Quotewith coleman out will meyler play right full?
Green just scores. O'Neill hasn't a clue
with coleman out will meyler play right full?
So to recap.....
Coleman and McCarthy potentially out injured. O'Brien unavailable. Reid unavailable. Meyler not playing. Hendrick just back from injury. Gibson just back from injury/not playing. Hoolahan off form. Long being played out of position/under pressure to deliver on transfer fee and take mantle at Intl. level. Ward has started one league game all season and that's at CM.
Not ideal... but McGeady is playing reasonably, Keane is banging them in in MLS for whatever that's worth, McClean has generally impressed since coming back from injury and could feasibly take Walters place. Our starting CB's regular are starting regularly (although Wilson looks prone to mishaps).
What position is Long playing? Is he wide right of midfield or his he wide right as part of a front three? I suspect the latter, and it's probably not a bad place for him. Pelle seems to be the main goalscorer at Southamptonso that takes some heat off Long, as long as he is at least playing well.
Let's see. The form book isn't good but they're fit players and all have at least played some first team football this season. Gibraltar might take the cobwebs off those needing game time.
That's the optimistic way of seeing things anyway!
According to Peter Staunton of Goal.com, Martinez has confirmed Coleman will miss both qualifiers: https://twitter.com/petermstaunton/s...56535225581572
B*llocks.Originally Posted by Peter Staunton
Here was Ciarán Ó Raghallaigh's take on it yesterday: https://twitter.com/Ciaran_O/status/518385306425257984
Obviously they failed their late fitness tests, but if they were considered "50-50 enough" to have them before today's Everton game at Old Trafford, can they be ruled out with such certainty for the Germany game, which is nine days away? I don't know the ins and outs of the fitness tests, of course, but you'd imagine there must still be even a slight chance both could be fit?
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 05/10/2014 at 2:07 PM.
Chaps who would win in an actual fight between Mourinho and Wenger?
Crosby...
Luckily it doesn't matter who plays in these two games, but the game in November is far far more important...
Yeah. You're right. The win against Gibraltar is guaranteed. Just look at the way we blitzed Kazakhstan and Faroe Islands away with no problems.
And the players should just treat the Germany game as a friendly and sing the Fields of Athenry and have a few cans with the fans after the game.
Sure Scotland had a competitive game with Germany but that's Scotland. We're just Ireland like. Have a few cans and it'll be alright. We might get a draw against Poland if we're lucky.
They got in a shoving match ardee.
Only a few contradictions there...
And the relevance of this to 2016 is?
No. At the end of the day, either team can win. Except Ireland seemingly.
Northern Ireland and Scotland are more than capable of dropping points against small nations, as has been pointed out plenty of times, but they are also more than capable of taking points off bigger nations. We are just as good as these teams. There is no reason that we shouldn't be able to do it.
There are no gimmes in Intl. football anymore. Top sides like Portugal, Croatia, Italy, France, England and even Spain have dropped points to nations much smaller than us.
A narrow loss to Germany would be progress but people here are going on like a heavy loss should be a formality and it's the kind of attitude that has even seeped on to the official FAI page.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy and it needs to stop.
This is the exact same kind of attitude and belief that has been allowed to insidiously fester - that has become so ingrained - and we have needlessly dropped points from winning positions time and time again against teams like Italy, Austria and Sweden precisely because of it.
It's like we are scared to win. Ever wonder why!
There is so much nonsense regularly spouted about not having the players anymore, blindly overlooking the fact that the type of teams we need to beat don't have that type of calibre player either. It infuriates me. I wouldn't get too wound up by AB's defeatism. We all know we're up against it but it's only a game of football and I've seen so many daft results in my life i'll never rule out Ireland getting one in Germany. We should have been spanked in Amsterdam by a Dutch team that wiped the floor with a quality Yugoslavia only ten weeks earlier and look what happened. Likewise we should have been spanked in Stuttgart in 2006.
I wouldn't read anything into the FAI mentality. They have a social media team who tweeted "gulp" when Germany won the WC. It's hardly confirmation O'Neill is cowering behind his sofa.
Again, I think (nearly) everyone's capable of finding cause for hope. Ghana, Scotland, Algeria, injury, retirements...
Hope is different to expectation but I certainly want to see a positive attitude which, in my opinion, will start with a positive selection.
Hear what you say, explained elsewere why we're likely to lose.
Don't want it to happen, especially another hammering, but Germany currently are strong, very strong. Plus they hardly ever lose qualifiers, ever to anyone, especially at home,
Agree otherwise plenty of 'shock results' and we can (always have?) been able to grind out draws v.major teams, on occasion.
Though, would be amazed if that happens this time. Our win record in the last 20 years v. these sides is pretty mediocre, in terms of many wins.
History against us in that respect!
Out with a load of German pals last night and none gave us a prayer, not arrogance, just an understated inner confidence.
Germany are 90% favourites to win by a couple of goals, but there's always the 10% chance we'll push them close or, just maybe, get a result. We'll both be 2/2 going into the match and it might suit Germany just to keep it tight and a point wouldn't be the worst result.
Is it that inevitable that Germany will win in Poland? Realistically, I think they're far more likely to slip up there than against us.
Germany will want to win v.us and will expect to, simply because they don't see us as a threat. As for slipping up in Polska, the Poles appear to have quite an inferiority issue v. Germany, so would be amazed if they took more than one point out of six.
Realistically, until qualification is assured, don't see Deutschland slipping up. Maybe they will relax in their later group games?
Yeah but one point from six would be a good return for them. I'd take it for us being honest. You're right though, Poland never seem to perform against Germany, even mediocre German sides... hope that continues.
I'd say it's 90% like it is with us.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks