Javelin?Quote:
Originally Posted by CraftyToePoke
Javelin?Quote:
Originally Posted by CraftyToePoke
Only two guesses. Amazing.Quote:
Originally Posted by CraftyToePoke
you'd be generous to give ferguson more than 2/10.
Everyone remembers the infamous Josy Barthel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
It’s a head scratcher though what’s going on with him. It really is.Quote:
Originally Posted by zero
I actually think that was to be expected from Ferguson based on the season he has had. I'd have left him out completely for these games.
If he comes back after the summer, gets a full pre-season and still looks that lethargic, then it really is a problem.
Badly missing the creativity of Azaz tonight. Feels like he's a key player for us now, maybe the first name on the teamsheet (and not just alphabetically).
So we get 45 seconds plus injury time of Finn and Lawal interrupted his holidays for nothing.Quote:
Originally Posted by CraftyToePoke
This is one of the worst games I can remember since Malta away I think (and at least we won that). A dreadfully insipid performance from us and if anyone deserves the win it's Luxembourg. A wake-up call for Hungary next.
Meanwhile Senegal's first team winning in Wembley
Well, that will go down in the record books as a match that took place.
That firmly goes into the category of 90 minutes I’ll never get back.
Was played in the City Ground in Nottingham. A good result for them none the lessQuote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Finn looked comfortable for his mini cameo. I think it's like Ronnie said. End of season friendly and our best creative players missing.
Main takeaway is that Taylor has nailed down his place and Manning has worked his way into contention. We hit the woodwork twice and a goal disallowed.
Ferguson should not start and maybe no longer be called up until he's playing well at club level. I'm sorry, but he's been given enough chances and it's not good enough. The gulf between Parrot and him is immense and while Idah wasn't mind-blowing, at least he does a consistent press and has a bit of aggression about him
In which, to be fair, he did show more than Phillips comfortably & torpedoed my theory.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Would you give anyone more than that?Quote:
Originally Posted by zero
Dire game, did think we improved a bit once Taylor came on. I thought Knight was worst player on pitch other than Phillips but yet he got man of match!
I actually liked the little cameo from Patrick, won the ball and moved it pretty well a couple of times. Looks a far better footballer than Phillips, but its not an argument for either of them to be near the team come Sept.
End of season friendly, we know we can be better
Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelmusic
i thought O'Brien, Collins and o'shea were ok... parrott had a bit of movement. O'Leary did fine in goal. that's probably it really. i just thought that Ferguson, having not played much and needing a move, had an opportunity to make a statement but he was not on it at all. i would say it is a legitimate concern.Quote:
Originally Posted by Razors left peg
Inspirational. Heart stopping. Dreamlike. Legendary. These are words that I am saving up for the world cup qualifiers. See yis in September :)
Agree with almost all of this. Still don’t think Ferguson should be dropped from the squad. But he’ll be looking nervously over his shoulder at how Cannon and the likes start the season. All in all, Idah has moved ahead of him - and I wouldn’t be his biggest fan at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelmusic
I thought Knight was very solid over both matches. I gave him stick last window but he's on a par with Cullen at this stage. Worthy successor to Whelan I feel. I do think whoever plays DM is exposed for criticism at matches like these but I'd argue that we'd have lost tonight if Knight wasn't playing.
Im old fashioned ( some would say old fart) .... but I like my midfielders to be able to complete basic passes, Knight looked incapable of that most of tonight. Yeah he ran around well, but Id like more than just that.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelmusic
O'LearyQuote:
Originally Posted by Razors left peg
Turned up how many times to make up the numbers in training for a country he has one grandparent from, has played every game for his club for two seasons and quietly waited his turn, in a nothing game, one really nice save, one superb kick right into Fergusons chest ( which he fcuked up ) and solid throughout, steady, calm & catching footballs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
Id forgotten about Cannon almost. If Ferguson goes through another season like this one next year then he absolutely will deserve to get dropped from the squad, but Im like you I dont think we are there just yet. I cant figure him out, we seen the talent. That wasnt a mirage, but it looks like hes lost everything that made him good. Theres no strength, movement off the ball is gone, lacking pace and really does look like hes lost his way.
I dont know what the answer for him is at this point, but he better have a plan over the next 2 months to figure it out or he could end up being the biggest disappointment I can remember as an Ireland fan for a prospect not making it
Fair. If that's his only ever cap (and it probably will be with Kelleher, Bazunu and Travers on the scene and all younger than him and Keeley coming through as well) then it's a well deserved one.Quote:
Originally Posted by CraftyToePoke
Serious question, but what are Luxembourg like? (NI are in the same qualifying group as them.)
Is it time to try Ferguson and Phillips at centre-back yet ?
not a bad side. a bit like andorra with better players. they try to play decent football and have one or two good players but are weak up top. keep an ok shape but are vulnerable to counter attacks and quick passes behind.Quote:
Originally Posted by EalingGreen
ni would be disappointed not to take full points but they won't be cheap points, keep pressing and high energy levels - should just about be enough.
Surely Luxembourg would be similar to the Luxembourg side the North drew with in November and beat in September?
Down to the socks.
