QuoteNot a big fan of Connollys but you're right he had an effort from just outside the box that he almost curled into the bottom right hand corner.Originally Posted by DeLorean
yeah I kind of agree with this. The thing is.............didnt Kernaghan take a LONG TIME to settle with the irish team, and had a few bad early games, but once he got going I remember he surprised quite a few people in the qualifiers.
Will have to wait around for Worm to talk up Connolly.....................
Anyone remember Babbs last game for Ireland? Wasn't it V Scotland or Greece but it was one of the worst performances i have ever seen by anyone in a green jersey
Not a big fan of Connollys but you're right he had an effort from just outside the box that he almost curled into the bottom right hand corner.
his last game for Ireland was the 4-2 away defeat to Russia, he came on and scored an OGyeah I kind of agree with this. The thing is.............didnt Kernaghan take a LONG TIME to settle with the irish team, and had a few bad early games, but once he got going I remember he surprised quite a few people in the qualifiers.
Will have to wait around for Worm to talk up Connolly.....................
Anyone remember Babbs last game for Ireland? Wasn't it V Scotland or Greece but it was one of the worst performances i have ever seen by anyone in a green jersey
It was after a fairly successful spell in Portugal, he won foreign player of the year (or something along those lines)
No - Kernaghan's first game was v Lithuania at home - cleansheet did well. 2nd game Denamrk (then european champions) away and we drew 0-0 in a cracking game. He was brilliant that night.yeah I kind of agree with this. The thing is.............didnt Kernaghan take a LONG TIME to settle with the irish team, and had a few bad early games, but once he got going I remember he surprised quite a few people in the qualifiers.
Will have to wait around for Worm to talk up Connolly.....................
Anyone remember Babbs last game for Ireland? Wasn't it V Scotland or Greece but it was one of the worst performances i have ever seen by anyone in a green jersey
He was criticised after the Spain game a year later. We were rubbish that day but Kevin Moran had a nightmare too if I recall correctly being played in front of the back four. There was far too much hype and the party was planned to celebrate qualification.
He was actually very unlucky not to play in the world cup. We had Paul McGrath (our greatest ever player imo) and Phil Babb (then rated one of the top central defenders in England) in our team. Babb came through in the pre-tournament friendlies.
Mick McCarthy eased out the older lads for the 98 campaign. He was still a few months shy of his 30th birthday then.
Alan's commitment was never in doubt and he was also a decent centre half.
I think the game I mentioned was a friendly and it was at LR. My first thought was McCarthy's first game in charge against Russia (when Roy Keane was sent off for trying to launch a Russian into orbit) but I don't think AK was a regular in the squad at the time and McCarthy was trying a lot of new players out. It may possibly have been the last game at LR before the 94 WC (against CzechoSlovakia/Czech Republic, I think). What I do remember is AK at the right edge of the box near the byeline falling over the ball and one of the opposition picking the ball up and crossing for a teammate to score.
Anyway, Some good points made in your post. However....
It was great that we qualified for the WC, but our main opposition was Spain and Denmark. Denmark were reigning European champions only because they had a good run in the Finals - they hadn't even qualified and were only there by default. To knock them out wasn't as big a deal as e.g. knocking Holland out in 2002.
And we had a good squad. We had players like Keane, Houghton, Townsend, Sheridan in midfield, Aldo, Tommy Coyne, Cascarino and Quinn in attack, two good full backs in Terry Phelan and Denis Irwin and Big Paul for one of the Centre Half positions. The main weakness in the squad was the lack of cover at Centre Half and that is why Kernaghan got so many games. It was a breath of fresh air when it was discovered that Babb had an Irish granny. BTW, Babb was a Coventry player when he joined the squad - he only joined Liverpool after the WC.
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1) Knocking Denmark out was a very big deal. They were a quality side as indeed were the Yugoslavia side that missede out on Euro92. That draw in Copenhagen was ssuperb performance and result. It was a cracking match in Dublin as well. Whether or not it was a better achievement than putting Holland out doesn't denigrate the achievement.I think the game I mentioned was a friendly and it was at LR. My first thought was McCarthy's first game in charge against Russia (when Roy Keane was sent off for trying to launch a Russian into orbit
Anyway, Some good points made in your post. However....
It was great that we qualified for the WC, but our main opposition was Spain and Denmark. Denmark were reigning European champions only because they had a good run in the Finals - they hadn't even qualified and were only there by default. To knock them out wasn't as big a deal as e.g. knocking Holland out in 2002.
