Republic of Ireland V Poland - Sunday, 29th March 2015 - Euro 2016 Qualifier

[Charlie Darwin]

Apparently McCarthy gave Mila a little dig. At the game, Mila went down like he'd been shot. I didn't see anything happen. The BBC text commentary says McCarthy slapped him though and should've went.

I care not a jot, the Poles were an absolute cynical shower the whole night. Pulling, tugging, pushing, tripping and generally souring my relationship with that great country.

EDIT - Vine of it here, aye he could've been sent off (seen them given etc) but look at the absoute state of Mila going down like that...

Ref got that one right. It would have been embarrassing to see a player go off for that. A yellow card each and stop being children.

[DannyInvincible]

5 yellows last night. Anyone missing Scotland game?

Didn't hear of any suspensions after the players were booked, neither from the commentaryteam nor post-match from the panel.

A Polish mate texted that McShane could have been sent off with ten minutes to go for slapping an opponent?

McCarthy raised his hand and slapped (nothing too forceful) a Polish player on the cheek with an open palm. The Polish player went down like an elephant had taken a swipe at him with its arse. I don't think the ref properly caught it though as convention seems to be to send players off for conduct like that.

[DannyInvincible]

Ref got that one right. It would have been embarrassing to see a player go off for that. A yellow card each and stop being children.

Aye, was more unsporting than serious or violent. Yellow card was sufficient.

[DannyInvincible]

James has made this his profile photo on Facebook:



Great photo.

[Charlie Darwin]

Haha, I see his newfound maturity lasted about two days.

[OwlsFan]

Given - Had one save to make, should've saved it. He would've been in my team, but my view is other keepers (including two sitting on our bench) would have made it. Only fair to point that out since the debate rages on over our keepers. I have no doubt he's our number one for the campaign now though. His distribution was a very mixed bag as well, he was surprisingly slow to get the ball forward at times. It's undoubtedly an upgrade from Forde though.

Do you not see the contradiction in all that? Should have saved the goal, his distribution was poor and slow to get the ball forward. How is that an upgrade from Forde who has had an excellent campaign so far? And not wearing my blue and white glasses, Westwood has had a spectacular season so I see no justifiable basis for Given playing ahead of either. A split second faster reaction with his foot would have saved that goal.

I am not sure if you're saying that Robbie is useless for 90 minutes if he doesn't score?? He chased down their keeper and made him punt the ball in to touch on numerous occasions. Almost scored once and set up Coleman for a good opportunity. Not his most effective game by far but I have seen Long have ineffective games as well. Luckily the defender deflected the ball over the keeper because I am not convinced he would have scored either. Hero of the moment of course but swallows and summer come to mind.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

@ OwlsFan

Pull the other one. Keane did not set Coleman up for a good opportunity. He was too slow to react to another goalscoring opportunity. Stop acting like it was an expertly executed dummy. He chased the goalkeeper down and made him punt the ball into touch once. He didn't even touch the ball in the entire first half. We were practically playing with ten men FFS.

You're honestly having a go at the person who scored our goal for "getting in the way" of Keane's header and picking holes in his goal? Christ...

[SwanVsDalton]

Do you not see the contradiction in all that? Should have saved the goal, his distribution was poor and slow to get the ball forward. How is that an upgrade from Forde who has had an excellent campaign so far? And not wearing my blue and white glasses, Westwood has had a spectacular season so I see no justifiable basis for Given playing ahead of either. A split second faster reaction with his foot would have saved that goal.

There's no contradiction - I said his distritubtion was in an upgrade. It was, even if it wasn't great. Forde's is really poor. I was only talking about distrubution.

I'm probably Forde's biggest fanboy on here. To me he's done not much wrong and quite a lot right for Ireland. But I'd have picked Given for experience and leadership - for an extra edge for what he represents and he who is more than his actual current ability. I'm guessing that's why O'Neill went with him too.

I don't think he'll drop him now he's in.

