Ireland 1-0 Slovakia Post Match Thread

**citizenerased** · 29/03/2007, 9:00 AM

Stand up was great last night..when i seen that mexican wave startin again i went spare...fair play to the ultras on the lower davin!!

**Billsthoughts** · 29/03/2007, 9:04 AM

Originally Posted by craig7042

People need to back off the team now and the manager. They havent qualified for anything yet, but they've earned respect, so lets have it please. A lot of people in that crowd tonight had very straight faces at the end.
If you hadnt been so vicious previously, maybe you might have been able to enjoy the night to the full like some of us who supported the team through the tough times.

Good man Stan. Fair play. And well done to the team on 6 great points against the odds. Good team spirit.

tough times? 2-5 against Cyprus and 0-4 against holland and a last minute winner against san marino are not tough times. they are clueless and inept times. We bet an understrength Slovakia team one nil at home. We far from hammered them. At least we played with a bit of passion. people are well within their rights to give out about the muck that was served up on sat. Hunt in his post match comments was right when he said you show the crowd early on that you are willing to get stuck in and they will get behind you. Anyway I wouldnt get too carried away with the smugness just yet....could be more "tough times" ahead....

**youngirish** · 29/03/2007, 9:15 AM

Improvement was noticable last night. Still some puzzling selections by Stan though but we won.

Positives:
Duff - Brilliant, MOTM by a distance. Defended and attacked like a man out to prove a point.
Hunt - Excellent when he came on. Created an excellent chance for Long who should have buried it. Why does he not start Stan?
Mc Shane - Another top class performance. Outstanding in the tackle and also looks comfortable on the ball. Could be a top player for us in the future.
Finnan - Another solid performance from our consistently best defender in recent years even though he was played out of position.
Long - Looks a player. Had a few chances when he came on and he should at least have came away with a goal. Strong and quick and good in the air I rate this lad a better prospect than Stokes at present.

Negatives:
Mc Geady - Shocking, he gave the ball away everytime he got it. He always struggles against decent opposition and is living off one decent performance years ago against Milan and his club performances against rubbish defences in a crap league. He's not up to it lads. Hunt and S Quinn should be in front of him for selection in the next few matches.
Kilbane and JOS - Surely we need to replace these by now. Not one of their worst games but they didn't contribute much either.

In the end though we still have a long way to go we could easily have drawn the game last night if Slovakia had been half decent. The Czechs and the Germans would still have beaten us if we play like we did last night against either (and we need at least 4 points against both IMO).

**Ceirtlis** · 29/03/2007, 9:15 AM

Good result last night, its 6 points on the board that alot of people couldnt see us getting. Good to see a bit of purpose to the play as well. Slovakia will be disappointed they didnt get something as i think they had a few good chances especially towards the end Given really saved us on one occasion. The Slovaks were really on top about 15 minutes after half time and had us penned back but bringing hunt on lifted the team as he was prepared to be adventurous going forward and gave the slovaks something to think about at the back even if he lost the ball a good few times straight away after coming on. Most the team can feel reasonably happy with their performance except for McGeady who i think had a bit of a stinker unfortunately. O'Shea was brilliant i thought, very composed in defence and always made sure to find a man when he had the ball, it was important to keep possesion and he did it well. Carsley played well and was a bit more positive with the ball than he normally is. Kilbane had some right skillful touches in the first half but he really faded i thought cant fault him for effort as usual though. Duff played like he was playing was a few years ago. Still dont think the tactics were right though and id say if we had gone at that team abit more we would have got more goals. It gives us an outside chance of qualifying i suppose but i aint getting my hopes up. Some big big results are needed like winning away against Slovakia and Wales as you can not see the Czechs or Germany dropping points against them and i just dont see that happening at the moment. Realistically if we can hold on to third place and get a fair few points on the board it wont be a bad outcome although it would probably mean Stan keeps his job which i cant see as benefiting to us in the long term.

