alll everrrrr 1-1 France and Bosnia
alll everrrrr 1-1 France and Bosnia
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sullivinho
Czechs jump ahead of Bosnia.
So we can't get Czech but can get Bosnia.
Job done. Wasn't pretty, wasn't fun, but job done. That must do our qualifying group seedings a dose of good too?
I will say that the first 15 minutes of the second half gave a glimpse of what Ireland could do given a bit of confidence. Cox, Hunt (how was that not a penalty!?!) and Walters did well- is it because they have no fear? Andrews at fault for the goal, I thought Doyle's sending off was harsh but those sorts of yellow cards happen.
Oddly enough I think we'll go through in the play-offs now that we're seeded. Trap's team is just so "efficient" that we'll win by a single away goal that bounces in off the ref's arse or something.
Edit- just seen the above post, I would've liked to draw the Czechs but I definitely want to avoid Bosnia.
Agree. Turkey are no great shakes but you just know the away match will be played in the middle of nowhere and only accessible by hot air ballon.
Draw is on Thursday at 12.00 Irish time.
Bosnia ranked 16th, Czechs 18th, Turkey 19th
Quote:
Originally Posted by culloty82
Yes but tonight Bosnia drew. Czechs won. That changes the standings.
lads quick question. could politics play into this and croatia, bosnia and montenegro be put into the same pot to avoid each other
pots decided by politics? f** no... if something like that happens, i give up.
No Bosnia had Croatia in a group not too long ago.
And sure things have calmed down there now. UEFA tolerated a group that we were in that had Croatia, Yugoslavia and Macedonia at the time of Milosovics ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and that group was allowed go ahead, so theres no way they could tamper with these standings.
what a jammy jammy match.
coxy was great , walters even better whe he came on. there was a ten minute spell before their goal in the 2nd half where we resembled a quality football team. own goal was comical, sending off harsh, winner scored by dicky dunnes belly. we were blessed. and now we are seeded. we are gonna do it this time
got a tweet from Frank & Irene
Seeds: Portugal, Croatia, Ireland, Czech
Unseeded: Bosnia, Estonia, montenegro, Turkey
apart from estonia I would worry about the others
i'd be confident of getting the better of any of those teams over 2 legsQuote:
Originally Posted by jinxy lilywhite
Walters really impressed. He'd probably be my MOM!
Given what we are and they way we play I thought the performance was an improvement on Slovakia and Russia games. Conceding the sloppy goal was a painful reminder of bad old habits that I'd thought were gone. I hope Trap has the balls to replace Doyle with Walters, who does a much better impersonation of the old Doyle than Long and, well, Doyle.
he was great but was only on for 15 minsQuote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
Won every ball launched in his direction and used it well. Very impressive cameo.Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
Which says a lot about the rest of em!
Cox played well, as did Duff. McGeady was McGeady. Defence did ok but Kelly needs to work on stopping crosses.
Worst performance I've ever seen from McGeady and I usually stick up for him. The assist let him off.
Like Sylvester, he has a big chest.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sullivinho
kelly shouldn't be playingQuote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
What do you base that on? Over the last six years, we have won one game against opposition of that quality. One.Quote:
Originally Posted by the bear
I'm all for supporting our team, but looking at this dispassionately, it'll be some upset if we qualify.
I agree. We have played European teams in 7 playoff matches (Holland x1, Belgium x2, Turkey x2 and France x2). We have won one in 90 mins and even then our opponent still had ET to fall back on.Quote:
Originally Posted by gormacha
Kelly not a left full. Think he only passed the ball to McGeady once in first half.
We don't need to beat anybody! Away goals will do. Armenia are better than Estonia.
of what quality? estonia, montenegro, turkey, bosnia ?Quote:
Originally Posted by gormacha
these aren't top notch sides
I would argue Turkey probably are, they finished ahead of belgium who are probably better than us, and well Germany are a class above most teams so coming behind them is no humiliation, I would want to avoid turkey al all costs, coming out of Istanbul with any result would be very impressive.Quote:
Originally Posted by the bear
Got the result we wanted in the end which is fantastic. Lucky breaks went our way which helped decide the result in the end i felt.
