Czech Republic post match thread

**Soper** · 11/10/2006, 9:31 PM

I think in the next match, put Keane where Reid was, and play Doyle up top.

And re: O'Brien, I just think he was a bad sub, then again there was no one else.

**backstothewall** · 11/10/2006, 9:32 PM

Nearly the same

Given

Finnan - McShane - Dunne - Harte

McGeady - Carsley - S.Reid - Duff

Keane - Doyle

Subs: Joey O'Brien, McPhail, A. Reid, Elliott, O'Brien, Miller, O'Shea, Carr, Kenny, Kilbane, Alan Lee, Henderson.

**DeNiro** · 11/10/2006, 9:37 PM

Originally Posted by Tuff Paddy

So has Ferguson messed up by releasing McShane?

No, we've probably gained. He's probably got as much as he needed to from there and moved. He could have rotted there, and we would have lost out majorly. He's intelligent in his play and his career by the looks of it. I reckon he'll turn out better than Rio Ferdinand if he keeps going at that rate!

**barney** · 11/10/2006, 9:44 PM

Lads the slating of Andy O'Brien is OTT. Okay he isnt worth a place in the starting X1 but if we get a run of injuries, he may be needed. McShane and Dunne aren't going to be fit or available for every game.

Better performance and we deserved the win.

Stan learned from some of his mistakes. We were more organised, better balanced and there was a lot of effort. Robbie Keane ran his socks off. A bit too much as we had no one in the middle at times.

We all know Stan was the wrong man. But he is learning. That was a better performance, he now knows what a difference Carsley makes.

It was obvious he was going to make mistakes. But he's at least he's looking in the right direction now.

Remember, we were missing 14 players tonight, most of whom would have pushed for a place. We've drawn with one of the world's best teams. That's a decent result.

**Soper** · 11/10/2006, 9:47 PM

The Czechs were well below their usual standard tonight, imo

**murtybyrne** · 11/10/2006, 9:49 PM

Originally Posted by Tuff Paddy

So has Ferguson messed up by releasing McShane?

No I dont think so either, As a Man Utd fan Ive seen quite a lot of McShane both in some reserve games and nearly all of this seasons Pre-Season.

He has got quite a lot of potential and is quite a decent player, but was unsure if he was going to make the grade at Utd. He has made the correct decision to leave and join WBA cause there he will get more opportunities to play first team football and I do hope he can reach his potential and become a regular in the Irish side because god knows we need another decent Centre half!

**cavan_fan** · 11/10/2006, 9:50 PM

What this and the 2 matches against San marino should give us is squad depth.

Squad now should be

GK: Given, Kenny, Henderson
Full Backs: Finnan Carr Harte Kelly
Centre Backs: Dunne McShane O'Shea O'Brien
Central Midfield: Carsley S Reid Kavanagh A Reid Miller
Wide Midfield: Duff McGeady Alan O'Brien Kilbane
Forwards: Keane Doyle Elliot Daryl Murphy

**sonofstan** · 11/10/2006, 9:54 PM

Decent result and first time in a long while I've left Lansdowne feeling happy instead of bored (Friendlies), annoyed or miserable (last few competitive matches)

**Billy Lord** · 11/10/2006, 9:55 PM

Damn fine performance tonight. Decent shape, solid at the back, no real creativity in midfield (but only to be accepted as we haven't got the players), while everyone who played seemed to know what their roles were, which is all you can expect from pro footballers. It was a genuine team effort and Kevin Kilbane was my MOTM.
I'm dying to see how the papers play it because the clueless hacks had assumed that Ireland would be battered. The smart money was on a 1-0 home win so I suppose no one won in the end (!).
Staunton is not the answer but sacking him so soon would have merely been the scapegoat option. I would see him as - at best - keeping things ticking over, bedding in young players and eventually passing the baton to a quallity coach who can move things on.
How I would love it if the FAI took their role - and Irish football - seriously and started coaching kids properly, developed our national league and stopped hoping that the Brits solve all our problems.
England have their own problems, so they cannot be expected to also solve ours, no matter how much Irish people love their clubs.

**paul_oshea** · 11/10/2006, 10:00 PM

lads mcshane did do well in the game, however he was somewhat at fault for the goal, instead of trying to keep alongside koller and trying to over-power or out-strenght him he should have covered the angle to goal by getting in front of him. gave him way way too much room. that can't be overlooked, hopefully though thats something he will learn from. great finish thoug. koller was off side as well.

**Soper** · 11/10/2006, 10:01 PM

Yeah, but O'Shea should have been back.I would hold him to account for it over McShane.

**Irish Pride** · 11/10/2006, 10:02 PM

delighted wit da proformance but once again when we score first we just dont no how to keep a lead. McShane was excellent tonight and deserved his MOTM! hard to believe he is 20! McShane & Dunne at da back will do well! O'Shea is a waste of space! I'm sorry but once again it was his falut for the goal! Duff was disappointing, i no he set up da goal bu didnt do alot else.

Reid was a danger and i was delighted 2see him back! and for Carsley......We missed ya bald guy!

