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