He looked very, very fit too. Not that he has looked unfit but it struck me immediately that he looked leaner than I would have expected.Originally Posted by seanfhear
Brady is 10 times the player o'dowda is but as mentioned previously successive managers rate him so he must have something more than I've seen.
Overall a sense of relief to not lose. I thought we were poor in the second half and created very little which is concerning. Surprised to see how off the pace McCarthy looked. Doherty not fully at the races either which was puzzling.
it will be interesting to see how mcgoldrick dovetails with Connelly on Sunday.
Its very early days but I would put that down as a disappointing result. Very ponderous display with too many backward passes and no urgency. Thought Hendrick, O'Dowd and Connolly did okay, Hourihane and McCarthy anonymous as usual.
Not sure what what to make of it. Certainly positives from first half especially but would agree we were too ponderous in possession. Perhaps to be expected we are trying to reverse a decade of avoiding passing the ball. An incredible thing to say of a football team.
I think I would be inclined to agree more good than bad. Can see why Potter wasn’t keen on Duffy when trying to play a possession game as he struggles. Midfield needs sorted what more can be said there. Connolly is a star.
All the talk will of course be about Kenny but I must say delighted for Shane Duffy to have captained his country and to have scored a big goal in the process.
O'Dowda was our best player in the first half, pretty comfortably I thought but was very poor in the second. Not deserving of the ridicule by some. Got the 3/VM MOTM award actually, though I felt Connolly was definitely our best player over the full game, the biggest plus.
Delighted to see Brady playing such a key role in the equaliser, it's been a long time coming.
This thread is packed with folk I've not see on for ages..whither jByrne...or bluebeard...
Is Bluebeard here? Bloody hell been ages! Riffraff too from oraff. Great to see !
I think we will have to accept that Duffy is going to cost us a shocker of a goal at some stage with us playing the passing out from the back game. It's just not his style of play at all, but obviously we need him in the team for the next while at least as the replacement options aren't ready yet and, to be fair to him, he does a lot of things well as we saw with the goal.
I mean there was one moment in the first 5 minutes where his first touch controlled the ball (poorly enough), his second touch knocked the ball about three yards in front of him and his third touch was a lunge at a Bulgarian to try and win the ball back from a position where he had it under no pressure at all, fouling the Bulgarian in the process. It was so bad I actually burst out laughing watching it. Then a few minutes later he tried a 30 yard cross field ball and sent it about five yards out of play.
I think we have had a rose tinted view of Duffy for a long time because our style of play under the previous managers was perfect for a player like him, his job was to win the ball back and hoof it up the field, and he was brilliant at it. But tonight showed us the issue that Potter identified and that has cooled interest in him from EPL teams, and it is potentially going to cause us a problem down the line as well.
Hopefully Duffy will get a load of practice bringing the ball out for Celtic.
Kenny was fairly positive but negative in the performance if that makes sense. I enjoyed his interview straight away he picked out what was wrong. But also tried to be upbeat and was a little hard on himself. He's definitely been the most positive thing for me personally of the game and environs.
I think Duffy will regress rather than progess. He won't be as sharp for th other side of his game either.
Guys. All I saw was two terrible teams.
Was it just me, or was the ref and his team awful? Any other game and that sliding lunge on Idah was a red card. Bulgarian player totally out of control but zip given. Remember the last time a ref ignored those type of tackles? Seamus came away with a broken leg.
If I was a conspiracy theorist I would suspect we are getting bad refs because we are not toeing the corrupt football line of the powers that be and we (via the oireachtas) brought down one of their cronies.
Where was the Kenny interview?
Home advantage isn't what it was, but you would expect Bulgaria to be be looking to take 3 points against us. Much like ourselves they aren't the force they were in the 90s, but they aren't a minnow either.
I thought the way they played was an enormous compliment to us. They almost picked our pocket with a soft goal, and our equaliser was very late, but if their approach is any indication they will be fairly satisfied with a point.
With them sitting in the game didn't suit Idah, and we didn't have that bit of quality to find the pass to him that opened them up, but i feel more optimistic about the future after tonight. I feel like there would have been goals there for McGoldrick tonight. We don't have that player who can pick the lock, but we do have a very effective battering ram.
Plenty of positives.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
It’s a hard one to judge, some of the rustiness can be attributed to it being so early in the season and also having so little time to work with the new management team.
Overall, we were a little bereft of ideas and when Bulgaria dropped deep with 11 men behind the ball in the second half, we weren’t really able to come up with anything to create meaningful chances or make their goalkeeper make a save.
Thought Randolph was good, comfortable enough and willing to receive the ball, handling was good. Did very well with that effort at the edge of the box where he had to slide, where the guy beat the offside trap and there were a few other moments, his header, his claim from the corner. Goal wasn’t his fault but I’m sure it’s something he’d like to have saved and probably would have 5 times out of 10.
Egan and Duffy, was good to see them be prepared to stretch wide and receive the ball in areas they wouldn’t normally. Obviously you saw Duffy’s limitations in terms of his first touch and his passing but you’d imagine it’ll get better the more he’s asked to do it. Both were somewhat at fault for the goal, mostly Duffy but Egan should really be communicating better when he drifts across to fill the gap and demanding Duffy moves with him. You’d also suspect that was a product of an early season and tired legs, with both covering much more ground than they normally would for Ireland.. Duffy had just found himself in the opposition half in possession a few seconds before and looked very leggy. Duffy did excellently for the goal he scored and he’s genuinely among the most dangerous individuals I’ve seen attacking a corner or cross in the opposition box.
