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We'll take it, I was thinking SK needed a break and he didn't half get it with the og. Bazunu what a display, Omo excellent too. We could and should have been on the end of a hiding against a fine Serbian team but that result might have cost them outright qualification?
Yes we are limited but there are some good prospects coming up, trust the process, I'd much rather to have watched the game tonight than some of the horror shows thrown up in the last days of Trap and MON.
Yes, Randolph makes those saves. Another day we lose 5-0 given those chances though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
So all those games where Kenny was using the missed chances excuse you were saying the same thing?Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
say what you like but one things for sure... sk and the team havnt lost the home crowd one bit...
Oh shut up. It certainly was not a very poor performance. Serbia are a better side than us, I don’t think anyone doubts that ? But we competed well with them at times, and never gave up. I think we deserved the point. I understand the criticism after Luxembourg and Azerbaijan, but some people seem determined to only see the negatives. And you can’t say the team aren’t playing for the manager either. Great effort tonight.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trequartista20
Sorry, you won't draw me in. You can't impose that view on me. One is allowed to support Kenny without supporting everything he says or every decision he makes. I'm not into extremism.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
Was it yourself that said it’s only the result that matters and not the manner of the performance? You and/or a few of your ilk were spouting that after our performance against Portugal. Surely the same applies in reverse? Or from Serbia’s perspective…Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
The adage is that a team is built first from the defence, at least we have that defence. Just need to fix the rest of our game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
On another day we get a penalty in Portugal to go 2 up, and the ref doesn’t add five minutes, and we take a couple of those chances against Azerbaijan to win comfortably. Works both ways you see.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
If it's the result that matters, then the excuses previously used by Kenny should be brushed aside. That's the conclusion to your point.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
No. I didn't say that.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
Definitely went out to contain the Serbs with four central midfielders. I would also like to see a heatmap.for McClean and Doherty. I don't think it was particularly deep that they were but they did get pinned back for periods of Serbian pressure and Serbia were very good at pressurizing.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Kenny needs to figure out how we can retain solidity in midfield but still stretch sides. Knight is probably integral to that.
Think you might be seeing what you want to see there. It was hardly Keane and McCarthy after the Dutch game in 2001. In fact I didn’t see anything off about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fixer82
On another day Portugal win 4-1 you mean? Missed penalty, missed open goal, post.Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD
What's the excuses for the other 15 games under Kenny. What happened v Luxembourg? Why can't this tactical genius have us scoring more than a few goals?
Maybe, yes. But I don't necessarily believe that inexcusable defeat means he should be sacked so you can't lead me to what you feel is the natural (though biased) conclusion here.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
Kenny has played more than one formation. 541 is a good formation to play agasides who will dominate possession - we played the same in Faro.Quote:
Originally Posted by liamoo11
I'd imagine we will revert to 4 3 3 against sides we will expect to have more possession against.
I just don't see any signs of improvement or progression at all under Kenny, that's the most damning indictment I can make of his tenure so far. What we saw tonight is no different to what we saw in the first couple of matches.
We're ponderous, predictable and so very easy to play against. Even with 20 minutes to go in a match we had to win to keep our slim, slim qualification hopes alive and we were tapping the ball around at the back. It's dire to watch.
What does Kenny send his team's out to do? Because I have no idea. The ball is slowly, and to no obvious purpose, knocked around amongst the back three, giving the oposition all the time in the world to organise themselves defensively and mark our midfielders and forwards, played into a midfielder who's inevitably under pressure, and then the ball is either lost, hurriedly knocked back to one of the centre-halfs, or hit into one of the channels in a ball always favouring the opposition defence. Just awful.
There's no urgency, no creativity, no moves that look like they've come off the training ground. And other than Duffy's height at corners, we carry absolutely no goal threat. Tonight's goal was simply a freak occurance. Just what does Kenny do with his players all week on the training pitch.
We go into matches, seemingly, without any definitive game plan, we look too stretched out from front to back, with Idah often completely isolated. We often have three defenders, as well as the goalkeeper in close proximity in the penalty area, attempting to tap the ball around in a triangle, while the rest of the team is strung out across the park, the ball then often gets played back to Bazunu, who under pressure, then has to punt it long onto the head of one of the giant Serbian defenders. Honestly, what's the point?
Is this the 'good' football we keep hearing so much about? Because from what I've seen of us we're one of the most boring teams to watch around.
To be honest, Kenny could lose every single game and there would be those who won't admit that he should be sacked.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
Even by my standards as a vocal critic of Kenny (and who wants him gone) you're coming across as very whiny.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
We put in a decent shift. Serbia were better for long periods but that's because they're a better team. When you get a result against a better team you're doing something right. Yes, they could have scored more, and yes, the goal was lucky, but so what, that's Serbia's problem. You take what you get from games.
Positive in terms of the result, some very good individual performances, and team performance and belief in the last 10-15 minutes or so. Just a pity this is the last of the 3 games, and there isn't another home game 3 days from now.
