Georgia V Republic of Ireland - Saturday, 2 September 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

We only took Peyton and Bonner to Italia 90, and I think only Kelly and Bonner to USA. You sure about 1990? :)

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Yep - three was par for the course in 1990 in that 22 of the 24 countries had 3 keepers in the squad. 1986 was the same, and every nation had three keepers in 1982. (It wasn't compulsory until 1998 - but it was par for the course)

Er, I dunno....do what every club team does in similar circumstances. Play an outfield player in goal. And what would happen if he got injured? You could go on with that logic forever and name ten goalkeepers. All joking aside, I think two goalies is enough.

Bonner mentioned back in the 90's that we were the only squad at WC90 without a dedicated goalkeeping coach. Himself and Gerry Peyton used just go through paces themselves. I think by 94 Gerry had himself become the goalkeeping coach for Packie and Alan Kelly.

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Originally Posted by mark12345

Kelly omission is awful. He's exactly the type of player we need in the team. He should at least have made the squad. John O'Shea, not good enough to start for a mediocre Championship team, is effectively occupying Kelly's place. And why are there 3 goalkeepers in a squad for two games?

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I'd question whether you know the meaning of the word 'effectively'.

So when do we get word that someone has tweaked a groin in training? Should be any minute now, no? Like clockwork.

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Originally Posted by Diggs246

The Kelly omission is strange, he is exactly what we need and I have to say Scott Hogan not being able to get a passport in time is criminal, for urgent situations its 10 days max... he declared at least 14 days ago

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IIRC there is more to this than just getting a passport and showing up at Dublin airport. Because he has previously played for England at underage levels he is obliged to write to fifa informing them he wants to declare for Ireland and there is FIFA paperwork to be completed.

If i were a more cynical man I might suggest that the mini-flurry of declarations we are seeing is linked to our position in the group and the turnaround time of fifa meaning it is getting tight to have a declaration made, the paperwork done, and be involved before the end of qualifying (to have a decent claim to a world cup spot).

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Originally Posted by backstothewall

Because he has previously played for England at underage levels

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Has he though ?

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Originally Posted by backstothewall

If i were a more cynical man I might suggest that the mini-flurry of declarations we are seeing is linked to our position in the group

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Wonder how many more will the rub of the green calling them if we close out a spot at the finals ? :)

No i dont agree tbh. i think it is just about getting your passport and turning up at Dublin airport, as he never played for England at any level

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Originally Posted by CraftyToePoke

Has he though ?

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As far as I know that's irrelevant. As he was born in England and didn't have an Irish passport until recently (if he does) he has to apply for a change of nationality. UCD player Maxi Kouogun was born in Cameroon and wanted to play for Ireland at underage level but couldn't because Cameroon wouldn't cooperate with FIFA to transfer his nationality.

Danny or geysir might have a better explanation than I do.

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

if we assume Serbia beat Moldova at home, what's the best result for us in the Wales - Austria game?

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A draw would be the most obvious option, but a win for Austria might also work in our favour, should we beat Georgia and draw with or lose to Serbia as they would still have something to play for when they play Serbia at home, while Wales could be out of it by the time we travel to Cardiff, improving our chances of topping the group. Either way, it really is vital that we beat Georgia. If we can eke out a victory, we'll be in a position where we can go all out for victory against Serbia knowing that we'd still have second place in our own hands if Serbia were to beat us. On the other hand, dropped points on Saturday would leave us chasing Serbia while nervously looking over our shoulders at whoever wins between Austria and Wales and further dropped points against Serbia would leave us in a dogfight for second.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

As far as I know that's irrelevant. As he was born in England and didn't have an Irish passport until recently (if he does) he has to apply for a change of nationality. UCD player Maxi Kouogun was born in Cameroon and wanted to play for Ireland at underage level but couldn't because Cameroon wouldn't cooperate with FIFA to transfer his nationality.

Danny or geysir might have a better explanation than I do.

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Afair about Maxi, it has absolutely nothing to do with Cameroon, he's an immigrant, he arrived to Ireland when he was a baby and Fifa wanted proof that he wasn't imported for football reasons. Go figure!

His Cameroon nationality would have been nullified once he became an Irish citizen.

Is Paul o'Shea gone permanently from here? It's strange not having POSH during the build up to these massive clashes. :( I feel like Maverick did when Goose died. :plane:

He's hitch hiking to Tiblisi, long story short he lost a bet and this is the outcome, he's ok, he checked in a couple of days back & said something like 'you're some bast*ard Crafty after this, I can hear *****ing wolves nearby' but he is on course to make kick off. God bless him.

