Germany helped us with an away win over the Czech Rep :)
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Germany helped us with an away win over the Czech Rep :)
A far from impressive performance. Clutching at straws I can only hope that successive wins will build some sort of momentum and lift the pressure. As everyone knows the full back area was hugely problematic. Watching O'Shea in action pains me greatly. The brightest spark of the match was the very promising substitute appearance of Hunt.
As much as Hunt did well today, he still sucks!
Keep him on the bench, then if we take the lead and hold it til the last 10-15 mins, then stick him on and let him put his head down and run straight at the defender to win a free kick and kill a few seconds. All he ever does
Hunt came on and did what Duff used to do. Run at defenders with pace and commit them. He should start ahead of Duffer on Wednesday.Quote:
Originally Posted by lim abroad
O´sheaQuote:
Originally Posted by kev107
doyle carsley duff connolly
dunne hunt given mcgeady
harte mcshane
:D
I dont know what world you're all living in. The level of arrogance in these comments is shocking. I sat there today and saw a team win a game of international football. (what about Scotland? What about England? Everyone struggles to find form. Its normal. The win is the win is the win.) They didnt play as well as they can, but in moments there were clear positives. McShane was immense. Hunt and Doyle changed things with great determination when he came on. Given obviously saved us again. Dunne did well. Duff was far more creative especially in the first half. Kilbane, Carsley and douglas did okay. Ireland didnt do well, but you'll struggle to get a better international goal. Keane ran himself into the ground, but struggled. He's honest...lay off him ya gits. O'Shea was okay...frustrating...but ok. The fans cheered everything positive and where I was sitting there was almost no abuse thrown at the players from start to finish. Moments of frustration...no abuse though. The atmosphere at the start was good..there was a lull in the first half until the goal. (As a Liverpool fan having a lull in a game is not unusual. Liverpool regularly have lulls that last 80 minutes. ditto Chelsea)
After everything...a win is a win is a win.
They did well as a team and it sets things up for Wednesday to start to build again.
I just dont understand you people with your comments..............It wasnt a good game??? Really??
Since then did that ever matter????
I was pleased with Keane today. I was tearing my hair out at the amount of times he'd provide himself with a bit of space and then lay it off to a midfielder only for the midfielder to lose possesion with a crap touch. It happened so often, maybe the pitch was at work here?......Duff struggled at times but was still a creative spark.
Whats with the universal approval of Stephen Irelands performance? He was abysmal in the first half. I know he was playing out of position but he gave the ball away every time he got it. Staunton had to move him out of there into a bloody forward role for Gods sake and then wouldn't you know he gets the goal:D
The switching of O'Shea and Finnan was stupid. Christ, just play Finnan at right back! Someone mentioned it was to accomodate O'Shea - how exactly? When is the last time he played right back? 90% of his experience as a full back has been on the left.
If we're at our lowest ebb, then what the hell are wales?! Ah well, at least their support got a nice tan.
Here's my team for Wednesday:
Doyle
Duff
Hunt Carsley Kilbane McGeady
O'Shea Dunne McShane Finnan
Given(c)
In fairness, Robbie Keane's abuse is justified... He is a joker, I was at the match and looked at him closely, he just looks to the ref for everything, he had a few half chances which were poorly executed, whereas with Doyle's one half chance he was unlucky not to score and hit the bar. Keane is incredibly frustrating to watch as you know he can be so much better. He just played as if he was stricken with apathy. Douglas tried but is just not up to it, he made one run to the byline and then he just kicked it straight it out, the collective groan told it all. I thought McShane was brilliant. He is great to watch in the flesh. Utter concentration and professionalism etched throughout him for the whole match. His approach to the game reminds me of Roy Keane, he was my man of the match. People who slag off Stephen Hunt he do sou without any justification. I was lifted when I saw him coming on and he didn't fail to deliver. He single handedly injected a pace into the game and attacked with real purpose and genuinely terrorised the defence. Why couldn't anybody else do the same?! I thought he was in a league of his own performance wise today. No one else did anything of note. These barstoolers behind me were constantly barracking S.Ireland which absolutely wrecked my head. His finish was top drawer and did alright considering he was played out of position. He won us this turgid affair for God's sake and is turning out to be our saviour.