Matter what happens to kenny, and I've no confidence in him but we will be incredibly grateful for his introduction to Andrew Omobamidele. He is going to be a star. If I had a choice if being his agent or gavins or troys. I would puck him all day.long
No, my point is there’s no point talking about “on another day.” All of the games, including tonight, went the way they went. Players miss chances in games, it happens. As to the other 15 games, the “excuse” if you’re looking for one, is that we are a team in transition. Too many senior players not good enough, while the youngsters are only coming through and need time. We’re by no means there yet, but I still believe in a year or two we’ll have a competitive team. Wales, Scotland, and the North have all been through this, and are all improving, so will we.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
Oh, and I don’t think anyone ever claimed that SK is a “tactical genius”. I don’t think he’s an out of his depth clown either though.
There’s definitely a typo in there; I’m just not 100% sure how to correct it… :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
I desperately wanted Kenny to succeed for a number of reasons, the main one being his man management skills and ability to make players believe they were on a same level as better players. However in a short time he has made us approach matches as though we are Andora or Malta. We played Serbia today, a half decent international team who we traditionally would like to think we are slightly better than. Today we made then look like Brazil and approached the game like we were playing Brazil. Enough is enough
;);) Fnar fnarQuote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
Oh no, contrary to what the Kenny fans would have us believe, I think we've got some decent players and I think we should be doing far better than battling it out at the bottom of the table. The myth is that Kenny has taken over a bunch of no hopers and is doing a magnificent job with nothing to work with. The reality is that he's taken a team who were close to qualifying for a major tournament and turned them into no hopers who should be delighted to get a lucky draw at home to Serbia.Quote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
Like I said, those senior players were part of the team who battered the European championship semi finalists in the last game under McCarthy and some of the young players coming through are the most exciting we've had in a long time. This transition talk is nonsense.Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD
I'm trying to be balanced and just call balls and strikes, so i re-watched the second half before posting anything. This is what I took away from the game
- Serbia should have buried us with the chances they had.
- It is very encouraging that we aren't giving the ball away as easily as we used to.
- Bazunu had another good game, but there are question marks over his positioning and decision making. He charged out for a ball he was never getting to in the 76th minute, and the one that hit the bar was a heart in the mouth moment. He does make saves others might not, though and clearly has time on his side
- McClean had a better game. But he lacks pace. He has been covering for Stevens in this round of games, but with them both being the wrong side of 30 introducing new blood needs to be a priority.
- Omobamide. What else could anyone say. Brilliant.
- Duffy and Hendrick are back. Those 2, Coleman and Egan are the wise old heads in this squad now, and it's great to have them back looking themselves.
- McGrath looks like he might be a find. Can't put my finger on anything he did particularly well, but he looks the part. There's just something about him.
- Daryl Horgan's second touch is a tackle. If he was playing in Socceraid you would assume he was one of the celebrities.
- Molumby has real issues with his discipline. I admire the passion, but he's no good to us in the shower.
- Loads of out-swinging corners. Not sure why, but it does suggest someone was scouting the opposition and saw something. Encouraging that a bit of thought is being given to set pieces, even if it didn't get us anything.
- Idah was terribly isolated for large chunks of the game, but he works like a trojan for the team. Not sure if he has a
- Robinson has to play. He gives us something different, and we look completely toothless without him.
- Kenny needs to beat Azerbaijan.
I don't think I've seen a single post on foot.ie express that sentiment. I don't think i've seen a single post say he is doing a magnificent job. Maybe you could quote some of these posts, but I doubt you can actually.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
The discussion (on foot.ie at least) is quite a bit more nuanced and less binary than you are making out...and again, that's from somebody who has been far from nuanced in saying I think Kenny should already be gone.
Brilliant !Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
At the game on Saturday the general consensus was young lads in the team and they need the support behind them and given the confidence as things are so bad. Supporters did their bit tonight and Stephen Kelly and George Hamilton completely misread that.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
Who cares about foot.ie? The narrative is that Kenny is building us up from the depths of the international game. This myth needs to be quashed.Quote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
Perhaps your energy would best be expended in quashing that myth in wherever those places are that the myth is being propagated, rather than here, where it isn't.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
As i watched the second half again, I'm only getting to the Kenny interview now.
It's hilarious how bad he is at this. It doesn't really matter at the end of the day if he starts getting results, but he really is awful at the media bit.
