Aiden McGeady

Great post Stuttgart. With No Carsley and no Stephen Reid who would you start in the centrail midfield.

Not sure. Two of Kavanagh, Miller & Douglas?

Probably Kav & Douglas.

I just like the way that Douglas gets about & gets stuck in, and likes getting forward too.

As Donal and others have said before, a wildcard midfield option may well be what's best.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Not sure. Two of Kavanagh, Miller & Douglas?

Probably Kav & Douglas.

I just like the way that Douglas gets about & gets stuck in, and likes getting forward too.

As Donal and others have said before, a wildcard midfield option may well be what's best.

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I'd go along with that although I am a bit suspect of Kavanagh's ability at this level. I think he could be torn apart by the Czechs. But he's one of the best we have at the moment.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

We have a sound & experienced defence, including a CL winner.

In Duff, Robbie, Doyle & McGeady we have four athletic and talented attacking players who on any given day can cause any team trouble. But they need service. The wide also players need to have someone capable of a threat in the middle just to avoid being double & triple marked.

If we can solve the central midfield conundrum we just may be able to unlock the attacking potential of the team & maybe all the recent doom & gloom just isn't warranted. But then again, the doom & gloom is all down to central midfield in my opinion.

I'm tired of the Charlton/ Mick /Kerr ethos of grinding out an away point. That's long outdated. Fortress Lansdowne is a distant memory. 3 points is 3 points no matter where it's earned. I say we should go out and engage teams in a game and see how we fare. If we're good enough we'll win those games.

I'd be satisfied enough if we fail to qualify having given it a really good shot. If we're not good enough so be it. Who can complain? Giving it our best shot & looking to the next campaign are not mutually exclusive in my opinion. I can fully support the decision to omit McGeady in Germany, but Cyprus away & Czechs at home is different.

6 points later we could be in a totally different mindset & Staunton's stock will be a lot higher. The key is to trust the players he has in the positions they usually play.

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Could not agree more. I think we have some very talented attacking players. I think a good start would be to play the Central Midfielders who are playing regularly in the Premiership i.e. Carsley and S.Reid.
The only problem with that combination is that they are not particularly good passers of the ball. Carsley has done well for Everton in the holding role with the bulk of the creativity being taken up by Graveson and now by Arteta.
I don't think S.Reid is as good as either of those 2.
I think we should consider playing a 5 man midfield with Doyle up front on his own and a midfield of

Keane S.Reid Carlsey A.Reid/Ireland Duff

I know playing robbie on the right may be strange but I think it could work.

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Originally Posted by colster

I'd go along with that although I am a bit suspect of Kavanagh's ability at this level. I think he could be torn apart by the Czechs. But he's one of the best we have at the moment.

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Exactly how I feel. Same about Miller. Talented but tough games just pass him by sometimes.

Miller & Douglas looked OK in 2nd half of Holland game.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Exactly how I feel. Same about Miller. Talented but tough games just pass him by sometimes.

Miller & Douglas looked OK in 2nd half of Holland game.

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I think Kav's problem is that he just doesn't have the legs or postional sense to play the holding role. I think it was the Swiss game at home but the game seemed to pas him by. Holland was brought on and immediately got stuck in. Kav doesn't seem to do that.
Did you read what Staunton said about Carlsey and Holland? http://www.eleven-a-side.com/euro200...p?newsid=24614
Basically he says that Kavanagh is in the squad for his experience. How can he say that? He's hardly started a competitive game for Ireland.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Not sure. Two of Kavanagh, Miller & Douglas?

Probably Kav & Douglas.

I just like the way that Douglas gets about & gets stuck in, and likes getting forward too.

As Donal and others have said before, a wildcard midfield option may well be what's best.

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Agreed except I'd have O'Shea and Douglas - I hate to say it but Kav was muck against the Dutch and just wasn't looking for enough ball

So who would be your wildcard option? At the moment the only one I could think of is McPhail (he could be the one to spread the play and involve the wingers more) but it seems he's nowhere near Stans thoughts...:(

Kav didn't play Swiss at home. He was dropped after a poor showing in Cyprus. Holland & O'Shea started.