I think Hunt tries to run through them rather that at them.Quote:
Originally Posted by onceahoop
Quote:
Originally Posted by republicofwhite
Keane plays regularly for Tottenham. A Premiership club. With and ahead of world class players like Berbatov and Defoe. McShane plays for West Brom. By all accounts he's struggled to even get into the team this year. Ferguson doesn't rate him. Nor, evidently do the 19 other Premiership managers. There's a reason for all that.
Just because McShane has gotten a lot of plaudits for his demeanour on the pitch, and Keane has taken the majority of criticism for the performances under Stan because he's a star (along with DUff) and captain doesn't obscure the fact that he is class and McShane will always be a journeyman pro.
Doyle's chance was created as a result of Keane's ingenuity (sp). It was a class touch. As was his pass for Ireland's goal. With the service he had, Keane did an awful lot.
Stephen Ireland was absolutely abysmal, save for the goal. The "barstoolers" behind you were absolutely right. Part of the reason he was crap was because he was played out of position.
Stephen Hunt did well and deserves a start. But don't expect him to turn in that sort of performance for 90 minutes of any game.
When did this become an acceptable phrase? i run into it everytime i go near a 'pro evo' or 'fm' forum.Quote:
McShane was immense.
:eek: He committs defenders so he can go through them, byQuote:
Originally Posted by Qwerty
them, around them. Duff at the moment goes just crouches down and stops, then goes backwards:rolleyes: .
Just home from the game.
What a depressing crowd of ******* on this site.
Get the impression that many would be gutted if we actually qualified.
But then how many actually go to games !!
It means he was good. I thought we did well getting the win today. Good win without playing well. Fair enough... Its called football people....Quote:
Originally Posted by eekers
Quote:
Originally Posted by co. down green
Fair play to you. I agree.....Bunch of **** in here. I hope Stan survives to sicken them.
Crappy match alright. Was surprised with Bellamy, expected a lot more from him. Hunt looked great when he came on, Wales players couldn't cope with him so took him down every time. Thought Ireland had messed up with the goal at first, it looked like he had hit the ball too far ahead of him just before he rounded the keeper. I was towards the RTE studio end of the Hogan stand and twas funny when a guard went up to Ian Rush to get a photo taken with him:D.
Whoever brought the "Chelsea Irish" and the tri-colour with "Chelsea" painted on it should be banned from the ground.
Just because people critisize doesnt mean they dont care. I dont think anyone can be happy with that performance , granted we won but its not a good sign if we can only just scrape over the line against a woefully poor Wales team
On the way down to croker...no atmosphere
in croker during the match...no atmosphere
quailty of football...none
That doesn't hold anything compared to a sunday afternoon going down to croker where there would be:
Excitment walking down
better atmosphere than anywhere else in the world
and better stuff to watch than that shtie i saw today
Disagree. Duff was our best player today. Not his fault nobody was willing to show for him today.Quote:
Originally Posted by tippex
Stephen Ireland is sh!te. Fair dues to him, he's scored three in a row, but he's not international standard as yet,Quote:
Originally Posted by nismo
Yeah, looked quality alright. Drew two, if not three, bookings in ten minutes. If he'd have done that from the start, the Welsh defence would have been all over the place,Quote:
Originally Posted by lim abroad
Hunt. See above.Quote:
Originally Posted by strangeirish
Overall, a shocking game between two very poor teams. Slovakia are very definitely favourites for Wednesday...
Quote:
Originally Posted by craig7042
Stan won't survive because he is a clueless bluffer and is detrimental to Irish soccer. I'm going to Slovakia/Czech Republic but probably won't bother crossing the road for the matches. I'm sick of his **** already
Great quote from Cascarino in todays Racing Post
"Staunton looks angry as he enters press conferences, he's gunning for confontation. We all want him to succeed and be on his side"
The man is an idiot trying to create some siege mentality against the media when its his petulance and inept team selection which is ruining our football side. Today could have been a great day but instead it was a damp squib. He is a disgrace
Have to agree with many of Craig 7042 points.
Some of the abuse towards certain players here is obscene.
For me, Keane ran his ****** off playing on his OWN up front. His confidence with Ireland aint great at the moment, and it certainly doesn't help when ****** so called supporters are on his back before he gets a chance to control the ball.
