Anyone know if it can be watched on line ?
Anyone know if it can be watched on line ?
Just seeing that. Had assumed they'd be showing it. The highlights will be Ireland-only, according to the website.Quote:
Originally Posted by Junior
You should be able to find a stream on one of these sites closer to kick-off:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunners
- http://www.footballstreaming.info/st...nks/index.html
- http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?...06&part=sports
- http://www.lshunter.net/
Any idea on how many tickets have been sold for tonight? Curious to see how many will show up tonight. Tony O'D reckons 40K+
various reports ranging from 35 - 40,000. the ticketmaster interactive map would suggest something along those lines ok
This stream is already planned for the match, usually very good quality
http://www.coolsport.tv/skysports4.html
Preview: New era for Ireland starts with Latvia
By Rob Wright
It’s been a long time coming but there is a finally a real sense of optimism surrounding the Ireland national team.
The grey and dreary Trapattoni era shuddered to an inevitable halt with a defeat to Austria on a September evening and with it, morale in Irish football reached one of its lowest points in decades.
In truth, it should never have been allowed to go on that long and the FAI made a major mistake in not removing Trapattoni after a dreadful Euro 2012 campaign.
When the veteran Italian manager eventually parted company with the Irish team, he was replaced on an interim basis by Noel King, a manager who has never been able to achieve anything above mediocrity with the Republic of Ireland Under-21s in his three years in charge.
Hopes weren’t high. Indeed, there were suspicions that, despite John Delaney's denials, had King been able to get a result against Germany, he could have been offered the job on a permanent basis.
The FAI has appointed a man who they believe will be able to put together an Ireland team that’s more than the sum of its parts.
The immediate relief felt among Irish supporters with the exit of Trapattoni slowly turned to concern as the weeks dragged on without a permanent replacement being named.
Names were linked and discounted, and when John Delaney and the FAI farmed out the process of replacing Trapattoni to Ray Houghton and Ruud Dokter, there was a real worry that we’d see a repeat of Steve Staunton’s appointment.
However, Houghton and Dokter stuck to their task, identified Martin O’Neill as their main target, and aided by the deep pockets of Denis O’Brien they were able to convince the man who was the first choice of the majority of Ireland supporters to take the reins.
He did it at Leicester City, he did it at Celtic and he did it at Aston Villa – a team he took to three top-six Premier League finishes.
That ability to get players performing above themselves and to motivate them will be crucial, given the inherent limitations in international football.
O'Neill's first role will be to install a new mental strength in a group of players who have seen the crowds and support slowly ebb away since the highs of qualifying for Euro 2012.
Against Latvia the manager will have the perfect opportunity to help the team reconnect with an Irish sporting public who became jaded with disappointing performances, negative tactics and the former manager telling them just how poor a pool of players we have.
Since the appointment of O'Neill and Roy Keane, this fixture has taken on an importance that few would have expected when it was originally announced.
It's hardly a glamour tie against a team of household names, but given the optimism and positivity surrounding the team this week, it's important that the new boss starts with a win and a decent performance.
The players have responded in the right way so far, saying all the right things and the sideshow surrounding the appointment of Keane as assistant manager has taken much of the spotlight and pressure off them.
Nevertheless, against Latvia they need to perform and help win back what can be a fickle Irish fanbase.
O'Neill is aware of all this of course and is expecting a big performance from his squad in the game with Latvia and the follow-up trip to Poland.
"I don't want the players to treat these like friendly games. I told them that last night.
"They became big games because I have to make judgements on players. That's exactly how I see these games coming up. They may not be competitive in terms of picking up points, but they are very important."
As well as using this two games to decide on his players O'Neill is canny enough to be aware that he can send a big signal of intent and go some way to winning fans back at the Aviva by putting out the right team - a team set up to take the game to Latvia and dictate things.
To that end, expect to see James McCarthy anchor the midfield. Keane in particular, has been full of praise of McCarthy, admitting that he sees something of himself in the Everton player, saying: "He probably plays a little like me. Maybe not as aggressive and possibly looking to mature in terms of his personality on the team over the next few years, but that will all come."
With Robbie Brady injured and Anthony Pilkington doubtful with a dead leg, Andy Reid could be given the chance to impress in midfield. Having already been given the thumbs-up by his new international boss to bring his infamous guitar out of retirement, Reid looks to be in line to start against the Latvians.
Robbie Keane has been maintained as captain for these two games at least and therefore is expected to start against Latvia, but elsewhere it becomes more difficult to predict what team O'Neill will opt for in Dublin.