**conlonn** · 29/03/2007, 9:17 AM

McShane excellent prospect, Hope West Brom get promoted then he will be playing at a higher level every week, Carsley was excellent last night,
Mcgeady has a bit to go yet but he will learn and get better, he three Reading boys were all excellent and the timing of the subs by Stan was spot on. Those subs gave Slovaks something to think about instead of them pushing on.
S Ireladn was very good. Its something to build on. Trips to Bratisvala and pargaue will be tough
Robbie Keane should take note of that perfomance by Doyle ofr effort and workrate and not complaining the whole time. He should not be captain anymore.
S McPhail and L Miller should be in the squad though.
All in all a vast improvement

**macdermesser** · 29/03/2007, 9:23 AM

Originally Posted by anto1208

The only thing worse than the wave is that stand up nonsence ..... no wait i stand corrected ole ole ole

Im delighted to see stan finally settling on a decent side i allways said it would take him a good few games to settle and get the youngsters settled aswell , i just wished the idiots had realised this too and laid off him .( bar the finnan o shea thing i dont get that )

Now if he would just drop kilbane and not give into the start hunt brigade we ll do ok

Would much rather that instead of the wave .. think we definitely need a few new tunes though!

Thought Kilbane did well last night. A lot of tracking and running back and energy .. stuff that the more discerning eye will catch.

Long looks a prospect .. thought he was brilliant when he came on and it was a very good substitution by Stan which put the pressure back on the slovak defenders as Doyle was tiring.

Thought he might have taken Duff off as he looked knackered too but we got away with that

**Billsthoughts** · 29/03/2007, 9:27 AM

have to say I like mageady. he can play football which is more than you can say for a lot of them. its up to other players around him to call for the ball when he is beating players as he draws in players there should be more room. he lost the ball a lot cause he wanted the ball a lot. its an improvement on a lot of players who go thru matches afraid to have a go. stephen ireland was no better but because he is flavour of the month everyone says he was great. he went missing for long periods as well. thought kilbane and macshane played well. and finnan also. duff is still a little too prone to looking for frees. he used to get them now he goes looking for them. o shea was better than usual. carsley did enough. was a good performance but far from the finished product and the manger would want to get his act together between now and the next competitive game if we are going to qualify.

**Over the post** · 29/03/2007, 9:55 AM

Didn't get to see the match unfortunately but it's great to see the enthusiasm and optimism here and in the press.

One thing that worries me though is that the "shots on target" count was 7-3 in Slovakia's favour and Given, Dunne and McShane seem to have been our most outstanding performers (Dunne getting man of the match). It's true that there seems to be plenty of potential with Doyle, Duff, Ireland and Hunt looking good going forward, but according to the stats (read them in the Indo) the Slovaks had the lion's share of both the possession (55/45) and the chances.

Not wishing to rain on anyone's parade, the Slovaks (even at full strength) are no world-beaters and I wouldn't be getting too excited just yet. Still, as I say, great to see a bit of enthusiasm about the place.

And fair dues to Norn Iron, top of a group containing Spain, Sweden and Denmark!

**Nailer77** · 29/03/2007, 9:55 AM

Massive improvement from whats we've seen so far. The right selection, the right subs and the right game plan. The defence was fantastic though O'Shea still looks the weak link and will probably be pushed by Joey O'Brien (not Carr!)next season. We looked far more direct without Robbie in there complicating things. Its simple, our wingers are our greatest threat and luckily in Doyle we've a striker thats good in the air and has a great ability to hold play up. Thats not to say Keane shouldn't come back but when he does he needs to play the role required of him which is off Doyle not as a 5th midfielder trying to do everything and upsetting matters. And with Andy Reid and Stephen Ireland well capable of playing as a third advanced midfielder it gives us a real alternative.

Given - Excellent in what he had to do. A real captain.

O'Shea - Was good enough on the night but still had too many of his 'moments', just doesn't inspire confidence at all.