Speaking of *******, to the eejits who booed Robbie when he was taken off, and to the those who sang 'Who Are ye' - do yis think this will help his current lack of international confidence?
He worked hard today, and he will come good again. IMO he needs backing and support and not boo boy *****s.
Although I agree Robbie aint captain material, Keane is such an easy target for people sitting behind keyboards.
- People thought Doyle should of started? In 2007, Doyle has made three appearances for reading - 70 mins v Man U in Cup; 14 minutes last week and another sub appearance. Hardly good preparation.
The atmosphere today, after all the hype – very poor. I dont remember paying nearly a euro a minute to do a Mexican Wave
Soko, go back and support the rugby
Lads, can youse all calm down. We're level on points now with the Czechs. OK, they have a game in hand. But they have to go to Germany, and we don't.
We are back in this, which, after the Cyprus game, no-one thought we would be. Do we have to improve? Of course, But our destiny is in our own hands again.
If we lose Wednesday, then by all means go through the doom and gloom; but for now, enjoy the fact that we won.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mento
I will. At least they have some sort of method to their madness. My anger is directed at one man and one man only for the time being - Steve Staunton. If you can't see what he is doing to us then I really couldn't care less what you think. I'll continue to watch on the box and I might even venture in to the ground when we meet the Czechs and Slovaks away. I know the only way that I'll see a team without that idiot at the helm is with defeats so there's my catch 22. We need to see beyond the trees here. We are not qualifying for this tournament and the WC is our objective. That maniac is only going to reduce us to a 6 seed before he's done
Whoever brought the "Chelsea Irish" and the tri-colour with "Chelsea" painted on it should be banned from the ground.[/QUOTE]
ya saw that chelsea flag at the end of the match.... you might aswell put rangers on it or better still put it on an english flag same thing!!
by doing what playing with less then 11 men!!.... dont matter who's manager same pool of players this isnt club football you cant do as you please with your squad to change it!Quote:
Originally Posted by Soko
Stephen Ireland is sh!te. Fair dues to him, he's scored three in a row, but he's not international standard as yet,
what a load of ****e of a comment pineapple stu, the young lad was out of position and he was poor to be fair but when put into position he was one of 3 or 4 bright sparks on the ireland tem. i felt him duff keane and given were class today. saved us.thought keane did very well being a lone striker and duffs runs were very good today. how many times must stephen ireland save our country before getting a slight bit of credit. i fel if it was stokes who scored that goal but did nothing else all game it would be nothing but plaudits for him! seriously back our manager our captain and our country. oour players are ****ting themselves because they know every bad move they do will be scrutinised and they'll be hammered by supporters and jounalists like dunphy and co. if we beat czech were in a good posiition to qualify. back our country our, team doesn't matter whos in charge there still our country wearing our colours its about time people support everybody to to do with the team. for christs sake like :mad:
Who played the pass through to Ireland? Let me think. Oh, yeh Robbie Keane. Keane cannot play on his own up front and to expect otherwise shows a huge lack of any football knowledge. Keane never had a chance in a 4-5-1 formation and he needs a strong centre-forward along side him. Until then we'll never see the best of Robbie again.Quote:
Originally Posted by nismo
Were you one of the 4 middle aged men sitting behind me wearing no colours who spent the whole game jeering and moaning about Keane? :mad:
I hate this ****e "Whoever brought the "Chelsea Irish" and the tri-colour with "Chelsea" painted on it should be banned from the ground.[/quote]
ya saw that chelsea flag at the end of the match.... you might aswell put rangers on it or better still put it on an english flag same thing!!"
Why, surely, Irish chelsea is not all that different from Irish Kilburn...and if we allow celtic supporters, why should we not allow rangers fans
Some of the vitriolic abuse placed in this thread is highly embarressing and makes me question whether some of you people actually know anything about football. I have just had the chance to watch the full game as I had a match myself on Saturday at 3pm so missed the live game. I noticed a couple of things that I will point out.
Stephen Ireland's range of passing is outstanding for a young player. He is a very gifted young man, an example would be the cross-field raking ball which set Keane through in the first half. He also showed a confidence that has been lacking in the side for a while with his cool finish, a finish any striker would be proud of.
