Republic of Ireland V Scotland - Sunday, 29th May 2011 - Carling Nations Cup

[Stuttgart88]

I hate this "without conceding a goal" bit. The difference between a clean sheet and shipping 3 like we did against Australia was very fine indeed.

I thought SKY got a bit carried away with Miller's penalty appeal. It'd have been very soft.

I was 6/10 at half time. I reckon 5/10 at full time. Very ropey defence and our midfielders couldn't get on it at all. All in all very patchy and disappointly low tempo. Assuming SSL isn't fit, I really would prefer Delaney alongside O'Shea at CB. Foley and Killer at full back. Ward did well at times and was asleep at times. How on earth we managed to contrive to give away a free on 18 yards at full time is amazing. We had the ball deep in their half seconds earlier and gave away TWO frees!

Cox did well though.

[Real ale Madrid]

What the hell is with the Bobby Charlton thing? He'll be after Pele's record next?

[Stuttgart88]

Queen "We Are The Champions".

As the great Barry Davies once said "Oh change the record", exasperated that yet another European final was ruined by that dirge.

[Noelys Guitar]

Levein just said Scotland deserved to win. OK Craig. We definetely need O'Shea back next week. Big plusses Keane and Given. We controlled 75% of the game fairly easily against a much improved Scotland team. Good test for next weeks game. Really like Cox's movement and close control around/in the box. and very hard player to push off the ball.

[legendz]

A win is a win. Despite all the criticisms, it's good to win the tournament. Hopefully the lads can kick on from here and qualify for the Euro's.

[geysir]

Really like Cox's movement and close control around/in the box. and very hard player to push off the ball.

Cox has balls.

[Condex]

Levein just said Scotland deserved to win. OK Craig. We definetely need O'Shea back next week. Big plusses Keane and Given. We controlled 75% of the game fairly easily against a much improved Scotland team. Good test for next weeks game. Really like Cox's movement and close control around/in the box. and very hard player to push off the ball.

Don't know what game you were watching but Scotland did not deserve to lose.

They were the only team that played any football in second half at times we looked like a disorganized rabble.

[Sullivinho]

Really like Cox's movement and close control around/in the box. and very hard player to push off the ball.

Behave.

Good addition alright. I don't think either of us is keeping caviar but our larder is significantly better stocked than Scotland's for forwards. I wouldn't want to be pinning my qualification hopes on Kenny Miller.

[TrapAPony]

Happy with Ireland's win considering that that was almost Scotland's full team & our squad was missing Dunne, O'Shea, Duff, Gibson, Whelan, McGeady, Doyle, McCarthy, Wilson, Clark, Walters, Best, Long, Kilbane, Cunningham & Westwood, but it was good to see Cox & Ward prove themselves to be decent additions. Also a big well done to Robbie Keane.

[Sullivinho]

..our squad was missing Dunne, O'Shea, Duff, Gibson, Whelan, McGeady, Doyle, McCarthy, Wilson, Clark, Walters, Best, Long, Kilbane, Cunningham & Westwood..

No less than 16 players mentioned there. And you could add St. Ledger to it.

[TrapAPony]

No less than 16 players mentioned there. And you could add St. Ledger to it.

David Meyler.....Folan & Green too

[BonnieShels]

Have to say I thought Shay was a bit all over the place on a couple of occasions really didn't think his positioning on a couple of miller chances were great. And miller's chance that went just wide I felt was made a little easier by shay going to ground too early.

[Fixer82]

Stephen Reid, Stephen Ireland, Stokes, McCarthy, Wilson, Andy Reid and of course David Connolly

[tommy_c12000]

Great boost for the team to get this win under their belt before Macedonia. Absolutely awful game of football though.

- Good to see Given having another solid game. Augurs well for sat nite.
- I don't fancy Ward at left full. Seen him a number of times playing for Wolves in this position and he is a liability. I would prefer Killer in this position sat nite
- McShane's Messi-like run in setting up the goal may have been the worst thing that could have happened us. He could now well get the nod ahead of Foley at RB which will be a crying shame.
- A key question is how fit is Sledge because we really need an O'Shea/Sledge partnership sat nite. McShane was caught hopelessly out of position at centre back a couple of times. O'Dea was also caught out of position and was very rash at times as was Kelly. Our back 4 was definitely the weakest area 2nite. Let's hope it's a brand new back four sat nite.
- Centre of midfield was very poor 2nite. Andrews lack of games all year is clearly evident and Fahey didn't impose himself on the game enough. Whelan will be back in the engine room sat nite. I expect Whelan to be a lot sharper on sat nite than in the previous matches given the solid run of games he got towards the end of the season. He will probably be partnered by Andrews but Gibbo could well get the nod (after his MOTM performance against Schalke how could u leave him out??!!)
- Good to see Hunty buzzing around again. Looks sharp which is remarkable considering the injury-ravaged season he has had. Perhaps scoring the goal that kept Wolves in the Premiership was exactly what he needed. Should start left wing sat nite.
- The odd set-piece aside Lawrence didn't contribute much to the game. McGeady will start RW sat nite.
- Coleman didn't really impress when he came on. One good move aside, didn't do much and was lucky (yet again) when he didn't concede a penalty when he got caught on the wrong side of Forrest. As I constantly keep saying he simply isn't good enough to make it as a top right winger, but he has the potential to be a top notch right back.
- Great to see Robbie go into the Macedonia game having scored 3 goals in 2 games. Cox looks like a viable option. I have been impressed with him when I've seen him with WB so it was nice seeing him translate his ability onto the international scene. What pleased me most was his attitude and willingness to close down the opposition, almost Doyle-like. Robbie to be partnered with Long sat nite. Also best of luck to Shane 2moro. Im sure he'll do us all proud. (and to Noel and to Ian whoever he is. . . . )
- Treacy didn't do much when he came on. For the past couple of yrs I was never a fan of Treacy. He looked to be carrying weight when he was with Blackburn and came across as a one trick pony, a young Kilbane lets say. However, this season he has really impressed me with PNE, and seems to be looking a lot trimmer than he was with Blackburn. Could yet prove to be a useful option, especially with that deadly left boot of his.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Stephen Reid, Stephen Ireland, Stokes, McCarthy, Wilson, Andy Reid and of course David Connolly

My understanding is Steven Reid retired from international football, given the no.of injuries in his career. But that he was willing to be called up, if Ireland were ever 'desperate'.

