Happy with that. We were by far better team. Evan getting a good goal such a bonus. I still don't like the midfield combo of Cullen and Knight but Hallgrimsson has improved us. He makes decent subs at good times too.
Its really not that complicated!!!
Knight could be a great RWB, runs all day decent on the ball if not spectacular and gets stuck in but just struggles with the physicality of midfield imo, just dosent have the presence.Originally Posted by Razors left peg
If you'd been offered four wins from four against Finland/Bulgaria when HH took over in September, you'd have grabbed it.
None of the wins were exactly comfortable, and the defeats against Greece and England were comfortable for them.
But feck it. It feels we're starting to move up from rock bottom at last. I don't think Hungary will be too worried by tonight, but little steps.
I think its bit harsh to call them abysmal. A work in progress, we are adding more good stuff each camp and I think slowly eliminating the obvious flaws. Seeing passes fizzed in to the feet of defenders centrally to turn and distribute to dangerius areas is another string. Scoring goals, winning from behind, back to back win streak. It is porgressing nd I think we have some good players that could come in.
Great result.. staying in B was absolutely vital for us..
Pretty much gives us 3 chances of qualifying now for 2028 now..
Win or be runners up
Play offs
Get one of the two hosts positions
We're raw, but looks like we're becoming a lot more pragmatic than we were under Kenny..
If only we could granny rule in a few decent midfielders, Matty Holland/Andy Townsend types..
(Oh if we'd only kept Rice ?)
Portugal look like they're going to be group winners, but Hungary took a bad clipping this weekend, so if we could catch them cold in the first qualifier game, we could have a real chance of at least getting a play off spot
Pretty accomplished performance and agree that the subs worked and were well timed. Mentality is night and day to the Kenny days.
That said, the starting lineup didn’t fire. Ferguson and Parrott can’t play together is my takeaway. Knight stunk the place out. Collins was Collins. O’Brien was quality.
Manning my MOTM.
Anyone hear Parrots interview.. he sounded more Dutch than Dublin ??
A lot to unpack there, but I think that's a game we'd have lost, or at best nicked a late equaliser in, a couple of years ago.
Great to see Ferguson take that second chance after blowing the first one, a sign that it's still there if he could just get a run of games. I still think he'll probably have to leave the EPL in the shorter term for that to happen.
Parrott was excellent again, a real coming of age week for him at international level, even though he didn't score.
Azaz is going to be huge for us I think, you always have a chance with him on the pitch because he can see a pass and he can take a chance. We don't have anyone else like him right now (maybe Moran in a few years).
I was worried about Idah coming on against a deep lying defence, but thankfully we were ahead when he came in, and Bulgaria had pushed out, which suited him perfectly.
Dunne and Sykes look like genuine options for us, being able to move Doherty to left back is a good option to have also. Taylor looked good again when he came on (but centre mid remains an issue). A shame we couldn't get Abankwah on.
Overall I still think that's a game we win comfortably more often than not, but the Bulgaria goal against the run of play made things difficult again.
But it's another come from behind win, which is a really promising sign.
Well, if you send a parrot to the Netherlands, he'll start speaking Dutch.
I think the best thing about tonight, and the last few months, is that we have repeatedly answered this question now. Kenny never had a Plan B and just couldn't manage in-game situations at all, it's a huge flaw he has as a manager.
Was it Armenia at home where things looked like falling apart and he was just standing there absolutely clueless on the sideline with no idea how to sort it (thankfully Armenia self-combusted that time and we avoided relegation more because of them than anything we did).
Whereas Hallgrimsson seems to have multiple options lined up, different levers he can pull, and he doesn't look overly panicked when things aren't going well. I'm really impressed with him so far.
I agree with you for the most part but also let's not lose sight of the fact that a lot of the better options etc is down to players now maturing. Parrott, Idah, Collins, O'Brien, Azaz all in that early to mid 20 bracket where they are finally developing into really good players. Hallgrimsson is still going with Kenny's midfield for most part and it still shows a lot of the same problems. If we can unearth a gem in that position we have the makings of a good side
Its really not that complicated!!!
Completely agree with you @Eirambler, I'm really impressed with HH after this window. The team has clearly had Plan B and even Plan C drilled into them and the subs all seemed to working of a predetermined game plan.
I think there's a couple of areas that need to be shifted for us to get consistently competitive.
The Cullen-Knight pairing doesn't work and despite being the better player tonight, Knight should be dropped. They were the only players who were panicking when they got the ball and played some ludicrous passes. I really think Taylor is the better option and despite never starting for Ipswich, he has 22 PL appearances this season and generally comes on around the 50th minute.
