No he was never asked. And not just because a 26 county team doesn't exist. But, for argument's sake, what would O'Neill do with the team that would be different to a Mick McCarthy? Been there, done that but everyone to their own.Originally Posted by seanfhear
mcateer admitted he lied about his fitness having hurt himself in saipan training game. steven reid and finnan were shamefully not used enough in that tournament. I'll have to watch the games back again. I find it interesting how people were either roy or mick when in reality they both behaved poorly
The key words from that being "expectation" and "progress".
Re the former, might it not be that ROI fans are being blinded by the quality of (certain) individual players available, such that you are greatly underestimating all the other aspects which need to be in place to build a consistently successful team? In other words your expectations are rather too high, at least for the present circumstances in which you find yourselves?
As for the latter, I think I'm right in saying that for that Sweden friendly, Michael picked (was forced to pick, actually) the youngest NI starting XI since 1945! Yet despite the result, which thanks to the individual brilliance of Isak and Elanga etc was rather harsh on NI, there were still positives to be taken from the exercise which have stood to us in matches since i.e. progress.
HH perhaps?
Anyhow, my own (minuscule) knowledge of Icelandic football suggests to me that the NT was in much better position when LL left than when he took over. With your own (infinitely superior) knowledge of such matters, would you say the same for HH's time in the job?
(As for HH's time with ROI, it's still too early to say, but thus far at least, it's not looking especially rosy. Unlike MO'N's time with NI)
Would Robbie Keane want the job at this stage ? !
I wonder.
The Republic of Ireland is a the 26 County team, obviously.
Finnan played every minute from half time against Cameroon to the best of my knowledge. He replaced McAteer at half time of first game and Kelly went right midfield.
Personally I think that Robbie might be the only one that might want it!
Its really not that complicated!!!
As my favourite manager of all time once said, you tell me.
Sweden lost to Kosovo the other night. Their Armenia. If you are rosy with that 5-1 result, our expectations are certainly on a different level.
Last edited by ifk101; 10/09/2025 at 4:11 PM.
Going back to the games (my previous message deleted for some reason), one huge problem we have is our passing from the back.
So often, we pass the ball behind a player so that they have to go back and get it. All our momentum is gone then and the opposition has had a chance to regroup.
It’s baffling. It’s not like these lads can’t pass 20 yards into someone’s path.
So often they pass it to where the player is instead of where he’s going to be in 2 seconds
It’s completely a psychological thing
I will say one good thing about last night - it's great to see the life a crap result brings to the forum
Some very enjoyable and even therapeutic discussion over the past week, and the past 24 hours in particular
I shall take that as a "No" then (answer to my question).
Having watched the 5-1, I wasn't nearly so despondent as I might normally have been, simply because the performance from such a young team was better than the result (Sweden have some lethal finishers). And it was a friendly.
Which reflects my long-held expectation for NI teams that they simply give their all on the pitch, for the whole of the game. Thereafter let the results follow as they will.
And you? Your expectations for ROI these days?
Last edited by EalingGreen; 10/09/2025 at 4:48 PM.
In this spoken in your capacity as a Glentoran/ Spurs fan that watches Brentford and supports the North? If so, I suppose we all need to listen. Because this voice can speak with authority. This voice knows quality and knows what it takes to build a consistently successful team.
I agree totally that the players we have are (on paper at least) better than all of those available to Armenia. Just like they were better than Luxembourg, Finland, Cyprus etc. But they don't play like better players. You could have had Mourinho on the sideline for Ireland yesterday and it wouldn't make a difference
Mourinho giving the world both barrels after that game, would be good entertainment though ! !
One of the Armenian midfielders looked like yer man from Future Islands. And he was bossing us around.
Play the ball, not the man.
Oh, and it's NI, not "the North" btw.
Well it’s not NI though is it?
It’s Northern Ireland.
I will also accept Awr Wee Contray with a pic of a fleg somewhere
If we move past the conversations about how the FAI set up and grass roots coaching is awful etc and just focus on the players on the pitch in the last 2 games, how much do we blame the manager? My initial reaction yesterday was that we should be beating Armenia regardless of who the manager is, and I still think that is true to a point. But when we look at the 2 games combined in this window there is no doubt that there is a passiveness with the players on the pitch and a lack of urgency. The way we started the game against Hungary was just as bad as the 90 mins in Armenia, and it could be said that we only got a tune out of the players in the 2nd half because of the red card and how loud the crowd were getting behind them.
Maybe the manager is too passive and that leaks through to the players? The signs have been there since the beginning. In his first games he was happy to sit back and let JOS take the lead against England, using the excuse that he didnt really know the players. He had a month to learn them before that 1st window. Ive never heard of any manager not wanting to take charge immediately and asserting their authority. Even if we look before that, when he was hired he didnt bring in any of his own men to the coaching staff, he was happy to go with whoever Canham wanted, again this is very unusual and maybe should have been a big of a red flag to us that he isnt a very strong character.
I bought in, Hallgrimson comes across very well in interviews, and I wanted to believe that he was good. But maybe his passiveness in how he has gone about the job has gotten through to the players on the pitch.
And also... JOS has now been the head coach for 2 separate managers where we look badly coached. Can someone get him as far away from us as possible. Incidentally, another nice guy who doesnt want to ruffle feathers!
Its really not that complicated!!!
I had thought the accepted/accurate abbreviation would have sufficed, but if you want to go to the trouble of typing out the full name, then be my guest. Ditto "Republic of Ireland" (or "ROI" for short).
Either way it doesn't bother me, in fact someone customarily going to the trouble of typing "the North" reveals a useful sign of a petty mind. While capitalising it with an "N" betrays a lack of consistency, even intelligence, perhaps.
Lads we must stay together at times like these.
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