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Don't forget about Whelan and Coughlan lining out for the Owls
Ireland just put City up with a nice finish after a run from Barton. Ireland and Barton have been City's best players so far.
If Barton does go to Everton, should be a nice opportunity for Ireland.
very impressive display by ireland i thought, hardly gave the ball away the whole game, very composed on the ball, gave numerous defence splitting passes, good energy, a goal(10 yards out with no keeper,comfortable finish), and only a fantastic goal-line clearance in the last minute from whelan prevented a second goal after a lovely dribble in the box. note to stan; he played in a pretty advanced central role alongside barton and dabo in a three man midfield where any defensive frailties would not be exposed. i must say i like him as a player, definitely deserves a place in the squad, probably not the starting line up but an option nonetheless. dunne didnt have to do much, didnt make any mistakes, a few decent interventions that you would expect him to make.
journeyman coughlan had a pretty poor night, missed one glaring chance and didnt convince at all defensively.
whelan i thought probably didnt have one of his better games. no doubting his commitment and work-rate(excellent effort), but, tonight at least, his range of passing wouldnt catch the eye. he kept things moving nicely, not too many stray passes, decent enough touch, a few good runs into the box, not afraid to tackle by any means. thats only the second time i've seen him, and only on TV, so i wont make my mind up finally but i dont see him offering much for the next three matches. he's only 22 and has been playing regularly in CM of a team i was very impressed with in terms of style of play, movement, passing so definitely worth keeping an eye on
I still can't believe he thought Ireland-Kilbane in a 4-4-2 would work against any international team. One of the worst decisions ever made by an Ireland manager.Quote:
Originally Posted by kingdom hoop
Good to see Ireland taking his chances this season. Goal:
http://www.4shared.com/file/8975026/...Wednesday.html
Wasn't impressed with Ireland: thought he gave the ball away a fair bit like Whelan otherwise agree with Kingdom's summary.
Kingdom HoopOwls FanQuote:
very impressive display by ireland i thought, hardly gave the ball away the whole game,
Which impression has more credibility?Quote:
Wasn't impressed with Ireland: thought he gave the ball away a fair bit like Whelan otherwise agree with Kingdom's summary.
:D I was watching it from a point of view to see how much Ireland would hurt Wednesday. He scored ok but the goal was set up by Barton and he played a few other useful passes but he gave the ball away a lot as well like Whelan :o
:DQuote:
Originally Posted by geysir
owls fan has way more posts so maybe he has earned the right to more credibility, or not maybe if he hasnt impressed with his opinions??
bear in mind that he was watching the match through blue and white tinted glasses, that may have clouded his judgement:)
ireland played a good few incisive passes that created good goalscoring opportunities, i guess andy reid type balls, which i hadnt seen him do too much of before so, and his overall passing i thought was good. one area that definitely needs work though is his shooting, 3 shots that i remember, 2 that a six year old would have hit harder and the other went out for a throw in:eek: prompting andy gray to comment that if youre going to shoot wide you may as well go the whole hog and try to put it out for a throw-in, a revolutionary idea, that man really should have been a coach
I thought Ireland played well also and I agree with the Andy Reid comparision.
Then my inclination is to suspect Owls Fan's eyes were at times tearstained.
I like the player, I hope he continues with his form. I'd assume that Stan will have either him or Reid in the team. Apart from the lack midfield balance against Cyprus with Ireland & Kilbane together, he looked far from sharp enough to be selected then.
True recognition will come when Eirebhoy starts to compare him favourably to the one named N.
The player ratings from the Manchester Evening Times: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....r_ratings.html
Ireland was second in the voting for MOTM behind Barton.Quote:
Dunne: Strong in the air and didn't lack for pace 7
Ireland: Lively showing brought him a deserved goal 8
:DQuote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Have shed tears for the green, never for the blue and white although plenty reason to.
I would like to see stats of the pass completion rates. I remember Ireland wafting a few over the touchline and saying "great" to myself (with a conscience).
The Ireland - Andy Reid comparison is a good one. Both are pretty poor tacklers who are very similar on the ball.
Like Andy Reid, Ireland gives up possession fairly often by trying to play penetrating through balls. But for every few mistakes, he'll put through a player with a great scoring chance.
If not for the horrible finishing of the Man City "strikers," he would have been credited with at least 3 setups.
Sun rated Ireland 9
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2...020596,00.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by tricky_colour
Some hack in a raincoat in the Sun: must be correct so ;) .
Andy Reid at his best is different class to Ireland. I used to see a lot of Reid when he played for Forest in the lower divisions. Stood out by a mile. I am so disappointed he hasn't made the progress I'd expect of him at the top level, not helped by injuries. He is in my opinion a far more complete player than Ireland but we shall see.
Ireland is too light IMO. He's still young enough to develop but he needs to bulk up a little. At the top level he's brushed off too easily.
IMO Reid (who is the opposit) is a better player
I'd agree that Reid is a far more complete player than Ireland but Ireland has time on his side.