And we had a good squad. We had players like Keane, Houghton, Townsend, Sheridan in midfield, Aldo, Tommy Coyne, Cascarino and Quinn in attack, two good full backs in Terry Phelan and Denis Irwin and Big Paul for one of the Centre Half positions. The main weakness in the squad was the lack of cover at Centre Half and that is why Kernaghan got so many games. It was a breath of fresh air when it was discovered that Babb had an Irish granny. BTW, Babb was a Coventry player when he joined the squad - he only joined Liverpool after the WC.
2) Yes of course we had a great squad then. Amazing our worst ever player got 2 man of the match awards in those qualifiers then given the quality he was up against.
You may be right about Babb signing for Liverpool after rather than before the finals. I don't recall. Either way he was a very highly rated defender at the time. His Coventry side were decent too - 45 goals conceded in 42 games
during the 93/4 season(ten less than Liverpool).
As for the goal you mention it may well have happened in either friendly. I was certainly at both but don't remember any of the goals conceded.
Even still surely it would take a lot more than one bad goal i na friendly and a poor performance v Spain (along with almost everybody else that day) to make Alan our worst ever player.
The main reason I'm defending him stronger than some of the other players mentioned here that are nowhere near our worst ever player is not just becase he was a decent player but because he also gave of his best in every game.
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/past_.../players/babb/
Liverpools official site suggests he was signed after the World Cup
"It was largely due to his performances in the 1994 World Cup in America for Ireland which persuaded then manager Roy Evans to splash out a record transfer fee for a defender to secure his services"
Which is also my memory of the events
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Wasn't that Paul McGrath's slack clearance which Vilfort returned first time from 35 yards to lob Bonner?
Think it must have been Latvia cos I remember him scoring against Lithuania in Dublin later in the campaign.
Remember that like it was yesterday for some reason, Vilfort took it on the chest first though I think! McGrath redeemed himself later winning the corner that set up Quinn's equaliser.
Correct. Seemed to take an age to hit the net from my vantage point - standing behing "the wall" on the North Terrace. The goal was scored into the South Terrace end so it appeared to have a weird flight when viewed from our end of the pitch.
"The Road to the USA" shows a brilliant slow motion clip from behind the goal of our equaliser.
Quinn and the supporters featured are absolutely ecstatic as he runs away having scored. A little further up the pitch there is footage of McGrath - not engaged with the players but making his way back to the half way line, clenching his fist, head bowed and a relieved man.
Last edited by Wolfie; 14/08/2009 at 12:16 PM.
Quoting years at random since 1975
On 2nd thoughts Think you are right - Latvia sept 92 would have been his debut and then he scored against Lithuania in Sept 93. I'm just like the Czech programme editor who mixed up Latvia and Lithuania.
I can remember Quinn's equaliser but not the Danish goal.
Think the reason I remember it so well, along with the rare error from McGrath was the identity of the scorer. We had become familiar with him during Euro 92 when he scored Denmark's 2nd goal in the Final, also kind of handled it I think.
Last edited by DeLorean; 14/08/2009 at 12:55 PM.
ok fair enough was on my travels then anyway, but the games he played in Landsdowne he was awful
yeah remember that one, we were all shocked since Mcgrath made a small mistake, and u know he never did mistakes...............ever!
But he had a hand in the equaliser
Anyone remember that chap Alan Lee? Brian Kerr used to pick him quite regularly. Absolutly terrible!
Jesus ya he seemed more suited to 11 a side down the park never seen him do anything have say
I haven't read through the thread, so it has probably already been mentioned, but this conversation begins and ends with one name: Joseph Lapira. I mean, seriously.
I suspect that some people's loathing of Alan Kernaghan may be a mixed bag containing overheard influences from Dunphy's pillorying of him from the very beginning of his career, leading to his assigning him near sole blame for the 3-1 home defeat to Spain in 1993, a match where none in green did themselves proud. I thought he was unlucky not to play in the USA, particularly with the hindsight of what Phil Babb went on to become - a Spice Boy and golfing magazine publisher.
Speaking of Kernaghan, here is an interesting article on him and nationality I found a link to on his wikipedia page.
That question was less stupid, though you asked it in a profoundly stupid way.
Help me, Arthur Murphy, you're my only hope!
I think the game The Swordsman might be referring to where Kernaghan slipped over the ball or whatever was probably the 3-1 defeat at home to the Czechs in a friendly before the 94 WC. Think were unbeaten in friendlies outside of that having won in Holland and Germany and beating Bolivia at home. I don't remember the goal he was on about so I might be wrong. Doesn't matter anyway he was nowhere near our worst player regardless.
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