Dunne - Immense

McShane - The same, can't believe he's that young.

Finnan - Excellent though you can tell he's not happy that side and as he offers more of a threat going forward than O'Shea I'd be moving him back right but at least we know he can play LB

Carsley - Did his defensive job very well but when you play centre mid you have to offer yourself as an outlet and he was reluctant to do so. Which wouldn't be too bad except that he had Kilbane alongside him who's much the same.

Kilbane - No centre mid but put in all the effort in the world and didn't give them a break, Steven Reid should claim this spot when he's fit

Stephen Ireland - Did the role asked of him to the best of his ability but thought he was always gonna struggle playing as close to Doyle as he started off. Again showed real ability, but I'd prefer to see him a bit closer to the others in midfield, collecting the ball and making things happen.

Duff - Fantastic, vintage stuff. Hope he keeps it up.

McGeady - Thought it was a bit typical of McGeady from what I've seen of him. Flashes of brilliance but often overdid it or took the wrong option. Still it was a big occasion and he's got plenty of time, did a lot of good as well.

Doyle - Brilliant, a real centre forward. Scored, created chances, held the ball up well to allow Duff and McGeady to get up and won plenty of ball of their defenders.

Subs
Hunt - Another brilliant cameo, should probably get McGeadys spot in the next game. Can cross a ball.

Long - Good stuff. Probably should have scored but showed real talent after the unfair abuse he got off some after San Marino.

Quinn - Not on long but still managed to balls one passage of play completely which almost led to a goal, don't really know what he was doing.

So encouraging but its only one win and there's a way to go yet. If we can continue to improve on this and still don't qualify Stan will deserve two more years. But the danger is we revert to a Cyprus or San Marino as we did after Germany and Czech. This game can only be taken positively if we build on it. Stan has a game plan now and the personell to carry it out, he needs to be brave with his selections an reintroduce players and the expense of others and maybe leave some established players out if thats whats needed. And please no more statements about only picking PL strikers or putting his faith in the kids. If there are older players or lads in the Championship doing the business then don't hold it against them, we don't have a huge pool to pick from. And you need a friendly or two to really start looking at another CB or two if something happens to Dunne or McShane.

And Fair play to the crowd last night, haven't had an atmosphere like that since the Holland game in 2001.

**Nailer77** · 29/03/2007, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by Over the post

Didn't get to see the match unfortunately but it's great to see the enthusiasm and optimism here and in the press.

One thing that worries me though is that the "shots on target" count was 7-3 in Slovakia's favour and Given, Dunne and McShane seem to have been our most outstanding performers (Dunne getting man of the match). It's true that there seems to be plenty of potential with Doyle, Duff, Ireland and Hunt looking good going forward, but according to the stats (read them in the Indo) the Slovaks had the lion's share of both the possession (55/45) and the chances.

Not wishing to rain on anyone's parade, the Slovaks (even at full strength) are no world-beaters and I wouldn't be getting too excited just yet. Still, as I say, great to see a bit of enthusiasm about the place.

And fair dues to Norn Iron, top of a group containing Spain, Sweden and Denmark!

Probably agree with most of that. They definitely had more possession and at times I was going mad that we couldn't keep it more but this is were the Reids will hopefully make a difference cos Carsley and Kilbane didn't take enough ownership of the ball and even left the wide lads stranded at times looking for an outlet. The fact is that was a new setup last night with Doyle, Duff, Ireland and McGeady in attack so it'll take some time to get it right but the signs were encouraging. And yeh this performance will only stand the test of time if we build on it, no point in reverting to what we've seen recently or it won't be worth a sh1te.

**OwlsFan** · 29/03/2007, 10:27 AM

What has pleased me about BOTH games is that the defence has been pretty solid. O'Shea defended well last night (caught out of position once and one poor header but overall did well). McShane was also excellent along with Dunne.