I am not sure if you're saying that Robbie is useless for 90 minutes if he doesn't score?? He chased down their keeper and made him punt the ball in to touch on numerous occasions. Almost scored once and set up Coleman for a good opportunity. Not his most effective game by far but I have seen Long have ineffective games as well. Luckily the defender deflected the ball over the keeper because I am not convinced he would have scored either. Hero of the moment of course but swallows and summer come to mind.

I'm not saying that, not even close. I'm just saying he had a quiet game (which he definitely did) but he still nearly scored from the only opportunity he had. That's Robbie. For me, he's still our best goalscorer and I'd have in the team for must-win games.

I also pointed out Long was fairly ineffectual in everything else he did, bar the goal. But credit where it's due - all I want is him to score, whether it's a 30-yard screamer or a three-yard-off-a-defender's-arse-scramble-over-the-line. And last night he did it.

[SwanVsDalton]

Haha, I see his newfound maturity lasted about two days.

I hope you're not serious. 'Player takes pride in positive moment in sporting career' - stop those presses.

@ OwlsFan

Pull the other one. Keane did not set Coleman up for a good opportunity. He was too slow to react to another goalscoring opportunity. Stop acting like it was an expertly executed dummy. He chased the goalkeeper down and made him punt the ball into touch once. He didn't even touch the ball in the entire first half. We were practically playing with ten men FFS.

You're honestly having a go at the person who scored our goal for "getting in the way" of Keane's header and picking holes in his goal? Christ...

Translation - everything Keane did was literally the worst. Pull the other one aye?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Given - 5 Distribution poor.
Coleman - 7 On and off. Was at the heart of what we did wrong in the first half and what we did well in the second half.
O'Shea - 6 Right attitude in the second half. Tried to bring the ball out and be positive. Controlled the threat of Lewandowski.
Wilson - 6 Asinine to blame him for the goal.
Brady - 5 Badly exposed and average set pieces but second half showed why he should be played in his proper position.
McGeady - 4 Offered nothing.
Whelan - 6 OK. Offers absolutely nothing when we are on the front foot. Wasn't troubled defensively.
McCarthy - 6 Not the same player he is for Ireland that he is for Everton. Should have been sent off. Anyone not wearing green tinted glasses can see that.
Hoolahan - 7 Poor first half hour. Excellent in the last hour. Deserves to start regularly. Even won the ball on a couple of occasions.
Walters - 6 One or two bright moments but he shouldn't be starting at the expense of McClean, Brady and Long and he signifies everything that is wrong with the way we are set up. Put us under the cosh (like 2nd half injury time against Austria) deep in our own half and we could have been punished for it.
Keane - 3 Offered absolutely nothing. Was second best to everything and was off the pace any time the ball went near him. Instead of offering leadership to his teammates, he just constantly moaned and badgered the referee.
McClean - 7 Excellent impact off the bench. Offered more attitude than all his teammates put together. I said before the game our starting line up lacked pace, penetration and aggressiveness and James brought all of these things when he was finally brought on.
Long - 7 Right attitude when he came on and was quick enough and intelligent enough to react again, like he did when he came on against Russia in Dublin. Has to start against Scotland.

It is two points lost rather than one point won. This Poland team was absolutely dreadful. Lewandowski was anonymous. But they were missing half of their starters so they will be much stronger at home. The problem yesterday wasn't that our "kids" need to be coached better close quarter controls. The problem was that we were set up the wrong way again, the wrong players started again and we had no leadership or personality anywhere on the pitch. Coleman, McCarthy and Keane's temperament let them down time and time again.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Long on the pitch for 10 minutes when we are losing a crucial game and everything he did was wrong bar the goal.

Keane touches the ball about 6 times in the entire match just like he did against Georgia and Germany and yet we still have to indulge this fantasy that he is our best bet of scoring a goal and bailing us out.

[nigel-harps1954]

Robbie Keane was absolutely anonymous for the entire game. I would have shot a Sunday League goalkeeper had they let in that header that Fabianski almost made a meal of.

There were too many passengers out there. Simple as that.

