Ireland v Wales - Post Match Thread

**Scram** · 26/03/2007, 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by tricky_colour

I thought did well, injected some energy into the the attack and usually ended up on his arse because he was brought down, winning us a valuable free kick in a dangerous area. He has had 20(7) starts for Reading this season, a 'top team'. How many of our players would have put away this chance and demolished the corner flag?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BCI7N4UFcQ
Some of our players appear a little too fragile physically and seem afraid to get involved in anything physical on the pitch.

Hunt would have been MOTM if he played for 5 more minutes

**tricky_colour** · 26/03/2007, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by shelbourne1904

Did anyone notice that we finished the game with 4 wide left players or ,in the old days ,outside lefts???Kilbane ,McGeady,Duff and Hunt??????
Just more confusion

We seem to suffer from having too many left wingers and too few right sided ones. I mean usually you have 1 left footed person for every 10 right footed ones we seem to have have about 1000 times more left footed players than you would normally expect in a given population!!

**Stuttgart88** · 26/03/2007, 10:32 AM

Our pattern of play, if you'd call it that was laughable in 2nd half. Full back gets ball, chips it forward 30 yards, front players haven't got the technique to control properly, possession lost, Wales put together 30 passes and our full back gets the ball again 2 minutes later for it all to start again.

I thought the pitch was bad and I think it was quite windy at pitch level, but Wales' ball retention was excellent at times - by a bunch of players with far less "pedigree" than ours, so bumps & wind can't be excuses.

Doyle, Hunt, Ireland and McShane are the players who look hungry and mature these days. Between Kerr & Keane during the week, their comments summarise a lot of our problems, though I think Keane's "anti-Cork" comments are ludicrous when Miller's place has gone to Stephen Ireland. Miller's performances have drawn attention to his ineffectiveness, not his accent.

**Billsthoughts** · 26/03/2007, 10:32 AM

Thats because traditionally English clubs recruit in areas were they are weak in so Ireland tend to have more left sided players playing at a higher level while England in general never have many.

**Billsthoughts** · 26/03/2007, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Our pattern of play, if you'd call it that was laughable in 2nd half. Full back gets ball, chips it forward 30 yards, front players haven't got the technique to control properly, possession lost, Wales put together 30 passes and our full back gets the ball again 2 minutes later for it all to start again.

Doyle, Hunt, Ireland and McShane are the players who look hungry and mature these days. Between Kerr & Keane during the week, their comments summarise a lot of our problems, though I think Keane's "anti-Cork" comments are ludicrous when Miller's place has gone to Stephen Ireland. Miller's performances have drawn attention to his ineffectiveness, not his accent.

Agreed on these players. They show an attitute that seems to be totally at odds with that of everyone else on the team. If we can win on Wed nite(and nothing and saturday suggests its a foregone conclusion) then amazingly given the cyprus disaster we will have a chance of qualifying. Would love to see us giving it a real go. none of this excuses rubbish. I think the fans would get behind a team that was trying to qualify and a lot of the negativity that surrounds the Irish team at the moment might disappear.

**Nailer77** · 26/03/2007, 10:55 AM

And if we do qualify it'll be in spite of Staunton not because of him. I think its irrelevant anyway because I've a bad feeling that the Slovaks are going to show us a thing or two on Wednesday.

**irlphily** · 26/03/2007, 11:05 AM

3 points against Slovaks and we still have decent chance of qualifying, Stephen Hunt to start on Wednesday!!

**Nailer77** · 26/03/2007, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by irlphily

3 points against Slovaks and we still have decent chance of qualifying, Stephen Hunt to start on Wednesday!!

Those 3 points are not exactly going to be easy to come about if we perform as we have in our last 2 games. We'll need the performance of the Czech game and some more to get them. I'm far from confident.

**youngirish** · 26/03/2007, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by OwlsFan

I suppose you didn't see his through ball to Ireland either for the goal ? No?

Great he passed the ball a few yards to Ireland who still had it all to do. Through ball me bo**ox. Kilbane could have made that pass. Ireland made that goal himself.

He was on the floor everytime he went for the ball. What about his chance where Kilbane played it through to him 6 yards from an open goal? On his ar*e. Also he could have cost us the game at the end by his silly idiotic play outside the box when he needlessy gave away possesion which resulted in Giggs crap freekick. Would you be singing his praises then? I expect more responsible play from the captain than giving away a needless freekick at the edge of our box in the last few minutes of the game.