Which is fair enough. But probably unlikely now.

The rest could all return, with the obvious exception of Connolly who must be in the twilight of his club career.

[Yard of Pace]

My understanding is Steven Reid retired from international football, given the no.of injuries in his career. But that he was willing to be called up, if Ireland were ever 'desperate'.

Which is fair enough. But probably unlikely now.

The rest could all return, with the obvious exception of Connolly who must be in the twilight of his club career.

Connolly scored some important goals at the tail-end of the season for Southampton to help get them promoted. Perhaps an Indian summer....

[ArdeeBhoy]

Maybe a charity game.

We have enough strikers.....

[Kingdom]

Great boost for the team to get this win under their belt before Macedonia. Absolutely awful game of football though.

Agree

-

Good to see Given having another solid game. Augurs well for sat nite.

Agree - he even came for a cross!

- I don't fancy Ward at left full. Seen him a number of times playing for Wolves in this position and he is a liability. I would prefer Killer in this position sat nite

Disagree. We won't lose the game on Sat with Ward being selected. If Killer plays so be it, he did well in March.

- McShane's Messi-like run in setting up the goal may have been the worst thing that could have happened us. He could now well get the nod ahead of Foley at RB which will be a crying shame.

Totally agree. It's baffling. He could well be a deciding factor on Sat. And there I was in February thinking we'd seen the end of him.

- A key question is how fit is Sledge because we really need an O'Shea/Sledge partnership sat nite. McShane was caught hopelessly out of position at centre back a couple of times. O'Dea was also caught out of position and was very rash at times as was Kelly. Our back 4 was definitely the weakest area 2nite. Let's hope it's a brand new back four sat nite.

He can't be anywhere near fitness. And it will be saying a lot if he starts when we had Kelly O'Dea and Delaney play there in the past 2 games. I'd be hopeful of an O'Dea/O'Shea partnership, purely given that O'Dea has form when it comes to the big occasion. He was excellent on Pandev the first game. I'd advise people who would choose Delaney to have a look at the North game again. Watch his positioning and how he touches the centre forward. Pandev would exploit that and it would be costly.

- Centre of midfield was very poor 2nite. Andrews lack of games all year is clearly evident and Fahey didn't impose himself on the game enough. Whelan will be back in the engine room sat nite. I expect Whelan to be a lot sharper on sat nite than in the previous matches given the solid run of games he got towards the end of the season. He will probably be partnered by Andrews but Gibbo could well get the nod (after his MOTM performance against Schalke how could u leave him out??!!)

Can't disagree with that, however they weren't helped by absolutely insipid performance by the wingers and the back 4 as a collective. Only Ward and Cox offered themselves as an outball, and Scotland twigged Ward relatively quickly and were on top of him a lot. I do like Fahey, you can see he is constantly thinking, always looking for the next pass. I agree too, that it will probably be Glenn and Keith Andrews on Sat. Solid but unremarkable.

- Good to see Hunty buzzing around again. Looks sharp which is remarkable considering the injury-ravaged season he has had. Perhaps scoring the goal that kept Wolves in the Premiership was exactly what he needed. Should start left wing sat nite.

Personally I thought he was poor. I like him as the chaos enducing creature he is when he is introduced with 20 mins left in a game.

The odd set-piece aside Lawrence didn't contribute much to the game. McGeady will start RW sat nite.

Was this ever in doubt? I don't see how it could be? McGeady is on for our player of the campaign and has been head and shoulders above everyone else at their domestic clubs. He's an automatic choice at this stage alongside Keane, Dunne, O'Shea, Given and Duff.

- Coleman didn't really impress when he came on. One good move aside, didn't do much and was lucky (yet again) when he didn't concede a penalty when he got caught on the wrong side of Forrest. As I constantly keep saying he simply isn't good enough to make it as a top right winger, but he has the potential to be a top notch right back.

He was no worse than those around him, but he was better than Lawrence, and I thought he showed more awareness of his defensive duties when he came on than he has done before. Doubled up acceptably with Foley.

- Treacy didn't do much when he came on. For the past couple of yrs I was never a fan of Treacy. He looked to be carrying weight when he was with Blackburn and came across as a one trick pony, a young Kilbane lets say. However, this season he has really impressed me with PNE, and seems to be looking a lot trimmer than he was with Blackburn. Could yet prove to be a useful option, especially with that deadly left boot of his.

What he did do, that his predecessors didn't do, was offer himself as an outlet. I like him. He's got a rasper of a left foot, he's tall, and he's an aggressive runner with the ball. I'd like to see him start on Sat, have to be honest.

[Charlie Darwin]

Foley had a horrorshow when he came in at right back. There's no way anyone could objectively look at tonight's game and say McShane wasn't by far the better performer in that position.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Crowd of 17694.