whose got the tv coverage for this match, rte is it?
I could be wrong but I thought Foley is not in the intital squad but named as a replacementOriginally Posted by stiffler
Its really not that complicated!!!
whose got the tv coverage for this match, rte is it?
Havin a weekend away is quite frankly,lettin ur team mates down!
Just wanted to get the facts straight here for what they are.
A lot of times people talk about what was, what would have been without injury, or what is going to be/could have been.
I'd like to get out the facts as they are on our players form heading into a must win, and of course hear what people think.
Robbie Keane:
Fact: I mentioned that Duff could score more and was told by a few that He DOESNT score and is there to "Set Up." Fine. So....I mean someone has to score then, right? Well Robbie does not even really play anymore for Pool. He has scored a bit and frequently misses a target as big as the Titanic. So.........
Upside: He is rested and hungry as Irish Captain, and ready to prove his worth.
Downside: Umm.....the Captain of the freaking team doesnt really play anymore for his club. Sigh.
Bottom line on Form: Geez. Hard to grade. Thought Rusty was a dogs name.
Duff:
Fact: I havent heard his name in years. Fans fancy his runs, cherish his "hunger" and admire his athleticism. (And make excuses for injury time. Well, facts are, he hasnt done well off injury time, frankly.)
Upside: He certainly is not tired of winning.
Downside: He runs around like a chicken without a head, and is very seldom on the score sheet.
Bottom Line on Form: Ughh.....Newcastle? Please. But, people tell me he is invaluable to the Irish attack. Prove it against Georgia, is all I ask. If that is too much he needs to stop being championed. I think that's fair.
Dunne/McGeady
Fact: Although many will compensate with talks of other players surrounding them/manager support, or lack thereof, the bottom line is good players have good years on bad teams (in Dunnes case) and keep preforming under fire (McGeady sort of is.) But the bottom line is neither player is fancied as much as this time one year ago.
Upside: Well, Dunne gets a chance to prove his worth against Georgia. For McGeady, he can maybe score a goal, since Duff apparently isnt excpected to and Keane apparently cant.
Downside: They both had a career year last year, but last year aint now.
Bottom line on form: Seems to be debatable. Aiden needs a big goal in green to shut me up. Dunne, I think deserves the benefit of the doubt. (For now.)
Ill leave it up to the rest of you for the remaining starters, if you choose. i think it is an interesting conversation.
PS Of course I realize I could scroll to every single players name, but why not converge all current form thoughts to one thread, for the upcoming game vs Georgia?
Last edited by Crosby87; 28/01/2009 at 10:05 PM.
Other than Robbie Keane I have no worries about any of the other players at the moment
Its really not that complicated!!!
I have to say I've always had my reservations about Duff in an Ireland shirt, I know he can beat players for fun but I would love to know his real value, how many assists does he have for Ireland in competitive games? Is that stat available?
Of course he is often double-teamed so that in itself is a positive contribution.
I'm not saying we have a better option that Duff on the left wing either, just trying to gauge his contribution.
Duff is playing well enough for Newcastle, but the bottom line for me is that he's done nothing to deserve being dropped from the Irish team.
I don't remember the last time he had a bad game for us, honestly.
If we were playing Italy right now I'd be a bit worried, but we're playing Georgia at home.
We're solid defensively and we have some good attacking players in the team that should be able to outclass the Georgian defenders.
Overall, I find your post to be pretty negative. Where's your mention of Kevin Doyle, who's having a great season? Or even Keith Andrews, who is part of a Blackburn side who are now undefeated in 7 games?
It's easy to focus on the negatives, but you'd have to be the ultimate pessimist to feel that we won't be able to beat Georgia at home.
If at this stage you have reservations about (a fit) Duff in an Ireland shirt you may as well pack it in.
Agreed. With Gibson and Whelan pulling the strings in our centre mid Duff is the least of our worries.
Of course the stat is very dependant on the forwards finishing the chances he provides. Also I wouldn't be too worried what the stat is, it's very obvious what Duff brings to a very limited Irish team when he's injury free and it's all good.
McShane is almost certain to miss this game (hamstring). What is happening with Finnan? Is he still injured? If he is I think Trap will move O'Shea to right full and play Bruce alongside Dunne rather than play Kelly or Foley at right back.
^ In that case, Marc Wilson should be called up as a back-up. Very promising player.
Duff is still arguably our biggest threat in big games so there is no way i would drop him, even if his form was awful for Newcastle, which it isnt. He is still vital for us
If McShane is out through injury, then Trapp must call up St Ledger, if not then the fans and media should ask why?
If I'm honest I think Trapp will listen to DG and bring one of his favourites in, just like DG did when fast tracking the limited Bruce.
I think I should point out that Bruce has played some time at right-back. He played there for Ipswich against Chelsea in their FA Cup game at the weekend.
Looked like McShane playing at right-full, so at least we'll get consistency in that position if Bruce slots in!
Maybe a wrong choice of words, I'm not questioning Duff and not saying we have a better option or that our real problems don't lie elsewhere, I just wanted to know how many goals he has actually set up for us is all...
Georgia squad announced: http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=c...k=view&id=3969
Georgia squad v Republic of Ireland (Feb 11):
Goalkeepers: Giorgi Loria (Lokomotivi Tbilisi), Zurab Mamaladze (FC Zestaponi), Roin Kvaskhvadze (FC Zestaponi)
Defenders: Kakha Kaladze (AC Milan), Zurab Khizanishvili (Blackburn Rovers), Lasha Salukvadze (Rubin Kazan), Davit Kvirkvelia (Rubin Kazan), Giorgi Shashiashvili (Sturm Graz), Alexandre Kvakhadze (WIT Georgia Tbilisi), Ucha Lobzhanidze (FCZestaponi)
Midfielders: Levan Kenia (Schalke 04), Levan Kobiashvili (Schalke 04), Zurab Menteshashvili (FK Ventspils), Levan Khmaladze (Dinamo Tbilisi), Davit Odikadze (Gyor ETO), Luka Razmadze (WIT Georgia Tbilisi), Murtaz Daushvili (FC Zestaponi)
Forwards: Alexandre Iashvili (SC Karlsruhe), Davit Siradze (Terek Grozny), Levan Mchedlidze (US Citta di Palermo), Georgi Merabashvili (Dinamo Tbilisi), Beka Gotsiridze (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk).
Best player against cyprus in my opinion, that was our last game btw and we won
Lots of household names there!! Kaladze, Khizanishvili and....eh.......where's that cfdh edmundo guy to give us da low down!!!
I hope he goes with Andrews in midfield. Impressed when he came on against Poland. The rest of the team will be same old same old barring last minute injuries.
I've had an awful premonition that we could go a goal down in this game.
A doomsday scenario given the tactics we currently employ.
We're woefully short of the creativity to play our way back into a game.
Quoting years at random since 1975
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