He was held inside the box by a Serbian defender as a cross came in, it was just after the red card. It was probably 60:40 a penalty, by that I mean it was a foul but the sort of foul that refs don't often spot/give.
Defender with his arms around his shoulders when a cross came in from our left with about 75-80 mins gone. Looked a definite penalty first glance on the TV, replays confirmed it. Fairly obvious penalty, especially given recent clamp-downs defenders grappling in the box.
Indeed, Wes H's career in green has been a crying shame. Which makes me think there's some inside story or injury or something.
Dead Cert Penalty .......Strong Case for Video Replay....... If there was Video replay then the defender would be slower to foul so blatantly at least.......
Nah the mantra was always beat the big teams at home and draw with them away. Georgia was a disaster but others dropped points and if we beat Wales. we'll have just done the mantra backwards!Originally Posted by tricky_colour
Hopefully O Neill will have seen something in the way we played in the first half.....and continue it .
Lets try to beat Moldova playing in that manner and take it from there .We have to get away from continuous Long Ball Football if for no other reason it is un-watchable............
I haven't read through the thread so no idea if any of this is being repeated, but here's my two cents.
We were the better side for the opening 25 minutes. After that, we never really looked like scoring at any stage. There was some passages of good football, but no end product at all.
Nobody in an Ireland jersey looks like they can accurately kick a football in the direction of their choosing, which was a poor reflection on their status as professional footballers. I was remarking on the horrendous shooting the players were at in the warmup to the fella I was at the game with. 4 of every 5 shots hit were way up into the crowd. That was reflected in some of the paltry attempts from range in the second half in particular.
Hoolahan would do well to retire about now. He offered nothing to us after half an hour. Those who criticise O'Neill for not starting a 35 year old midfielder who isn't getting much game time at club level would do well to watch last nights game back again before calling for him to be the focal point of our midfield.
Again, there was no plan B. When things started to go tits up, the ball gradually started to spend more time in the air without really getting anywhere. Shane Long was brutal again and could be there until next week without ever looking like scoring.
The sooner Seamus Coleman is back, the better. Christie didn't do an awful lot wrong, but he doesn't offer the same threat going forward as Coleman, and that's really badly missed at the minute. Also, the sheer drive Coleman brings to the team is completely lacking at the minute. There doesn't seem to be any real leaders out there.
It's sad that walking away from the ground, I heard more and more people saying "at least it was better than Georgia" as if that's something to be proud of. The minimum that should be expected from Georgia and Serbia is 4 points. Now you're facing a scenario where you need to win both games to end the group to have any minuscule chance of getting to a playoff.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Usually in defeat something like that is expressed as a crumb, not as something to be proud of.
There was a great poll question on Twitter this morning: would you give up ten years of your own life to make Wes ten years younger?
We have a budding Hoolahan at Reading. His name is Liam Kelly. But our manager didn't want to upset the pecking order of senior players ( which is understandable to a point) by bringing in a young upstart. However good managers aren't afraid to make those decisions. We need ball players and Kelly is definitely one we cannot ignore
I'd sooner say Chris Forrester is closer to a budding Hoolahan.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
First half - that is Ireland when we are at our best. Combination of trying to play some football with the intensity that unsettles the opposition. Unfortunately the technique of how to cross a ball has not been mastered and it meant we wasted a lot of attacking opportunities.
20 mins to go against 10 men. Why did we panic? Why not play it around them and use the extra man advantage? Wales were 0-0 going into the last 15 and remained patient.
I've already mentioned the stupid fouls by Walters last night but it's still driving me crazy. What was he thinking??
Impressed with Duffy again. The guy wins everything in the air (both boxes) and he is turning into a real leader for us. Meyler did a good job as well. Deserves a place in the team.
The next Robbie Keane, Duffer or Hoolahan needs to be discovered ASAP. Anything coming through to lift the gloom?
Saw a few clips of Dunphy on social media post match. ****
"If God had meant football to be played in the air, he'd have put grass in the sky." Brian Clough.
You'll NEVER beat the Irish.......you'll just draw with us instead!!!
Good point Well Made .
That young Woodburn Fella has done well for Wales.....
Alan Judge was doing brilliantly until he broke his leg . I hope he gets back to his best soon......
Scott Hogan will start up front for the last two games and we need to draft in Kelly and Manning to give the midfield a spark (youth , energy and creativity ) , although for the latter two this is likely to be for the next campaign
THought we were better than against Georgia but our quality in the final third is shocking. Tactics and setup were ineffective.
Wes was neat and tidy - he played well without running the game (Also re posts above - him being on the bench regularly for club is hardly a new phenomenon) - he is far better than brady and whelan. Brady is not a central player at all. We should have had a penno.
There was still way too much lumping it in the box from all angles! How many proper saves did their keeper have to make? I can only recall one or 2 routine saves although he was good at crosses
Fair points all round mostly, thought that was the best we've played since Italy in Lille but again as always a complete lack of ideas in the last third of the pitch and no-one who has a modicum of cop on to drop off a bit in the box for a knock down/ shot.
As mentioned by Dunners there Hogan will hopefully come in for the last 2 games, Maguire also should be in the last 2 squads as an option off the bench, similar style to Long but can actually finish. If Long and/ or Murphy are the answer up top for goals I'd hate to see what the question is and that question has been asked for a good few years now.
Why O'Dowda came on instead of Horgan given McGeady was injured was baffling, he was lost out there positionally and the 3 or 4 balls he tried to stick in went awol or straight into the defender 2 yards in front of him. Meyler outstanding again as he has been whenever he's stepped in. Difference between himself and Whelan is Myler has no problem showing for the ball, doing little give and goes and spreading it back and forth across 10-20 yards to keep things moving/ ticking over in possession. Wes was Wes as always, soon as he went off instead of knocking it about the midfield we went back 15 yards into our half and the centre halves were spreading it.
For all the negativity over the last week and the performances in 3 out of the last 4 games we're still night and day compared to the Traps tenure so a bit of perspective needed amongst the kneejerkery. Yes it's disappointing and frustrating and all that and there'll always be things to criticise, that's football. The most frustrating thing for me is once a year/ 18 months we put in a shift like last night or v Italy and then revert back to type most of the time but at least we gave it a go last night, the majority of Traps time we'd all be sitting there and there wouldn't even be that or an ounce of hope of getting something.
Thought Serbia put in a great away shift, cynical when needed when our only real clear cut chance came up, take him down and take the red, then the usual cynical time wasting and clinical in front of goal.
We've an aging squad but tbf we do have a fair couple of lads in their early to mid 20s who are pushing for their start/ a squad place and for the next campaign they'll hopefully push on in the euro qualifiers/ nations cup/ friendlies next year & the older heads taking up a squad place will be phased out. Still in a with a shout of making the playoff and we never make it easy for ourselves so we'll see what happens next month. The futures not as bleak as most are making out in my opinion albeit Russia is most likely out the window now.
When is O'Neill's contract up? Four straight competitive games with poor performances and dropped points speaks for itself. Obviously O'Neill's position should be evaluated at the end of the campaign, and if - a big if - they were able to get 4-6 points from those, I think the FAI will stick with him, but a big part of me thinks we should get ahead of the inevitable and look elsewhere now, as opposed to 18 months from now when we may very well be in the same position.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
I wouldn't have a problem with Forrester in the team. He's quite impressive as a creative midfielder. Kelly and Forrester to start against Moldova would be fine with me
So do I. Judge is a fine player and could go a long way to softening the blow of Hoolahan's impending retirement
I agree but only in an arctic winter night/day scenario! I can barely notice any difference.
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