I see Giles has his own Bebo site
http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=289907694
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
It was well known that pint sizes Giles was a hard man with renowned brilliant football ability. Not just a nasty piece of stuff. Afair, his discipline record was very good.
Incedently, Fabregas is one of the few EPL midfielders that Giles is fulsome in his praise for. idhttp://www.nobok.co.uk/page/VideoArc...821082,00.html
He is right about Fabregas , he has so much potential its scary hard to beleive hes not even 20 yet
He was waxing lyrical about Scoles as well last weekend. Same sort of player as himself so hence he likes him.Originally Posted by geysir
Back to Mullery. ANyone remember his goal of the season?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NLueHEhKTc
Last edited by OwlsFan; 19/01/2007 at 1:05 PM.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
robbie is a class act when he plays well. no doubt about it. But his perofrmances for ireland havent reflected his class on too many occasions. If we ignore friendlies (which are of no consequence in reality) his goalscoring record for Ireland is one of a very mediocre striker, not one of true international class. For a player we consider now to be one of our 3 genuinely top players (given, duff and robbie) - he has never played anywhere near as good for ireland (apart from at the world cup in 2002) than he does for spurs.
Look at his competitive record for ireland
Euro 2000 Qualifiers - 4 goals
1-v-Yugoslavia
0-v-Croatia
0-v-Macedonia
3-v-Malta
World Cup 2002
1-v-holland
0-v-Portugal
0-v-Estonia
0-v-Cyrpus
0-v-Andorra
1-v-Iran
World Cup 2002
1-v-germany
0-v-cameroon
1-v-saudi arabia
1-v-spain (pen)
Euro 2004
0-v-russia
0-v-switzerland
1-v-gerogia
1-v-albania
World Cup 2005
0-v-France
0-v-switzerland
1-v-israel (pen)
1-v-cyprus (pen)
1-v-Faroes
Euro 2008 so far
0-v-Germany
0-v-Czech Reo
3-v-San Marino (1 pen??)
Off all the games against the top two seeds in each group and in the world cup second round robbie has scored only 5 goals in his international career!!!! and one was a penalty!!!!!! woeful record!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!which means either one of two things 1) either he's just not as good as we think or 2) he's just not doing the business for us when he plays. Given his performances for spurs (2 fans player of the year awards out of 4 seasons i think) i think im inclined to agree with the latter
good post ofjames.
sums up the waster to be honest. Someone mentioned about his cartwheels, I wouldn't mind if we saw more of it because at least it means he is doing what he is supposed to.. putting the ball in the net. His attitude as a captain is atrocious, people seem to forget his "hands on hips" display in Cyprus, blaming others when he is the very player you need to grab the game by the balls
Last edited by Saint Tom; 19/01/2007 at 2:41 PM. Reason: spelling
Camac Ultras North Terrace Section
Lets have a look at Miroslav Klose, the top scorer at the last world cup. 33 international goals altogether.
World Cup 2002 qualifiers
1-v-Albania
1-v-Greece
0-v-Finland
0-v-England
0-v-Finland
World Cup 2002
3-v-Saudi Arabia
1-v-Ireland
1-v-Cameroon
Euro 2004 Q's
0-v-Lithuania
1-v-Faroe Islands
0-v-Lithuania
0-v-Scotland
1-v-Faroe Islands
0-v-Iceland
0-v-Scotland
0-v-Iceland
Euro 2004
0-v-Latvia
0-v-Czech Republic
World Cup 2006
2-v-Costa Rica
2-v-Ecuador
1-v-Argentina
Euro 2008 Q's
1-v-San Marino
I don't know which were penalties.
Then you have Theirry Henry. In the Euro 2004 qualifiers he scored 6 goals. 4 against Malta, 1 against Cyprus, 1 against Israel. In the WC qualifiers he got 1 against Cyprus and 1 against Ireland.
As for Keane. You forgot his goal against Turkey and the one against Israel was a cracker, not a peno. And it's 3 player of the year award at Spurs btw.
a pertinent point, playing with better and more suitable players he has played very well. his form for ireland, whether poor, ok, good, very good etc. should not hold as much importance as his club form, which if we picked our players by and their importance to us he would be in the top 5, ~(given, dunne, keane, doyle, duff, finnan, s.reid, carsley, a.reid.....)
