Duff injured?

There's no way the Bulgarians would prefer to be facing Duff. Hunt's an honest energetic player, but not in Duff's league. Trapp has to consider the fact that McGeady is only recovering from a knock. Is he fit enough to play two games in quick sucession? There's always a possibility that someone will pick up a strain etc in the Bulgaria game. We could be left desperately short of cover out wide for the Italy game. It would be extraordinarily irresponsible not to call up Reid now. We need experienced players for these big games. I'm gonna be pssd off if I have to look at Liam Miller coming on against Italy, when we have a Premiership midfielder, dying to play for us, sitting at home. Ridiculous.

I hate to bring it up but if we had Stephen Ireland to come in it would make a world of difference.I would even resort to begging.

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Originally Posted by Jicked

Cant believe some people think this is a good time to call Andy Reid back up, it'd completely change the atmosphere of the camp in the middle of a massive double header.

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What does this mean?.........the atmosphere would change from what to what?

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Originally Posted by cheifo

I hate to bring it up but if we had Stephen Ireland to come in it would make a world of difference.I would even resort to begging.

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sad as it may sound alright, i totally agree, he is ripping teams apart, if only the f**ker had a brain in his head :rolleyes:

Dunne said today not to expect SI anytime soon.....
Maybe this will be a good thing with Hunt getting a chance. Im telling you, when Ireland played Ecuador in Giants Stadium two summers ago, He was by far the best player on the field. Now, of course i understand that does not mean much, but I noticed it and said, this guy can be a player for us. Maybe he will Wally Pipp the Duffer.

Honestly the news that Duff will not be playing was painful to listen to. It is catastrophic!! He had a very good game against Georgia and was beginning to regain some of his old spark at international level. He is central to our chances. Sadly he will be replaced by Stephan Hunt who lacks any ability and is incapable of cutting it at international football over a prolonged period. I will never doubt his passion and commitment to the cause but when you have zero ability to back this up then it spells trouble. Anybody who argues otherwise is living in neverneverland. All one needs to do its go onto any Reading Fans Forum and observe what they have to say about Steve. He is a liability.

I feel Duff is our link between midfield and attack, especially with Steven Reid out. Without those 2 we have a midfield who's job will be to get the ball to the wide players who's job is to get the ball into the box. At least Duff drifted all over the place. Allowed us to hold onto the ball for periods.

A huge loss.

I hope I have enough of a reputation for not being a windup merchant to avoid a scathing attack here ...

I'm gutted for Duff because he is an Ireland legend and its terrible to hear he is injured again after going through such a nightmare few years with his fitness. From a footballing sense however, I am not too worried. Duff is better than Hunt, but the difference between them is not as great as the difference in their reputations. Duff has deteriorated drastically as a player. I watched Newcastle vs. Arsenal and I really don't think he's ever going to be a match winner again, his contributions are peripheral.

Hunt seems as energetic as Duff seems lethargic. I never really rated Hunt's ability too highly but somehow I feel he could be just the tonic for our side right now.

If Hunt is doing miserably out there, I would consider giving Kilbane half an hour on the wing. His crossing was really excellent last time Hull played. Fagan should have scored two from him.

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Originally Posted by BigmanCas

Honestly the news that Duff will not be playing was painful to listen to. It is catastrophic!! He had a very good game against Georgia and was beginning to regain some of his old spark at international level. He is central to our chances. Sadly he will be replaced by Stephan Hunt who lacks any ability and is incapable of cutting it at international football over a prolonged period. I will never doubt his passion and commitment to the cause but when you have zero ability to back this up then it spells trouble. Anybody who argues otherwise is living in neverneverland. All one needs to do its go onto any Reading Fans Forum and observe what they have to say about Steve. He is a liability.

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They don't seem too pleased recently, he did not start the last two games he was the supporters playe of the season last season I believe.
Hopefully he will be back to his best. To say Hunt lacks ability is unfair - 19 assists 6 goals and 43 fouls - top stats :D
I doubt Duff gets close to those figures for Newcastle. Furthermore Hunt seems significantly more robust than Duff ad is the sort of player who can give the team a boost with his enthusiasm - anyway he is fit Duff ain't.

For me, in these next two matches, MacGeady is definately our most important player. With Duff out, Aiden has to shoulder a lot of responsibility as he is now our only real creative attacking outlet. Hunt seems to be a direct replacement for Duff, indicating (as if we all didn't already know) that Trapattoni is retaining the system used throughout our campaign to date. This obviously means that Bulgaria and Italy can now afford to have MacGeady double marked on the wing :(. Leading on from this, I would have been tempted to reconfigure the system and utilise Aiden more centrally.
Regardless of all of this, whichever eventuality, I think will all need to start praying that MacGeady is able to rise to the challenge.