Robbie Keane was unbelievable against Wales. Playing effectively as a lone striker for long periods of the game he managed at times to occupy all of the three welsh central defenders. His success in this role can be evidenced by Wales inability to cope with Damian Duff who was allowed time and space on the ball due to Keanes hard work. Then there is Keane's through ball, with barely even a look up Keane played the ball round the corner and Ireland finished cooly, giving Ireland the three points. That is the difference at international level and Keane provided that yesterday.
Jonathon Douglas & Lee Carsley, whilst not being the most creative of players, carried out a key role in Ireland's midfield, to great affect. They consistantly disrupted the play, not allowing Wales any time on the ball, it was due to this that the threat of Giggs was nullified in many ways, as he did not receive any service from his midfield.
I could go into greater detail on all of the above subjects, but I think you get the jist of it.
One final point:
Ireland have 10 points from 6 games.
England have 8 points from 5 games.
I here very few people in the English media calling for Steven MacClaren's head...
awful game with two awful teams. finnan starting at left back is disgraceful. thought duff did very well.skined bale a good few times.doyle won his fair share of headers when he came on. ireland (apart from his well taken goal was poor).but we let wales have too much of the ball in the second half and sat back too deep. mc shane had decent game....we need to improved 100% for wednesday night. to qualtify we were always going to have to take something out of the double header in september and that is still the case.
Just back from the game and the associated drinking that went on afterwards. Have to say Ireland were overall very poor. Luckily Wales were even worse. Robbie Keane was wa*k again and the fact sky sports gives him an 8 out of ten proves to me what I've always known. They don't watch the matches.
He spent most of the game on his ar*e, moaning. He has no pace. He also nearly cost us the result by being stupid and losing possesion by trying silly tricks just outside our 18 yard box which led to Ryan Giggs freekick. Luckily Bale had been taken off by then. He should never have been chosen as captain.
Kilbane was also terrible. He gave possesion away constantly. Why he was left on the pitch all match I'll never know.
On the plus side our defence was solid enough though McShane made a couple of mistakes. Dunne was outstanding. Finnan was very solid. Even O'Shea was ok for once.
Duff was our best player I thought. He used the ball well and always looked dangerous. Hunt was also excellent when he came on but should have got more than 15 minutes.
Overall an improvement but Slovakia won't be too worried. Note to Stan stop punting long balls up to our 5 ft 8 inch striker. We just end up giving away possesion.
If England lost 5-2 to ANYONE, never mind CYPRUS, and scrape a 2-1 win deep in injury time away to Andorra on Wednesday, then we'll talk.Quote:
Originally Posted by livehead1
I reckon this thread will be in the bin by tomorrow afternoon :rolleyes:
Why? Football is a results driven business, if we continue to win from here on in I for one will not have a problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by Colbert Report
What was the story with the pockets of free seats. Front of the Cusack upper centre was abandoned, another few pockets in the Cusack lower and there was 3 seats free behind right behind me, and the Nally was only really half full. Did the FAI forget to sell these cos as it showed on the Welsh ticket thread here that there were plenty of people still looking for tickets?????
And was really p!ssed off with the lack of atmosphere, thought it would have been netter than the rugby.
A terrible performance by 2 poor sides. The pitch didn't help and was it just me or was it very big. Lots of open spaces. Lee Carsley's post match quote reveals all about the shambles that is Steve Staunton's management.
"He just named the team but didn't go through any roles to be honest" :(
Strangely enough a lot of people also thought Keane had a reasonable game so perhaps it's you who doesn't watch the game. I am not sure what you expect from someone who is left on his own up front when that is patently not his game. I suppose you didn't see his through ball to Ireland either for the goal ? No? The only time I saw him on the floor moaning was when he was through on the keeper and claimed a peno for a tackle from behind. Haven't seen the replay so I don't know whether the claim was justified. He worked hard on his own up front chasing down the Welsh back 4 with little support.Quote:
Originally Posted by youngirish
See also the comment at the start of his thread by the Welsh fan on Robbie.
"Robbie Keane looked good though. I don't know why he gets slagged off on here. Him and Duff basically provided the difference between two very bad sides."
Anyone know if the rte analysis is online anywhere?
Can't argue with any of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by craig7042
Post match interviews here: http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0324/irelandsoccer_av.html