Stevens was good and solid, comfortable without being spectacular and dovetailed well with Connolly and later Brady. Doherty was poor with a few decent moments. There were things outside his control, how he was fed possession, movement from the midfielders off the ball, what O’Dowda and Robinson did, and some of those things had an effect on his performance but generally he was poor in possession and his decision making wasn’t great. Still early doors in understanding the system but was his poorest performance for Ireland. I don’t buy the whole right wing back vs right back too much. I don’t think he’s any less capable of making that adjustment than Enda Stevens, who also plays as a wingback at club level, is on the other side. I just think he was poor last night. He was good against Denmark.
The midfield was the problem, as it often is, all of McCarthy, Hourihane and Hendrick we’re rusty and leggy and all were sloppy in possession. Hourihane had a few creative moments and Hendrick showed quick feet and strength on occasion but overall I’d be disappointed if I was Jeff, James or Conor. Hourihane gave away the ball badly for the goal.
Thought Connolly was very good. Looked a constant threat. Probably should have squared the ball when he robbed the defender and tried to shoot from a tight angle. But he was lively and our best player. O’Dowda had a good first half, drove at players well and somewhat justified his selection. The comments regarding him and Doherty made above are probably largely true. But also maybe a product of limited time on the training and trying to get ideas across. Robinson was decent and lively when coming on, the shot on his left was probably ill advised but he neither did enough to convince he should start the next game, nor did anything to hurt his chances going forward.
Robbie Brady’s performance was a positive, when compared to his previous few years for Ireland. Great delivery for Duffy. I’d genuinely always advocate for having one of Brady or Hourihane on the pitch at all times, as their set piece delivery is so far superior to everyone else and when you deliver well from set pieces, we will score goals.
Idah had his moments, and on occasion linked up well, like the ball to Connolly over the defender and in behind. I think he was a little easily bullied at times, in a way that Long in particular and McGoldrick wouldn’t have been - they do have 2 big and physical centre halves. He also tired and probably should have been taken off earlier. Long really didn’t have enough time to influence things but often found himself receiving the ball out wide trying to cross it when ideally I think you’d want him more central. I’m not sure it was the right call to start Idah really but understandable anyway,
Overall, it’s a work in progress. You’d hope for a win against Finland on Sunday and some solid progress made in terms of performance too. I think Coleman might deserve the start. Hopefully McGoldrick comes in for Idah. One of Molumby or Arter in for Hendrick and possibly one of Robinson, McClean or Long in for O’Dowda...
Bulgaria were awful when we beat them 3-1 in Lansdowne last year, and worse when losing 6-0 at home to England shortly before that.
Granted, they've changed manager since, but their fall has been much further than ours.
Finland by contrast have qualifyied for the Euros and should be a step up on Sunday. (As an aside, it'll have the weird sideshow of a guy called O'Shaughnessey on the away team). Based on yesterday, I wouldn't be too confident tbh.
I think ordinarily, a draw in Bulgaria is a poor result at the moment. But look - it's a new manager trying new things at a time impacted by covid; have to make some allowances for it
This was pretty much what I took away from it too.
Despite his club form Doherty just doesnt have the same urgency on the ball that Coleman does from an orthodox RB position. Coleman is far more proactive.
McCarthy had a promising start and showed for the ball in tight situations but his impact was minimal really. I didn't think Hourihane had a great game at all but when he dropped deep his impact was better, finding better passes. Of course by that stage the Bulgarians had retreated so he had a bit more time. I actually think Josh Cullen looks the man for that deeper lying midfield role.
I think Brady and Hendrick will do well under Kenny.
I think Idah isn't ready yet for this level.
Jack Byrne would have thrived in the area between the D and the centre circle! The game was crying out for an advanced playmaker in the first half.
I thought Randolph made one super catch under pressure from a difficult corner and did well not to spill a shot in the first half. I wouldn't fault him for the goal. He might have saved it but the fault lay further ahead.
Positive signs in how we try to deal with the ball, only resorting to chips up the touchline under pressure. It'll take time but we had a lot of possession and a lot of it good quality. Definding for the goal was brutal.
Overall I think the intention was good but the tempo was a bit slow, but bear in mind that this was pre-season for nearly all of them.
Flat overall. Understand it's preseason and match fitness is not there, but still would expect a bit more energy for a new manager. Disappointing we didn't take first half chances as Bulgaria look like a team that will fold if they go behind. Echo the previous Brady comments - he wanted the ball and looks determined to get to back to his best.
5/10 performance overall for me.
We need to look at 5 at the back to get the best from doherty and possibly even stevens. Otherwise id play coleman and possibly brady as the full backs in a 4.
connolly will be good for us I have no doubt. I have a feeling that brady will get back to his best this season which is a real positive.
biggest concern is that we just don't get the best out of our players. most of them play much better for their clubs. some of the passing yesterday was needlessly very sloppy. quite frustrating really.
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