Watch it on telly next time man you must have been singing Ole Ole Ole and moaning about the atmosphere for most of the match instead of watching the game.

Also as for all those complaining about the atmosphere it's hard to get excited watching sh*te, frustrating football. Maybe the atmosphere would have been better if the game had even been half decent. Most of the crowd tried their best. The Welsh didn't help either.

**Nailer77** · 26/03/2007, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by youngirish

Great he passed the ball a few yards to Ireland who still had it all to do. Through ball me bo**ox. Kilbane could have made that pass. Ireland made that goal himself.

He was on the floor everytime he went for the ball. What about his chance where Kilbane played it through to him 6 yards from an open goal? On his ar*e. Also he could have cost us the game at the end by his silly idiotic play outside the box when he gave away possesion whicc resulted in Giggs crap freekick. Would you be singing his praises then? I expect more responsible play from the captain than giving away a needless freekick at the edge of our box in the last few minutes of the game.

Watch it on telly next time man you must have been singing Ole Ole Ole and moaning about the atmosphere for most of the match instead of watching the game.

Also as for all those complaining about the atmosphere it's hard to get excited watching sh*te, frustrating football. Maybe the atmosphere would have been better if the game had even been half decent. Most of the crowd tried their best. The Welsh didn't help either.

I'm not a huge fan of Robbie but in fairness to him most of our chances came from him. Doesn't mean he played well but he's got something most of the others don't and thats some sort of creativity. He needs to cut out the f*cking moaning and hand waving and concentrate on whats happening on the pitch, thats what captains are supposed to do. And the reason he spent so much time on his arse was because of the state of the pitch, he wasn't the only one.

**see's it** · 26/03/2007, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by youngirish

Great he passed the ball a few yards to Ireland who still had it all to do. Through ball me bo**ox. Kilbane could have made that pass. Ireland made that goal himself.

He was on the floor everytime he went for the ball. What about his chance where Kilbane played it through to him 6 yards from an open goal? On his ar*e. Also he could have cost us the game at the end by his silly idiotic play outside the box when he gave away possesion whicc resulted in Giggs crap freekick. Would you be singing his praises then? I expect more responsible play from the captain than giving away a needless freekick at the edge of our box in the last few minutes of the game.

Watch it on telly next time man you must have been singing Ole Ole Ole and moaning about the atmosphere for most of the match instead of watching the game.

Also as for all those complaining about the atmosphere it's hard to get excited watching sh*te, frustrating football. Maybe the atmosphere would have been better if the game had even been half decent. Most of the crowd tried their best. The Welsh didn't help either.

that half a cross that kilbane played into the box wasnt even for keane but he made up the ground and i think should of had a peno.i think he did well i dont think he should be the captain though

**Rams Mc 7** · 26/03/2007, 11:59 AM

cobhman saves the day again..how about it..hunt to start wed...

**geysir** · 26/03/2007, 12:19 PM

Is there a difference between Cobh and Cork? Does it mean that the Cork conspiracy theory still holds water in the light of Ireland's selection?

**The-Beer-Baron** · 26/03/2007, 12:22 PM

I agree, but will he be able to do it for 90 minutes? Would McGeady not be a better option to start? Hunt could be a better option when we need to take pressure off the defence late in the game.[/QUOTE]

I think it should be the other way around. hunt to start and mcgeady to come in late in the game. mcgeady while technically very sound lacks hunts agressiveness and hunger and i have yet to see him play well for 90minutes. with hunts premiership experience i think he is the better option

**pineapple stu** · 26/03/2007, 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by youngirish

Great he passed the ball a few yards to Ireland who still had it all to do. Through ball me bo**ox. Kilbane could have made that pass. Ireland made that goal himself.

That's nonsense. He spotted Ireland's run, played a flick pass behind him through two Welsh players and perfectly into Ireland's path. Credit where it's due like.

Originally Posted by gustavo

Did anyone else think that Stephen Hunt didn't do that great really? Sure he was all enthusiastic but he had 4 or 5 runs and ended up on his arse at the end of each run.

Think you're going to be on your own there! Hunt drew two or three yellows in the time he was on because he ended up on his arse at the end of each run. If he'd have done that from the start, the Welsh defence would have been on edge for most of the game and we could have attacked them a lot more.

