Originally Posted by tricky_colour
Nice touch Trap bringing his wife to the RTE interview
lol its not his wife, its his bit of work
Nice touch Trap bringing his wife to the RTE interview
Nice touch Trap bringing his wife to the RTE interview
lol its not his wife, its his bit of work
thats his interpretor or am i drinking too much!
Homer did it ever occur to you to let go of the Candy?
Haha, did anyone else hear what I just heard on the live aftermatch chat thingy on the RTE website????
It seems the boys in the studio didn't know their audio was still live....
youngirish: "I'm nearly always right about young players (it's frighteningly accurate)..." :)
What did they say?
Exactly. Yes Dunne stood out but he had a terrific partner beside him. This was St Ledgers competitive debut, in a very hostile atmosphere. Think he has nailed down that position.
Him and Folan should be very very proud of their full competitive debut
Gilesy said to Eamo "That Colbert Report on foot.ie is only a bo_ox!"
Then Ronnie said "Calm down lads"
to which Bill said "Lads, yer still Live!!!"
They were talking about Catanaccio and stuff and Traps superb CV... but they said that even great managers make mistakes. This somehow led to them discussing Ireland losing 1-0 to Italy in 1990 where, as Dunphy put it, "Ronnie was left sat on the ****in' bench!!"
Priceless.
Eamo was also banging on about how Carsley and Ireland should be back.
youngirish: "I'm nearly always right about young players (it's frighteningly accurate)..." :)
I'll start us off with my match ratings. Feel free to add your own, criticize mine, or post your own thoughts on the match and the performance.
Given- 7- Solid as ever between the sticks.
O'Shea- 7.5- Kept Petrov quiet and was instrumental in creating space for Dunne for the goal by blocking off Berbatov.
Dunne- 10- Composure, determination, strength, desire- you'd run out of adjectives trying to describe his performance tonight. I'm gonna stick with immense.
St. Ledger- 7.5- Didn't look out of place at the back. Excellent competitive debut in a pressure cooker situation.
Kilbane-5- Made a terrible error for Bulgaria's goal, and was an obvious weak link at the back all game.
Duff-7- Had a strong first half, and worked hard the entire match.
Whelan/Andrews-6-Once again Bulgaria were allowed to boss midfield, and these two as a partnership were average at best tonight.
Hunt-7-Great running, and some fantastic delivery from set pieces.
Keane-6-Clearly carrying an injury, he wasn't able to be at his best.
Folan-7-Fantastic hold up play, especially in the first half. Some poor decision making at times, but in fairness this was mostly later in the game as his energy levels dropped, and he became increasingly isolated as Ireland dropped deeper and deeper.
Subs:
Kelly-6.5- It's hard to come on as a defender late in a game, but he did what he had to, and made a crucial clearing header at one point. Poor in possession however, giving away the ball a couple of times unnecessarily.
McGeady-6.5-Nearly scored the winner, and looked dangerous.
Best-6-Some good running, but didn't have much to work with after coming on.
In terms of the result, obviously most of us would have taken it before the game, and I'm no different; however, in the first 30 minutes we looked like a superior team, and I wish that could have translated to a full 90 minute performance. I'm not sure what changed our mentality- scoring our goal, or conceding shortly after? Perhaps a combination of both.
Anyway, our team seems to be improving as we go along, and for the most part I agree with Trap's tactics and selections.
He is slowly filling the holes, and tonight the only glaring weak spot was at left-full.
With the emergence of St. Ledger, when/if Finnan returns to full fitness, I would like to see O'Shea moved over to the left, with Finnan slotting in at right back.
With Stephen Reid coming in for one of Whelan or Andrews, our midfield may cease to be a worry area as well.
It's a good result, and we can be excited about the final leg of the qualifying journey after the summer.
Last edited by irishfan86; 06/06/2009 at 8:17 PM.
I'd echo most of that and just add that Folan had a good game and is looking like an excellent option.
I was very impressed with Folan. The first 30mins he was unreal, every time he got the ball he created something.
Central midfield was an obvious problem in the second half. Is Kilbane over the hill? Honestly i haven't seen him play in a while because i don't watch Wigan matches regularily, but he has been off the pace the last few times for Ireland.
