We have given ourselves a chance after a disaster of a start so fair play but no more. Now if we get 4 points out of our next 2 games we will have done very well indeed.
In Trap we trust
I'm optimistic about the current team because it's a very good set of players. All Stan has to do is pick the right team, keep morale high and very little else at this stage. Our defence is excellent, our attackers aren't bad either and there's still the missing link to come in the 2 Reid's.Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Eirebhoy I like a lot of your posts but I think that is overly simplistic. Football is not played on paper and we have see teams like Greece win the European Championships and England fail time and time again. We may have decent players and some very good ones but if we are to do well we need to keep up with a simple game plan and to keep morale and hunger high. It is very important though that our game plan is simple enough for the players to undersand and keep it tight at the back.
In Trap we trust
Good point on the game plan. International coaches don't have enough time with the players to devote to overly elaborate game plans.
Quoting years at random since 1975
I think 11 points will do us and we are capable
Slovakia WIN (poor side)
Czechs DRAW (Id say well play for a draw and we can get it as they are bot in good shape)
Cyprus WIN (We are in a different league to them)
Germany DRAW (on a crappy pitch a couple of weeks after tens of thousands of fans trample it at the all Irelands it wont suit them)
Wales WIN (once we are still in with a shout)
Czechs still have to play Cyprus Wales and the Germans away which are three tough trips as well as having us at home and a derby game with Slovakia at home.
They are 3 points ahead at the moment (san marino)
Wales - draw
Ireland - draw
Germany - loss
Slovakia - win
Cyprus - win
All very optimistic but definitely possible with the form their in. It would then mean that it goes down to away goals where at the moment they are in pole position with the 1-1 draw in Lansdowne.
San Marino are going to be a handful as the group goes on." - Steve Staunton reacts to performance against San Marino.
Not unreasonable certainly. We're favourites certainly. However, it's not a foregone conclusion, and to dismiss them as God-awful four months after losing 5-2 to them smacks of an arrogance we have no right to display.
Its true, cyprus a poor side, if we cant beat them at croker...it will be a disgrace, after the defeat in nicosia, our lads will have something to prove, and i feel a comprehsive victory is on the cards...
I certainly don't think we're favourites for the 2nd spot but there's a bit of optimism for the first time in a long time.
cyprus can draw with or beat the czechs on a good day, and god loves us if that happens.
"No regrets, none at all. My only regret is that we went out on penalties. That's my only regret. But no, no regrets." -Mick McCarthy
Yeah I agree. It's absolutely silly for people to think that we are going to hammer a team that beat us 5-2 last time we met them.
it was a freak match, that 5-2...Paddy Kenny should have saved 3 of the goals. O'Brien had possibly the worst performance ever, and according to a leak from the dressing room, stan gave the two wide men, duff and Mcgeady free roles and allowing them to shun defensive responsibility, hence the vulnerability of an exposed midfield consisting of Kilbane and O'Shea....Schoolboy error on stans part, he didnt give cyprus enough credit
And dont forget in Cyprus Stan was banished from the touchline that could've made all the difference
San Marino are going to be a handful as the group goes on." - Steve Staunton reacts to performance against San Marino.
No matter who was in goal we would have lost that match with Kilbane and Ireland in the centre. It was over before the match began.
We should really beat them at home.
january - liverpool 3 arsenal 6
march - liverpool 4 arsenal 1
six goal swings can happen
Cyprus are garbage which makes it all the more depressing that they could actually have beaten us by more. Paddy Kenny actually made one or two good saves in the game. Abit of organisation against them and we would have had no problems they cant defend to save their lives.
Germany have also failed to beat them and they ran the Czechs close last week. Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if we struggled aainst them. We were hardly world beaters in the Wales or Slovakia matches and certainly didn't look too hot in front of goal.
I'd be happy with a 1-0 result in that match.
The team will have to consign that game to a freak result or they'll have a serious hangover to contend with when Cyprus hit Dublin.
Secondly, our results leading upto the home Cyprus game will dictate a lot. If we're still in with a shout - there should hopefully be a packed, supportive Croke Park and if the team can play with the same commitment they showed against the Slovaks we should be able to put the Cypriots under pressure.
If we're out - it will be a damp squib, a half full stadium and everyone will be depressingly banging on about coefficients and seedings for the World Cup Group.
Quoting years at random since 1975
ya im sure you knew before that game that ireland were gona get hammered by the might of cyprus. dont tink it was all kilbane and irelands fault either. the team as a whole had no urgency about them - they just didn't seem to care during that game
http://foot.ie/showpost.php?p=547729&postcount=84
I didn't think it would be that bad in fairness. Cyprus were basically taking on our defence whenever they got the ball. They could have scored more than 5.
Have you all lost your marbles! Two nervy 1-0 wins against poor teams (who could have easly drawn with us) and suddenly we are world beaters.
Our away record under in the last 15 years is poor and under Stan it has been a nightmare.
We just might play well enough to drak in Slovakia but we will loose to the Czechs, Cyprus a 2-1 win, a draw with Germany because that is what we do, Wales will be a draw because nobody will care.
It is easy to be logical when the games are a long way off. For my sins I will believe before every game that Ireland will win and because of this I will be in Slovakia in September
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