So disappointing

**paul_oshea** · 13/09/2007, 9:22 PM

woke up about 4 timesin the morning this morning thinking i was dreaming and we were still in contention for the euros

never remember being so disappointed waking up in so long. I dont think stan has enough to get us, we have missed two competitions that we could easily have qualified for all because of wrong managers. Thats about 5 years in total when you think about it. we are losing a generation of players that dont even get to play in tournaments they are more than capable of playing in.

Nothing to look forward too, dunphy was right "poor auld soccer" again stupid knobs running the thing that dont care about the genuine fans who follow them and support them through thick and thin, and as dunphy said we deserve it, and we are well capable of qualifying for these tournaments.

TO be fair i have never agreed so much with dunphy, i think he was being very genuine.

BTW did his comment about @phoneix park@ mean a queer, or an amateur team?

**superfrank** · 13/09/2007, 9:32 PM

In fairness, Dunphy loves to be on the public's side. I'm sure he's loving all the attention he's getting right now for coming out and saying it.

Yes, Staunton is a rookie manager but the recent performances have been pretty poor. There is only so much that can be blamed on the manager. For instance, last night up until Hunt's sending off, Ireland were still in with a chance. Hunt getting sent off is not Staunton's fault.

The players have to take some responsibility as well. You can blame the manager's selection but the eleven picked still should be professional enough to go out and give it a go.

What really annoys me about all the flak flying at Staunton is that noone is blaming the players. If John O'Shea had made a tackle, a simple defending move, Cech's goal on Saturday wouldn't have been and Ireland would have won. It was the team that scored and sat back twice in Bratislava.

Last night's performance wasn't much better but when O'Shea went off, the manager's change made a visible difference. Unfortunately Hunt was sent off and then the team were down to ten men and trailing 1-0. It was a mountain.

Dunphy's taking the easy way out: Blame the manager. He knows that people will easily turn on Staunton and he's capitalised on it, getting himself in the papers and the limelight too.

**Reality Bites** · 13/09/2007, 9:39 PM

[QUOTE=paul_oshea;770849]

never remember being so disappointed waking up in so long.

QUOTE

Ah how about a bad night on the pull, with nothing to show for but a hangover and enuf testotorome to Bull a roomful!!

**soccerc** · 13/09/2007, 9:48 PM

Originally Posted by Reality Bites

Ah how about a bad night on the pull, with nothing to show for but a hangover and enuf testotorome to Bull a roomful!!

Isn't that a situation that's easily handled

**Morbo** · 13/09/2007, 9:53 PM

[quote=Reality Bites;770865]

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

never remember being so disappointed waking up in so long.

QUOTE

Ah how about a bad night on the pull, with nothing to show for but a hangover and enuf testotorome to Bull a roomful!!

A bad night on the pull isn't as disappointing, you can always go out on the pull the next night or next week unlike having to wait at least 3 years for Ireland to make it to a major tournament, also you can always just have a ****

**paul_oshea** · 13/09/2007, 10:03 PM

or a prostitute!!!

no thats exactly it morbo, 3 yeras now before we get to play in a tournament, keane will be 30, duff 31, dunne 30 etc.

**Dyl10** · 14/09/2007, 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by soccerc

Isn't that a situation that's easily handled

Heh Heh

**SkStu** · 14/09/2007, 4:15 AM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

or a prostitute!!!

no thats exactly it morbo, 3 yeras now before we get to play in a tournament, keane will be 30, duff 31, dunne 30 etc.

thats optimistic paul. Keane will be at least 50 when we qualify for another tournament in my opinion.

**barney** · 14/09/2007, 6:04 AM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

woke up about 4 timesin the morning this morning thinking i was dreaming and we were still in contention for the euros

never remember being so disappointed waking up in so long. I dont think stan has enough to get us, we have missed two competitions that we could easily have qualified for all because of wrong managers. Thats about 5 years in total when you think about it. we are losing a generation of players that dont even get to play in tournaments they are more than capable of playing in.

