You are right about that, but really we were better than them then, even with Stan in charge, so it doesn't count as beating a team with a higher rank.Quote:
Originally Posted by French Toasht
I hope the others answers I gave were satisfying :)
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You are right about that, but really we were better than them then, even with Stan in charge, so it doesn't count as beating a team with a higher rank.Quote:
Originally Posted by French Toasht
I hope the others answers I gave were satisfying :)
They were indeed geysir, thanks.
The yellow cards lasting the duration of the campaign seems very punitive to me. Whilst it is the same for every team, it seems to me come September, October time time next year, squads will be depleted due to suspensions and particularly with our 2nd "week of death" in September 2011, that could be disastrous. For example its very hard to see Richard Dunne going a whole 8 games without picking up a yellow card.
I seem to remember in the 2002 campaign Roy Keane deliberately getting a yellow card in the game before Andorra so as to start again on a clean slate for the games against Holland and Portugal. Unfortunately as the only banker left for us in this group is in the final week, tactical suspensions would not be of that much benefit to us in that scenario. The only possible option to be tactical in that area would be for Dunne to pick up a yellow in the game against Slovakia next month, as his loss in a home game against Macedonia (which really we should be winning whether he is there or not) would not be as keenly felt as the in the week that will ultimately decide our fate next September.
Anyone else think it was very unusual that Pavlyuchenko was on the bench for 70 minutes and Bilyaletdinov for 80 minutes. I know a lot of Everton fans say Bilyaletdinov is hit and miss at times, but has great pace and a serious left foot which you could see causing mayhem for Ireland.
Generally under Trap, our discipline (card wise) in the last campaign was very good.
And generally we have enough problems with one or two players usually pulling out of a game with injury, without also having suspensions on top of that.
Fixtures for Friday 8th and Tuesday 12th Oct:
08/10/2010 Armenia - Slovakia
08/10/2010 Andorra - FYR Macedonia
08/10/2010 Republic of Ireland - Russia
12/10/2010 Armenia - Andorra
12/10/2010 Slovakia - Republic of Ireland
12/10/2010 FYR Macedonia - Russia
Squads:
Russia:
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (PFC CSKA Moskva), Vladimir Gabulov (FC Dinamo Moskva), Vyacheslav Malafeev (FC Zenit St. Petersburg).
Defenders: Aleksandr Anyukov (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Vasili Berezutski (PFC CSKA Moskva), Aleksei Berezutski (PFC CSKA Moskva), Sergei Ignashevich (PFC CSKA Moskva), Yuri Zhirkov (Chelsea FC), Sergei Parshivlyuk (FC Spartak Moskva).
Midfielders: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Everton FC), Igor Denisov (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Konstantin Zyryanov (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Roman Shirokov (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Vladimir Bystrov (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Alan Dzagoev (PFC CSKA Moskva), Pavel Mamaev (PFC CSKA Moskva), Igor Semshov (FC Dinamo Moskva).
Forwards: Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal FC), Aleksandr Kerzhakov (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Pavel Pogrebnyak (VfB Stuttgart)
Slovakia:
Goalkeepers: Ján Mucha (Everton), Dušan Perniš (Dundee United FC), Martin Dúbravka (MŠK Žilina).
Defenders: Peter Pekarík (VfL Wolfsburg), Martin Škrtel (Liverpool FC), Tomáš Hubočan (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Kornel Saláta (ŠK Slovan Bratislava), Radoslav Zabavník (1. FSV Mainz 05), Mário Pečalka (MŠK Žilina).
Midfielders: Miroslav Karhan (1. FSV Mainz 05), Juraj Kucka (AC Sparta Praha), Zdeno Štrba (Skoda Xanthi FC), Kamil Kopúnek (FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast), Marek Hamšík (SSC Napoli), Marek Sapara (MKE Ankaragücü), Vladimír Weiss (Rangers FC), Miroslav Stoch (Fenerbahce SK).
Forwards: Stanislav Šesták (MKE Ankaragücü), Erik Jendrišek (FC Schalke 04), Filip Hološko (Beşiktaş JK), Tomáš Oravec (MŠK Žilina), Jakub Sylvestr (NK Dinamo Zagreb), Filip Šebo (ŠK Slovan Bratislava).
In case anyone is interested.....our esteemed manager, 'Il Trapattoni', will be appearing on "The Late Late Show" tonight.
Russia looks scary when it is laid out like that.
I think we are better than the Slovies on paper.
I could see us getting 1 from Russia and 3 from the Slovies on a last minute goal again. I could also see Arshavin shredding us if he is in the mood and Shay is rusty.
Who will get hurt before the games? That is the question. Someone always does.
Seamus Coleman called up - replacement for Kelly?
edit: confirmed Kelly and O'Dea ruled out
http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=c...r-men&Itemid=8
Its only right and proper we do enough to qualify ourselves - that said, Armenia on Friday and Macedonia on Tuesday could do us a huge favour on each night!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
How many points do you think we'll get over the two games?
Optmistic hat on = 4
Realist = 2.
If I was smoking crack = 6.