Unlike Trapattoni, who tended to announce his starting line-ups well in advance of a game, the new Ireland manager is playing his cards closer to his chest and has already signalled his intention to give everyone a chance to prove themselves. Don't be surprised if the likes of Anthony Stokes, Alex Pearce of even the uncapped Rob Elliott get the nod.
Whatever team O'Neill does go for tonight, they should have enough about them to beat Latvia.
The visitors had a Euro 2012 qualifying campaign that they'll be keen to forget in a hurry, finishing second from bottom, winning just two games and failing to beat perennial whipping boys Liechtenstein away from home.
Now managed by former Southampton striker Marian Pahars, Latvia have won just one of their last ten matches, and have struggled to make an impact on the international scene in recent years. With few youngsters coming through and a squad comprised mostly of domestic players, there are not many familiar faces in the squad.
Veteran Kaspars Gorkss plays alongside Alex Pearce and Stephen Kelly at Reading and is his country's most experienced and reliable defender, while up front former Dynamo Kiev striker Maris Verpakovskis is Latvia's top all-time goalscorer with 29 goals. However, at the age of 34, his best days are firmly behind him.
The trip to Poznan on Tuesday to take on Poland will be in O'Neill's mind when he selects his team to take on Latvia and while he may well give more fringe players a chance to impress at the Aviva, it's crucial that whoever he picks, he sets them up to attack and take the game to visitors.
There's little that Ireland have to fear from Latvia, so the manager can afford to take risks and maybe even offer “a little style and a little panache” as he promised at his first press conference. A win, and a win playing the right kind of football, will go a long way to help bring back the feel-good factor to the Ireland team.
RTÉ Sport: Republic of Ireland v Latvia Preview
I would have thought beating Italy away was a clear and obvious achievement and done with 10 players for most of the game, finishing with 9.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Also rumours that King would have the job if he did well were kicked to touch right from the beginning.
Why does this dimwit of a journalist feel the need to disparage King with disinformation?
Btw, that's a rhetorical Q
Plus that was most likely unfounded speculation as opposed to any kind of legitimate rumour. Saying we were at our lowest ebb in decades is clearly nonsense too given the Staunton era.
He'd be breaking with tradition if he didn't.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Well lads, have the ST but have to pick up tickets for tonight for others. It's been years since I've had to do it, is the pick up still in the Berkeley these days?
When is the team announced? I remember the good old days when Trap released the team a day before. :'(
I don't see much wrong with that statement. The campaign just gone under Trap was worse than Staunton's campaign, despite the 2-5 v Cyprus and we have hit our lowest ranking since rankings began.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
How was this campaign worse than Stan's? We only won 4 of 12 games in that campaign, 2 of them against San Marino, and were never remotely within contention. This campaign wasn't great but it was certainly better.
It's an over-reaction to the rankings, and the football. When Staunton was sacked, we had just come from behind to draw with Cyprus, and the whole setup was a shambles. In the current setup, there's some changes to be made to the style of play, and replacements to be made to squad players* but ratings apart, we're in a far better situation than six years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by as_i_say
At the time, some doubted if we would ever get to another finals, within four years we were at the European Championships.
* which happens naturally at the end of every qualification campaign anyway
I thought I might be hit with those stats as I was posting. Not in a millions years for me. Our campaign under Trap was a campaign too far, staleness, etc. A couple of breaks here and there and we would have been genuinely in contention for a playoff spot, not that we deserved any breaks as we were poor. The Staunton campaign was a shambles from start to finish really and, as CD say, we were never in contention at all. An injury time winner against the handful that is San Marino and the two Cyprus games were pretty much rock bottom. A matter of opinion obviously but barely comparable in mine.Quote:
Originally Posted by as_i_say
I think the last campaign was a whole shambles really, we just about kept in it the last time because when we played sweden and austria they had taken points off eachother as well. Germany and czech in that group had pulled well ahead by the same stage. There was slight reprieve with the draw against Sweden, but the draw 4 days later to Austria quashed that. IT really was a shambles, maybe not with the same shambolic results in Stans campaign granted.
I believe I'm correct in saying we accumulated more points in Stans group as well. That Sweden away game wasn't so much a reprieve as a blip in form for both teams concerned. I remember at the time thinking there's scarcely a huge gap in genuine quality between the two sides and yet the difference appeared to be that when we play out of our skins we draw with them and when they have an below par night they draw with us.
Staunton had two extra games. We averaged 1.4 points a game in each campaign.
Maybe but we were the ones playing below par for the majority of the group, we were on the slide with pretty much zero confidence. They were just their normal solid selves. Our home form has been a real killer, priority number one for MON should be to make Lansdowne Road a difficult place to come again. Maybe that damn Aviva is just too nice!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie
This is far too casual. It's only three hours to kick-off!Quote:
Originally Posted by Serb