I just can't join in with the optimism expressed by some as regards Hunt's ability to adequately fill Duff's boots as I can't see Hunt having much joy against either side's defence. He is a good player to bring on against any side with about 20/25 minutes to go with the opposition beginning to tire, as he gets involved immediately, at full tilt, and doesn't require any time to get into the tempo or flow of the match, otherwise, in my opinion, he doesn't have the game intelligence to compete with the top sides.
I do hope I am proved wrong, in which case I will eat humble pie!..............but I doubt it - especially against the Italians.

Balls... :(

With Mc Geady surley not fit for both games i fear the worst. I am a Reading fan and love Hunty but he is not near Duffd level

Liam Lawernce !!!! Brady your a idiot pick this guy for feck sake
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For all those on here that are saying that Duff has deteriorated as a player and Hunt is now a better option than him... have ye actually watched any Ireland games lately? Who cares what he has done for Newcastle, I cannot remember him ever having a bad game for us and is a threat every time he gets the ball.And there is no one on the Ireland team that cares about playing for their country more than Duffer, he even travelled to one of the away games in the last campaign when he was injured just to support the lads.I was travelling yesterday and missed all the news about it so I just found out about it from this forum and Im absolutely gutted that he is out and Im annoyed that some people on here seem to be passing it off as no big deal. This is a disaster for us, I hope Hunt does brilliantly and I do like him as a player but he is very limited and he hasnt played well very often when he has started for us.
But if McGeady doesnt make it too and Andy Keogh is picked to start on the wing I swear I will lose it completely. Andy Reid should be in the squad as cover for the wings at a minimum, he has played there for Sunderland alot lately and is 10 times the player that Andy Keogh will ever be in midfield.
This is the first home qualifier Im gonna miss for years so my mood has been poor already, this has just completely depressed me now

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Originally Posted by Razors left peg

For all those on here that are saying that Duff has deteriorated as a player and Hunt is now a better option than him... have ye actually watched any Ireland games lately? Who cares what he has done for Newcastle, I cannot remember him ever having a bad game for us and is a threat every time he gets the ball.And there is no one on the Ireland team that cares about playing for their country more than Duffer, he even travelled to one of the away games in the last campaign when he was injured just to support the lads.I was travelling yesterday and missed all the news about it so I just found out about it from this forum and Im absolutely gutted that he is out and Im annoyed that some people on here seem to be passing it off as no big deal. This is a disaster for us, I hope Hunt does brilliantly and I do like him as a player but he is very limited and he hasnt played well very often when he has started for us.

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Very well said..

Duff is invaluable to us but it is a fact of life that the team can't depend on his fitness.
We should regard Duff being fit as a bonus.
Traps system has a few weak links. In the long run we would be better off just having one of Duff /Mcgeady /Hunt in the starting 11.

It's up to McGeady to step up and take on Duffs mantle. He doesn 't always have to feel that he has to scamper with the ball at 100kph.

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Originally Posted by Fizzer

There's no way the Bulgarians would prefer to be facing Duff. Hunt's an honest energetic player, but not in Duff's league. Trapp has to consider the fact that McGeady is only recovering from a knock. Is he fit enough to play two games in quick sucession? There's always a possibility that someone will pick up a strain etc in the Bulgaria game. We could be left desperately short of cover out wide for the Italy game. It would be extraordinarily irresponsible not to call up Reid now. We need experienced players for these big games. I'm gonna be pssd off if I have to look at Liam Miller coming on against Italy, when we have a Premiership midfielder, dying to play for us, sitting at home. Ridiculous.

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..or indeed Hunt sees red... again.

We would be in a healthier position with Reid & Lawrence as options.

I knew things were going so good, with Bulgaria and all their injuries and we hadnt a single one to report.

Massive loss and I'd be a Hunt fan. Hope he can step up to the plate. The only positive slant I could put on it is that Hunt will track back more then Duff against Italy which may be useful if we're on teh back foot at any stage.

Whatever about the Bulgaria game to not call up Reid or Lawrence for the Italy squad is cutting our nose off to spite our face, even as back up one or the other should be brought in for balance. But I feel that Trap has settled on his squad and that will be that unless there's further injuries on Saturday.

Stokes drafted in as cover? Surely Reid is the better choice.

Anyway, in Trap I (blindly) Trust!

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Originally Posted by magnumpi

Stokes drafted in as cover? Surely Reid is the better choice.

Anyway, in Trap I (blindly) Trust!

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Very strange decision, Lawrence or Reid far better suited for me, assuming it's only because he's had Stokes in squads before and wants to go with players he's seen which rules Lawrence out and that he's not budging on his position regarding Reid.