I'll get back to you on that one, I may have resorted to smoking crack by Saturday to block out the horror of McShane getting repeatedly skinned by Russian wingers.Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
I think 1 or 3 is more realistic than 2, to be honest. Going unbeaten would be an excellent feat.
you will definitely be on crack if you think that mcshane has any chance of playing against Russia on Saturday.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
I hope you're right, Paul. I don't think he's as far away from starting as some might think!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
Woflie think again about what you said and what i said.....
Now I get ye - while nobody will believe me, I genuinely know the match is on Friday.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
I meant I'd hit the crack on Saturday having viewed the match the previous night.
You'll just have to trust me on this one.
well technically you could be right as you did write it in a way that is open to interpretation wolfie!!!
In case you needed some objective input - I understood Wolfie's reply for what it was, just as he intended - although I don't share the sentiment :)
A girl has got hold of Paul's login detailsQuote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
Pavlychenko apparently out for Russia.
Even so, their attacking options seem frightening. I am very worried about this game. Duff's injury has been a major blow. I'm still holding out a shred of hope for Trap's 10% estimation of probability that he would be fit and that he might make a 'miraculous' recovery on Thursday or over the weekend. Clutching at straws though, I know.
I'm having sleepless nights thinking about the midfield and fullback situation. This really is gonna be a seriously tough game on Friday. A win would be undoubtedly Trap's greatest result with us and would have to rank alongside some of the greatest Irish wins. Supporting the Irish team is a scary business these days!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...ttenham-injury
Considering Slovakia beat Russia away, I think we will have to break the mould of stalemates (chronic draw syndrome) and get 4 points from the next 2 games. A draw against Russia and beat Slovakia, would do grand. Then Russia would have a bit of hope to cling to and Slovakia won't miss the 3 points so much after their bonus in Moscow.
I think the Armenia V Slovakia is the most interesting one. As in, we have played there and won. So any slip up by Slovakia would be advantage us on a head to head. Particularly as Slovakia are likely to have the advantage over us in relation to the Russia away fixture.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
Agreed, I think we need to be aiming to win this one on Friday night.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
How can you say agreed, and then contradict what geysir says, by saying we need to win on friday night? he clearly said a draw against russia is what he is hoping for.
I did not say that you Ros piece of ****** :)
I said one draw and one win would do fine - but we need a win - 2 draws are not good enough to top the group.
If 4 points is destined then I have a preference as to who to take the 3 points off.
My (unexpressed) hope is for 2 wins.
Also people can disagree with me and yet at the same time think they agree with me - I´m okay with that.
What swear word is 6 characters long and completes the expression "piece of..." ?Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
In your post i see no mention of a win against russia, this is all I see: "draw against Russia and beat Slovakia, would do grand. "
tets i was wondering the same. I dont think there was an actual one, just an inference in a bantery/slagging kind of way.
I think a win against Russia and a draw away to Slovakia would be a better way for to get four points. The win against Russia would really set them back and hopefully send them into enough turmoil so that they end up dropping further points in the group. In that case they would effectively be gone and we could battle it out with Slovakia for the first spot. A draw away to them in that case would be a good result (especially if Armenia can do us a favor)
It may well be the unanswerable question.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
I did not type out a swear word and my knowledge is very limited in these matters.
So enlighten me .............. in your mind - what is the difference between 'a win against slovakia' and 'beat slovakia'?Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
Sorry I meant to say a win against russia...;)Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Isn't it implicit that if Geysir would take a draw with Russia, he'd also be happy if we won? Or is it a draw or nothing?
Regardless of who the win is against I'd prefer we won on Friday than on Tuesday, just for my state of mind. It'd make the next few days more relaxing.
If we were to get 4 points (good outcome either way) it's "tactically" better to beat Slovakia. They're the ones who need pegging back at this early stage. And a credible away win, like Northern Ireland's in Slovenia, would be a delight.
On a side-note - 40-1 for Dunney to get the first goal. Worth a couple of quid i'd say, he's due one
I got stung with that last time against Armenia and he never even left the Irish half. Didn't go up for corners or free kicks because of the injury he's carrying. Sledge is a better bet.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelmusic
I thought Sledge was great bet scoring anytime against Andorra but he hardly went forward for the set pieces.
Fortunatly I don't gamble, I'd be well ruined by now.
If the Russians take a point tomorrow night, they'll be in a great position in the group, with 4 of their last 6 games at home next year, including the last one against Andorra.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
We have to hope Slovakia drop something in these two games, as their next two are against Andorra, so it'll be September next year before they're tested again when they come here. Don't want them out of sight or anything.
Pat Fenlon puts it remarkably succinctly:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...280633172.htmlQuote:
The challenge is to finally overcome teams that are perceived to be better than us. Russia in Dublin provides that opportunity. If we don’t beat them and Slovakia at home we cannot realistically expect to beat either side on the road. Therefore, we cannot expect to qualify.
The other match in Armenia will also be very interesting. Lets hope as we beat Russia, Armenia get something off of Slovakia. That match kicks off at 3pm GMT.
KO is at 15:00 GMT, or 4pm Irish time.
Think Slovakia will win, but maybe the home side can nick a point from it.
Hoping for a 2-2 draw in the other one. If it's 1-1, I can see Slovakia getting a winner, so hopefully Armenia can score twice.
Armenia 1 nil up! Lovely breakaway goal. Nice finish (through keepers legs)