Well Dr.Peepee hasn't been on since June so maybe he is supervising the venture from a medical standpoint? I miss PeePee so much. He was like a deranged older uncle to me one 48 hours in Dublin. Most of my mates are gone from here these days.:cry:

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Originally Posted by KrisLetang

Well Dr.Peepee hasn't been on since June so maybe he is supervising the venture from a medical standpoint? I miss PeePee so much. He was like a deranged older uncle to me one 48 hours in Dublin. Most of my mates are gone from here these days.:cry:

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http://s.quickmeme.com/img/81/8179cd...cfea77aee2.jpg

I suspect it's time to invoke the Georgia prayer yet again, desperate times call for desperate measures. I don't think we can get the 3 points without some extra intervention.
Like the last time, in our dying minutes, McGeady bobs and weaves, shoots and scores, when did that ever happen before and since then? It was a miracle.

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Originally Posted by KrisLetang

Well Dr.Peepee hasn't been on since June so maybe he is supervising the venture from a medical standpoint? I miss PeePee so much. He was like a deranged older uncle to me one 48 hours in Dublin. Most of my mates are gone from here these days.:cry:

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I lurk.... a lot!!!

The Georgia game will be another away game where we will have to withstand a lot of pressure, grow frustrated about how badly we are playing and then hopefully nick one and then have a few goal line clearances.

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

The Georgia game will be another away game where we will have to withstand a lot of pressure, grow frustrated about how badly we are playing and then hopefully nick one and then have a few goal line clearances.

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We have played ex soviet republics in 10 qualifiers ties, out of the 20 games played we only dropped points once, in a drawn game.
W19 D1 L0

So what is everyone predicting?

Ireland 1-1 Georgia
Serbia 3-1 Ireland

Panic ensues.

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Originally Posted by KrisLetang

So what is everyone predicting?

Ireland 1-1 Georgia
Serbia 3-1 Ireland

Panic ensues.

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why did we cede home advantage to Serbia? Have Austria or Wales objected?

The home team should be mentioned second. When you are hosting your infamous dinner parties do you serve yourself first? Have some manners dear man.

We'll win. Nothing spectacular, 1-0.

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Originally Posted by KrisLetang

So what is everyone predicting?

Ireland 1-1 Georgia
Serbia 3-1 Ireland

Panic ensues.

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A 'road game' to Serbia.

Some scenarios:
http://www.punditarena.com/irish-foo...ition-group-d/

A safe 8-0 win over Georgia after a nervy 80 minutes followed by throwing in the towel against Serbia. We'll sh!t the togs at home and only win 3-0.

Georgia 1-1 Ireland
Ireland 1-0 Serbia

Georgia 7 Ireland 8
Ireland 10 Serbia 11

That's what I think of predictions

I have a feeling that our big lads will find the net from set pieces tomorrow night, and more than once. Duffy, Clark, Ward and Walters are all capable of causing Georgia problems, or any defense for that matter. Recalling the performance in Austria, Harry Arter was quite influential. I think we'll see a similar game from him tomorrow night

I've a strange feeling about Ward myself, think he might be a decent outside bet to score in 90 minutes

I thought the game was tomorrow Tets.

Players who are one booking away from a suspension:

Ward
Whelan
Coleman
Walters
Duffy
Brady
Meyler
McGeady

Walters would be serious and we need one of Brady or Ward, the rest we can live with if they get suspended for Serbia

Speaking of Coleman, when will he be back?

I fear tomorrow will be a really tight and cumbersome game. It'll be hard work and hard to watch. I don't think it'll be pretty. Just hoping we have enough to rise to the occasion and pull us over the line for a crucial three points. It would set us up nicely for what could turn out to be the group-decider on Tuesday night. Even if we do end up finishing second, three points tomorrow should certainly help ensure we won't end up being the ninth-best second-place finisher who'll miss out on the play-offs.

Georgia's manager Vladimir Weiss clearly regards Georgia as technically superior to us:

"[Ireland] are a strong team, maybe not technical like our team, but they are strong physically."

He's probably justified in his thinking. They played better football than us in the home game that we scraped through.

Wes needs to start for us really in order to give us the best chance of snatching victory. Under O'Neill, we've won an average of 2.08 points per game when Wes has started, but have an average of 1.3 points per game when Wes hasn't been in the starting eleven. He's been crucial to so many important goals during O'Neill's tenure as well.

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Originally Posted by geysir

We have played ex soviet republics in 10 qualifiers ties, out of the 20 games played we only dropped points once, in a drawn game.
W19 D1 L0

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Isn't Russia technically a former Soviet republic? We lost to them twice and have drawn with them twice in competitive games (all Euro qualifiers): https://www.11v11.com/teams/republic...sition/Russia/

http://i67.tinypic.com/2w40gus.png

Who did we draw against out of the 20 you mention?

