Ratings v Russia

Shay - not much to do but a rare mistake and we lose a goal - Rating: 6
Carr - didn't gel with Carlsley and then things got even worse when Reid came on. Still hasn't given us a good game since he returned from injury - Rating:6
O'Shea - plays for us with a curious lack of passion. Maybe he'll look more interested when moved to centre back - Rating:6
Cunningham/Breen - seemed to be thrown into panic everytime Russia attacked (even though they never attacked in numbers). The lack of pace and tempo in our play starts whenever Given rolls the ball out to Breen - Ratings:6 and 5
Carsley - did nothing - Rating: 3
Holland - contributed tackles and was one of the very few who seemed to actually want to compete. Faded badly Rating:7
Healy - not at the races. Got more possession late on but no idea what to do with it - Rating:5
Kilbane - worked his socks off - made a few good runs early on - no good crosses of note - Rating:7
Duff - class goal. Current role doesn't work - we don't have the wit to get the ball to him early nor do we have anyone to play with him - Rating:8
Morrison - willing but not able - Rating:6

subs:
Harte - some good long passes before the break but quickly reverted to his old dopey self. Simply cannot defend and gives the ball away with embarressing ineptitude - Rating:5
Reid - surprisingly poor. left isolated (trying hard to think of something positive here) - Rating:3
Doherty - too late to make a contribution - no crosses to attack - Rating:6


Kerr - his team showed a shocking lack of purpose and direction. Wouldn't quibble with the selection so much (given what he's got to play with). However you would think that at the very least that he'd send them out with a bit of fire in their bellies and with a clear direction and gameplan. The free-kick mix up really summed up the lack of organisation. Hard to see what progress we've made since 12 months ago - Rating:5


The crowd - best fans in the world? Did we intimidate the opposition? Did the atmosphere give the sense that this was our last home game and a crucial decider for euro'04? Have we got more than two chants? Rating:4

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Originally posted by fergalr
Carr - didn't gel with Carlsley and then things got even worse when Reid came on. Still hasn't given us a good game since he returned from injury - Rating:6

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Hardly his fault that Carsley was crap, and Reid crapper. He's played well in every match I've seen him in the last few months, despite the fact that you can't really set the place on fire in right back.

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O'Shea - plays for us with a curious lack of passion. Maybe he'll look more interested when moved to centre back - Rating:6

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O'Shea has been rubbish in every Ireland game I've ever seen, starting with his debut, where he conceded a penalty. Strangely is about ten times the player when in red.

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Cunningham/Breen - seemed to be thrown into panic everytime Russia attacked (even though they never attacked in numbers). The lack of pace and tempo in our play starts whenever Given rolls the ball out to Breen - Ratings:6 and 5

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For all your criticism, how many goal from open play did the Russians get? How many chances on goal? Breen was a little shakey, but Cunningham was solid.

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Kilbane - worked his socks off - made a few good runs early on - no good crosses of note - Rating:7

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I'm mystified at how he got man of the match. He was good, but as you say, not exactly swinging in that many crosses. It's all well and good to say that he had some great runs, but he did nothing with them. The only times he looked dangerous were when Duffer came out to help him.

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Morrison - willing but not able - Rating:6

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Willing, able, not given the ball enough.

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subs:
Harte - some good long passes before the break but quickly reverted to his old dopey self. Simply cannot defend and gives the ball away with embarressing ineptitude - Rating:5

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Actually, he's far from inept at giving the ball away when he feels like it, but on Saturday he felt like making some great passes and did. Since Staunton retired, he's the only Irish player who can pass at distances greater than ten yards. His defending wasn't that bad.

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Kerr - ...However you would think that at the very least that he'd send them out with a bit of fire in their bellies and with a clear direction and gameplan. The free-kick mix up really summed up the lack of organisation. Hard to see what progress we've made since 12 months ago - Rating:5

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So Kerr's responsible for the free-kick fiasco now? Being second in the group is "no progress" from being last?

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The crowd - best fans in the world? Did we intimidate the opposition? Did the atmosphere give the sense that this was our last home game and a crucial decider for euro'04? Have we got more than two chants? Rating:4

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Perhaps we should boo the opposition, stone buses and riot when we lose? That would "intimidate the opposition" for sure.

You obviously saw a different Matt Holland to me..he was crap and his ineptitude was highlighted in the 2nd half when he had a free tapped to him for reid to hit and he stood on it and reid had to taclkle him.......

Reid wasn't at all direct

As a team we tried but were way of the pace.

It will be better against the swiss..it has to be.

