I thought it had some meaning before the game, my mistake.
We do approach the meaningless game very seriously though.
just home after wasting 12 hours of my life that Im never gonna get back, seriously long drive back to Galway after watching a game like that. Simply the worst game of football Ive have been too.
But Im not in the slightest bit bothered by it.It was played for the most part at testamonial pace and none of the Irish players wanted to put in a tackle all night and risk a yellow card. We have bigger fish to fry now and this game will be forgotten very quickly once the playoff come around. Havent read through much of the thread but some of the critisism that I did see is over the top. Anyone who thinks this game is a barometer of how good or poor we are needs to get a grip of themselves.It was a totally meaningless game
Its really not that complicated!!!
I thought it had some meaning before the game, my mistake.
We do approach the meaningless game very seriously though.
Missed the first half because I thought the game was meant to start at 8pm GMT instead of 7pm. Met a few lads who along with me wandered in at half time. Just aswell I suppose.
I think I should the parachute, because I'm great.
In fact, I think I should get both parachutes, in case one doesn't work.
A completely irrelevant evening due to what happened in the 91st minute last saturday. I'd have loved there to be a great occassion tonight worth going for, but after Italy scored that goal this had 0-0 written all over it. And quite rightly so. Not a night for experimentation or throwing the shackles off, a night for re-inforcing situational positioning and ensuring no one got booked who shouldn't have. Very dull, I've spent better €50's and I do feel sorry for guys like Noel Hunt and Leon Best who would have loved a full blooded competitive game to get actually involved and stake a claim, but at this stage it's all about the next two games. I don't fear anyone but Russia, I'll go in to any other tie thinking we can win, if it's Russia I'll just have a horrible feeling going in to those games, then again stranger things have happened.
And of course a big congratulations to Shay Given, and particularly Kevin Kilbane. Irish heroes, both deserving to go to South Africa and experience a World Cup again. They're one win and one draw away from doing so! 10 games unbeaten in a new manager's first campaign, and desperately unlucky not to have turned a few draws in to wins along the way. I'll take that!
Performances:Originally Posted by youngirish
We've drawn with the world champions twice and could have beaten them bought times.
We were average against Bulgaria twice and still drew with them.
We did everything we had to do for a playoff. Worst result away was a draw.
Obviously we could have done better with only 4 wins but lets looks at our playoff opponents.
France:
Drew with Romania twice, who have been total muck this campaign.
Only beat the Faroes 1-0! That's as bad as we were under Stan.
Lost 3-1 to Austria
Not exactly setting the world on fire.
Portugal:
Lost 3-2 to Demark.
Followed that with three 0-0 draws with Sweden-Albania-Sweden
Pulled out a 3-0 and 4-0 win last two games so look like a team on a high.
Greece:
Lost to the Swiss twice(sound familiar?)
drew with Israel once(sound familiar?)
drew with Moldova
beat Luxembourg by one goal.
Definetly beatable.
Russia:
Lost to Germany twice
beat Liechtenstein by one goal!
drew with Azerbijan
So you can pick holes in the performances of all of our potential opponents.
Life of an Irish fan now reminds me of the scene in In the Name of the Father when Gerry first meets gareth pierce and berates her for giving his father hope! Well Trap has given us hope and I know it will hurt if we hope too much and get f ucked over again!...but this time I'm starting to believe!!!
Any word on Martin Rowlands injury. I hope it is not as bad as it looked.
When it comes to injuries some fellas have no luck e.g.Martin Rowlands and Stephen Reid.
Just got back in. Grabbed as much sleep as I could at the airport. Feel pretty cheated , tbh. I know the game wasn't as important as it could have been but the players were barely trying. I don't go to Ireland games for "entertainment" but the players should think about people who've given time/money to watch them play and put in a little effort. Still, mustn't grumble, we're in the playoffs.
