having breen out of the side is not a loss its an advantage.
i woulg go with your back 4 though.
With the latest bad news for the Irish Squad, Breens injury which could sideline him for the Swiss clash, and Cunninghams suspension, has anyone any suggestions for a new look defence
I suggest
Carr (RB) O'Brien O'Shea Finnan (LB)
having breen out of the side is not a loss its an advantage.
i woulg go with your back 4 though.
Play the honey monster instead of o'brien.......tried and trusted
Bring back the plank
Blue Oyster, when has Gary Breen let us down when playing for his country? What's your problem?
One man's opinion without tears.....
totally agree losing breen is a disaster he is one of our most experienced defenders and has nearly always been one of the better players on the team over the last two years
Breen is a big loss - has been very consistent and an automatic first choice,
I'd play Dunne if he could get some first team football at City. If not probably O'Shea and O'Brien as centre halves with Finnan or Harte on the left.
Thats terrible news. Breen is a massive loss.
I don't think the guy is given the credit that his performances for ireland over the last year deserve.
He's in great form for Sunderland at the moment.
The posts on their MB have nothinng but praise for him and they are crediting his signing and displays as the reason for the turn around in their results.
If Breen is gone I would prefer to play Dunne with O'Shea but Dunne is not playing for City so I think O'Brien might just edge him.
When has Breen ever let us down?
Try the home qualifier against Iran - twice skinned by Ali Daei, with Shay Given saving his ass on both occasions. Have a look at the away game against Russia and the home game against Switzerland and try to tell me he didn't let us down in either of them.
I agree on balance that he has done more good than bad in a green shirt, but I don't understand why people peddle this "Breen has never let us down" line. He clearly has.
Maybe you should put her on a leash, agent-man.
Breen is a collosal loss. Without him we do not have much experience at the centre of defence - with due respect to John O'Shea, I would rate international experience is a different kettle of fish to Champions league.
I reckon it will have to be Carr and Finnan at full back and at the centre O'Shea and the Honey Monster
(our most expeienced uninjured centre backs - a scarey thought). But I reckon that HM can't start without some kind of match practice, and I certainly don't think that Andy O'Brien is ready for a major pressure cooker of a game like this yet.
I am intrigued at the thought that Doc could play centre. What was his club form like at the back lately. I heard he prefers to play there, and he would have some kind of playing experience alongside Steve Carr.
That question was less stupid, though you asked it in a profoundly stupid way.
Help me, Arthur Murphy, you're my only hope!
Originally Posted by Dodge
No-one is saying that he's never made a mistake. Everyone has had a bad game or made a mistake in a game.Originally posted by NigeSausagepump
When has Breen ever let us down?
Try the home qualifier against Iran - twice skinned by Ali Daei, with Shay Given saving his ass on both occasions. Have a look at the away game against Russia and the home game against Switzerland and try to tell me he didn't let us down in either of them.
I agree on balance that he has done more good than bad in a green shirt, but I don't understand why people peddle this "Breen has never let us down" line. He clearly has.
What most people defending Breen take umbrage with is that his performances of late have been very good. but still Irish fans bleat on about him being prone to lapses in concentration with not much evidence to prove their assessment.
He is still a major loss for us. It means playing a very inexperience partnership in central defence.
The most experienced optiona is Dunne and O'Shea.
Dunne hasn't played at all this season and O'Shea has played much at centre half.
O'Brien is also very inexperienced and is not in good form for Newcastle.
So taking into account Breens loss is massive.
Massive loss all right. If HM is to play then he'll have to start getting games at club level. Only problem is he plays for a massive club, with massive competition for places....Originally posted by colster
.....
So taking into account Breens loss is massive.
How are Paul McGrath's knees these days?
Hope he dosn't play doc at the back and bring in the
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No need to cut off your nose to spite your face.
Last edited by Estar; 19/09/2003 at 6:15 PM.
Any condescension detected in this post is fully unintentional and is solely the perception of the reader. If I think you're an idiot, I'll tell you that. You won't need to intuit it.
****ing hell, some of the responses to this thread have been laughable. "Breen is a massive loss" hahahaha. Dear god you must not have a clue about football. It looks like our strongest defence (Carr-O'Shea-O'Brien-Finnan) will be picked by fluke. If we win then everybody will say how great Kerr was for doing so well with limited resorces!