And it's 3 player of the year award at Spurs btw.
goalscoring - did keane score 25 goals a season for spurs to deserve the fans awards?
drop him - no, international football is not about dropping players to give them a kick up the backside, or having a rotational policy. when it comes to a big match we want our very best players to be playing(surely?), instead of dropping our better players why not drop(for SM) those in the second tier(Jos, o'brien, kilbane, morrison) so that if they start the bigger games they know there are lads eagerly waiting in the wings
Was very disappointed in his performance for Spurs last night. He played two good passes but the rest of the time he was anonymous and found it hard to get in to the game. He came on early in the game when Spurs were leading when Berbetrov (sic) was injured and Jol played him out left and he was like a headless chicken.
Not the Robbie I remember and admire but it might have something to do with the roll he was given.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
Giles was a class footballer. he also played in a time when the likes of christiano ronaldo wouldn't have got onto a schools team (due to the physicality not ability). for better or worse the game was infinately more physical at the time and teams like leeds were well able to mix it with anyone but also had some fine footballers, giles included.
at the time teams from the 'south' of england were seen as soft and were useless when travelling north. spurs were at the time (and still are) a team of good footballers who lacked physicallity and 'bottle'. the like of leeds (espically), liverpool and man utd were always able to beat teams like these if not through football then through a bit of physicality or if you want intimidation.
different times and a different game but to say he was sh1te and just dirty and sly is a total dis-service to the man.
incidently the above characteristics are very similar to a mister R.Keane (not the one who the thread is about) and he is famed by most on the island and in britain as a superb footballer.
also i don't think giles is an exponent of the beautiful game either but much perfers hard working teams with a good football phlosophy and the occasional bit of flair (in the right areas of the pitch).
If C.Ronaldo played back then he'd be regarded as an all time great.As much as I dislike the guy, the standard of football (like every sport) is improving every year and Ronaldo would have stuck out much more back then.
I only saw the highlights of Spurs last night. Robbie was ruled offside when the replays showed he was behind the defender. It would have been interesting to see if he'd have scored that simple 1 on 1.
Last edited by eirebhoy; 25/01/2007 at 11:15 AM.
[QUOTE=Qwerty;607464 Maradona won the 86 WC virtually on his own, take him out of that team and it was crap.[/QUOTE]
Amazing ignorance.
Champions 2010
Champions 2011
Dick Brush 1 Sligo 0
Bohs are going bust.
i appreciate his ability football wise but what i was refering to was his inability to stay on his feet with the most meagre of contact. the amazing thing about george best is how he had the strength to ride even the most vicious of tackles. but perhaps ronaldo would have altered his game as no prizes for going to the deck so cheaply in them days!!If C.Ronaldo played back then he'd be regarded as an all time great.
i definately agree with how the quality is improving every year and it's why it is impossible to compare players from such different era's. i saw ricky villa's cup final goal lately and thought to myself that it would just about make a goal of the season top ten nowadays - if even - whereas at the time it was unbelievable!
Doesnt say much for football back then then,,,Most premiership teams ousside top 4 can barely string too passes together these days
Agreed. It wasn't until the 90's that South American players started to move to Europe in their droves. Therefore almost everyone in that Argentina squad were domestic based players and not household names over here. There was still Jorge Valdano of Real Madrid and Burruchaga of Nantes. His Napoli team must be one of the most underrated. It was full of international players from Italy, Brazil and Argentina including Ferrara, De Napoli, Alemao, Francini, Baroni, Careca.
Look at this famous picture:
http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/englis...da0d063_m1.jpg
All it takes is a long ball from Maradona and it should result in a goal for Argentina, as surely most of the Argentina team are left free. These days players get very little time on the ball. It's completely different.
Last edited by eirebhoy; 25/01/2007 at 3:01 PM.
Free. Kick. Just. Bounced. Off. Wall. Damn it.
Interesting thread. I'm a Spurs fan and a big admirer of Robbie Keane, so here's my tuppence worth.
I was at the game last night (I know, I know - they're going to drive me bonkers one of these days). Anyhow, I'm afraid Robbie looked v.much "off the pace" to me. This was exacerbated by having to play up alongside Defoe (I can see why Jol doesn't ever want to pair them) and reached its nadir in the 2nd half when the Arse started to **** all over us.
That said, he's hugely popular amongst the fans at WHL, which wouldn't be the case unless he'd performed consistently well over a number of seasons. It also helps that he's one of a type of player which the Spurs fans traditionally love (about which more later).