I don't think he sees it that way. Bazunu has a serious injury on his record now & potential unfulfilled doesn't amount to anything. Travers, he'll see himself as better than & could have a point there. Keeley has had one good loan a division down. He's in his prime, undisputed number one at a play offs club in the same division as two, (maybe three of the others for the coming season more than likely) with a finals we can't but qualify for coming soon & I think that's his long game, being in that squad if the chips fall his way & tonight he gave a fine first impression.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
He won't win many caps but he might go to a finals these squad turn ups are the groundwork & fair play to him. He's a decent keeper.
Ref was really ****. Allowed them to foul and bully and leave bad late tackles without ever pulling them up for it - from the first minute to the last.
O’Leary did well when called upon. Very happy for him.
Thought we were really poor. Probably should have scored 5 though anyway. The two that hit the woodwork, Parrott’s close range miss and offside goal, the McAteer dragged shot where he could have passed instead, Taylor’s other shot from distance, Idah’s acrobatic effort from close range
Positives: defenders did fine at least defensively, Taylor and Ebosele and Finn’s cameos were really positives, kept a clean sheet.
Negatives: shame about Brady’s injury, Ferguson gave us absolutely nothing, Luxembourg a country with 600k population were able to dominate possession against us
When’s the last time a senior international match didn’t have a studio analysis panel? Must be fairly rare ….
Good to see the manager giving a pretty honest evaluation of the performance, describing it as 'a negative answer to a question', instead of dressing it up as some kind of work in progress.
In fairness, if we should have scored 5 by that metric (including an offside goal and an acrobatic effort that still went about five yards over), we should still have lost when you count O'Leary's two good saves (the only saves of note in the game), Luxembourg hitting the woodwork, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by elatedscum
It was a dreadful performance which I do think doesn't bode well for September at all, but in the end of the day it was also a June friendly where we'd left out a few players who would otherwise have started, albeit none of them are exactly world beaters either.
That's four unbeaten for HH, but we are back to not winning matches. I thought the tactical approach was all wrong and it was summed up by our midfield, which was slack, particularly in the first half. The stats tell the story. Luxembourg dominated the ball (58% to 42% possession, 501 passes to our 362). They also had nearly twice as many shots as us.
I get the logic of leaving the majority of the Championship players out, but at the same time I think we needed to use this window to get the best team settled.
Evan Ferguson, with the absolute greatest of respects, needs a kick up the hole.
And we more or less allowed them to bully us. Yet again Parrot stands up for himself (NZ Lansdowne springs to mind) and there's no backup. Taylor a couple of times got stuck right in to be fair too.Quote:
Originally Posted by elatedscum
the only time this squad of players ever looks ready to stand up for itself is when Molumby is playing centre midfield and with all due consideration given to our other options in there, none of them impact a game to that much of an extent that they are head and shoulders above him.
The Evan Ferguson enigma is another job for Sam Spade, either he is carrying an injury, or something else has gone on that we don't know about ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingdom
Did Luxembourg hit the woodwork? Maybe I've already begun to wipe the match from my memory but all I can remember of note is the two O'Leary saves and the shot that deflected over the bar.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
I think it's fair enough looking at the offside goal, from the perspective that the run just needed to be timed a little better and he's still in. It wasn't the fact he was offside that made the chance. If you ran that as a drill in training, he beats the offside trap and is one on one with the keeper more than 50% of the time. The other Parrott chance is also a real sitter, he just can't get it out of his feet. Idah's chance, difficult but from that range if he hits the target, it should be a goal.
Who are the midfielders to choose from? Cullen, Knight, Taylor, Smallbone, Molumby, Azaz, McGrath in the first group - and Finn, Moran, Phillips, Lawal, Browne in the group below, where we've tended to select 5 players in total. It's a real group of decent players with absolutely no one bringing the level up. All basically borderline top tier championship players but that's about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingdom
Looking back, I really think giving Finn just 5 minutes across the 2 games was a total waste. If you'd have seen him for 45 minutes, you'd have a real sense if he's up to the level - instead we have a 5 minute cameo where he looked really good but you'd be afraid to call him up and expose him in a competitive fixture
I thought they had one onto the top of the bar, though the BBC match stats disagrees. (I will acknowledge my eyes glazing over at regular intervals during the 90...) But swap in that deflected shot instead and it's the same point. You can't accumulate all our chances and half chances and offside chances into a biased conclusion (like "Probably should have scored 5") without doing the same for Luxembourg. And they definitely had chances of their own.Quote:
Originally Posted by elatedscum
Bottom line is "If Idah hits the target, it should be a goal" is just "If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle". If Idah was a better striker, it might have been a goal. But he's not a better striker, so it wasn't probably a goal.
Totally agree. I wasnt bothered that he didnt start or didnt come on sooner as i just interpreted it to mean that Phillips > Finn > Honohan but once he had his cameo i was left thinking there is definitely a player there that might improve us - but that you just could not justify him replacing any of the current crop of squad midfielders based on that sample. That feels like a missed opportunity (or poor judgement) from HH.Quote:
Originally Posted by elatedscum
Where does he go from here?Quote:
Originally Posted by seanfhear
He's not getting in the Brighton team anytime soon. I get the feeling Hurlezer doesn't rate him. I can't see many EPL clubs lining up to take him, even on a loan. Too much of a risk for the promoted clubs.
Championship?