It may have sat up nicely for you but it was well dispatched. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by OneRedArmy
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It may have sat up nicely for you but it was well dispatched. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by OneRedArmy
Well he must be doing on awful lot of shifting around in that grave with the carry on of the unions and all, never mind the football:pQuote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee
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Originally Posted by dan o d
Had 4 friends over last night to watch a tape of the game. We had been in Paris so this was our first chance to review the whole thing.
Your hero, Laughing Bill,
(a) at the end of the game started a discussion on Trapp's tactics and said "we'll come back to the handball later" and the first segment of the discussion was about how the players (not Trapp) had devised the tactics for Paris.
(b) He then described the evening a "night of celebration" for Ireland :eek:because of the excellent Irish display.
(c) Later on, after the ads etc when they EVENTUALLY got to the handball, he laughingly says "he handled it not once but twice" as if it was some kind of joke.
(d) Later he went on to Stephen England and said "should we not go down on one knee to get him back" and "that he was misunderstood" but he backtracked on that when the panel had a go at him.
(e) Then he ended with something like "we played like the panel have been saying we should have played all the time" and with his usual smug smile signed off.
Anyone tuning in would have been hard pressed to realise that Ireland had just been knocked out of the World Cup due to the most obvious handball since Maradona. Instead, as it has been for the past 20+ years, the panel, aided and egged on by the laughing buffoon, lead an attack on the incumbent Irish manager.
Thank God I was in Paris and didn't have to watch it. Grotesque, unbelievable, bizzare.
p.s. George Hamilton: "When Robbie Keane scores, we never lose except in Korea on penalties". Does he love tempting the fates?
pps. Doyle in the after match interview could barely hold back the tears despite Tony O'Donogue taking the lead from the panel and asking about "was it the players who decided to play the way we did"?:rolleyes:
ppps. Looks like the defender got the slightest of knicks on the ball when Duff got through on goal.
Martin Hansson was interviewed on Swedish TV last night.
Wasn't much of an interview tbh but the main points were;
He said his name will always be linked to the game and it will be talked about for years.
He still has a chance to be a ref at the World Cup but does not want to speculate if he will be there. (The Swedish interviewer said it was his dream to ref at the WC but he didn't said that when he talked).
He is disappointed about what happened in the aftermath of the match - neighbours and family were contacted by British journalists. Apparently journalists were knocking on neighbours' doors late at night looking for Hansson.
He's not going to quit being a referee - his love for the game is too strong.
No sign of humility, regret or any recognition that he made a mistake? I didn't pick this up in his comments in November and I didn't pick them up from the post above.
Or the lino either.
Still they wouldn't want to return the :rolleyes: 'fruits of their labour', or even book that appointment with the optician.
The referee, linesamn and Thierry will go to hell. They are criminals, criminals...but seriously...the linesman is the only one I would fault and of course, we should have won it in normal time except we were not confident enought to take our chances as we were not given enough freedon previously to create such chances.
keanes chance was very difficult given the tight angles involved. he has never been good at one on ones. the defender did very well to get back at duff to deflect his chance and doyles header chance was nothing more than a half chance at best.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scram
we created lots of chances over the campaign and scored 4 goals against the two finalists in the last wc final
Are you sure about Doyle's header chance being (downgraded to) a half chance?
I hadn't the heart to watch the game again.
It was a lot more than a half chance. It was 3 times that. A chance and a half.
Yep, clearest cut chance of the lot, should have buried it.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
Keith Andrews added his tuppence worth in a newspaper interview on Sat. Interesting to finally hear a player's perspective on the fall-out.
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Among those Andrews now questions is the FAI, for its belated attempt to secure a replay and become the 33rd team at South Africa this summer.
"I don't even think there should have been us as a country asking for replays and for us to be added as an extra team. I think we should have just left it and let everybody resent the French, the referee and the whole of FIFA. We don't want anybody's sympathy. I certainly don't."
well said Keith Andrews.
Yep. Well done Andrews.
Well said Keith Andrews.
Ireland had numerous chances to kill the game and didn't take them and after Keanes appalling miss the game was up for Ireland and we never looked like scoring after that in fact the French were getting closer and closer to scoring in the end. If it went to peno's I honestly couldn't see Ireland winning it. FACT is we didn't take our chances to win the game. The 'handball' was heartbreaking but in all honesty if it were the other way around would we be as sel-rightous and outraged at cheating in the game?
he has a good point Andrews. He was probably the player who came out the Paris game with the most credit and my heart broke to see him crying at the end. But there is no point in sugar coating it, we lost a lot of credit worldwide for that silly 33rd team request. From having the support of the world, we quickly became a laughing stock with many. The only saving grace was the manner inwhich Blatter said it to the world. The worlds attention was completly against the French and we ****ed it up
But the "request" was only one of a number of topics discussed in a private behind closed doors meeting, it should never have been in the public domain.Quote:
Originally Posted by carloz
The mistake was to trust Blatter who used it to make the FAI look like they were idiots and the subsequent appology from Blatter and the FAI's comments have been on deaf ears, Blatter got the reaction he wanted by making Ireland look pathetic to divert the attention from the real serious issues raised by the FAI with regard to refereeing appointments and the use of technology.
Yapster, bringing your anti-Keane bias over from footymad I see.Quote:
Originally Posted by yapster
Doesn't matter that the "request" was made privately in a closed doors meeting. It shouldn't ever have been made at all when the FAI knew full well it was a ridiculous proposal which would never be accepted. Yes Blatter was a knob for ridiculing Ireland with it, but the FAI are bigger fools for giving him the chance to do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by endabob1
It's time we simply faced up to the fact that Ireland are out of the World Cup due to our failure to get a second goal in Paris. Even with that Henry handball goal, we would still have won the tie on away goals had Keane or Duff put away those chances.
How do you know the context in which it was raised or discussed? Blatter made a sly off the cuff remark knowing full well the press would lap it up.Quote:
Originally Posted by newrynyuk
But think of UEFA allowing England 5 teams in the CL when Liverpool won it and finished 5th in the EPL, they had to change their rules to allow them to defend their trophy and made changes to the rules for future instances.
It may well have been that it was part of an opening gambit which would clearly fail but by raising the bar the FAI might have felt they would get something more substanbtial from the meeting.
I don't blame them for the behind door discussions, I do blame them for being trusting of Blatter and not having the discussions iron clad in secrecy.
And I agree if Duff or Doyle or Keane had taken their chances we wouldn't have had to worry.
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Originally Posted by OwlsFan
No son, just stating a fact. Doyle and Duff are guilty as well. O'Shea had a chance as well but O'shea being O'Shea you wouldn't really expect him to score anyway.Keane hesitated and fluffed the easiest chance of all at the most crucial stage of the game and as being the captain and the most experienced striker and player in the side he should have scored .
Before the Gallas goal France had started to get some territory for the first time in the match and had a good shout for a penalty denied (correctly I'm told), but I don't think "closer and closer to scoring" is correct at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by yapster
There's no correlation whatsoever between the outcome of a shoot-out and performance in ET.
I don't think anyone denies the fact that we missed too many chances. With regard to Keane's "appalling" miss, I haven't seen a replay yet but my instinct was that Lloris had been so good in the previous 1-on-1s he had faced (Keane & Whelan in Dublin, Duff in Paris) that Keane felt he had to take it around him. Credit to the keeper - he was the most influential player over the 2 games in my opinion.
I think it has to be pointed out that the world media picked up on the "cheating" aspect before the FAI started making its complaints. It was front & back page news globally. The FAI don't have that sort of clout.
endabob1 is spot on in his assessment of the "33rd team" request in my opinion.
To the detriment of my health I have watched the game back a few times now and imo:Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
The challenge on Anelka by Given was def a peno in my book, in the reverse angle you can see clear genuine contact, as opposed to say Anelka leaning into Shay.