Performance was'nt the best either from us if i honest , will have to improve or will have major problems in our attempts to qualify .
Was impressed with Walters when he came on and also with Simon Cox, both of whom might be starting this day next month when Ireland play the first leg of the playoff .
i agree turkey are the team to avoid, with the hostile crowd in istanbul being as much a factor as anything. as a team they are not as good as they use to be. they are defo not top notch, and we could defo aspire to beat them if drawn with themQuote:
Originally Posted by Acornvilla
Much improved performance on recent games, if stil not great. Good to see us play keep ball when we went 2-0 up rather than turn into a team of retarded schoolboys new to the game. Yeah, Armenia helped us with the goals, but we'd have scored them anyway given our superiority and then sat back.
Downsides -
• Given should have saved their goal. I think we can forgive him one error though!
• Doyle, Kelly and McGeady were all poor. McGeady must be in the team for his defensive contribution, but he didn't even bother with that tonight much. Ok cross for the goal in fairness - though the keeper should have claimed it - but did feck all else bar give the ball away. Hunt was much better when he came on.
Upsides -
• The clean sheet record is gone. Dunno if it adds extra pressure to a professional team, but nice not to have that talked about going into the play-offs
• Walters, Best and Andrews were all good (Andres granted taking advantage of having more time due to the extra man)
• We played keep ball for a good five minutes after the second - we can do that!
Much more confident of the play-offs now than I had been before the game. And actually looking forward to them.
Best???
Agree with your summation.
Didn't think the Armenians were gonna fo anything after the guest 5 or so minutes. Their back 4 was woeful.
Biggest plus of the whole night was Walters. Looked unplayable for his cameo. Doyle looks to me like a player who didn't get the reported big move in the summer. I have a feeling all that baseless Arsenal move rumour crap has gotten to him. Hasn't looked like his old self for a fair few games now. Lets hope Walters stays fit. Definetely the type of player who will fill any of our upcoming opponents with fear. His link up play with Hunt was excellent. Hunt will be pushing McGeady for a starting spot based on tonights game. Dunne was his usual brilliant at the back and of course scoring the second goal. Roll on thursday.
Another thing I noticed tonight. I have a feeling Trap is having doubts about Whelan. There is a pattern to some of the things Trap does. Second time he has subbed him in the space of a few days. The main beneficary of that might be not Fahey but Gibson if he returns from injury. Would not be at all surprised if a fully fit Gibson starts the first play-off match.
Bugger; meant Cox. I was doing that at the game too.Quote:
Originally Posted by BonnieShels
Or maybe all the talk of Long Cox unnerved me enough to subconsciously try switch to talk of the Best Cox?
Was disappointed by Armenia alright; not what their results suggested.
I thought Duff was motm and all the 3 subs did well, espec Fahey and Walters.
What a difference it was to have Fahey pass the ball to the feet of Walters, right across the pitch.
In the main, that's where the difference lies between us now and 2 years ago, the subs bench.
Stu, I saw what you did there!
Too many daiquiris?
Well done on your win tonight, controversial red card aside. ;)
Bosnia & Herzergovina and Turkey are clearly the teams to avoid in the play-offs. B&H because of their immense goal threat (they scored 5 v Luxembourg a few days ago and have a lot of attacking talent) and Turkey because Istanbul is such a hostile place. I would imagine you would beat Estonia or Montenegro. Montenegro played well against England in both games though so maybe they will raise their game for the big occasion. They did blow a bit hot and cold in our group. They lost in Cardiff, only took 4 points from Bulgaria who are really quite poor based on tonight's game, and lost against Switzerland quite cmortably tonight. I'd go for you lot in a two-legged play-off.
The sneaky edit?Quote:
Originally Posted by BonnieShels
Ssshhhh! :p
Credit to Ireland on nullifying their biggest threats and exposing the weaknesses.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Trap did his homework and the team just about stuck to the plan.
Whelan was only subbed off because he is playing injured, not because Trap has lost faith in him.