Now I've got a two hour lecture on political philosophy
how many times did kilbane give the ball away..every time i think. rowlands was dire, pity he got injured though. i expected more from noel hunt, thought he was poor. all in all im not to worried. were in the play off's so fingers crossed for no injuries leading up to the games.
funny to see traps translator's(Manuela Spinelli) face when tony o donoghue said that italy only drew 2-2 with cyprus. haha awwh she's cute, got used to seeing her round with trap and tardelli. poor baby
get your facts right tony anyway..
We are a poor team punching above our weight due to Trap's system. We have been very lucky so far on numerous occasions :
- Home and away to Bulgaria
- Getting a dodgy penalty at home to Georgia when behind with 15 minutes left
- Away to Italy with the sending off
- Not having to play Georgia in Tibilsi
- Home to Cyprus when we scraped an undeserved 1-0 win
Anyway point is if anyone really believes France, Russia or Portugal are dreading drawing the likes of us, a team who has only won 4 games in the entire qualification process thus far over the likes of Bosnia or Ukraine then they need to cop on.
We can beat Greece and Russia if they have an off day (unlikely) but France and Portugal will beat us when it matters over 2 legs whether they are struggling or not.
Last edited by youngirish; 15/10/2009 at 10:41 AM.
You'd expect other coaches to have a lot of confidence to beat any team in pot 2.
If there is some apprehension about meeting Ireland above the others in pot 2, it would be based on that we have some qualification record, Trap's reputation and the illusion that we matched the Italians twice.
I thought that was funny with Manuela alright.funny to see traps translator's(Manuela Spinelli) face when tony o donoghue said that italy only drew 2-2 with cyprus. haha awwh she's cute, got used to seeing her round with trap and tardelli. poor baby
get your facts right tony anyway..
- don't see how we were lucky in either Bulgarian game, might not have most possession but Bulgaria hardly had a chance in either game, we gave them a goal each time and in Sofia McGeady was inches away from winning it.
- didn't get a stonewall peno in Podgorica
- defend one more counter-attack and we'd have beaten the World Champions
- have been unlucky with injuries to big players in the campaign
Was it just me or was Bill, Eamon and Gilesy sulking last night. They were very quiet altogether.
If the powers that be in RTE are going to give them a dressing down for having an opinion - right or wrong - and not being "upbeat enough" after Saturday night, its hardly worth watching anymore.
Their opinions are what has set them apart from the crowd for the last 20 years and long may it last.
Who is this guy, Trapper Tony?
dunphy was sucking up last night.
It doesn't matter anyway and I hope we get all the luck that's going, but I think we've been far more lucky than unlucky in the campaign. You don't always get exactly what you deserve, be it good or bad, but I think the crazy stuff went for us. Not only did we get Georgia at a neutral venue but all of the other teams had to go to Tblisi. The Italian sending off and the penalty against Georgia were decisions beyond belief, not just 50/50 things that happened to go our way. That was the really lucky stuff that went for us, everything else was just normal football stuff that happens I think. Bulgaria were better than us twice probably but two draws wasn't robbery or anything. I think we were pretty fortunate to end up with 6 points from Cyprus but we took our chances and that's what good teams usually get credit for. Outside Stephen Reid, injuries weren't a major issue and I'm sure every team suffered their fair share, Bulgaria missing Berbatov and Martin Petrov at Croke Park for example. Overall we got big breaks but were a far more organised and consistent side than Bulgaria so our second placed finish was very much on merit.
Last edited by DeLorean; 15/10/2009 at 12:32 PM.
we werent lucky or unlucky in this group. we got what we deserved. you can point to this and that but italy won in montenegro, and beat bulgaria at home, thats why they topped the group and we finished second. we need to forget the group now and concentrate on the play offs. but if u look only
italy
germany
spain
holland
and IRELAND
WERE UNBEATEN. thats a real good achievement if u ask me. well done lads.
what was the official attendance?
If memory serves you don't believe in luck in any capacity anyway. I agree with you this time in the main though, we finished where we deserved to finish.
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