Collins needs a kick up the arse. He needs to fully step into the captain role or give it to someone else. He is consistently excellent for Brentford but doesn't bring the same form to Ireland. It's really time for him to step up and be the player we all know he can be. O'Brien looked far, far more comfortable than him tonight.
The competition for the 3 strikers and Azaz is heating up and HH needs to manage it carefully. Idah was clearly ****ed off he only got 20 minutes when interviewed. It's fantastic we have 3 decent strikers all fighting for their place but I really hope it can be man-managed and not become the issue that dominates the media discussion and become a Wes Hooligan/Andy Reid situation.
Yeah, I have to say I'm coming round to the Taylor idea having been dead set against it before now. I've always been a fan of Knight, but he has really tested the limits of my faith in him this week. Maybe he just can't play a midfield two, so if that's what we're going to persist with he might need to be a sub for a while.
Maybe Taylor can be the box to box midfielder that we need. I just don't see any other option unless we either recruit or Lawal comes good at some point. And there doesn't seem to be anyone we know of that we can recruit.
In terms of the striker conundrum, I still think Cannon will have a say in things also, even though he has lost ground by missing this squad. And Armstrong looked seriously ****ed to be left unused on the bench again tonight. Great to have options.
I think the biggest issue with Knight and Cullen is that they are almost too similar and just don't complement eachother. Both work very hard but often do the basics really badly when on the ball.
Its really not that complicated!!!
Agreed. I do think we need one of them and it really should be a first choice / second choice situation. By overall form for Ireland and the championship Cullen wins out by a distance., tonight aside.
And yeah, there doesn't seem to be any recruitment options. Smallbone doesn't fit the bill either. Weirdly I thought Dunne was excellent when he came forward and was showed the physicality we've been lacking....but it's probably a pipe dream seeing him as an option.
As far as strikers being peed off they're not playing.. good.. excellent in fact..
Long as the ones that do, play well enough to keep them on the bench, the better for us
Try Collins in the middle in June.. Cullen/Knight/Molumby/Smallbone.. all simply too small
Watching us against England showed how small they were..
We need a presence there
Getting Smodizc/Obesele/Ogbene back, and we've the guts of a decent team..
We know we're a solid B3 team.. even getting to B2 and we're in with a real shot of qualfying for the next couple of Euros direct or through play offs
This is still a seriously young team remember
Get rid of Brady from left back.. two decent CMs, and I'd be a very happy bunny
Don't really mind if it becomes a media discussion. It doesn't need to be managed carefully for that.
Idah seemed annoyed. But he also seemed to be overstating the impact he is having this season. He seemed to be quick to say he's playing, scoring and winning at Celtic and ignoring that he's recently lost his place. Great for a striker to be confident but not so great for them to be a tad delusional.
The interview I liked most was Parrott's. He was a man that seemed annoyed but annoyed with himself for not scoring whilst the other two played well. That said, his words belied his face and he spoke about playing well being most important and how great the competition is with each of them driving each other on.
Overall, it's a great situation we are in. Idah shouldn't kid himself though regarding his season. He's scored in the CL in big games but he hasn't torn the SPL up or played every week - he's largely been second fiddle to Kyogo and now Maeda. Ferguson got his goal but had the concerning effort we have referred to. He has a lot to do in terms of fitness and I'm wondering why it's taking so long. Parrott is the one that looks the sharpest and the best and is playing the most and scoring the most at club level.
All in all, Parrott deserved to play the most of all of them across the two games. And the other two could learn a thing or two off him about getting games and working hard. The man looks incredibly fit and sharp.
And I'm a big Idah fan. I think there's a chance he could progress beyond Parrott and maybe even Ferguson over the next few years.
He played well and took his goal well when he came in. He's capable of all of this.
But he has a clearly volatile self confidence. He demonstrated that in the summer when he was shown a bit of love by Celtic fans on the back of a decent loan spell and threw the toys out of the pram to force through the move there. Hero. Went on a run then with no goals and couldn't hit a barn door against poor opposition. Zero.
I think he could do with figuring things out upstairs if he wants to progress to the level both he and I think he could!
I have been hugely impressed by Parrott over the last couple of games. He has a touch of class about him as well as a willingness to run the hard lines for the team. Delighted for both Ferguson and Idah to score. I think we have 3 good young strikers now, which s a huge plus.
HH has also impressed me. He has a air of confidence and assuredness about him. The players seem to respect him and he is able to make effective changes during the games if needed.
Back four in both games were steady, Doherty back to his best again. Not sure why OShea was left out, but O'Brien coped really well also.
Our big problem is midfield. I think we have an abundance of centre halves and we should push Collins into a holding position in front of the back four. I have not been impressed by Cullen in recent games. Azaz should be one of the first names on the team sheet going forward.
All in all a promising window, and I feel we are on the right track after several years in the wilderness. Long may it last.
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