The Optimism Thread

[cavan_fan]

Maybe:

Duff and Keane will show their top form
Carsley will prove he can anchor the midfield
O'Shea will finally take his performance seriously
McShane will show he is the new No.2 in Central Defence
Finnan will be the calm head at the back
Henderson will show he can be a new Shay

and we'll win 3-0

and Stan will decide he needs a top quality coach to work alongisde him.

and I'll win the lottery

[pineapple stu]

This could well be one of the shortest threads in the forum...

[eirebhoy]

I actually woke up this morning in an optimistic mood. Maybe it's reading the betting forums and seeing that almost every Czech fan would be happy with a draw. "They know how to beat us". I really think the Czechs will give us too much respect tonight and if they take the lead they will not be going all out for another.

[paul_oshea]

or not....

im going with ye cavan_man, cavan_man sounds very neo-lithic, maybe its to do with that guy they found on the meath cavan border. there I'm making this thread longer.....

...but seriouslly lets hope you are right, keane really needs to show what he has, i think people have been a bit harsh on duff, has anyone noticed of the last few matches bar sweden, that he becomes very isolated out on the wing on his own, no players coming up to support him or make runs off the ball?

[cavan_fan]

The other way of looking at it is that this is a no-lose situation. Presumably we either:

win against a good Czech Team, possibly start of a new team etc etc

or we lose and Stan (and maybe Delaney) are dumped

[deadman]

time to pull out the cliches:

if we can keep it tight for 20mins

first goal is crucial

... who knows

[Don Vito]

Ian Dempsey played Put 'em Under Pressure this morning and I felt a little bit of optimism, only lasted 20 seconds though.

Anyway there are no positives tonight:

If we win - Stan stays, cracks are just papered over.

If we lose - it's four years to our next major tournament.

[paul_oshea]

even if we draw its the same really, being realistic. we need to win.

draw keeps things even more unbalanaced.

[elroy]

Ya very much agree, to have any realisitic thoughts of qualifying a draw is not good enough. I have a weird good feeling about tonight but then I am the eternal optimist.......ah well gotta hope for the best!!

[paul_oshea]

elroy i am an eternal optimist as well, always feel in a weird way too that we can do it, not taking into account the realistic things if ye know what i mean, but tonight im just hoping.....magical performances from the newer members i feel, and ye never know!

[geysir]

I get the impression that the Czechs haven't spent much time watching the dvd's of the Irish games, maybe their manager felt the team would become too complacent.
At this stage the fans need to have the same resolve as the band that played on the Titanic.

[endabob1]

Maybe:

Duff and Keane will show their top form
Carsley will prove he can anchor the midfield
O'Shea will finally take his performance seriously
McShane will show he is the new No.2 in Central Defence
Finnan will be the calm head at the back
Henderson will show he can be a new Shay

and we'll win 3-0

and Stan will decide he needs a top quality coach to work alongisde him.

and I'll win the lottery

Of all of those, the last one is the more likely........

[The Swordsman]

2-0 to Ireland.

Me and Cavan_fan share the lotto.

Sing along:
Always look on the bright side of life. do do do do do do do do do.

[Peadar]

If we perform well then everyone who travelled to Cyprus should be offered a refund! I don't want any moral victory that would take the heat off de gaffur!

[cavan_fan]

Anyway there are no positives tonight:

If we win - Stan stays, cracks are just papered over.

If we lose - it's four years to our next major tournament.

It depends if you're a glass half empty or half full guy.

For our stats guys if we lose tonight we will have 9 games left. Could we qualify with 20-27 points????????

[The Swordsman]

If we perform well then everyone who travelled to Cyprus should be offered a refund! I don't want any moral victory that would take the heat off de gaffur!

The FAI offering refunds. Now, that's what I call optimistic.

For our stats guys if we lose tonight we will have 9 games left. Could we qualify with 20-27 points????????

Should that not read:

when we win tonight we will have 9 games left. Could we qualify with 23-30 points???

Remember, this is the optimistic thread.

[Dallasirish]

Lads -- Just woke up and had a dream we beat them 2-1 with Keane scoring in the 83rd minute. It was a massive Goal and everybody was going wheels off!! Kinda sad i woke up ! Anyway hope it comes through and might actually stick a few dollars on it just in case!

CMON IRELAND GET INTO THEM!!

[Tipp Townie]

I'm always up for some optimism

Spain, started their Euro 200 qualifiers with a 3-2 defeat in Cyprus. Recovered and qualified.

Wales started their WC '94 qualifiers with a 5-1 defeat in Romania. Lost their 4th game 2-0 in Belgium. Still came within a hair's breadth of qualifying though.

England lost 3 of their WC '82 qualifiers, all away 2-1 defeats to 'lesser' nations, including a humiliating loss in Oslo. But they recovered to qualify and had a half decent tournament when they got there too.

Basically, things look pretty bad now, granted. But whats the point in giving up until its mathematically over?

[Schumi]

Should that not read:

when we win tonight we will have 9 games left. Could we qualify with 23-30 points???

Remember, this is the optimistic thread.

Should that not read:

when we win tonight we will have 9 games left. We will qualify with 30 points!!!

You're not being optimistic enough.

[eirebhoy]

Excellent research Tipp Townie. That Spanish one really has me optimistic. I now believe we can qualify again! If Stan could just pick the best XI from now on and we don't get another injury crisis. It would have to take a win tonight though. Anything other than a win and I'd prefer Stan to step down.