Nothing to look forward too, dunphy was right "poor auld soccer" again stupid knobs running the thing that dont care about the genuine fans who follow them and support them through thick and thin, and as dunphy said we deserve it, and we are well capable of qualifying for these tournaments.

TO be fair i have never agreed so much with dunphy, i think he was being very genuine.

BTW did his comment about @phoneix park@ mean a queer, or an amateur team?

You cannot believe that Dunphy was being genuine. His "champion of the common man" routine is complete nonsense just put on to grab some headlines. Yes he is entertaining, yes he is hilarious ("rinky dink manager" & "Would you let him drive the train") but sincere he ain't regardless of how valid his core point was.

You want proper analysis look at Giles and Brady. You want sincerity, look at Brady when asked if Stan should go. You want a laugh, watch Dunphy.

I don't blame the players so much. The team was set up wrong and the wrong team was picked. That's the manager's fault. And I thought O'Shea was our best player for 30 minutes. We looked better after he went off, not because John O'Shea went off, but because Hunt gave the team more balance. That's the manager's fault. Had Steve Kelly come off, the effect would have been the same.

**ifk101** · 14/09/2007, 7:10 AM

I think John Giles' point that we're not getting the best out of the players we have is why everyone is disappointed. I think we all except that we don't have the best squad of players in Europe but that the players we have are capable of more. IMO Stan has to go because he hasn't gotten the best out of the players at his disposal.

Also I think we have to look at the bigger picture and not just the loss to the Czechs. For instance, in how many of the below competitive games have our players come up to an acceptable level?
Germany (a)
Cyprus (a)
Czech Republic (h)
San Marino (h)
San Marino (a)
Wales (h)
Slovakia (h)
Slovakia (a)
Czech Repuplic (a)
It seems that every good performance isn't built on and anytime we seem to make progress we return to square one in the next match. Stan is saying we are building for 2010 but where is the improvement now - he's had two years in the job. Should we not be able to see some sort of improvement by now. And is this something you would describe as "coming along nicely"? At the end of the day you've got to ask yourself would you let this man drive the Cork-Dublin train? I say NO!

**Claret Murph** · 14/09/2007, 8:51 AM

Just back from the two games and still have very little time reflect on what has happened , still hard to put into words but the end of the line for the Euro's is for sure and what happens over the next couple of months time will only tell . Still looking forward to the two games in October .

**Sligo Hornet** · 14/09/2007, 9:20 AM

Just back to work today after the hectic, enjoyable but ultimately disappointing end

Although the Czechs are impressive, we made them look "far better", and it can only be down to the Management that a team of some 9 Premiership players can perform like a League 2 side!!

**Morbo** · 14/09/2007, 10:07 AM

This building for the future is such a cop out, clubs can afford to build for the future but in internationals you just got to play the best players currently available and let the clubs develope the players.
The core of this team are in their prime right now, Given, Dunne, Finnan Keane, Hunt and Duff(if he wasn't so injury prone).
So this was the best opportunity we have had to qualify in ages, relatively strong team in a not so great group, we should at the very least have being still in contention until the very last game.
I doubt the team we have available for the 2012 campaign will be as strong as what we currently have so 2010 may be our last good chance to qualify for a major tournament for a long time, lets just hope we are not relying on Stan to get us there

**Newryrep** · 14/09/2007, 10:21 AM

to paraphrase 'On the Waterfront' -' we could of been a contender'

**Superhoops** · 14/09/2007, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by barney

You cannot believe that Dunphy was being genuine. His "champion of the common man" routine is complete nonsense just put on to grab some headlines. Yes he is entertaining, yes he is hilarious ("rinky dink manager" & "Would you let him drive the train") but sincere he ain't regardless of how valid his core point was.

You want proper analysis look at Giles and Brady. You want sincerity, look at Brady when asked if Stan should go. You want a laugh, watch Dunphy.