St. Ledger i knew would be a good addition for the side. I seen him play for Preston a few times this season and he was superb every time. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few Premiership clubs looking to get hold of his services.
Dunne = Legend
One thing pointed out by the panel. We are the 8th place 2nd placed team in at the groups. If we drop to 9th we will not qualify even if we finish second. Note this.
I couldn't believe it at the start, we were actually comfortable, went 1-0 up and I was like this is it, lets go and get a few more goals and top this group.
However the second half midfield performance was a disgrace, I mean did we pass the ball at all? 'A great result for Irish football'? not a chance!!!
We need to beat Cyprus and Montenegro and get a point against Italy now, or we face being the worst runner up. Disgusted really, although Dunne and St.Ledger were excellent, as were Folan and O'Shea.
Yeah for the first 30 minutes Folan won everything that came his way. Got tired last(expected when he somehow gets little football at Hull) on but still gave everything. Very very good option for us to have and one that we have lacked in recent years
he plays for Hull now
Hopefully we will be ok. Scotlands group is woeful(they are second with negative goal differenceOne thing pointed out by the panel. We are the 8th place 2nd placed team in at the groups. If we drop to 9th we will not qualify even if we finish second. Note this)
Also Portugal are struggling in their group with Sweden, Denmark and Hungary. There will be many points dropped in that group
Likewise the group containing Serbia, France and Romania
Fingers crossed. Realy really stupid that FIFA allowed this
Haha no wonder i hadn't seen him play for them! Jeesh this leaving Cert has really taken over my soccer priorities. Usually i'd never make a rookie mistake like that.he plays for Hull now
I'll tell you what, I'd love to see us win the group and Italy fail to qualify for the playoffs despite finishing second. That'd teach 'em, the defending world champions out on this stupid rule. Montenegro are a brand new country and shouldn't have been seeded sixth. Our group should have gotten an exemption because of this.
Well tonight proved we can play when we go out with the right mindset, and not one of simply to defend, which is predictably exactly what happened when we went ahead. You could set your watch by it.
Folan looks useful....if we bothered to get anyone in and around him for any of the countless hoof ball he won. He looked a frustrated figure out there, wouldn't blame him either, ran his ******** out, won what was there to be one, but could no support for most of the game.
Was disappointed inthe fullbacks too, absolutely no courage at all to take the ball and simply more a couple of yards with it, but then there's no one form the mid-field showing any willingness, or even intelligence in wanting to receive the ball.
Only ones who showed any real quality going forward were Duff, and McGeady when he was on. Folan and Dunne were class too.
The difference between this campaign and the last one is unbelievable. With the same, or aguably an even worse, team. Well done Trapp!
No pleasing some people!! It is a good result, keeps us on track and the group is still in our hands. The first 30 mins Ireland played very well, scored a good goal. From the time we conceded the goal onwards, we were defending so much deeper and gave very little support to the two up front. Its a dangerous tactic but we got the result. In a sense I think if we had been a bit more ambitious then maybe we wouldve got the win. The fact that they scored so quickly after our goal was a killer for us because it gave them spirit and confidence that was already starting to wane at that stage. The first 30 mins tonight and second half in Bari is the best this team has played in a long time.
Dunne was excellent and Ledger did very well alongside, JOSH was also very impressive. KK had a poor game although improved in the second half, the goal was very soft and disappointingly very similar to that conceded against Georgia at home. Folan and Hunt worked their socks off as did Duff. Keane didnt have his best game and think the injury affected him. Disappointed with the two lads in the middle again, they did quite well for the first half hour, particularly Andrews but once the mindset/tactic set in to defend so deep they very rarely strung a few passes together which was essential to support the front two and take pressure off the back four.
I didnt think McGeady did an awful lot when he came on and unfortunately our options are limited on the bench, may be long wouldve came on if JOSH hadnt got injured.
Yet another good night under Trap and further progress, some people may not like the system/tactics but it is working and if we can now win in Cyprus it will leave us with two home games to pretty much decide if we can win the group or get second.
Last edited by elroy; 06/06/2009 at 8:35 PM.
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