Is Pilkington available tomorrow? I'm getting mixed messages over that.
If he is, I would be fully supportive of giving him some game time up front to see if he can replicate what he has been doing for Cardiff.
Should definitely get some game time anyway. He was fantastic attacking with Long against Italy.
McClean should be getting game time in his natural position.
Independent article I read earlier said he is an option. Didn't comment at all on the fact that he went back to his club last week so wasn't sure if the writer knew or not.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Times said it as well. Presume that means O'Neill mentioned him in passing but there wasn't a full quote.Originally Posted by SkStu
I saw pictures of him training with the rest of the squad today.
I agree regarding O'Kane. Worth a look again. Showed great energy the last night. My only fear for him would be that MON, like Eddie Howe, has him below Arter in his thoughts. I think Arter's form in the PL is being taken into consideration in a way that, say, McClean's wasn't for Euro 2012. Not saying they're that similar as players but it's a numbers game at this point given that McCarthy, Whelan, Hendrick and Hoolahan are the four certainties in and around the middle.
I wouldn't mind seeing Doherty too but I think Christie has earned himself the second choice RB spot and can also fill in at LB which is similar to Doherty so he loses out there.
Definitely want to see Judge at 10. Hoolahan's inability to play the two Poland games on the bounce must be considered because the three group games come quite thick and fast and we might need another option in the creative midfield role, given that we don't look as good without a creative midfielder in terms of ball retention etc.
I think O'Shea is going to get some time. I have a notion MON actually stated it. Might need a start too. Duffy would nearly be better off not playing at all and having his towering performance Friday night as the main factor in MON's thoughts when he goes about considering if he can bring Duffy. I think he might be able to. Perhaps at Wilson's expense, depending on if Wilson is fit and getting games. Coleman, Christie, Clark, O'Shea, Keogh and Ward have all featured a lot under MON so I think they'll all go (Brady too). He's not completely reliant on Wilson's ability to play LB and CB because we have 4 options for LB (in order, probably: Brady, Ward, Christie, Clark). Wilson has played a lot under MON too so it might be a case that it's unfair not to bring him and Duffy's own post-match comments are the reality. In which case, all going well and on the basis of Friday and his season at Blackburn, he's playing in the PL next season and he's starting the first round of qualifiers for the World Cup.
As good a place as any. Congrats to Northern Ireland on 10 consecutive wins. That's a fantastic achievement.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
I've never heard of Christie playing left back I don't think?
Think it's ten games unbeaten isn't it?
Ya sure they drew against Wales on Saturday.
Yep sorry, got a bit carried away. Still quite the achievement.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Indo says Pilkington is fit for tonight.
The coleman thing is no longer an issue because he seems to have removed that Gaelic football tugging from his game. At least i hope he has as I havent seen him do it in a long time. Players can change/adapt and therefore opinions can too.
Perhaps its a communication issue with the players and Randolph, we can give the benefit of the doubt perhaps Randolph is one of those who needs to be told rather than proactively runs out to cover the ball, and if thats the case then we could put it down to unfamiliarity amongst the defenders and keeper. I am not so sure, but the jurys out on that one.
I also felt like my Dear Bonnie, that although we never had much possession we never looked like conceding at the same time, probably because the swiss were so impotent at the head of the attackThey badly need a striker up there who can score goals. Having said that i think we still looked relatively comfortable and never felt like that with Trap really(trap reference only because this was how we also played under Trap). We also looked a lot more capable of scoring in this game even with the limited possession we had.
I think because of the results at the moment we are excusing MON to an extent with his formations, I was more critical of this earlier on but if he keeps getting the results or "lucky" as some have said then I am happy to accept it. When the results start changing then it will be a lot more heavily scrutinised - and rightly so.
Hopefully we get a win tonight. And i also hope Doyle gets on the plane, he offers something different to the other 3 forwards we have, and i think technically has more about him, which is something Kilbane said the last night too.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
I think Doyle did enough in 20 mins on Friday to book his spot. He still has that bit of class that others lack.
Friday was a game we might have won 2-0 (Long's header and O'Kane's late chance maybe) or lost 3-1. The Swiss had a few good chances from 18-22 yards and one header from a corner that didn't miss by much. On a bad day they go in and it looks like a hammering.
Keep things tight & nick goals from set-pieces seems to be the O'Neill way, just as it was when Celtic did well in Europe. If we can find a way of adding a bit more purposeful possession, via Wes most realistically, then we'll be in a decent place.
The Examiner - Injury woes will force Martin O’Neill to mix and match
O'Neill has said that Hayes and O'Kane will possibly play and that Hoolahan will probably start. Liam Mackey indicated that Clark won't play tonight and we already know that Elliot will start. McClean up front seems to be a genuine option in his mind also. Something like this maybe? (possibly more of a 4-3-3 than 4-4-1-1 given the personnel).
-------------------- Elliot ------------------
Christie - Duffy - Keogh - Doherty/Ward
- McCarthy - Whelan - O'Kane - Hayes -
------------------ Hoolahan ---------------
------------------- McClean ---------------
Yeah, their best ever run, fair play to them.
Trap went 14 without defeat between 2011-2012, before we imploded in style in Poland. We didn't even concede a goal in the first eight of those. What's our record run without defeat I wonder? We'd have put fairly decent runs together under Charlton and McCarthy for sure, although that late concession in Tehran kind of messed up McCarthy's most successful campaign, for these purposes anyway.
Edit - it was under Charlton, 16 games over three years between 1990 and 1993. Amazing to think we very nearly missed out on qualification to both tournaments in that time, wasn't much room for error.
Just realised that's a competitive game record, we lost a few friendlies during that period. I give up.
Last edited by DeLorean; 29/03/2016 at 1:06 PM.
There's a list of all Republic of Ireland games on wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matche..._football_team
Find the longest number of games between red rows and you're sorted
Does the 1-1 draw with Finland in Liam Brady's testimonial count? If so, we had a 17 game unbeaten run under Charlton, ended by Toto in Rome. Ten of these games were draws.
McCarthy had a sixteen game unbeaten run before being beaten in Tehran, ten wins and six draws in his run.
Interesting to note a nine game unbeaten streak under Staunton, who lost only one of his last twelve games in charge!
A lot of this side for tonight hinges on who MON plays up front. Not sure if Koeman would be impressed with Long starting. Maybe if he started and played a half then we'd have a bit of shape from the start.
The issue, for me, is that I can't see Pilkington (if he's fit) or McClean starting up front on their own or together. As a result, I'd have to fancy Long to start with one of them (probably not both if Judge or Hayes was to get a start).
I fancy he'll go with:
Elliott
Christie Keogh O'Shea Ward
O'Kane Whelan/McCarthy
Hayes Judge McClean
Long
That's a 4-2-3-1 but I think there's the potential to switch to a 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2.
Thinking back on Keane's advice to Judge that he referred to in his post-match interview, maybe Friday was about seeing how Judge could fare when asked to work hard against the tide. Maybe tonight will be his chance in a role that offers more freedom?
What I was struck by on Friday, other than the excellent crowd with lots of kids, was that as each substitution was made, our guys who came on got smaller and theirs got bigger. Are we the smallest football playing team in Europe?
I heard O'Neill talking up Given for France if he manages to even break wind on the playing field between then and now. More importantly though, and sorry if this is covered elsewhere, he bemoaned the fact that he didn't get much of a chance to see Judge going forward, which is his best attribute, due to our lack of possession. What a pity Arter wasn't fit. I think he's an excellent player.
There's a good chance McShane could start instead of O'Shea in the friendly ?
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
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