I don't blame the players so much. The team was set up wrong and the wrong team was picked. That's the manager's fault. And I thought O'Shea was our best player for 30 minutes. We looked better after he went off, not because John O'Shea went off, but because Hunt gave the team more balance. That's the manager's fault. Had Steve Kelly come off, the effect would have been the same.

After getting back late last night and reading through the reaction, I thought when I read this, it was jet lag or something.

Are you serious or are you just a diehard MU fan? He was CRAP, out of position so many times, he was supposed to be playing right full but spent most of his time in the centre getting in the way of McShane and Dunne. Look at the Czech goal again and JOS positioning.

Of course we looked better when he went off, KK to LB, SK to RB is the way we should have lined up. Most people who I spoke to after Saturday's game could see it.

One thing is JOS defence is that it must be very difficult to play behind McGeady who has no concept of playing in a team formation. Both the Slovaks and the Czechs exploited our right hand side when JOS and McGeady were in harness.

**elroy** · 14/09/2007, 10:40 AM

Aiden McGeady reminds me of a team mate I used to have who was a fine player but he used to just run and run with the ball, never passed it to anyone. I dont follow Celtic that much but surely he must be putting in better performances than the last two to be holding down a place in a CL side.

**shanman2** · 14/09/2007, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by elroy

Aiden McGeady reminds me of a team mate I used to have who was a fine player but he used to just run and run with the ball, never passed it to anyone. I dont follow Celtic that much but surely he must be putting in better performances than the last two to be holding down a place in a CL side.

I watch Celtic alot and the system that gordon strachan employs helps him alot. He done very well against Spartak Moscow and has done well all year.. But then again with players like Scott Brown, Nakamura and Hartley around he is part of a much better midfield. In comparison to Irelands midfield wednesday of Carsley, Reid and Kilbane neither of which have the capabilities of the a-for-mentioned...

**paul_oshea** · 14/09/2007, 1:14 PM

o'shea WAS the cause of the two goals against czech and slovakia. He nearly cost us more than that too. In slovakia he was in the left back position at one stage with no right full back, and as i said before if slovakia were any good they would have scored on that occasion. terrible, terrible display. His positional since was the worst i have seen in a long, long time.

Imagine his poor family, having to be proud of him. harsh but true.

**Torn-Ado** · 14/09/2007, 1:47 PM

Originally Posted by Morbo

This building for the future is such a cop out, clubs can afford to build for the future but in internationals you just got to play the best players currently available and let the clubs develope the players.
The core of this team are in their prime right now, Given, Dunne, Finnan Keane, Hunt and Duff(if he wasn't so injury prone).
So this was the best opportunity we have had to qualify in ages, relatively strong team in a not so great group, we should at the very least have being still in contention until the very last game.
I doubt the team we have available for the 2012 campaign will be as strong as what we currently have so 2010 may be our last good chance to qualify for a major tournament for a long time, lets just hope we are not relying on Stan to get us there

I agree with everything said here. How long will we be building for the future? With the players at our disposal we shouldn't be in this position. Its a sad state of affairs and to be honest it doesn't look like it will sorted out anytime soon. The damage was done Saturday night. If we held on for the win, the players would have been on a different planet mentally for the Czechs.

**Stuttgart88** · 14/09/2007, 2:10 PM

If I recall correctly, Mick genuinely had to build for the future in 1996. The team then was at least half made up of international rookies or guys who had been second fiddle under Jack.

Given, G. Kelly, A. Kelly, Harte, Cunningham, Breen, Kennedy, Robbie, Kennedy, O'Neill and others were thrown in among Keane, Irwin, ageing Townsend & Houghton, Cascarino etc.

I can sympathise with Staunton to a degree. I know he wants to bring these guys through. He has played guys like McShane, Henderson, O'Brien (not Stan's fault he missed a year) and Kelly, not to mention the clutch of kids he played in the US, but "building for the future" has been a very flimsy excuse from the start because by and large his starting XI was identical to Kerr's later selections.