Ireland 1-0 Slovakia Post Match Thread

[cheifo]

No question we were the better team.Even Josh played well.McGeady has got great talent but has a way to go yet IMO before he is considered a definate starter.Having Doyer up there as a focal point for our attack seems to give the side a better structure.Feel much happier tbh.Dont think we will be able to handle injuries to our better players though.

[McGinty]

if anything the slovaks were resorting to long shots because they couldnt penatrate

the back 2 were unbelievable, thought McShane is the bravest centre half i've seen in a good while whilst dunne compliments him nicely. very strong back four.

Only let down tonight was the second half, while they didnt do much with their possession we still let them come at us and we played very deep. Experienced players like Duff were hoofing the ball forward to no-one when we just needed someone to run the ball.

all in all a good 6 points, but it'll mean nothing if we dont get something in slovakia

[eirebhoy]

Fair fcuks to your bohran player who either started or followed the lead of those around him.


Magic feeling in that section apart from the tossers behind me who kept prodding me to sit down. For you two*again, in section 318 row MM seats 15/16 - It's football not a fcuking day out.

Were you wearing a black leather jacket over an Ireland jersey at the match on Saturday? I know your face from a clip of you on the news (I think?) and it looked like you anyway.

[soccerc]

Were you wearing a black leather jacket over an Ireland jersey at the match on Saturday? I know your face from a clip of you on the news (I think?) and it looked like you anyway.

No, I was elsewhere in Croker last Saturday.

Tonight I was with my breathren, the "real" supporters in the Lower Davin.

[eirebhoy]

I looked down there at one point and they were all standing. Must have been you starting it all off.

[danonion]

Well my da reckons we will qualify now, and when you get a monaghan bogger to be anyway optimistic..., well you never know

[Noelys Guitar]

Noely told yus! Believe. The signs were there on Saturday. Now lets go on and qualify.

[mypost]

The atmosphere was 20 times better than Saturday. It's always a good sign when you can't hear yourself sing.

The atmosphere was better, why? Night-time ko.

Back to the normal no atmosphere for the 3.0ko next home game against Germany. Why???

If we can't be seen to drop the crazy 3pm ko for the Germany game, can we do away with the similiarly early 7.30pm ko for night games? As was shown tonight, you can't get 75,000 Irish people into a stadium for a ko in rush hour.

[theworm2345]

Tell me you're taking the ****. How did we get lucky with the goal, it was a great header. And no, they didn't pepper our goal.

All I had seen was 4 shots on goal by Slovakia and the one goal that appeared (From the one angle on the ****e quality Chinese highlights) that the ball had hit him in the back of the head and gone in
Please forgive me if thats not up to your standard

[Dallasirish]

Great to see the lads lift the performance tonite. Thought the senior players that flanked Staunton in the press conference were very good. Great to see Duff back to his old self. I hope the press give them credit. Given is world class. Hope keane the muppet was watchin.

On the phone to the travel agent in de mornin to figure out how many dollars for the trip in September. Two or three countries in 7 days, warm weather, cheap drink and in with a good chance of Qualification!

[ifk101]

Great result. I thought we were pretty comfortable in dealing with what the Slovaks had to throw at us. The only negative I have with last night is Steve Finnan. He really should have been switched with O'Shea as he was being forced to go onto his right foot everytime he wanted to play the ball upfield. Every chance the Slovaks had in the first half stemmed from them attacking Steve Finnan when he had the ball.

[Kilcruise]

very good result considering our recent past performances. I was in San Marino and that was a low point. Also at the WALES game. We got three points but stillsomething was missing from the team Against the Slovaks , what an improved performance. Well done , an excellent three points , back in with a shout now.
QUESTION: What are you views on Keane in or out of the team last night????

[see's it]

great result.....
the last sub to come on what went on there Alan Quinn hasnt played in along time,he gave the ball away straight away and then just hung around in the middle not even closing them down.Douglas was good enough to start the last 2 games so why didnt he put him on.
back 5 were excellent last night

[Piltownpossy]

Got back from the match at 2, in here at work at 8 - bloody wrecked.

Bualadh Bos to the lads though.

Great game, huge improvement on Saturday both on and off the pitch. As has been said, Duffs best game with years, Doyle playing the lone striker role perfectly, Kilbane ran his *******s off - all credit to him, McShane and Duff were very good at the back with Given.

My only low lights were the positioning of Finnan - always coming back onto his right foot is extremely limiting, unlike all the posters here I thought the game passed Stephen Ireland by and finally McGeadys distribution after all his good work was poor. All three very much easy to correct before September.

The future is somewhat brighter this morning.

[greendeiseboy]

a good result - 3 points and joint top - ok they have games in hand, but they still have to win these games.

but we shouldn't get too carried away.

I think the positives were

We got 3points in the bag
Kevin Doyle - should now start instead of or definitely alongside keane
Shane Long - showed confidence, skill and aggression, has the potential
to be a world class striker
Stephen Hunt - he's everything we love about football
despite the fact that he looks like wurzel gummages
lovechild
They seemed to be more motivated last night
Shay Given - has to be among the top 3 in the world
Robbie Keane - he didn't play so lets hope that this a wake up call

The negatives

We still have a tendency to let the opposition come at us when we
have a slender lead instead of going at them
Slovaks dominated majority of 2nd half just like Welsh on Saturday
Still playing some out of position
Gameplans have to worked on
Ball still being given away cheaply
Need to up the goalscoring ratio

But all in all we're back in with a shout even though i dont think we'll qualify given that we have 3 tough away games and a home game against the kaisers

And as for stan - well before the weekend i wanted him out - now i'm probably 30% with him - so lets wait and see

[G-Man]

Much improved performance. More determination and effort to this one than was evident on Saturday. There is room for Robbie Keane in that team, but Doyle showed how to play the lone striker, not like Keane who persisted in playing his style of game rather than play up front for the benefit of the team. I wonder too does the captaincy affect hings more on the pitch. With Given leading by example, and Keane not so much, would that be an influence on players around to lift their game? I'd like to see Doyle as the front man and letting Keane play his own game off him then.

Long did well when he came on too, as did Hunt. Fecking ALan Quinn nearly gave everyone a heart attack. Duff was good too, a few lazy hoofs up the field at times, but worked hard. McGeady for all his faults was at least looking for the ball on the ground and was willing to take things on. Final ball needs improvement. Back line did well. Swap O'Shea nd Finnan tho for gods sake.

And that fcuking god damn mexican wave. that pi$$ed me right off. Again, started when the opposition are getting on top. Fair play to what I assume were the EL fans at the back of the Davin for stopping it by singing stand up FTBIG.

[macdermesser]

And that fcuking god damn mexican wave. that pi$$ed me right off. Again, started when the opposition are getting on top. Fair play to what I assume were the EL fans at the back of the Davin for stopping it by singing stand up FTBIG.

I think that should be the response every time the gobshi'ites start the wave. The "stand up FTBIG" antidote.

[anto1208]

I think that should be the response every time the gobshi'ites start the wave. The "stand up FTBIG" antidote.

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

[elroy]

All I asked of last night was three points and signs of progress and we def got that. I wouldnt get too carried away though, I still dont think we are good enough to qualify. But our defence is certainly a plus point, over the two games we were rarely troubled. I said it before the two games that JOSH has been playing well for united and i thought sat and particularly last night he did quite well so hopefully people will lay off him now.

Good performances throughout except maybe McGeady and Ireland in patches. Hunt is such a crowd lifter, even when he was warming up he got the crowd going. Am sceptical though if he started would he have the same impact, he does an awful amount of running when he comes on. Doyle did well, still short of full fitness and Long was a good subsitition when we were hitting them on the break. Overall, am happy progress made now keep it up!

And what a difference in atmosphere compared to sat, no more 3 o clock starts please, was in the Hogan near the canal end last night and the support was superb, stopped the stupid mexican wave too! And the whistling at the end - DEAFENING. All in all a good nights work!

[Countyman]

I'm suprised nobody mentioned Lee Carsleys contribution last night. I thought he was very effective. Richard Dunne didnt deserve man of the match. That should have been Duff. I though McGeady did quite well actually. Most of the irish players were guilty of poor distribution but there were a couple of passages of play that were a joy to watch and finally its omething that can be built on.

Although I'm no fan of Stan I'm a bit more positive this morning. Its still going to take at least 10 or 11 points from the last 15 to qualify which will be a tall order.

Long and Hunt definately made a difference when they cam on as we were under pressure up to that point. Dare I say it but should the manager get credit for those substitutions?