I also thought Shay Given should have saved the shot for the Poland goal, didn't make himself big, and gave too much of an angle for the shot. Westwood has been the form Irish keeper this year and it's a mystery how he'd not been given his chance for the game if we were to make any goalkeeping change.

I scratch my head at O'Neills tactics from time to time.

[SwanVsDalton]

Long on the pitch for 10 minutes when we are losing a crucial game and everything he did was wrong bar the goal.

Keane touches the ball about 6 times in the entire match just like he did against Georgia and Germany and yet we still have to indulge this fantasy that he is our best bet of scoring a goal and bailing us out.

Hard to reply to a post so drenched in hysterical melodrama but I'll give it a go...

Long did well, scored when it mattered. He should start. Given that you spent about 30 posts last night calling for Walters to come off and slagging Keane, you of all people should appreciate a thorough examination of his performance which consisted of a) a miscontrolled pass near the touchline, b)a goal and c) a silly foul.

You consistently fail to acknowledge that the burden of proof isn't with a guy with 60 odd international goals and more footballing intelligence in his left foot than Shane Long has demonstrated in his whole career - it's with Shane Long. A guy who, despite your claims, has blown more chances to grab a starting spot than any other Irish player in recent history.

But he scored, and I'd like to see him start against Scotland.

Robbie Keane was absolutely anonymous for the entire game. I would have shot a Sunday League goalkeeper had they let in that header that Fabianski almost made a meal of.

There were too many passengers out there. Simple as that.

I also thought Shay Given should have saved the shot for the Poland goal, didn't make himself big, and gave too much of an angle for the shot. Westwood has been the form Irish keeper this year and it's a mystery how he'd not been given his chance for the game if we were to make any goalkeeping change.

I scratch my head at O'Neills tactics from time to time.

Granted I haven't seen the Keane chance again since I saw it at the game, at the time it looked a good header and a great save but I'll take your word on it.

Forde and Westwood should be right to be miffed, but they should've been miffed from the moment Given was brought back into the squad. As soon as that happened, he was getting into the team sooner rather than later and that was always going to be it.

We still don't play with any fluency or plan, tactics-wise. It's either spread the play wide for crosses or look for Walters, even though the team is clearly not designed to play off him. I still want more cohesion especially though midfield. Our goals come through intensity and pressure, but never from any kind of fluid attacking play.

We're winning the ball and keeping it far better than under Trap, so that's improvement. It's what we do with it now that has to get better, particularly if we're to have any hope of qualifying.

[Stuttgart88]

Do you not see the contradiction in all that? Should have saved the goal, his distribution was poor and slow to get the ball forward. How is that an upgrade from Forde who has had an excellent campaign so far? And not wearing my blue and white glasses, Westwood has had a spectacular season so I see no justifiable basis for Given playing ahead of either. A split second faster reaction with his foot would have saved that goal.

I am not sure if you're saying that Robbie is useless for 90 minutes if he doesn't score?? He chased down their keeper and made him punt the ball in to touch on numerous occasions. Almost scored once and set up Coleman for a good opportunity. Not his most effective game by far but I have seen Long have ineffective games as well. Luckily the defender deflected the ball over the keeper because I am not convinced he would have scored either. Hero of the moment of course but swallows and summer come to mind.

Was it a deflection? Shows you what I saw! I thought it was a composed jink over him from where I was sitting.

[DannyInvincible]

Was it a deflection? Shows you what I saw! I thought it was a composed jink over him from where I was sitting.

Went over the keeper off Glik.

Can see the deflection clearly at around the 40 second mark in the video here: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2015/...s-for-ireland/

[the doc]

Reading through all these posts makes me realise, that I've forgotten more about football than Posters on here know about the game.

[Stuttgart88]

You still haven't answered my questions.

[DannyInvincible]

Reading through all these posts makes me realise, that I've forgotten more about football than Posters on here know about the game.

Sorry to hear that. What's it called? Total amnesia?

[DannyInvincible]

Some post-match videos...

Shane Long interview with FAI TV:

[DannyInvincible]

Robbie Keane interview with FAI TV: