Post Cyprus Match Reaction thread

[drinkfeckarse]

...when the rugby team take the pitch.

[macdermesser]

Humphires hit the nail on the head there didnt he.

he did.

The only way things are going to change is if there is a vote of no confidence in delaney at the FAI. A coup. Who is he answerable to? Surely the situation is so bad that financial situation of Croke Park, the new stadium outweighs any compensation to be paid out.

Obvious that Stan and delaney are going to try and ride this out ... if they are let.

"you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time" is apt here.

[shakermaker1982]

Player power is the only thing that would make Stan and Delaney go. They can ride public pressure for another few games at least. Would have loved to been at the team meeting yesterday. Don't think Duffer was best pleased....

[Superhoops]

You can be ashamed of the team but never be ashamed to be Irish. I can understand the strong feelings but there's worse things in life. We'll have our good times again.

Last Saturday evening walking back along the front in Larnaca and listening to the ribbing by the locals was the first time ever in over 25 years of attending Ireland away games that I was ashamed to be an Irish football supporter.

It wasn't so much being beaten, to be honest after last year you wouldn't begrudge Cyprus that, it was the way we were beaten, a gutless display by a team of individuals who had no pride in being Irish.

Staunton can be blamed for a lot of things like not bringing in Lee Carsley or Matt Holland in time of crisis, giving the captaincy to Robbie Keane, his persistence in playing John O'Shea, his failure to demand better peformances from Duff or drop him, his failure to change tactics/personnel during a game when clearly things are going wrong.

However, when the players cross the white line they must accept individual and collective responsibility and the minimum that must be demanded is that they give 100% commitment and show pride in wearing an Ireland shirt. None of this was there on Saturday and there are too many of our 'senior' players in the comfort zone.

The other thing missing was leadership. In fairness, Steve Finnan and Andy O'Brien who have generally been reliable and consistent performers for Ireland both had an unexpected bad day at the office. However, John O'Shea had his not to be unexpected usual ineffective game and Richard Dunne, rather naively, got suckered by an over fussy referee and some dramatics from the Cypriots. Robbie Keane seems to think captaincy is about whinging at and complaining to the referee and his assistants, whinging and dispairing at this team while contributing nothing to the team performance himself or trying to encourage the team, particularly those whose early mistakes were unsettling.

Don't forget we scored the first goal and that should have given us a platform to win the game. The players and particularly the senior players did not respond. Aiden McGeady tried hard and appeared to be exonerated from crticisim, but dont forget it was a badly misplaced pass from him that led to a Cyprus goal. Stephen Ireland was eager to impress but too many of his final passes/free kicks were over or under hit. Apart from after when he scored his goal I never saw Robbie Keane going over to him once to try and settle him down but on several occasion he simply threw his hands up in frustration or dispair, hardly encouragement for a new player.

The truth is we don't have the quality of player to compete with teams/players who are technically better than us (and like it or not, Cyprus were). Worryingly, it appears we can no longer rely on the Irish spirit.

Finally, qualification for Euro 2008 is over for us and if Staunton is serious about building for the future, let's start on Wednesday against the Czech's and let's see a completely new team:

Kenny - Kelly, McShane, St.Ledger, Finnan - McGeady, A.Reid, Douglas, Quinn (or A.O'Brien) - Lee, Doyle.

I could stomach such a team being drubbed by the Czech's but I would expect some passion and effort from them. Only when we see some passion and effort will any pride be rekindled. It seems that the ability to play with passion and pride in the green jersey is something that the likes of Duff, Keane, Morrison and O'Shea can no longer deliver.

[macdermesser]

Player power is the only thing that would make Stan and Delaney go. They can ride public pressure for another few games at least. Would have loved to been at the team meeting yesterday. Don't think Duffer was best pleased....

To be honest, I don't understand Duff and Keane's attitude .. if I was playing for ireland and my manager announced that he was concentrating on 2010, when I am no longer playing, I would not be best pleased. Then again, maybe all that money messes your value system up somewhat. Point is .. at least the captain should be standing up against a remark like that. Team poor as it is, was still good enough to challenge for second place against an ageing Czech and overated German side.

[eirebhoy]

People from dundalk...

There was no need to open yet another thread so I've merged it with the Post match reaction.

[kingp35]

Saying that I was embarressed by that performance on Saturday would be the understatement of the year. I have never in my lifetime seen a performance as bad and tactically inept as the performance on Saturday. teh only players to emerge from that game with their reputations not in shatters were McGeady and Duff.

As soon as the starting lineup was announced I knew we were in for a tough game. Stephen Ireland is not an international player. yes he scored a goal and he took it well but doesnt cover up the fact that he was woefull. My understanding of the situation was that he was in the team to add a bit of creativity in the centre. The only thing he did was give the ball away and hot some ridiculously hopefull long balls into the box that were nothing short of cringeworthy. Jonothan Douglas should have started the game. He is creative, he can pass, he burts into the box, he has passion and pride and above all he has the ability to put in a tackle, something neither Kilbane or Ireland can do. Im sick to death of seeing Irish managers playing players out of position in the centre of the field, its hardly rocket science to see that its not working.

The defence was an absolute shambles. Andy O' Brien was simply shocking but lets face it, he is a very limited player and it was going to hapen at some stage. Dunne was ok but it should have been his job to try and organise the defence better and his first yellow card was for a stupid tackle that he never should have made. Finnan was poor and O' Shea should never be seen in an Irish jersey again.

Clinton Morrisson tried hard but he had no support whatsoever as Robbie Keane went on his usual walkabots and the midfield was non existant. Doyle hould come back into the side on Wednesday instead of Morrisson. Alan Lee actually looked decent when he came on and managed to get around the Cypriot defence on a number of occasions. He seems like a decent man to bring on but this brings me to my next point, why the hell did we wait for so long before making a substitution?

It was clear to all that O' brien was having a stinker. O' Shea should have been moved to centre back, Kilbane to left back and Douglas brought on. Instead we didnt make our first substitution until the game was over. The management team do not have a clue.

I agree with everyone that have said that the real problem lies with the grassroots game in Ireland. the Eircom League clubs have no youth systems or academies at all. Instead its left to the schoolboy sides like Cherry Orchard to train the young players who then hope they will be picked up a youth academy in england. We need to invest in youth academies to develope our players in Ireland. Develop the EL and gets fans interested in the league. Football in Ireland will never develop until youth academies are set up in this country.

Sadly I dont see that happening for a long time.
The

[cavan_fan]

Finally, qualification for Euro 2008 is over for us and if Staunton is serious about building for the future, let's start on Wednesday against the Czech's and let's see a completely new team:

I knwo this sounds crazy but qualification is not over for us IF we have a proper manager.

We have dropped 3 points we shouldnt have. At the start of the campaign we'd have felt we could qualify even if we lost twice to Germany. If we were to beat Germany at home that would replace those points.

Of course we absolutely wont qualify with Stan in charge. We'll lose twice to Czech, Slovaks and get 3-4 points v Welsh and Cypriots at best.

Here's the problem. If we lose on Weds its all over for qualification. If we dont lose Stan will stay on and it will be all over for qualification. I see no way out of this vicious circle.

[Captain Tinrib]

shocking is not the word, people have been saying its all stauntons fault, well i blame the FAI for appointing him in the first place, but i feel if staunton had any idea of how the whole country feel about our team he would do the right thing and step down,he has to see that its not acceptable to be beaten by a team ranked 103rd in the world,Name 1 team in the cypriot league?? name 2 Cypriot players?? i certainly cant,There has to be a change asap, we will lose on wednesday, we will lose every game we play under this circus of an FAI unless there is a new manager with some international experience or even club, ide be happy even to see Roy keane been given the job, but he has been doing well at sunderland so theres no chance of him leaveing there,so who's out there? well there is the likes of Alan curbishly,George graham,David o' Leary,im sure there are more ,.i agree with Eamon Dunphys headline in the star this morning "Stop the Bull****"!

[pineapple stu]

Just to correct one point that keeps cropping up in the various discussions -

Stan was not assistant manager of Walsall before taking on the Ireland job. He was not a defensive coach. He was not a coach of any description. He was a player described as a coach so Walsall could spread his wage over both the playing and coaching budgets and therefore afford him.

[blobbyblob]

The shockwaves of this weekend cannot be understated. The years of positive influence that the like of Ray Houghton et al contributed to have been wiped out with this result.

Children left their sitting rooms this saturday to play their playstations instead of grabbing a football to reinact their "hero" as would have been done in '88.

Forget 2008. Forget 2010. We are about to head into a barren hole thats going to be extremely difficult to climb out of. GAA and Rugby are heading into a golden age and the children of today have new hero's.


Where it all began

Will we ever see her likes again

USA Baby

Nice defending Stan

ITS ALL OVER NOW

[theworm2345]

Irish president hails Cyprus after Euro qualifier rout

AFP
October 9, 2006
NICOSIA (AFP) - Irish President Mary McAleese praised lowly Cyprus's historic five-goal thumping of Ireland during an official visit aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries.

The first ever visit by an Irish president to Cyprus has been engulfed in football fever after Saturday's shock 5-2 win, regarded as Cyprus's best ever result and Ireland's most embarrassing defeat.

Following official talks between McAleese and Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos, top of the agenda at the news conference was the result that shook European football.

"I thought you were brilliant. I thought Cyprus were absolutely stunning... it was very historic," McAleese told reporters.

"I think I'm right in saying, not in living memory have we been defeated so comprehensively... It's really good to be here for an epoch-making night," she added.

The Irish president kicked off her official Cyprus tour with the game at Nicosia's GSP stadium which McAleese attended along with Papadopoulos. They were among an 8,000 crowd in which the majority were travelling Irish fans.

Asked what she thought of the Irish performance, McAleese answered diplomatically: "It wasn't great was it now?

"We were outclassed on the night, you were two-and-a-half times better than us."

However, McAleese voiced hope that Ireland could learn from the Cyprus experience and pick themselves up for the crucial home tie against Czech Republic on Wednesday.

Cyprus received a lot of criticism after going down 6-1 to Slovakia in their opening Euro 2008 Group D fixture.

"Whatever happened to the Cypriot team (after Slovakia), I hope the same happens to the Irish team," said McAleese.

Cyprus -- placed 103 in the FIFA rankings -- face Wales, who crashed 5-1 to Slovakia at the weekend, in Cardiff on Wednesday.

Local Alithia newspaper summed up the mood in its headline on Monday: "It's not a dream, it's true, we beat Ireland 5-2."

[shakermaker1982]

From the guardian. The first paragraph made me laugh!!!
Jon Brodkin

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/20...ore_the_j.html

As Steve Staunton oversaw training yesterday, he may not have spotted Miss Piggy loitering in the car park. Among the vitriol poured on Staunton and his team after Saturday's 5-2 defeat in Cyprus was a depiction of the manager as a muppet on the front page of the Irish Sun, and the paper was continuing its theme. Bemused players peered out of the window of their coach as a furry-headed individual waved them on their way.

Plenty of Republic of Ireland followers would like to bid farewell to Staunton after the humiliation in Nicosia but the former Liverpool defender pointedly continued to talk about the distant future yesterday, as well as tomorrow's qualifier against the Czech Republic. "I know in the long run everything will be OK," he said after waking to headlines calling for his removal and suggestions that he is potentially a game from the sack.

Staunton tends to be guarded with the media so his mood hardly seemed different to normal, but there was a hint at the hurt felt by a proud man at overseeing what is regarded as Ireland's worst ever result when he said: "We owe one to the fans that travelled out to Cyprus and all those that support us."

Achieving that against the Czechs looks especially tricky, though, with Paddy Kenny, Andy O'Brien and Stephen Ireland joining Kevin Doyle as injury doubts. It raises the prospect of Brighton's Wayne Henderson playing in goal and at least one of Preston's Sean St Ledger and West Bromwich's Paul McShane getting debuts in defence.

Staunton referred to the players as "bright and breezy" and training seemed upbeat. The squad must have felt comforted to find fans seeking their autographs but it was put to Staunton that the public had given up on him and his team. "Well, I have certainly not given up on [the players]," he replied.

Criticism for appointing a novice has been directed at the chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland, John Delaney, who talked of finding a "world-class" manager. Yet Staunton, looking a poor choice after four straight defeats capped by the shambles in Cyprus, is the principal target.