Strange game. Encouraging result, for sure. Kenny probably a bit stronger in his position than before the match. Bazunu with his first performance to really justify his reviews (trying to think of when an Ireland keeper had so many saves to make; Ireland v England in Euro 88 comes to mind?) yet still with the absolute howler in his game, and if we're really honest Serbia's finishing was poor - none of the shots were bottom corner, or they had a bad first touch that brought them too close to the keeper. Missing that late 7-on-4 break was criminal. (The exception was their goal, which was a really excellent finish and probably their hardest chance of the night) Bit disappointed to see backstothewall didn't give Bazunu a rating in his post cos if Portugal was 9.5/10, then tonight was probably about 12. :p
Omo grew into the game (although I did hear Hamilton/Houghton gushing over him when he kicked the ball off a Serbian lad for a throw in the second half; I think there's an element that we're a bit too eager to build these guys up at times) and Hendrick was good too, putting the lie to those who reckon he has nothing to offer. Even McClean mayn't be finished yet. The subs seemed to work for once - we grew into the game as we adopted a more attacking formation (and after Serbia subbed off Dusic)
On the downside, we gave up a hell of a lot of chances for a team lining up 5-4-1. We didn't really have anything to offer going forward bar long balls into the box, and they had to score our goal for us which and really we hadn't looked like scoring until then. Idah seemed to be on the right win an awful lot of the time which gave us nothing in the box, and the one header he got was really poor; he holds the ball up well but his finishing needs a lot of work still. It all felt like classic Ireland - hearts on sleeve to cover the lack of skill - and it was good fun in the last 10 minutes and the crowd really got behind it, but it's not the way I thought Kenny was looking to take the team.
Azerbaijan away next. I wonder are we back where we were last Wednesday - a decent battling performance as underdogs against one of the top sides, but it'll mean nothing if we don't follow it up with a result against Azerbaijan. We failed at that on Saturday. Do we have it in us to do it next month? The jury's probably still out on that one, and if we keep failing to beat the bottom seeds, we can't really claim progress.
He said 3-4-3 on the interview before the game, but we clearly had idah all alone up front all the time, until Robinson came onQuote:
Originally Posted by centre mid
The performances are bafflingly inconsistent but also entertaining. Unrpedictably bad results, unexpectedly good performances. Don't know what to make of Kenny's tenure so far except that I find it a bit confusing and certainly different to what has gone before.
One thing that seems to have happened is that expectations have dropped to a really low level, so that a draw feels like a massive win. In fairness to Kenny, a draw with Serbia is a typical Irish result, no matter who the manager is.
The own goal kinda papers over the cracks til the next round of matches. Wasn't a great performance, but there was some exciting play and some great young players are being blooded. He also got unexpectedly strong performances out of Hendricks and McClean. Glad we got that bit of good fortune, with the OG, especially after the ref's antics in Portugal.
Still baffled though.
He has Incredible ability on the ball. Serbia had a fierce press but he manage it with relative ease and never panicked on the ball. There were stages when himself and Bazunu were knocking the ball back and forth and I just had take a second to realise their age.Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
Things are little more difficult for Idah in terms of how he can prosper in this team at present given how isolated he was today. But he played well.
On the other hand, in a backs to the wall game like that your keeper and defenders have plenty opportunity to impress or otherwise. Bazunu and Omobamidele took the opportunities with both hands.
I see also that Bazunu was successful with 10 long balls. There were some he played onto Doherty's foot or chest that were absolutely awesome. There are not many keepers who could execute those passes. Maybe it's the green tinted glasses of mine but if I were the Man City loan manager or goalkeeping coach I'd be very, very happy watching that game.
Given how much we have struggled in recent years with young Irish talent coming through (there have been some very sparse years since the Class of 92 born lads), it's amazing to see technically brilliant players like Bazunu, Omobamidele and even Parrott coming through. Collins and O'Shea are another pair of lovely ballers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
These two posts just demonstrate the lack of sincerity and decency from a lot of posters on here over the last couple of years.Quote:
Originally Posted by RiffRaff
Anyone with a bit of objectivity would realize that today’s result was a very positive result. The performance was also very, very good at times. The passing and composure in the second half was, at times, excellent. Of course there were some mistakes too but that 45 mins was a nett positive from all aspects.
Why was the result so positive? 5 of the Serbian team have won international tournaments at u19 and u20 level (Mitrovic just won the u19 euros), incl the u20 World Cup. Their team has a number of winners of Europa league etc in the team and players being selected on the team of the tournament. Their 2 most inexperienced players at club level (Pavlovic and Vlahovic) have more club appearances than Bazunu, Omobamidele, McGrath and Idah combined. Vlahovic is 21 with 28 goals for Fiorentina by the way.
We can’t hold anything in our squad up as a reasonable comparison.
To try and play down the quality and strength of Serbia and the achievement to get a draw is indicative of the unreasonableness of many on here. All of which ultimately makes the atmosphere here way more polarized than it has to be.
Yeah, Serbia have underachieved in recent years but this looks like their golden generation alright. They brought on Jovic of Real Madrid. We brought on Horgan of Wycombe. There's points to be made about their poor finishing or the number of chances we coughed up or how really it was inevitable they'd have to score for us, but it's a decent result and it's daft trying to undermine that by downplaying what is a decent side
Well said.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu