QuoteThank you, tp.Originally Posted by third policeman
But let's be honest, wouldn't that just be adding to your embarrassment after Yerevan, not alleviating it?
For our answer would surely be "Thanks, but no thanks, we're quite happy as we are..."
Collins had a shocker, what is it with him, you never see him being so poor when with Brentford, while O'Shea was very poor as well, both are Championship average players!
Thank you, tp.
But let's be honest, wouldn't that just be adding to your embarrassment after Yerevan, not alleviating it?
For our answer would surely be "Thanks, but no thanks, we're quite happy as we are..."
Didn't Kenny try Collins as a DM and it was a disaster?
Last edited by Fixer82; 10/09/2025 at 11:27 AM.
Folding my way into the big money!!!
How many people will watch the game back/have watched the games back and consider what they previously thought regarding individual performances? And the managers role (or the coaching ticket role to be more precise).
- I think back to the post-Hungary clamour about the substitutions and how they were pivotal. Ogbene this, Doherty that.
- then think to the selection yesterday. and the pre-match talk of must-win, positivity etc.
The most obvious selection was Idah. New move, match-saving goal, fit and willing to run channels. Start him, feed off that positivity. Because one thing is we did start positively yesterday. The selection of Jack Taylor was correct, but he's not a number 10 and playing him there was stupid. Just as it was stupid moving Finn Azaz wide to accommodate this. Taylor was by no means the player who should have been sacrificed at h/t yday. He worked a really good chance (about 15 mins in maybe?) that the keeper saved, where he could possibly have looked for a penalty. To me, he's an old style 8 who'll get up and down. Asking him to do an 10-8 hybrid job is not just funny, it's retarded. He runs like a dog and was covering space that was no coincidence that when he went off we got filleted.
There was no need to play Cheap-ball and Knight together yday*. Knight is a quicker, Cullen with more stamina (like-for-like if you will). Play Taylor beside one of them and keep Azaz central.
* My bias for Molumby is undiminished and not in a Wes/Reid/Healy cause de celebrité way. He's a ****, but he's taken totally undeserved flak on here and elsewhere for other short-comings. of the current crop, he would be my go-to CM player, whether that's holding to allow two licence further forward or as part of a two traditional with one further forward. He also actually passes the ball forward and progressively, something sorely lacking. That he has been jettisoned from the squad is not just short-sightedness, it's reckless imo.
If one was to look at an Ireland first 11 right now, assuming all are fit, there are 3 players* who must on the teamsheet - that nobody can argue with - and that leaves 8 players playing for their spot.
Kelleher, Parrott, Ferguson.
Either Ferguson plays off Parrott, or Parrott plays off Ferguson.
I'm specific about players rather than positions, because no formation seems to work for us.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
I see a lot of Collins and I can tell you, he's better than Championship, much better. Dunno about O'Shea, but I saw Cullen play earlier this season at Brentford and thought him actually very good in an otherwise average Burnley team - their best player in fact. (Ironically, both NC and JC were captaining their respective teams that day i.e. no shortage of leadership there, I must say)
Anyhow I didn't see the Armenia game, but from reading the various comments etc, my guess is that this ROI team is sorely lacking in conviction, not ability. And this is probably a culmination of a gradual decline from the last days of O'Neill/Keane, then Kenny, with O'Shea unable to stop the rot either. And now finally it's HH who, whatever his other qualities, has stepped into a mess that he's unsuited to turn around.
Whereas - and I'm sure you won't thank me for saying this - with NI it's the opposite. That is, whether we're up against weaker, equal or stronger opposition, we usually have a plan which the players all believe in, designed by a manager in whom they certainly believe, such that we don't get too far ahead of ourselves if we win, nor do we get too downhearted when we lose, we just give it a go. Which if I may say so, is pretty remarkable in such an incredibly young team, drawn as it is from a level below that of ROI i.e. Championship, League One or SPL also-rans.
To which the answer for the FAI must be, appoint the right manager and give him time to turn around the present players and/or replace them with new faces, so that in another campaign or two, the team can start to get back on track. As for who that manager might be, I can't really say, but it needs to be someone who "gets" ROI football, and has a real care for it, rather than some outsider who's only taking it because he can't get a better gig elsewhere.
Robbie Keane perhaps?
Good point. There was no scanning or awareness of their surroundings or call it what you will versus Hungary on Saturday. For what it's worth I played in a team for eleven years. We had 2 simple rules for defending corners - pick up the man closest to you and attack the ball. It resulted in the concession of only 2 goals in eleven years. It was a badge of honor of sorts. Point is, I didn't see any of that in evidence by this Irish team for Hungary's second goal. Basic basic stuff.
What the North have done over the past 10-12 years has not just been admirable, superb, yadda yadda, it's a template - maximising of resources, taking short-term pain where it's needed and capitalising where they can. Not all the time, but enough of the time to be admired.Thank you, tp.
But let's be honest, wouldn't that just be adding to your embarrassment after Yerevan, not alleviating it?
For our answer would surely be "Thanks, but no thanks, we're quite happy as we are..."
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Do Parrott and Ferguson work as a partnership? Just wondering if Ferguson, Parrott and Idah are all best as lone strikers (with wingers flanking). Of the three, Parrott has shown an ability to work in a 2, Parrott and Obafemi showed promise, but has felt a bit lukewarm combinations of the three listed strikers.
He's looked shocking, but he's undoubtedly a quality player which is something we are very short on. We simply have to find a way to get a tune out of him.
And against a team as good as Portugal it might be good to have a central defender in that position. Given how deep we are likely to get the player in that position is likely to have to drop in beside the 2 central defenders at times anyway. It's an idea that worked for us and other teams in the past.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
TOD asked HH on RTE if a sports psychologist was needed. Maybe, because I for one can't fathom how players who can play at a very high level week in week out can serve up such utter mush when playing for us. It used to be that lads who were mediocre at club level raised their game playing for Ireland. It's the other way around now. It's not just lack of technique or ability.
Armenia actually started showboating against us. No fear in them whatsoever.
I opened my hotmail account on my iPhone at lunchtime to find an email from the FAI:
The Boys in Green continue their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Tuesday 14th October at the Aviva Stadium against Armenia and we are delighted to confirm that a limited number of single tickets are now available for this fixture.
Your presale is live tomorrow, 10th September, from 10am and it will end on Friday 12th September at 9am, subject to availability.
Gotta admire the FAI's optimism
We are going to have to kidnap Michael O'Neill without the Six County team noticing it !
Do we have a looky-likey that we could just slip in to fool those Nordies ? !
O'Neill, of course, is back with the north because he's a failed Championship manager. There are probably a dozen others like him who could be brought in, but I suspect a large element of our support would turn our noses up at a Mick McCarthy/Tony Pulis type of appointment, even now.
He did it against England in Wembley and it worked really well until Scales got sent off. Then it all fell to pieces.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
That was Hallgrimsson. And Collins was playing centre back and stepping out at times, he wasn't actually playing DM. And that probably contributed to Scales getting sent off and by extension us getting beaten 5-0 and the experiment being canned ever since.
Ive always said this McCarthy fecking setting up a row in front of the whole team with Keane and the mismanagement of going to Saipan to start with cost us a place in a semi final against Korea, possibly a final.
It is a psychological thing. My take on our players' attitudes is:
"ah sure we're not going to win the World Cup anyway but let's give it a shot at qualifying and if we don't make it it's not the end of the world ." The glory is in qualification and anything else is a bonus. With a few exceptions, their minds appear to be on not getting injured every time they pull on the green shirt.
The honorable thing to do for those lads involved yesterday would be to step away from international game. How can any of them hold themselves up as credible in front of the Irish people after yesterday?
I can put that one to bed for you - it would have been a quarter final against Korea, and we'd have lost it. South Korea were getting everything that year and there was no way Ireland was going to be allowed to spoil the party.
Sorry. Yes... I read Fixers post incorrectly.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
The truth is, this result has been coming for a long time.
We had the poor Luxembourg result only a few years ago, Cyprus a bit longer ago and Macedonia a good while ago and some other poor ones along the way but we've been getting away with getting results from really poor teams for a long time.
Against Georgia we've had a dodgy penalty go our way, McGeady getting us out of jail, Gary Doherty getting a last minute jammy goal and Glenn Whelan scoring a jammy long ranger that the keeper made a mess of.
Against Armenia we've had Keith Fahey getting us out of jail late on, Robbie Brady with a last minute penalty at home to get 3 points.
Against Kazakhstan, Kevin Doyle scoring very late on to rescue 3 points.
Stephen Ireland scoring last minute to rescue a win against San Marino.
Folding my way into the big money!!!
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