McGeady, other than the quick stop party piece didn't achieve much and I would say he was the only one I wasn't pleased with on the night. But there's time yet for him and the bumpy pitch didn't suit him.

Kilbane will be retained for his physicality and height until Stephen Reid returns.

The absence of two strikers told a few times when crosses went in to the back post and our one striker had made a run to the near post.

We're not back in it as a number of people have said (trips to Slovakia and the Czech Republic are unlikely to yield much) but we have regained respectability and some pride. To be honest I would have expected 6 points from both games (I never thought we were as bad as some said) but at least we're not laughing stocks anymore. Glad for Stan.

**Drumcondra 69er** · 29/03/2007, 10:29 AM

Very positive performance last night, hard to fault anyone. Very surprised to see McGeady being criticised, while by no means outstanding he was quite effective and was available as an outlet pretty consistently. Carsley really dictated things from where he sat in midfield, again not exceptioonal but constantly cajoled those around him, gave clear instruction and was a major part in the team keeping it's shape. Hunt has culty hero written all over him, gave teh ball away 3 times in his first 3 minutes but as I said to the lads with me at the time last night, to get on the ball that often straight away is something in itself, he's the polar opposite of a player who hides and was excellent with his possesion after that. Long really should've scored from Hunt's exceptional second cross. Doyle took his goal superbly, back 4 were very solid, Given got Quinn out of jail with that late save after Quinn had needlessly conceded possesion but would be loath to fault anyone really.

Roll on September, still don't think Stan's the man for the job but we've given ourselves a chance.

Crowd were excellent for getting behind the team but mexican waves should be illegal unless there's a 2 goal cusion minimum! And what has happened all our songs? I recall when the likes of Molly Malone being regulalrly sung amongst other, now we only have 4 songs, Ole ole, come on you boys in green, stand up for the boys in green and Ireland, clap clap clap. Should do better!!

**Nailer77** · 29/03/2007, 10:34 AM

Wouldn't say Carsley dicatated things. You need to get on the ball to dictate play. Defensively he was excellent, solid and covered the ground well but to get the best out of Carsley you need to let him do just that and and Kilbane alongside him was never going to offer himself as much of an outlet. Stephen Reid and Andy Reid will be better partners for Carsley. Thats not a criticism of him by the way, he's limited but at least he knows it.

**drummerboy** · 29/03/2007, 10:36 AM

My ratings from the Hogan stan

Given 9: two vital saves, consistant as ever.
O'Shea 7: Passing was a bit better, his man only got by him twice
Finnan 9: Excellent performance despite being handicapped by playing on his wrong side. Made some telling tackles in the 2nd half, nothing went by him all night.
McShane 8: Had a real battle with his bigger opponent. But despite getting clattered a few times, kept to his task. Its a pity he is not a little bigger.
Dunne 9: Excellent perforance by the big man.
McGeady 6: Bet his opponent many times, but gave the ball away 90% of the time. Not ready yet.
Carsley 7: Done what he was there for: to protect the back for and break up their play.
Kilbane 7 What he lacks in style he makes up for in effort.
Duff 9: Excellent, vintage Duff. I was beginning to think that his legs were gone, but after last night I could be wrong.
Ireland 7: Looked a lot more confident last night that Saturday. Made some nice passes, best is yet to come.
Doyle 8: Worked tirelessle, despite not being fully fit.
Hunt 8: Great work when he came on, he really lifts the crowd and looks as if he really cares.
Long 7: Some nice touches, could have scored 2. Certainly one for the future

CROWD: EXCELLENT, Got behind the team from start to finish.

Despite all this, I don't think we have much of a chance against Slovakia and Czech Reputlic away from home.

**greendeiseboy** · 29/03/2007, 10:40 AM

I recall when the likes of Molly Malone being regulalrly sung amongst other,

that's because us culchies ( who now make up the majority of the team) dont know the words - we might give ye a blast of boolavogue or slievenamon or a few val doonican numbers at the next one - come to think of it didnt he sing delaney's donkey!!