****ing hell, some of the responses to this thread have been laughable. "Breen is a massive loss" hahahaha. Dear god you must not have a clue about football. It looks like our strongest defence (Carr-O'Shea-O'Brien-Finnan) will be picked by fluke. If we win then everybody will say how great Kerr was for doing so well with limited resorces!
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Have to agree totally, although Breen tries his hardest against top level strikers he can be exposed.
There is a reason why he hardly played last season and didn't have many clubs after him when he was released from West Ham.
Reason being is that most managers don't rate him. There is a huge gulf between Premier and 1st Division.
(Carr-O'Shea-O'Brien-Finnan)
I'll go with this though I find O'Brien dodgy at times as well and O'Shea would need to get some weight on.
I think you just have to play whoever is doing well for their
club and who is fully fit. There must be 10+ contenders for the back four, John Thompson has been doing well for Nottm Forest
recently.
Originally posted by carnstein
****ing hell, some of the responses to this thread have been laughable. "Breen is a massive loss" hahahaha. Dear god you must not have a clue about football. It looks like our strongest defence (Carr-O'Shea-O'Brien-Finnan) will be picked by fluke. If we win then everybody will say how great Kerr was for doing so well with limited resorces!
carstein all knowing football expert that you are. Are you honestly saying that playing a back 4 that have never played together is not a risk.
We have one centre half who has never played a competitive game for Ireland and is in dire form for his club(Newcastle are leaking goals all over the place).
We have another who is playing fullback for the last season or so and has only played a handful of games at centre half. When he did play centre half for Utd in CL against a Swiss he had to be replaced by the 'superb' Silvestre. And he has never played centre half for Ireland in a competitive game.
The only experienced centre half we have hasn't played for his club all season.
Next we have 2 options for left full. One hasn't played there very often and the other hasn't played many games all season.
Now we've lost 2 centre halfs with approx 100 caps between them and who are in great form for their clubs.
We have no-one available that have been pushing these 2 for their places.
So when we lose the 2 of them for a make or break game then you reckon it's not a massive loss.
Give me a break. It's you who hasn't a clue about football!!!
to be honest , Ireland never really has a problem at the back, apart from a hammering we took from a great Danish side before Big Jack arrived.
We have a big problem centre midfield. Even the players from down under, made us look like muppets in that department.
Any condescension detected in this post is fully unintentional and is solely the perception of the reader. If I think you're an idiot, I'll tell you that. You won't need to intuit it.
Looks like much ado about nothing.
Breen's agent said yesterday that he'll be fit for the Switzerland game. Assuming he's correct, now the question is who do we play alongside him? My money would have to be on Dunne. I'd prefer to see O'Shea there, but would hate to see Harte coming in at left back to accomodate the switch.
Maybe you should put her on a leash, agent-man.
I cannot believe ANYONE would doubt O'Shea's ability to play at centre back for Ireland. Ireland V Switzerland is a massive step down for O'Shea, compared to the teams he has been facing with United. He had an outstanding pre-season at centre back and has been doing well there lately.Originally posted by colster
We have one centre half who has never played a competitive game for Ireland and is in dire form for his club(Newcastle are leaking goals all over the place).
We have another who is playing fullback for the last season or so and has only played a handful of games at centre half. When he did play centre half for Utd in CL against a Swiss he had to be replaced by the 'superb' Silvestre. And he has never played centre half for Ireland in a competitive game.
Give me a break. It's you who hasn't a clue about football!!!
O'Brien hasn't been brilliant for Newcastle of late, but neither has anyone else. If you doubt his ability at the highest level, take a look at Newcastle's away game to PSV in the CL last year. There is no way Breen should be ahead of him in the pecking order.
Our best team is made up of our best players. Breen is not one of our best players, he is an extremly poor player. If I was Kerr I would have frozen him out, along with the likes of Carsley and Kinsella, the minute I took charge and given some youngsters like O'Shea, O'Brien, Partrige and so on the chance to show what they can do, because at the end of the day, it should be blatently obvious to EVERYONE that players like Breen and not good enough to qualify for and ultimatly win major championships, wouldn't you agree?
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