Agree with you re Lloris, in particular he made excellent saves from Whelan (in first leg), Duff and Keane. In contrast Shay had relatively little to deal with. In relation to Keanes miss, he had time to take it first time and shoot to the keepers left, it wouldve been a tight angle and who knows. Im not sure if a greater case can be put forward for one option over the other.
I felt that night in Paris and still now having watched it back that our chance was gone after normal time, well at least our chance to win it other than pens. The French were on top in the last few mins of normal time and this continued in the second half. They had vastly more possession and territory. Perhaps the Irish lads were simply wrecked after the performance they had put in, but imo pens was our only hope at that stage.
good article.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/8418549.stm
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Originally Posted by jbyrne
It all means nothing if you get nothing son.... It all came down to one game at the end and Ireland had probably the most clearcut chances in most of all the games they had but failed to take them and that is why Ireland are not going to SA. Keane & Duff are the so called experienced and technically gifted players in the team but when Ireland needed their guile & experience the most they hesitated & fluffed their chances.They both lack the mental toughness & disicline needed in top footballers and thats why Liverpool got shut of Keane and Duff is playing for Fulham.
Duff's finishing has always been a weakness. Go to the Robbie Keane thread - you'll see a frequent ctiticism over the years is his execution rate in 1-on-1 situations. I wouldn't say that's mental toughness, I'd say it's lack of clinical ability in front of goal. Their all round play was superb in that game and you've got to give credit to the French keeper who played out of his skin.Quote:
Originally Posted by yapster
i think many pool fans would've loved to have Keane around this season! Keane was shafted there, look at the number of chances Ngog has been given compared to how long Keane was given. Keane a far superior player. Given time Keane wouldve been a very useful player for the pool, particularly with Torres injury record.Quote:
Originally Posted by yapster
N'gog is only 20, iirc. He's still learning and he does chip in with a few goals. There's plenty of reason for him to be used.Quote:
Originally Posted by elroy
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Originally Posted by elroy
Keane isn't exactly doing it for Spurs this year is he? Keane never devoloped as a player sadly. He failed at Inter,Leeds & Liverpool and now it seems he will be sold by Spurs before the season is out. The man had so much potential at 17 but sadly he never improved on his game cos if he had we would be in SA. Duff had a clearcut chance as did Keane and as I said they should have put those easy chances away but sadly as that clown Roy Keane said they failed to take the next step mentally!!
Wolves - 29 goals in 87 appearances
Coventry - 12 goals in 34 appearances
Inter Milan - 3 goals in 14 appearances
Leeds - 19 goals in 56 appearances
Spurs (I) - 107 goals in 254 appearances
Liverpool - 7 goals in 28 appearances
Spurs - 14 goals in 33 appearances
Ireland - 41 goals in 96 appearances
a goal every 3 games and all time 10th top goalscorer in the premiership. yeah its a crying shame that Robbie never fulfilled his potential. :rolleyes:
what more do people want from an Irish player?! :o
Is a Christmas card every once in a while too much to ask for?Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
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Originally Posted by Bluebeard
Or put away a sitter that would send his country to the World Cup....
didnt he do that already against Iran in 2001? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by yapster
I think that's a very unfair summary of his time at Inter.Quote:
Originally Posted by yapster
He was bought by Marcello Lippi, but Lippi was sacked a few games into the season. The new manager, Marco Tardelli, didn't think he was that good and he was frozen out of the side. That's why he left. He could've just sat on the bench and picked up his wages every week but instead he left cos he wanted to play football, same as what happened at Liverpool.
I think at Leeds it could be argued that he failed but then again he didn't get to stay around for too long as the club imploded and had to off-load a lot of players quickly.
The whole Liverpool mess is bizarre. AFAIK, there's been claims that Benitez didn't want him, etc. The whole squad rotation thing up there didn't help him but he did score a few goals. I remember he scored a good goal against Arsenal which got them a point but then Benitez dropped him for the next game. It's hardly his fault Benitez is so intent on rotation. Again, like at Inter, he has more ambition then to sit on the bench and get paid.
This time around at Spurs, Defoe is banging them in. While Darren Bent is gone and Pavlyuchenko is off-form, Crouch has been doing well when he gets in the side and he offers a lot more than Keane as a target man. AFAIK, he's scored more goals than Crouch in fewer games this season, as well.
Pavlyuchenko will be the first to be sold by Spurs. I don't see him leaving them this year, tbh. He'll get his chance.
It was hardly a sitter. He had a lot to do and the ball was moving quickly. He tried to be smart, maybe it was the wrong option but I'd trust the judgement of someone with his goalscoring record.Quote:
Originally Posted by yapster
Besides that, he did very well with his finish earlier in the game and he has a great record for Ireland with 41 goals in 96 caps. He's got crucial goals against big sides like Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Netherlands as well as numerous other important goals against lesser sides. He does the job for Ireland and that's what most people on here would be worried about.
Also, anyone who scores 100 goals in what is considered to be the best league in the world must be doing something right.
Cheers SkStu,Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
thats a very good article and has a put a smile on my face
Roll on the Euro's lads...bring em on
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Originally Posted by SkStu
yes against ****e opposition, that was 8 years ago anyway,
Franks point about Keane making the wrong decision with his chance sums it up really.Keane had time to lift it over the keeper but hesitated and lost his head.For a player of his so called guile & experience in International football to lose his head is criminal to say the least. Keane has scored goals yeah but it's his giddiness and missing howlers that puts managers off. Alex Ferguson was asked about Keane in 1998,he said he would put him in the reserves for at least 2 years so he could learn how to play.
i think Robbie Keane went on to emphatically prove Ferguson wrong (after the move to Coventry) by scoring 12 league goals that season and going on to become the 10th highest goalscorer in PL history.
My point on Iran is that Keane has already scored the goals that got us to the WC and the goals that got us to the second round in the WC. Why does it not count now?
Any other country of our population would kill to have Robbie Keane and i guarantee that we'll all will miss his goals when he is gone. Enjoy him while you can lad, he's not the first great striker to miss a sitter and he wont be the last.
Im so proud hes an Irishman and that we produced such a talented player who is so dedicated to his country.
[QUOTE=SkStu;1299502]i think Robbie Keane went on to emphatically prove Ferguson wrong (after the move to Coventry) by scoring 12 league goals that season and going on to become the 10th highest goalscorer in PL history.
My point on Iran is that Keane has already scored the goals that got us to the WC and the goals that got us to the second round in the WC. Why does it not count now?
Any other country of our population would kill to have Robbie Keane and i guarantee that we'll all will miss his goals when he is gone. Enjoy him while you can lad, he's not the first great striker to miss a sitter and he wont be the last.
Im so proud hes an Irishman and that we produced such a talented player who is so dedicated to his country.[/QUOT
The 10th highest scorer in the EPL :D
Ferguson was right about him as Keane has failed at the top clubs, O'Leary even dropped him ffs.
He wasted his talent son by being thick-headed and not improving on his game and as I said he wasted a glorious chance to put his country into the World Cup when he was needed most.
He wasted a chance, wow string him up and kill hilm, but he also scored against Italy away, France away, Cyprus away, all vital goals too and he scored against Cyprus at home and Georgia at home both winners. So without his goals we would have been in serious ****.
Keane is a huge player for us and along with Dunne and Given our most important players, we just lack a player of equal talent and experience in midfield to compete a pretty impressive spine Any player can be knocked, there is no player out there who is perfect and knocking a player is not analysis if you do not take into account all the positives and say that they outweight any little negatives that may exist.
When someone proves that you are talkilng rubbish you will just change the goalposts of your argument until your the definition of doing it for ireland is so narrow that it only means that a player scores against france in the stade de france in november to send his team to the world fup finals in south africa in 2010Quote:
Originally Posted by yapster