Kav, like Gravesen, is often confused as a holder, but most definitely isn't one. I don't think we have a natural holder available to us, except Carsley. O'Shea isn't up to it against good opposition.

If we don't have one, we can't play one!

I was studying (or trying to) O'Shea last night for Man Utd. He doesn't really get stuck in, just runs around and makes himself available when Scholes/Carrick/Rooney go up a blind alley. Carrick was useless last night and gave the ball away numerous times. O'Shea always made his 8 yard passes no bother!!!

Some of his passing and his decision making(the one were he hoofed it out of play from well insdie his own half under very little pressure.) would make you wonder how he made it as a proffesional footballer. or at least what the hell happened such a once talented player.

sort've back on topic here, how was mcgeady last night for celtic, anyone care to share their thoughts??

I posted earlier in the thread ken that I thought he was top class for 60 mins and then tired but this was down to the amount of defensive effort he put in too. I would have no qualms about playing him against Cyprus and Czechs.

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

I posted earlier in the thread ken that I thought he was top class for 60 mins and then tired but this was down to the amount of defensive effort he put in too. I would have no qualms about playing him against Cyprus and Czechs.

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thanks neilmcd, i thought i'd read back far enough into the thread to get meself caught up. i'll go and have a read of your comments but thanks for summarizing. great news, hope he can perform against increasingly strong opposition and am hoping celtic can get out of this group.

Here's his clips from the Copenhagen match. It shows how different he is to 12 months ago when he'd just try to beat his man at every opportunity. It shows him crossing, tracking back, taking on players and pulling off 1 or 2 tricks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA_c9O3YVzM

Quality. Well done that man.

thanks for the clips again ebhoy, good stuff from mcgeady. perhaps a better striker would've finished off that lovely chance he created for miller at the end of the video. i think we can safely call his modified cruyff-turn a 'mcgeady' now?? :D MUST play in the next qualifiers

So proud of the wee man the way he's managed to put on so much muscle mass in the last couple of years and delighted to see him getting the benifits.

For about 6 months there he was slow as a week in the jail but stuck to his plan and now the extra power is coming in handy and also given him an extra burst of pace.

For 6 months he reckons it was like trying to play with a rucksack of bricks on his back... Now he's back to himself and looking good :)

Cracking stuff eirebhoy. Well done. I reckon if wee Aiden keeps it up he could become at least a regular fixture for us. If we got Stephen Ireland going in that direction as well he might solve our creativity in the middle of the park.

McGeady, Reid. S, Ireland, Duff doesn't sound too bad if all were playing regularly and firing on all cylinders.

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Originally Posted by DeNiro

Cracking stuff eirebhoy. Well done. I reckon if wee Aiden keeps it up he could become at least a regular fixture for us. If we got Stephen Ireland going in that direction as well he might solve our creativity in the middle of the park.

McGeady, Reid. S, Ireland, Duff doesn't sound too bad if all were playing regularly and firing on all cylinders.

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I agree. I don't think things are as bad as people make out in our midfield but the problem is amplified by Staunton who persists with those two donkeys O'Shea and Kilbane without experimenting with any alternatives.

Surely it's not too hopeful to suggest that at least one of J O'Brien, Ireland or Garvan (if he recovers from his virus) will be viable alternatives in central midfield by the next set of important matches after we get through Cyprus, the Czechs and San Marino (twice). To be honest I think Stevie Ireland should at least get half an hour or so against the Cypriots if we are struggling in midfield (preferrably with Reid) as he'll provide a creative outlet against a team we should be aiming to beat comfortably. Kilbane and O'Shea don't provide any creativity which is why I believe Robbie (and whoever partners him) has struggled for form and goals lately. If Ireland performs well start him against San Marino (I'm not sure if he's ready to play against the Czech midfield yet).

The area that I worry about the most for these qualifiers is the defence to be honest. It doesn't look like we're going to have any decent up and coming defenders that are going to be much use to us for this campaign. The midfield should be ok though.

The midfield is the biggest issue as the manager seems to want to play Kilbane and O Shea. I think most people who have any clue of the game recognise that they should nto be playing central midfield. If Staunton picks them, it is proof that he has no clue of the game. Simple as that.