**eirebhoy** · 26/03/2007, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by youngirish

Great he passed the ball a few yards to Ireland who still had it all to do. Through ball me bo**ox. Kilbane could have made that pass. Ireland made that goal himself.

I can't believe I'm reading this tbh. That is bias in the extreme. It was fabulous work by Ireland but I don't know how anyone could play down Keane's part in it. It was a top class pass, something Totti would be proud of. He also set Duff up a few minutes earlier after intercepting a pass by the Welsh right back. I thought he had a good game overall but he played a supporting striker role when we needed him in the box. He's not an out and out striker though.

**DmanDmythDledge** · 26/03/2007, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by gilberto_eire

whats everyones problem or have we all forgot the past??.... most here seem to think we'r one of the big boys!!... we'r not!... we usually dont qualify for tournaments.... we made it to 4 in total, 3 world cups and 1 euro and we basically had the same team btw..... we've drawn before with liecheinstein(who are about as bad as san marino and with a stadium like a eircom 1st division team) and also with macedonia...

So f�cking what? We were sh�t years ago...that means nothing now.

With the players we have we should be qualifying for every major tournament.

i dont really mind the lads having a go at the players but its not stauntons fault, the players there are all we have, they train with there clubs all year, all an international manager does is picks the team basically

And that's what he has been doing wrong since he started his job. With a decent manager we would have drawn with Germany, beaten Cyprus and the Czechs and hammered San Marino and Wales.

**citizenerased** · 26/03/2007, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by youngirish

Great he passed the ball a few yards to Ireland who still had it all to do. Through ball me bo**ox. Kilbane could have made that pass. Ireland made that goal himself.

He was on the floor everytime he went for the ball. What about his chance where Kilbane played it through to him 6 yards from an open goal? On his ar*e. Also he could have cost us the game at the end by his silly idiotic play outside the box when he gave away possesion whicc resulted in Giggs crap freekick. Would you be singing his praises then? I expect more responsible play from the captain than giving away a needless freekick at the edge of our box in the last few minutes of the game.

Watch it on telly next time man you must have been singing Ole Ole Ole and moaning about the atmosphere for most of the match instead of watching the game.

Also as for all those complaining about the atmosphere it's hard to get excited watching sh*te, frustrating football. Maybe the atmosphere would have been better if the game had even been half decent. Most of the crowd tried their best. The Welsh didn't help either.

Granted Keane was far from im pressive, but he worked ridiculously hard for the team, he chased after every ball and did alot of closing down...I cant fault him for effort...And as for you, the point of cheering is to spur the team on, not only sing when your winning..if your not prepared to cheer the team on why dont you watch it on the telly..Cos ill be cheering them on at the next match as well watching it, its possible to do both ya know!!

Also Stevie Hunt was superb, he showed the verve ambition and urgency that this team have been missing for some time...hence the immense reaction from the fans..Soon to be a cult hero..

**bennocelt** · 26/03/2007, 1:04 PM

Originally Posted by Burny89

As much as Hunt did well today, he still sucks!

**bennocelt** · 26/03/2007, 1:06 PM

Originally Posted by craig7042

I dont know what world you're all living in. The level of arrogance in these comments is shocking. I sat there today and saw a team win a game of international football. (what about Scotland? What about England? Everyone struggles to find form. Its normal. The win is the win is the win.) They didnt play as well as they can, but in moments there were clear positives. McShane was immense. Hunt and Doyle changed things with great determination when he came on. Given obviously saved us again. Dunne did well. Duff was far more creative especially in the first half. Kilbane, Carsley and douglas did okay. Ireland didnt do well, but you'll struggle to get a better international goal. Keane ran himself into the ground, but struggled. He's honest...lay off him ya gits. O'Shea was okay...frustrating...but ok. The fans cheered everything positive and where I was sitting there was almost no abuse thrown at the players from start to finish. Moments of frustration...no abuse though. The atmosphere at the start was good..there was a lull in the first half until the goal. (As a Liverpool fan having a lull in a game is not unusual. Liverpool regularly have lulls that last 80 minutes. ditto Chelsea)
After everything...a win is a win is a win.

They did well as a team and it sets things up for Wednesday to start to build again.

I just dont understand you people with your comments..............It wasnt a good game??? Really??
Since then did that ever matter????

come off it, what gamne were you looking at
Ireland were pish poor, if we play like that against the germans we will be murdered
a win is a win