Given - 6
Carr - 6
O'Shea - 6
Breen - 7
Cunningham - 7
Holland - 7
Healy 5
Carsley - 5
Kilbane - 8
Duff - 8
Morrisson - 5

Harte - 5
Reid - 1
Doherty - 6

Kerr - 6

Fans - 5. OK but not great atmosphere in eL the North Bucket section. Dead "atmosphere" in non-eL north buckets. East stand asleep (quel surprise), West stand a bit better & seemed to be a bit of action at the south buckets.

Match was better live than on tv i'm sure anyway.

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Originally posted by pete
Given - 6
Carr - 6
O'Shea - 6
Breen - 7
Cunningham - 7
Holland - 7
Healy 5
Carsley - 5
Kilbane - 8
Duff - 8
Morrisson - 5

Harte - 5
Reid - 1
Doherty - 6

Kerr - 6

Fans - 5. OK but not great atmosphere in eL the North Bucket section. Dead "atmosphere" in non-eL north buckets. East stand asleep (quel surprise), West stand a bit better & seemed to be a bit of action at the south buckets.

Match was better live than on tv i'm sure anyway.

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How can you rate Reid at a 1, Kerr is a 6, what did you want him to do when the game started...Sometimes Irish fans are too critical, we have limited resources & we should be happy to be in the position we are in after starting so badly!!

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Originally posted by SeanieBoy
How can you rate Reid at a 1, Kerr is a 6, what did you want him to do when the game started...Sometimes Irish fans are too critical, we have limited resources & we should be happy to be in the position we are in after starting so badly!!

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6 is an average rating & whole i'm not faulting Kerr (like others) some of his choices didn't work out so i'm hardly gonna give him a good rating.

Reid was complete muck, when others tiring (Healy, Kilbane, Holland) not once did he show for the ball in a forward position. He may not have looked too bad on tv but from behind the goal it was plain to see he didn't look for the ball. His game was summed up when he had the ball at the halfway line with defender ahead of him, rest of the midfielders looking tired & all he did was pass sideways to Carr & stand at the halfway line.

:(

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Originally posted by John83
Perhaps we should boo the opposition, stone buses and riot when we lose? That would "intimidate the opposition" for sure.

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As we agree on a lot of things, I'll take a deep breath and guess that you forgot to attach the appropriate emoticon.

Otherwise I'd have to assume that you're at odds with the stated FAI policy of having an "intimidating atmosphere" at home games, and that perhaps you'd be more at ease at an IRFU organised event.

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Originally posted by SeanieBoy
How can you rate Reid at a 1, Kerr is a 6, what did you want him to do when the game started...Sometimes Irish fans are too critical, we have limited resources & we should be happy to be in the position we are in after starting so badly!!

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Don't want to be unfair to you, but that sounds pretty much like the attitude that brought us to Saipan and resulted in the Genises report.

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Since Staunton retired, he's the only Irish player who can pass at distances greater than ten yards. His defending wasn't that bad.

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Ha ha ha... what are you talking about? ... for 100 times Staunton kicked the ball over 10 yards here is the break down..

60 ... straight to defender
30 .. straight out into the stands
05 ... got lucky
05 ... landed on Quinn's head since he was the tallest guy out there!

Staunton was an ok defender at best... but a dreadful passer!

Given- one thing to do and he messed it up. 5
Carr- one of the worst displays I've seen from an ireland player in a long time. kept passing it back instead of forwards and got caught out repeatedly. The two muppets in front of him might not have helped but he was terrible. 3
O'Shea- didn't look great but may have got better. Still out of position. 5
Cunningham- did well can't be faulted. 7
Breen - back to his dodgy worst. very lucky not to get caught out more- what was he doing for the goal? 4
Carsley - I would say invisible but he was even worse than that. Did his best but we all know thats far from good enough. 3
Holland- for the first time in his career he actually tackled like he was trying, but that only lasted 45 mins. back to his gutless talentless self for the 2nd half. 6
Healy- Never got into the game. 5
Kilbane - Did his best, and was probably our best player on the park, whic kind of says it all about the rest. 8
Duff - great goal but was out of position and the team is too centred on him. 7
Morrison - confirmed what I always thought. He's just a loudmouth who was never going to play for England. Shouldn't be in the squad. All he did was fall over or foul defenders. Pathetic. 4

subs:
Harte - can't defend to save his life. Relys on his set-pieces to make himself look ok, and they were crap. 4
Reid -Shambolic. Almost made carsley look good. Wouldn't run, wouldn't pass and wouldn't tackle. Another display like this and he shouldn't get near the next squad. 1
Doherty- tried as usual but got no service. 6

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Originally posted by Éanna
Morrison - confirmed what I always thought. He's just a loudmouth who was never going to play for England. Shouldn't be in the squad. All he did was fall over or foul defenders. Pathetic. 4

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12 caps, 3 starts, 5 goals, the best strike rate in our squad and one poor match when nothing was created for him and he shouldn't be in the squad. Good thinking there...