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Originally Posted by KrisLetang

Speaking of Coleman, when will he be back?

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Possibly by Christmas: https://www.thesun.ie/sport/football...-early-return/

He's back in outdoor training.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

As far as I know that's irrelevant. As he was born in England and didn't have an Irish passport until recently (if he does) he has to apply for a change of nationality. UCD player Maxi Kouogun was born in Cameroon and wanted to play for Ireland at underage level but couldn't because Cameroon wouldn't cooperate with FIFA to transfer his nationality.

Danny or geysir might have a better explanation than I do.

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From what Yann Hafner told me, I understand article 7 applies to Hogan as he is assuming a new nationality. As far as I know, this means that the English FA must confirm to FIFA - via the provision of some sort of documentation or statement - that Hogan was never fielded by them in order to establish or substantiate his eligibility to play for the FAI. How long this process might take, I'm not sure, but I would imagine it could be anywhere between a number of days and a few weeks, depending on the urgency of the association concerned.

Here are two posts of mine on Maxi Kouogun's case (that may feature some helpful/relevant info, as far as Hogan's case is concerned) after I consulted Yann Hafner about it at the time:

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Originally Posted by DannyInvincible

I asked Yann what he thought of Kouogun's case and he speculated that the delay might be due to the national federation of Cameroon having (and failing up to now) to provide FIFA with a statement confirming that Kouogun was never fielded by them.

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Originally Posted by DannyInvincible

Had sent Yann another email just to pose some further questions but he's re-stated that, based on available info, Kouogan's case "seems perfectly legit". There should be no issue, as far as FIFA are concerned, in granting an exemption, so long as procedural matters are satisfied. Interestingly, he did inform me that the exemption mechanism was introduced only about three or four years ago, around 2013. I hadn't been aware of this.

I also raised the matter again of what actually effects a switch and he seems to be of the thinking now that it is the granting of the switch request, which would mean Jack Grealish, just to use an example, is now irreversibly tied. Yann's thinking appears to have changed although he didn't speak to the head of the PSC about it unfortunately. This would seem to conform with statements from FAI sources (if I recall correctly) a few months ago stating that once Grealish's switch would be granted, there'd be no going back on it. Indeed, it would also conform with the literal wording of article 8.1 which states that a player "may, only once, request to change the association for which he is eligible to play international matches".

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Yann was merely speculating as to the reason for the delay there, mind. Perhaps geysir is in the know when he says that FIFA were simply waiting for proof that Kouogan wasn't imported for football reasons?

Nevertheless, in the case of Hogan, I still think (based upon what Yann told me previously) that the FA would have to provide a statement, although I don't believe his assuming of Irish nationality would be regarded by FIFA as a formal switch of association considering he's never played for any association at all yet, to the best of my knowledge. In theory, it's possible Hogan could acquire an Irish passport now, line out for us in an upcoming friendly and then switch to England at some point in the future.

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Originally Posted by DannyInvincible

Who did we draw against out of the 20 you mention?

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I remember we drew 0-0 in a qualifier at home to Lithuania. I think it was the campaign when Romania stream rolled our group.

I guess technically you're right about Russia. My crude political and geographical mind would kind of consider Russia to have been what was left once all the others broke away though. :)

We could do with John Aldridge today, I'd say he racked up half his international goals tally against the former Soviet countries, Latvia being his most prominent victim.

Ed Leahy reckons O'Neill may go with Wes based on the following comment by O'Neill: "We have to keep the ball well in these [warm] conditions."

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Originally Posted by Ed Leahy

Did Martin O’Neill unintentionally show his hand ahead of this away encounter in Georgia?

The Ireland manager will rarely release even the most minute of details ahead of kick-off but perhaps his reference to the expected warm weather in Tblisi, saying, "we have to keep the ball well in these conditions," is an indication that Wes Hoolahan may be given the nod to start.

Ball retention is one of Ireland’s perennial weaknesses, and has been evident throughout the campaign, yet whenever Hoolahan plays, the entire team takes on a completely different complexion.

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I hope he's right.

Could be right. I think he will play Wes or Hourihane in midfield. Hourihane is such a goal threat away from home when none of our forwards are really firing.

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Originally Posted by KrisLetang

So what is everyone predicting?

Ireland 1-1 Georgia
Serbia 3-1 Ireland

Panic ensues.

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Just hoping for a win from the Georgia game, we are expected to win, well we are 4/5 so it is a almost a coin flip to win.

The only headline out of that one is a bad result for Ireland. If we win it is expected, mind you I am not even sure of that!