The Sun's muppet reference has resonance in Ireland, being a put-down delivered by Roy Keane at those of whom he disapproved. The back page of the Irish Daily Mirror simply stated: "Pack your bags and go Stan." Staunton was dismissive of the censure. "I will take it on the chin," he said. "There's nothing I can do. As I have said before, I can't go out and buy players. We have got a good squad."

The players, as expected, have supported Staunton. "This regime is trying to build for the future so we're fully behind him," said Steve Finnan. True as it is that Staunton is looking towards 2010, the starting XI against Cyprus was hardly young. Two players, Aiden McGeady and Ireland, were 20; no one else was under 25, and six were 27 or older.

The most emphatic sign of Staunton's determination to look forward is his shunning of Everton's Lee Carsley, whose defensive ability would be valuable in midfield. It is a mark of Ireland's lack of quality that Carsley, hardly a regular in happier times, is being cast as a potential saviour. Yet resources are nowhere near thin enough to justify a hammering in Nicosia.

"It was very, very humiliating," John O'Shea said. "We got what we deserved. It was a lack of concentration and a lack of doing things properly." The Manchester United player absolved Staunton of responsibility. "Stan is not on the pitch, is he?" he said.

Staunton is not responsible for individual mistakes that peppered the performance in Cyprus, but has to take blame for a lack of organisation and a midfield unable to protect the back four. The five goals conceded equated to the number let in under Kerr in the whole of the last World Cup qualifying campaign.

Four straight defeats have come without Sir Bobby Robson and an experienced replacement for the international football consultant is likely to be sought if Robson's stint ends on medical grounds this week after a meeting with Delaney. FAI sources have dismissed suggestions that Kenny Dalglish has been approached.

Changes on the pitch are inevitable tomorrow with Richard Dunne suspended, and further alterations will be enforced if Kenny and Ireland fail to overcome hamstring troubles and O'Brien does not shake off an ankle injury. O'Shea also spoke of "incredible anger" at Saturday's display ond a determination to put that right. He does not believe sacking Staunton is the solution.

"Stan is trying to do the right things, he is trying to play the right way," he said. "Stan is learning all the time and we are learning from him all the time. He's got to get his ideas across to us, and that's what he's working hard to do. We have faith in him." Staunton needs a positive outcome tomorrow to start getting the country back onside.

[Stuttgart88]

True as it is that Staunton is looking towards 2010, the starting XI against Cyprus was hardly young. Two players, Aiden McGeady and Ireland, were 20; no one else was under 25, and six were 27 or older.

I was going to pick up on this exact same point, before I even read The Guardian article above.

In the Irish Times Staunton was saying he had to throw in young lads and they did well.

Nonsense, he called up young lads for the squad but only played two of them, and in McGeady's case there would have been a national outrcy if he'd been left on the bench again.

The XI he put out against Cyprus was for all intents and purposes the same XI that Kerr had put out 12 months previously. Stephen Ireland was the only selection that can even remotely be described as bold, and I'm sure most of us would have baulked at the prospect of a KK / Ireland midfield. I really can't believe he went for this.

I've said dozens of times on this forum that the likes of Ireland & Miller, for all their skill, will never be able to impose themselves on a game at a high level unless they're in a dominant team, but are potential assets if they can be isolated in, for example, a 4-3-1-2 formation. How would you accomodate Duff or McGeady in this structure though, as you need the "3" to consist of players capable of grabbing hold of a game?

[warnockp]

Lads, Bottom line is the only relatively succesful manager Ireland ever had was Jack Charlton and that was because he was experienced.

Until the FAI get their heads out of their wholes and appoint a credible manager then we are doomed.

[Dassa]

Lads, Bottom line is the only relatively succesful manager Ireland ever had was Jack Charlton and that was because he was experienced.

Until the FAI get their heads out of their wholes and appoint a credible manager then we are doomed.

Experience is important for a manager, but I believe that the majority of responsibilty lies with the players. I thought that on Saturday some of the ROI players looked like they didnt want to be there or didnt care, this may be that they dont respect Stan, its hard to tell.