I'm sure you'll tell me next O'Flynn would have had a hat trick.

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Originally posted by Slash/ED
12 caps, 3 starts, 5 goals, the best strike rate in our squad and one poor match when nothing was created for him and he shouldn't be in the squad. Good thinking there...

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Now he in the squad no use going on about his past really. He deserved his place on merit (hardly gonna play Connolly) but i doubt anyone could say he even had an ok game.

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Originally posted by pete
Now he in the squad no use going on about his past really. He deserved his place on merit (hardly gonna play Connolly) but i doubt anyone could say he even had an ok game.

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Yeah but Morrison is what he is, a striker who plays off the shoulder of defenders. When were creating chances, he uses his pace to get on the end of them and is as good a finisher as we have. He is a goal scorer. However, when were not creating chances, he'll do nothing, because he's not like a Robbie Keane who's game is all about dropping deep, his is all about being in the box and if the balls not put there, what can he do?

I'd say he had a poor enough game but I'd put my money on the fact that if we'd put one through ball onto him he'd of scored a goal, that's why he's the ideal partner for Keane and what we've been lacking for a while now, someone who just stays in the box and scores goals and he's just that. That's why he'd be in my first team any day of the week if I were manager, let alone in the squad.

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Originally posted by Slash/ED
12 caps, 3 starts, 5 goals, the best strike rate in our squad and one poor match when nothing was created for him and he shouldn't be in the squad. Good thinking there...

I'm sure you'll tell me next O'Flynn would have had a hat trick.

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Connolly had a good start to his ireland career too. would you play him? morrison has talked the talk but has never walked the walk. he was poor all of last season for birmingham and their summer signings have reflected that. Flynn wouldn't have had a hat trick but there were at least two factors where he was a better choice than morrison IMO: 1. He is actually irish. 2. he has pace and is willing to run at defenders. Crowe or Doherty would have been better options alongside Duff. Clinton Morrison is a joke.

Given - 6 Not much to do, but made a crucial error.
Carr - 7 Put in some runs and was sound defensively.
O'Shea - not on long enough to judge
Breen - 7 Was out of position fairly often, but luckily the Russians didn't take advantage.
Cunningham - 8 A bright spot in defence.
Holland - 6 Chased the Russian midfield, instead of dominating it.
Healy - 6 Started brightly before getting tired. Needs some matches.
Carsley - 5 Playing out of position and out of form.
Kilbane - 7 Worked hard, but lacked the finising touch. Covered well when Harte went walkabout. Would make an excellent left back!
Duff - 9 Man of the Match. Wonder goal, attacking runs and even put in defensive work. Left, right and centre, worked and ran at people all over the pitch. All this and he was having an off-day! Future captain?
Morrisson - 6 Was decent enough, but didn't get enough possession to be effective.

Harte - 5 His magic left foot wasn't present. Considering that that's the only skill he seems to have, he may as well not have played.
Reid - 6 Didn't do too wel against and over-crowded Russian defence, needs some matches under his belt.
Doherty - not on long enough to judge

Kerr - 6 Lee Carsley? I thought we got rid of the whole "loyalty" thing when Mick quit? Where was Steve Finnan? Hopefully Kerr will be willing to learn from this though, he does seem a geniuine person in that way.

I thought Reid was ok. It's not his fault the set piece was f*cked up, and while he wasn't whipping in crosses, he's not really a winger either. He's an excellent prospect and he good be the answer to our problems in central midfield. I'm not too impressed the way people are taking their frustrations out on Reid. He didn't play great, but at least he didn't give away the ball. And football is after all a possession based game.

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Originally posted by Éanna
Connolly had a good start to his ireland career too. would you play him? morrison has talked the talk but has never walked the walk. he was poor all of last season for birmingham and their summer signings have reflected that. Flynn wouldn't have had a hat trick but there were at least two factors where he was a better choice than morrison IMO: 1. He is actually irish. 2. he has pace and is willing to run at defenders. Crowe or Doherty would have been better options alongside Duff. Clinton Morrison is a joke.

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Where to begin...

Connolly never played in the premiership and never looked as good as Morrison. Morrison has 'walked the walk', 12 caps, 3 starts, 5 goals, it speaks for itself, try to argue with it. For someone who was 'poor all last season for Birmingham' it's a miracle then that he managed to finish his clubs top scorer in the league, despite missing the start and a huge chunk of the end of the season through injury. Your point 1 shows exactly your true colours as to why your writing off Morrison, don't try to pass it off as being anything else or football related, it's because he's English. Your point two is rubbish, Morrison is as fast as O'Flynn and running at defenders in the Eircom League is just a little tougher then doing it against an international side, I'd imagine. Glen Crowe is a third division reject, calling him better then Morrison is 'a joke'. Morrison made it in the first division and had a decent start to his premiership career, Crowe failed with four crap nationwide clubs, and Doherty is a centre half.