Dont mean 2 jump the gun but if we beat san Mario twice, that will give us 7points wit Wales to come! which should be another 3(please god) which is 10! So we are hoping for the Czechs or Germany to beat each other home and away to have any chance......................Can it be done????

Has any country taken 1 point out of 3games and qualified???????

heres hoping.......at least we have that now.

**rambler14** · 11/10/2006, 10:04 PM

Thought Wayne Henderson should have done way better for the goal.
Finnan was solid
McShane was brilliant
O'Shea messed up once(what a mistake though) other than that he played well
Kelly i thought had a bad game:- Tackled well
- Passing was terrible
- Very slow on the ball
- Bad touches
- Awful throws(took about 20, at least 15 went straight to a Czech Player.)
Douglas was brilliant
Carsley showed exactley why we needed him
Duff ran well with the ball
Reid didnt pass
Kilbane gave a 100% and showed why hes a winger and not a centre mid
Keane ran well didn't get any chances though.

**Donal81** · 11/10/2006, 10:08 PM

While this game is a good result - although not good enough to put us back in the running - it says a lot. Firstly, while I don't think Carsley is a worldbeater and doesn't contribute anything to going forward, how he wasn't in the squad at the weekend and played the whole game four days later is a sad indictment of Stan.

Carsley's game summed him up for me. A tough battler, good at putting in tackles, but not a match winner. Still, if he wants that midfield berth, it's his.

Also, how McShane and O'Shea could play better against one of the best teams in the world than Dunne and O'Brien against bloody Cyprus is an even worse indictment of the weekend's performance.

It was a great performance considering the makeshift nature of the team. As usual, we could have beaten them and should have beaten them.

Robbie Keane might have played poorly but he's always been rubbish playing upfront by himself. That miss was shocking, no excuse for that, but he needed more service throughout the game. That header was his first chance of the game and it was in injury time! With Carsley and Douglas in Central midfield and with no one beside him to shield high balls to him, he was always going to struggle. But he should have been better. A striker only getting once chance is not good enough. How did he lead the team?

Fair play to Kilbane for the goal, great finish. As ever, his strength is in making a nuisance of himself. He'll never dictate a game, never create chance after chance. He'll run and battle and get the odd goal, that's what he does.

Duff played well, finally. I'm sick to the teeth of seeing middling performances from him and Keane, amongst others.

But we're out of this campaign, I think, and this game finished it entirely. We need two of the top three teams to slip up and although the Slovaks got hammered this evening, it's between them and the Czechs. I can't see either of them falling against the mighty Cypriots or Welsh. In any qualifying campaign, you just can't drop points to the weaker teams, as we found out last year.

**The Legend** · 11/10/2006, 10:14 PM

We still need to get better in this tournament even if we dont qualify because if we drop another level in the quallifying pools for the WC... its game over for that campaign too...

**Donal81** · 11/10/2006, 10:15 PM

McShane got the stick for the Czech goal. I thought that it could easily have been prevented if John O'Shea had tracked back. That said, the replay wasn't great, I'm open to correction this.

**billybunter** · 11/10/2006, 10:18 PM

face value. pride restored. had a feeling of the old days about it. tackled, chased, pressured. bit of fookin pride about it. thats all i ask. good night all round. fair play to every irish player, fair play to the fans - absolutely magnificient. i watched it in tampa. fl - and it was a good night in the boozer - bit of ****** about it. well done to all.

**geysir** · 11/10/2006, 10:26 PM

Way off the mark those slating Keane, first time I have seen him do effective closing down, performance had to be compromised to achieve result, he suffered for that more than most and battled to the end.
An averagely confident Ireland with a secure manager would have won. Only getting a draw hurt.
Plaudits to Kilbane, left free of main defensive responsibilities he will run through a brick wall, if only he could pass.
What remains though is what Stan makes of it all. Lee isn't just for Christmas.
McShane, he's the Kenny replacement, intelligent and articulate.
I've never seen Brady so alive and energetic on RTE, like he had woken up after a 5 year slumber.

**liam88** · 11/10/2006, 10:30 PM

I'd like to think tonight marked the start of something new. The lads seemed to play with a real passion and correct me if i'm wrong -especially those who were actually at Lansdowne - but from what I saw the fans seemed a lot more enthusiastic than they have done for a while. The flare going off the the crowd etc. Alll seemed good

**Stuttgart88** · 11/10/2006, 10:32 PM

Fully satisfied.

McShane stood his ground against Koller all night long. Intelligent & elegant all night.

Carsley: nothing special in terms of talent but what he offered in terms of presence & maturity can't be underestimated.

Douglas: again no great talent but persistent akle snapping & sheer comfort in that part of the pitch was a big contribution. To what? A great performance? No, but allowing us to be competitive again.

Kilbane: central midfield? No way. Inside left in a 433? Can't fault him. Almost ideal role for him.

Robbie: if only you could head the ball & anticipate the mistake. Last 3 words of that sentence are so important you wouldn't believe.

Henderson: not that much to do but body language was impressive & exuded maturity. Kicking from hand was as good as any I've seen & surpassed Cech's, arguably as good as they come. In real time I thought he may have saved the goal though.

Kelly: the better full back on the night. Well done that lad.

Enjoyed it immensely.

PS: How big were the Czechs?