Much patience is being afforded to St Ledger to see if he can prove match fitness.
Loyalty works both ways.
I have to agree with this, Trap would get slaugheterd by the media if he started St Ledger and he then broke down.Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
Better to play safe, have St Ledger on the bench, ready and willing to come on later in the game, when players tire and we need to close out the game.
My gut feeling is O'Dea will partner O'Shea.
Much patience is being afforded to St Ledger to see if he can prove match fitness.
Loyalty works both ways.
We know that CM and full back are positions we're weak in, but it's been like that for ages. The creativity comes from our width and the inventiveness of our forwards, plus the use of long balls.
This will be Andrews' first competitive start since Paris and he was well up for it that night. We need a big performance from him. He's both a ball winner and a guy who can drive forward. His worst games for us have been bad, his best games have been very good. We need him and Whelan to be on top form. Whelan showed his capability in recent months: good enough to thrash Bolton, not good enough to compete against City. He's good enough for Macedonia.
Looks like Robbie's out. If match was tomorrow he wouldn't take part - source RTE
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
The match isn't tomorrow.
We must have the most innuendo-happy team in the world.
Expected Kikbane to start but still would have prefered Ward. Would be very disappointed if Cox starts ahead of Long, bad move for me, Keane and Long linked well v Slovakia despite Keanes lack of sharpness. Praying that he'll make Saturday, surely players should be told to take it handy on the tackles last session before the flight ffs...and it ****ed rain in Thessaloniki all day just while Ireland hits a heatwave, forecast for ****ing rain in Skopje on sat and all....
Sounds like you are sporting a hefty hangover, Drums.
Be nice! I've since read the thread and realised it's old news. Also saw the expected team. Not surprised about Cox ( http://foot.ie/threads/152120-Macedo...=1#post1491901 ) .
Seen elsewhere (YBIG perhaps?) that Trap has spoken of a different approach due to the physicality of them in Dublin, and the relative failure of the long ball. If there is any truth in that, then surely he's looking at keeping the ball on the deck and playing a more composed game - Foley, Fahey and Coleman would benefit in those scenarios.
Just echoing Bonnie's post earlier, I've been in knots all week in anticipation. Nothing grips me like the week leading up to an Ireland game. I love it.
Convinced we'll win. Backed Aiden to score and Ireland to win (again), amongst a couple of others.
Genuinely excited now. Boarding a plane in about 12 hours for my most exotic away trip yet. €1.60 a pint - if only I drank! Anyone going via Belgrade tomorrow?
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Me too. I even buy The Indo every day during match week.
Speaking of which, can we try and second guess David Kelly? I reckon there'll be references to:
Lily-livered decision to play Georgia in Germany
Keane is a horrible person
Trap is an obstinate has-been
Trap didn't know Harte was Irish
Why do you buy that garbage? Emmet, Carl, Gav and Pat in the Times are standard fare during international week. Kelly? pfffft - second guessing him is like second guessing which direction Hyland's eyes will be looking in the herald
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Stutts just likes to get a bit of indignation off his chest.
'cos I live in London, mate.
The Indo gets printed here so it's the same version that appears in Ireland.
The Irish Times international version is only an abbreviated version of the real thing and never has up to date football. Sometimes it doesn't even have any football.
The Examiner isn't on the shelves quickly enough for my commute.
Anyway, I reckon Kelly will cite the no-shows as evidence that the players have all lost faith in Trap's medievel methods.
How did we manage before these 24/7 updates?
Already available - a picture of the moment when Robbie pulled up in training 'after injuring himself in a tackle with Damien Delaney 15 minutes into the practice game. Assistant manager Marco Tardelli described it as a “slight problem”
I'm gonna take a long punt and predict he mentions Trap sipping pina coladas by the pool in his villa.
I predict that he mentions Traps age in every paragraph.
Apparently as per Early the First 11 lost 5-0 against the substitutes. Now in saying that, the teams I saw today had Murphy in goal for the the firsts and Given in for the subs.
They probably saw what Delaney did to Keane and let them win.
I'm having cold feet. I think he'll be sipping margaritas instead.
(Lengthy) tactical preview of Saturday's game for anyone interested:
http://www.thefreekick.com/blog/2011...tical-preview/
And a quick guide to the likely Macedonia team:
http://www.thefreekick.com/blog/2011...luffers-guide/
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