What do you base that on? Over the last six years, we have won one game against opposition of that quality. One.Originally Posted by the bear
I'm all for supporting our team, but looking at this dispassionately, it'll be some upset if we qualify.
kelly shouldn't be playing
What do you base that on? Over the last six years, we have won one game against opposition of that quality. One.
I'm all for supporting our team, but looking at this dispassionately, it'll be some upset if we qualify.
I agree. We have played European teams in 7 playoff matches (Holland x1, Belgium x2, Turkey x2 and France x2). We have won one in 90 mins and even then our opponent still had ET to fall back on.
Kelly not a left full. Think he only passed the ball to McGeady once in first half.
Always look on the bright side of life
We don't need to beat anybody! Away goals will do. Armenia are better than Estonia.
of what quality? estonia, montenegro, turkey, bosnia ?
these aren't top notch sides
I would argue Turkey probably are, they finished ahead of belgium who are probably better than us, and well Germany are a class above most teams so coming behind them is no humiliation, I would want to avoid turkey al all costs, coming out of Istanbul with any result would be very impressive.
Got the result we wanted in the end which is fantastic. Lucky breaks went our way which helped decide the result in the end i felt.
Performance was'nt the best either from us if i honest , will have to improve or will have major problems in our attempts to qualify .
Was impressed with Walters when he came on and also with Simon Cox, both of whom might be starting this day next month when Ireland play the first leg of the playoff .
i agree turkey are the team to avoid, with the hostile crowd in istanbul being as much a factor as anything. as a team they are not as good as they use to be. they are defo not top notch, and we could defo aspire to beat them if drawn with them
Much improved performance on recent games, if stil not great. Good to see us play keep ball when we went 2-0 up rather than turn into a team of retarded schoolboys new to the game. Yeah, Armenia helped us with the goals, but we'd have scored them anyway given our superiority and then sat back.
Downsides -
• Given should have saved their goal. I think we can forgive him one error though!
• Doyle, Kelly and McGeady were all poor. McGeady must be in the team for his defensive contribution, but he didn't even bother with that tonight much. Ok cross for the goal in fairness - though the keeper should have claimed it - but did feck all else bar give the ball away. Hunt was much better when he came on.
Upsides -
• The clean sheet record is gone. Dunno if it adds extra pressure to a professional team, but nice not to have that talked about going into the play-offs
• Walters, Best and Andrews were all good (Andres granted taking advantage of having more time due to the extra man)
• We played keep ball for a good five minutes after the second - we can do that!
Much more confident of the play-offs now than I had been before the game. And actually looking forward to them.
Best???
Agree with your summation.
Didn't think the Armenians were gonna fo anything after the guest 5 or so minutes. Their back 4 was woeful.
Biggest plus of the whole night was Walters. Looked unplayable for his cameo. Doyle looks to me like a player who didn't get the reported big move in the summer. I have a feeling all that baseless Arsenal move rumour crap has gotten to him. Hasn't looked like his old self for a fair few games now. Lets hope Walters stays fit. Definetely the type of player who will fill any of our upcoming opponents with fear. His link up play with Hunt was excellent. Hunt will be pushing McGeady for a starting spot based on tonights game. Dunne was his usual brilliant at the back and of course scoring the second goal. Roll on thursday.
Another thing I noticed tonight. I have a feeling Trap is having doubts about Whelan. There is a pattern to some of the things Trap does. Second time he has subbed him in the space of a few days. The main beneficary of that might be not Fahey but Gibson if he returns from injury. Would not be at all surprised if a fully fit Gibson starts the first play-off match.
Bugger; meant Cox. I was doing that at the game too.
Or maybe all the talk of Long Cox unnerved me enough to subconsciously try switch to talk of the Best Cox?
Was disappointed by Armenia alright; not what their results suggested.
Last edited by pineapple stu; 11/10/2011 at 11:29 PM.
I thought Duff was motm and all the 3 subs did well, espec Fahey and Walters.
What a difference it was to have Fahey pass the ball to the feet of Walters, right across the pitch.
In the main, that's where the difference lies between us now and 2 years ago, the subs bench.
Stu, I saw what you did there!
Too many daiquiris?
Well done on your win tonight, controversial red card aside.
Bosnia & Herzergovina and Turkey are clearly the teams to avoid in the play-offs. B&H because of their immense goal threat (they scored 5 v Luxembourg a few days ago and have a lot of attacking talent) and Turkey because Istanbul is such a hostile place. I would imagine you would beat Estonia or Montenegro. Montenegro played well against England in both games though so maybe they will raise their game for the big occasion. They did blow a bit hot and cold in our group. They lost in Cardiff, only took 4 points from Bulgaria who are really quite poor based on tonight's game, and lost against Switzerland quite cmortably tonight. I'd go for you lot in a two-legged play-off.
Last edited by Cymro; 11/10/2011 at 11:39 PM.
"Life is like a hair on a toilet seat. Sooner or later you are bound to get pi$$ed off."
"In this league, a draw is sometimes as good as a win" - Steve Morison
The sneaky edit?
Ssshhhh!
Credit to Ireland on nullifying their biggest threats and exposing the weaknesses.
Trap did his homework and the team just about stuck to the plan.
Whelan was only subbed off because he is playing injured, not because Trap has lost faith in him.
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