By the time Morrison had played as much international football as Crowe he had scored twice, and Doherty is a central defender who does a decent job upfront but his goals record is inferior to Morrison. Face the fact, Morrison has the best strike rate in our squad. Trying to write him off for football reasons or saying O'Flynn or Crowe are better makes you look like a fool. He's no joke, and he's the second best striker we have in the squad and would play for me if I were picking the side any day of the week. Come out and say why you don't like him in your next set of ratings.

"Morrison 0, he's English"

rubbish, you're missing my point. his englishness has nothing to do with it. just don't rate him

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Originally posted by Éanna
rubbish, you're missing my point. his englishness has nothing to do with it. just don't rate him

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Then why make a point of mentioning, both in the post where you were doing the player ratings and the one after talking about him and O'Flynn, I mean clearly you have something against him that goes beyond football.

"Morrison - confirmed what I always thought. He's just a loudmouth who was never going to play for England. Shouldn't be in the squad. All he did was fall over or foul defenders. Pathetic. 4 "

"Doherty- tried as usual but got no service. 6"

So Morrison was pathetic for having no influence on the match, but Doherty who did far less then him just didn't get the service?Right...

So launching long balls at the box is right up Morrisons alley but doesn't suit our technically brilliant Gary Doherty?

Lads Lads Lads.....

Morrison likes to play off another centre forward..that is where his strength is. Keane is the same but keane likes to come deeper to get the ball.

Morrison is not neccesarily the best option up front with Keane at the moment but may turn out that way.

I would have played doherty and morrison up front and put duff on the right. we had little penetration. Reid was disappointing as he was never direct and played sideways..lack of matches is the reason. Alot of Irish players did not look sharp as they have had very few matches..Healy Morrison,carsley,Reid. They will improve before Switzerland. The team tried hard on Saturday but that bit of sharpness is what let us down in relation to first touches etc.
These lads will be better come that match and if they play with pride and passion we could frighten the life out of the swiss.
All is not lost. The swiss are not world beaters.

Neither are russia but that game is gone now.

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Originally posted by fergalr
As we agree on a lot of things, I'll take a deep breath and guess that you forgot to attach the appropriate emoticon.

Otherwise I'd have to assume that you're at odds with the stated FAI policy of having an "intimidating atmosphere" at home games, and that perhaps you'd be more at ease at an IRFU organised event.

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It seems we both mistook the tone of eachothers posts. I agree that the atmosphere should be better, but I don't blame the North terrace, who sang for almost the whole match, which they spent standing up instead of sitting on their arses and 'spectating' as a lot of people in other stands seemed to be doing.

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Originally posted by The Legend
Ha ha ha... what are you talking about? ... for 100 times Staunton kicked the ball over 10 yards here is the break down..

60 ... straight to defender
30 .. straight out into the stands
05 ... got lucky
05 ... landed on Quinn's head since he was the tallest guy out there!

Staunton was an ok defender at best... but a dreadful passer!

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Staunton could land a 60 yard ball on a penny - his only truely excellent attribute.

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Originally posted by Slash/ED
I mean clearly you have something against him that goes beyond football.

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yes I do, I never denied it. I hate mercenaries like Morrison and Butler. But that has nothing to do with the fact that I think the guy is over rated. If Rivaldo had found an Irish great grandmother or something 10 years ago after professing his love for brazil, I wouldn't be too happy to see him in green. Put simply- I dislike the guy on all levels- as a footballer and as a human being.

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Originally posted by Éanna
yes I do, I never denied it. I hate mercenaries like Morrison and Butler. But that has nothing to do with the fact that I think the guy is over rated.

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And you don't feel there's just the slim possibility it's impairing your judgement? Saying our striker with our best strike rate shouldn't even make our squad and is inferior to Gary Doherty?

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Originally posted by John83
Staunton could land a 60 yard ball on a penny - his only truely excellent attribute.

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if i had that penny he was aiming for every time he stood at left back and sent a long searching pass off the outside of his foot over the left hand sideline i'd be a wealthy man. :D

Given - 6
Carr - 6
O'Shea - 6
Breen - 7
Cunningham - 7
Holland - 7
Healy 5
Carsley - 4
Kilbane - 8
Duff - 8
Morrisson - 5

Harte - 5
Reid - 3
Doherty - 6