I also get the impression that out of him or Defoe, Jol would choose Robbie, though he desperately wants to keep both and must be praying for the 1st February.
Anyhow, as regards his place in the ROI team, I'm amazed there's so much criticism of him. Granted, as a Spurs man I'm biased, plus I've not seen that much of him in an ROI shirt (they tend to play on the same dates as "you know who"!)
However, I can only conclude that whether for tactical reasons, or for personnel reasons, they don't know how to get the best of him.
First of all, whilst Robbie can score some great goals, he's not a "great goalscorer" i.e. a natural finisher. As such, I'd normally expect 15 - 20 goals a season from him, no more. Whereas, someone like Defoe is a finisher, from whom I would expect 25 goals a season. (However, he'll not do nearly as much for the rest of the team as Robbie)
At Spurs, Jol always prefers a big man/little man combination up front, with Berbatov presently being the big man (and Mido as back up).
As such, with Berbatov being such a good finisher, it's not so essential to the team for Robbie to score.
Therefore, he is at his best either playing off the shoulder of Berbatov/Mido, or drifting into wide positions/dropping deep, to pull defenders out of position and leave more space for Berbatov.
It helps, too, that he's a rare example these days of a dribbler who relies on skill, trickery and unorthodoxy to beat his man, rather than pace or short, quick passing. (Incidentally, it's these qualities which everyone loves at the Lane).
One other thing: someone posted about him playing on the left wing for Spurs. I think this is his acting under instructions from Jol, since the left side is a problem area at Spurs and we don't have an obvious candidate. Whereas, Aaron Lennon is a great little right winger, who creates chances for the strikers from down that side. However, it is only a part of Robbie's game and besides, he and Lennon occasionally switch wings temporarily, to fool their marker.
(Incidentally, I think the ROI might benefit from recreating this club partnership with Duff, obviously with Robbie drifting out right, whilst Duff patrols the left side)
Anyhow, I think it is unrealistic to expect Robbie to lead the line for the ROI and be your main scorer as well. Now as it happens, it may be that you've got your natural finisher in Kevin Doyle. However, he's still inexperienced and I'm not sure he's got the physical qualities or knowledge(yet, at least) to play the big man/little man combination alongside Robbie at international level.
Consequently, I'd be inclined to pick Doyle and A.N.Other up front, and give Robbie complete freedom to play anywhere either alongside them, on the wing, or tucked into "the hole" behind.
Of course, this would mean trusting Robbie to decide for himself, even within the course of a game, where to apply himself to the team's best advantage.
But he's now very experienced, not just in games played, but also from having been coached by a lot of top guys at a number of different clubs (inc. in Italy).
Having three attacking players (plus Duff) would also mean leaving the midfield a little light, but I don't see that you've got too many top quality midfielders at the moment, so it's not as if you'd be excluding someone special. It would probably mean, however, delegating someone to play the holding role in deep midfield, to avoid being vulnerable at counter-attacks (Carsley, maybe?).
Anyhow, I guess this means building the team round one or two players, which is not something I would normally suggest. But it seems to me that with the ROI squad being thinner than it's been for some time, you are going to have to get the best out of your "big" players (at least until the youngster come through), so I don't see what other option there is.
Which, after all, is only what Sanchez did immediately he took over NI, when he realised that he had to pick a team to get the best out of David Healy (who most definitely is a finisher), and we've all seen the results there!
Of course, whether Staunton sees it like that, or even whether he's found the "North West Passage" connecting his arse to his elbow, is quite another question...
Watched that match against Arsenal and Robbie looked off the pace alright, hopefully it's just rust after returning from injury...
It's like everything else... He needs games. Sometimes I wish he was at a club that had ideas in keeping with the status. This lark of having four quality strikers is a myth perpetuated by the United treble winning team..... and that was only facilitated by one player, OGS . If it wasn't for his abillity, patience and alround personality the 4 quality striker idea would have fell flat on it's face then, just as it is now for every club the tries it. Defoe and keane are both stagnating as players at Spurs at the expense of each other.
Competition is healthy, but that level of performance accountability is Fruitless. You do need depth at this level but it has to be with people content to play less games ie A Rookie or a Veteran. I would have liked to see Keane at Everton or Villa at various stages over the last couple of years.
And yet they all advanced to the last whatnot of the UEFA Cup. Football European wide must also be in the doldrums.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
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