Heimir Hallgrímsson

[ontheotherhand]

I think that was a simple matter of him standing there and ending up taking the throw. Someone should have had the wit to call off the long throw strategy we had while O'Brien was on the field but I've see better teams than us making that mistake.

It reminded me of a certain night when Germany were pushing up to the the half way line at kick outs owing to having scouted Shay Given's weakness at kicking, and continuing to do so after Given was carried off and replaced by Darren Randolph. Even after Randolph demonstrated he had a foot like a traction engine they kept at it and only learned the lesson after Shane Long scored the goal that broke Scottish hearts.

Well yeah, but thats my point - HH didn't have with wit to call off the long throws, even after Festy failed to reach the targets on at least 2 back to back attempts. Festy was even waving at the team to get closer by about the 2nd or 3rd throw. It wasn't just one throw that he happened to pick up because he was closest to it.

Nice memory all the same. Might go watch that one again too now.

[pineapple stu]

Fair enough. In the heat of the match, I wanted Azaz off....so......

And you might have had a point. There was a change at halftime which may have helped him improve in the second (Scales was also criticised but the change helped him) and Azaz has credit in the bank from Bulgaria in particular, and from some good club performances (fewer this season).

I just don't see Festy has that. I'm not buying into the chaos theory unless he actually does something tangible

[ontheotherhand]

And you might have had a point. There was a change at halftime which may have helped him improve in the second (Scales was also criticised but the change helped him) and Azaz has credit in the bank from Bulgaria in particular, and from some good club performances (fewer this season).

I just don't see Festy has that. I'm not buying into the chaos theory unless he actually does something tangible

Yeah the shift in role for azaz helped a lot but he still wasn't great outside the moments he was! 😂

Four days on from Sunday and we are debating Festy. 😂

Who would you rather have as a bench option stu? That's what Festy is after all. As opposed to Azaz now. Can't think of anyone similar to Festy if we need a bit of pace and power.

[backstothewall]

Well yeah, but thats my point - HH didn't have with wit to call off the long throws, even after Festy failed to reach the targets on at least 2 back to back attempts. Festy was even waving at the team to get closer by about the 2nd or 3rd throw. It wasn't just one throw that he happened to pick up because he was closest to it.

Nice memory all the same. Might go watch that one again too now.

Oh I don't dispute that it was missed and that HH should have changed the approach. All I'm saying is that if his biggest mistake is one we've also seen made by World Cup winning coach Joachim Löw, it's probably not that big a deal. Especially if we won the game and it didn't cost us in any way.

[Kingdom]

I fupping hate any specialised set-piece undertaken poorly - it shows a lack of prep, a lack of skill and makes a team look underwhelming.
However, there's one factor that we all are aware of with long throws, the chaos it introduces, but also, even if the function itself isn't great, it pins the defending team back into the crowded area and ensures that if the ball remains live, that there's no real escape for a secondary or tertiary play - which is ultimately what led to our winner.

I think it's a fair position to take.

[pineapple stu]

Yeah the shift in role for azaz helped a lot but he still wasn't great outside the moments he was! 😂

At least he had the moments where he wasn't great though

Who would I rather have as a bench option? Johnston is the obvious choice, but he's not been great the last couple of games. Sykes maybe. I just don't rate Festy at all - and I suppose that doesn't necessarily mean there's better out there at the moment. If it's pace and power we want, Usain Bolt would have made it as a footballer, and he didn't. I want a bit of end product.

Four days on from Sunday and we are debating Festy. 😂

Ah but isn't it great to see the bit of buzz about the place again!

And by and large it's very cordial debate even when views differ, which is great

[ontheotherhand]

At least he had the moments where he wasn't great though

Who would I rather have as a bench option? Johnston is the obvious choice, but he's not been great the last couple of games. Sykes maybe. I just don't rate Festy at all - and I suppose that doesn't necessarily mean there's better out there at the moment. If it's pace and power we want, Usain Bolt would have made it as a footballer, and he didn't. I want a bit of end product.


Ah but isn't it great to see the bit of buzz about the place again!

And by and large it's very cordial debate even when views differ, which is great

Yeah it is good to have the place buzzing.

Johnston was also on the bench so you can have him and Festy. I'm not going to die on the Festy hill here btw. He was brutal against Portugal. Always liked him for the 21s though and think there is more to come from him in a way that I probably don't believe for the likes of Johnston or Sykes.

[elatedscum]

At least he had the moments where he wasn't great though

Who would I rather have as a bench option? Johnston is the obvious choice, but he's not been great the last couple of games. Sykes maybe. I just don't rate Festy at all - and I suppose that doesn't necessarily mean there's better out there at the moment. If it's pace and power we want, Usain Bolt would have made it as a footballer, and he didn't. I want a bit of end product.

Sykes was called up but missed out through injury. Jamie McGrath was called up to replace him.

[elatedscum]

I fupping hate any specialised set-piece undertaken poorly - it shows a lack of prep, a lack of skill and makes a team look underwhelming.
However, there's one factor that we all are aware of with long throws, the chaos it introduces, but also, even if the function itself isn't great, it pins the defending team back into the crowded area and ensures that if the ball remains live, that there's no real escape for a secondary or tertiary play - which is ultimately what led to our winner.

I think it's a fair position to take.

the weird thing was for at least two of the failed long throws, the hungarian player defended it really poorly and basically did the job you'd want an irish player to do, where their header flicked it on into the box