Reid has been outstanding in an admittedly poor Charlton team this season. Hopefully he'll do enough to get a move in the summer (Roy Keane's Sunderland anybody?) because I can see them being relegated at this stage.
chinese whispers seemed to have developed
didnt compare the players. i was just happy to see the creative aspect of irelands play. i think his tackling is better than reids, both are poor sliders but ireland seems to nip in more to dispossess. he is showing great potential and in time will bulk up. the biggest difference i see is that ireland is going bald at 18:eek:Quote:
ireland played a good few incisive passes that created good goalscoring opportunities, i guess andy reid type balls,
Ireland is just 20/21, bit rash/unfair to dismiss him early on,he's only really starting to develop. Give him a few years and you'll be be in a good position to equate him properly with Andy Reid. He'll also be a lot stronger at that stage, dunno if its just me but he already seems to have beefed up a bit from last season. I agree wholegheartedly with kingdom hoops assessment. Was having a few pints and casually watching the match, every time I looked up Ireland was on the ball doing something, playing a quality pass/through ball and being an effective playmaker. Him and Joey Barton dominated the whole match from start to finish. His shooting seriously needs to be worked on though! The six year old comparison is just about apt!
i thought ireland had a great game i reckon he was thebest on the field i thought joey barton only got man of the match because of the hype surrounding his transfer to everton.. ireland is definitly a great prospect for the future
Agree totally. In fact, I'd say every team selection except for maybe Sweden & Czech Rep. has shown me that Staunton, whatever about any positives he can bring to the camp, has absolutely no idea how to set out a team and what characteristics are required in the important areas of the pitch.Quote:
Originally Posted by eirebhoy
Ages ago I cited the Barton/Ireland example of how to get the best from an Irish midfield. I've never seen Ireland play well without the tireless Barton beside him. I felt that maybe Steven Reid could do the legwork with Ireland or Andy Reid adding the guile. Alternatively a narrower but stronger 3 man midfield with an attacking playmaker, thus giving up our usual width, though giving the fullbacks more responsibility in this regard.
I actually think Barton's a really good midfielder and if he was one of ours he'd add a lot to our midfield. Nasty character though.
Micah Richards said on Soccer am today that Ireland is by far and away the most skillful player at City. Suprised me tbh. He also said yesterday that Dunne is as good as Terry and Ferdinand. :) He's getting ahead of himself with that comment imo but Dunne seems to be having another great season.
Ireland is second again in the voting for MOTM against Blackburn here: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....anchestercity/ - but is only ranked a 5 on skysports.com.
I missed the game this evening (like everyone else in Limerick I was watching the Munster match), but I thought he played well against the Owls during the week, but he had Barton and Dabo behind him mopping up, which made me think of O'Leary's comments on McPhail - that in the modern game, midfielders needed to be box to box players, and be able to make killer passes as well as well timed tackles.
Ireland is progressing well, and has forced himself back into the side in recent weeks, despite Dabo returning from injury. Hamann is due back soon, so it will be interesting to see if he can keep his spot.
i was reading news of the world today and seen that stephen ireland got a 8 out ten for is performance yesterday against blackburn in which they lost 3 nil... had to be doing something right to get that sort of rating with a team that lost 3 nil.. i enjoy watching him with the ball at his feet, very, very clever passer.. if he and robbie keane were on top form form for ireland i reckon we can cause alot of defences trouble
Ratings from the Manchester Evening News here: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....r_ratings.html
Quote:
DUNNE: Tried to lift his men but to no avail as they seldom rose above the mediocre 6
IRELAND: One ray of hope but they couldn't get him on the ball often enough 6
Dunne played well for Man C today as captain in a 1-3 win over Preston and Ireland scored a good goal in the last minute. Wonder why Dunne isn't the Irish captain?
Ireland goal:
http://www.dailymotion.com/samgoff/v...ton-v-man-city
Keane was appointed as Irish captain by Staunton when he took over, Dunne only became City captain in pre season.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
I like the idea of a strong centre-half being captain. We have had a few in our day. It would also hopefully cut out a lot of Keano's arm waving which irritates a lot of people.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Republic of Ireland International Stephen Ireland continued a great personal run of form yesterday, with his superb volley securing Manchester City’s place in the Quarter Final of the FA Cup and he admits it is because he has more freedom on the pitch now.
The twenty year old followed up a goal scoring debut in October’s defeat in Cyprus, with an injury time winner against San Marino over a fortnight ago and his form is a major positive for manager Steve Staunton, ahead of next month’s double header at Croke Park.
Despite suffering with injury and form for the first half of the season, Ireland has kicked on since Christmas and yesterday’s goal was his fifth of the season, for club and country and he is not surprised.
“Last year the gaffer had me as a defensive midfielder and it just was not me or my role and I would go three quarters of the games without having a shot or getting into their half too much,” said the midfielder.
“This year we are playing a three five two formation, where I can get forward now and create chances and now the manager has me in his mind as the player to do that.
“It was a difficult start to the season, but I put my case to the gaffer and I luckily took my chance and proved I could be a better option in the attacking position.
“My goal is to play in as many of the twelve games left this season as is possible and maybe have a good run in the cup.”
Two of the proudest moments of his short career, Ireland admits that his two senior goals for his country have been tainted by the disappointment of the performances, however believes hard work can change that.
Enjoying a vote of confidence from his International manager, similar to the freedom being awarded to him at club level, the twenty year old points out the added bonus of playing alongside Everton man Lee Carsley, “Yeah he helps me out an awful lot and really gives me the opportunity to play my own game and do what I do going forward,” said Ireland.
“He sits there and wins the ball and plays it around nicely, so I can concentrate on being a bit further up and it is a big help.
“He has a really good brain and it gives me the freedom to float around the dangerous areas and try to create.
“It worked in stages against San Marino and hopefully against Wales we can improve and I can get in and around the box more, to make some goal scoring chances.
“While the performance was not the best, scoring for your country is something to take on to the pitch with Man City and give me the confidence to improve.”
From FAI.ie
Might be better linking it to this thread:
http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=50826&page=2
where the goal is mentioned already.