote FFS, there's no microanalysis or reading between the lines there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Do you think that Knight really believes a result against Qatar will offer full redemption for the loss? I don't.
What is stupid is for us to be arguing over it - because as you say it was a blasé comment!
Agreed. Nobody afaik was saying that qatar would beat us before the lux gameQuote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
You're right in saying that it's not reading between the lines. It's failing to read between the lines.Quote:
Originally Posted by sadloserkid
When it's the Taoiseach I think it's fair enough to take every word completely literally, but he's a 20 year old kid who plays football for a living. The broad strokes of what he was saying are exactly what we would want to hear.
People (including me above) complain that all footballers do is speak in tired clichés, but is that any surprise when the second somebody actually speaks honestly about the game, there's a bunch of people waiting to do their best version of Vincent Browne with it?
I just take that to mean they're going to try to put things right, starting with the Qatar match. Nothing to see here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I expect a 0-0 tonight and a narrative that we are improving and should have won the game to be persued.
I don’t see the snippet as Crafty does – that it lacks awareness of the need for redemption. What twenty year old would have that level of insight? (My thinking as a twenty year old was far more about carrying on with the sins I enjoyed than redemption!!) I read it as trying to put right the things starting with Qatar that they’ve practiced in training, the mentality, the application and so on. Maybe asked today he’d say ‘get’ instead of ‘put’ or ‘put things to rights’ but are we really so uptight about the team* that we need to do a discourse analysis or gobbet reading of every off the cuff subordinate clause said by a young lad with very little media experience?
He’s a footballer, not the chair of a university debating soc. Or Jen Psaki’s understudy. It’s a loose sentence that probably needs better punctuation for clarity. Personally, I’d put a full stop after ‘ultimately’, because there’s a natural break there between looking back on Luxembourg and forward to Qatar which is important for context.
*Actually, we probably are. Nothing a few wins won’t improve. And getting our lives back after Covid.
I'll go with a 1-0 win for us tonight with the goal scorer to be forever known going forward as the Qatar Hero.
We'll probably lose 6-0 I'm giving up on optimism in an effort to stem the tide!
Remaining squad as far as I know;
Goalkeepers: Mark Travers, Gavin Bazunu, Kieran O'Hara
Defenders: Seamus Coleman, Shane Duffy, Ciaran Clark, Dara O'Shea, Ryan Manning, Cyrus Christie, Darragh Lenihan
Midfielders: Alan Browne, Jeff Hendrick, Jayson Molumby, Jason Knight, Josh Cullen, Conor Coventry, Robbie Brady, James McClean, Daryl Horgan, Ronan Curtis
Strikers: Callum Robinson, Shane Long, James Collins, Troy Parrott
Likely team? I'd start Bazunu again. Maybe give one of the others the last half hour.
At the back;
Coleman - Duffy - Lenihan - Manning
In the middle, I think it'll be a start for Hendrick with either him or Knight holding, neither of which I'm keen on, but doubt Coventry starts and Cullen looks wrecked.
So likely;
Knight, Hendrick, Brady (maybe Molumby)
Up front;
Curtis - Parrott - Horgan (or McClean if he's fit enough).
Squad players probably all deserve a chance to get a run. Maybe Long will start over Parrott. It'll be telling if he again leaves the senior players out in favour of the youngsters and we see Coventry, Molumby, Knight in the middle and none of Hendrick, Brady, McClean or Long get a start.
At this stage I'm not sure how much the result matters, other than a win gets the monkey off Kenny's back. Those who want Kenny gone and those who want him to stay are pretty much decided regardless (unless we do actually lose 6-0 I suppose). If he doubles down on leaving out the senior players it'll be a huge statement and it will be interesting to see how many suddenly aren't available for selection for the summer and autumn games if that happens.
Surely we will see a bit of fight tonight and a bounce back from the embarrassment against Luxembourg. The players having some pride in themselves alone should ensure that. When we lost to Cyprus under Staunton, we put in a much better display a few days later against the Czech Republic. So I think we'll see a spirited display tonight.
I was going to try to make a positive post but I've just heard Kenny interviewed and I'm infuriated. 'Some of our play has been nothing short of brilliant.' He actually said that and then listed off some excuses. When are the excuses going to end? It's 10 games in now, McCarthy only had 10 games, Staunton had 17. It's time to see some sort of progress on the pitch, some signs that Kenny is capable at this level. End the excuses and go win a ****ing game!!!!
BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!!!!
You could certainly argue the first goal against Serbia was a result of some brilliant play, ok it's been flashes but he's not completely wrong. He has to try and find positives from somewhere and something to build on. I'm not a big fan of making excuses but I'm not sure there's a lot else he can do or say at the moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
Is Arter injured?
Yes. https://www.independent.ie/sport/soc...-40205096.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by Fixer82
https://twitter.com/FAIreland/status...184582/photo/1
Bazunu, Coleman, Duffy, O'Shea, Christie, Brady, Hendrick, Molumby, Horgan, Long, McClean
That's the team of a man feeling pressure.
Bazunu
Coleman, O Shea, Duffy, Christie
Hirgan, Hendrick, Brady, McClean
Molumby
Long
Not really sure of the formation tbh
Thought Parrott might have started.
It's swapping out most of the tired players too. Only O'Shea and Coleman are likely feeling leggy, and he's low on full backs anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
Good to see more game time for Bazunu, O'Shea, and Molumby. The latter especially will have something to prove after Liam Brady's comments following the Serbia match.
Last hurrah for some of the older players, of go out an prove otherwise?
I was worried we'd end up with a team like this alright. This could be a long evening. Hopefully Qatar are ringing the changes too...
Possibly 4.2.3.1, his go to formation with the under 21s.
Bazunu
Coleman, O Shea, Duffy, Christie
Hendrick, Molumby
Horgan, Brady, McClean
Long
We lose 2-1