**Jerry The Saint** · 29/03/2007, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by craig7042

well done to the team on 6 great points against the odds.

To be fair, we were healthy favourites for both home games so it certainly wasn't 6 points against the odds. The important thing is that it keeps (slim) hopes alive for the double-header in CzechnSlovakia and leaves us in a strong position to finish 3rd at least.

That kind of performance is really what Ireland should be doing every time - not world-beaters but at least watchable.

Most games up to now the players have been playing below their true level - last night (and Czech at home, possibly Stuttgart) I feel they played at about their right level which was good enough for a narrow win. The next step is to bring it to a higher level and play above themselves, like the Ireland teams that qualifed before, for all their remaining matches (we could conceivably drop points in each of the remaining games if we slip back to the Cyprus/San Marino/Wales standard of performance again).

**Nailer77** · 29/03/2007, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by Jerry The Saint

To be fair, we were healthy favourites for both home games so it certainly wasn't 6 points against the odds. The important thing is that it keeps (slim) hopes alive for the double-header in CzechnSlovakia and leaves us in a strong position to finish 3rd at least.

That kind of performance is really what Ireland should be doing every time - not world-beaters but at least watchable.

Most games up to now the players have been playing below their true level - last night (and Czech at home, possibly Stuttgart) I feel they played at about their right level which was good enough for a narrow win. The next step is to bring it to a higher level and play above themselves, like the Ireland teams that qualifed before, for all their remaining matches (we could conceivably drop points in each of the remaining games if we slip back to the Cyprus/San Marino/Wales standard of performance again).

Bang on there. Finishing 3rd in this group would show an improvement on Kerr and Stan would deserve a further 2 years to build but like you say we've seen this before against the Czechs only for the team to revert to type against San Marino and Cyprus. We've a game plan now and the players to do it so lets hope we don't complicate things needlessly. We can build on what we saw last night.

**tetsujin1979** · 29/03/2007, 11:05 AM

Few pics from the night here, was up in the gods, so some are a bit blurry, got a snap of the foot.ie flag though: http://picasaweb.google.com/tetsujin...relandSlovakia

**eighties mullet** · 29/03/2007, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by eirebhoy

How did the reaction to Hunt come across on TV? He's a bit of a cult hero.

The atmosphere was 20 times better than Saturday. It's always a good sign when you can't hear yourself sing. It got quiet a bit but that was just because the Slovakians were dominating at that point.

The bloody mexican wavers are annoying me. Who are they? About 100 people in the Canal corner with white tops on. The game was really tense at one point and all they care about is starting a mexican wave off.

The Slovakian fans were a lot better than the Welsh which helped the atmosphere. When they sang we sang.

Yea that mexican wave does my head in,
that craps for boring friendlies,

**DeNiro** · 29/03/2007, 11:35 AM

Here's my take on last night!

Given - Excellent. Kept us in it with an early save.

Finnan - Got some criticism in the papers. I thought he did ok. The left doesn't suit him.

Dunne - Absolute colossus. Can pass the ball as well. Transfer from City would benefit him.

McShane - An outstanding talent. Will get better as well. Hard to think he is that young.

O'Shea - clumsy at times. Seriously slow.

Duff - back to the good old days. Faded a little I thought. He doesn't act like a senior player. Rarely encourages those around him.

Carsley - Strong. Where was he on 7 October?

Ireland - not as good as Saturday. Huge Potential though.

Kilbane - He tries. I do think if he wasn't there we'd miss his effort.

McGeady - nothing major yet. Hard to believe his Champions League material on last night's show.

Doyle - Absolute class. Epitomises the 'play for the jersey' motto.

Hunt - Excellent. Danger of starting him is he could fade very easily with all his efforts.

Long - Interesting sub. Expected Stokes. Looks neat.

Anyone with a DVD recording of last night's game? Will cover costs.