Ireland vs Germany - Pre-match thread

**DeNiro** · 02/10/2007, 2:19 PM

O'Dea in U21 squad.

Squad
Republic of Ireland Senior Squad for Matches: v Germany (H), October 13, 2007 and Cyprus (H), October 17, 2007.

Nick Colgan - Barnsley
Colin Doyle - Birmingham City
Shay Given - Newcastle United
Stephen Carr - Newcastle United
Richard Dunne - Manchester City
Steve Finnan - Liverpool
Stephen Kelly - Birmingham City
Paul McShane - Sunderland
Joey O’Brien - Bolton Wanderers
John O’Shea - Manchester United
Lee Carsley - Everton
Jonathon Douglas - Leeds United
Stephen Hunt - Reading
Stephen Ireland - Manchester City
Kevin Kilbane - Wigan Athletic
Aiden McGeady - Celtic
Alan O’Brien - Hibernian
Darren Potter - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Andy Reid - Charlton Athletic
Kevin Doyle - Reading
Stephen Elliot - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Robbie Keane - Tottenham Hotspur
Andy Keogh - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Shane Long - Reading
Daryl Murphy - Sunderland

**CJTheGull** · 02/10/2007, 2:30 PM

Knowing us we'll probably get a 'brave' draw against the Deutchlanders. Andy Reid must play though and Staunton must start learning from his mistakes - like not playing Douglas where there is better quality on the bench.
Remember 3 things - we were HAMMERED 5-2 by Cyprus, just about beat the worst team in Europe San Marino 2-1 with a last billisecond goal and then drew with a very poor Slovak team 2-2 by conceeding a late, late goal. The fact that Wales CRUSHED the Slovaks 5-2 a few days later shows how good they really are.

**greendeiseboy** · 02/10/2007, 2:30 PM

joey o'brien in squad - out injured for 15 months and picks up another injury last saturday - dont want to knock the lad but ffs how can he be considered for a game like this and dont give me any s*it about having no options.........another beauty from staunton

**tetsujin1979** · 02/10/2007, 2:47 PM

Originally Posted by greendeiseboy

dont give me any s*it about having no options.........another beauty from staunton

well then what options are there?

no real problem with the squad, it's pretty much what I would have picked, Douglas's inclusion is still puzzling, but Leeds are on a roll and he's playing consistently for them

**drummerboy** · 02/10/2007, 2:50 PM

Nicky Colgan, Alan O’Brien, are both poor players who would struggle to get their game in some Eircom league clubs.

**bwagner** · 02/10/2007, 2:53 PM

he is a mental case isnt he ..like J o brien is only back .
He needs to blood another centre back for fecks sake , ahhhhh just get him out

**shanman2** · 02/10/2007, 3:00 PM

Originally Posted by bwagner

he is a mental case isnt he ..like J o brien is only back .
He needs to blood another centre back for fecks sake , ahhhhh just get him out

Its scandalous it really is. How the hell can he justify putting him back into the full squad so soon. I think he is a good player but its a bit early for him to come back to the full squad.

**gustavo** · 02/10/2007, 3:05 PM

2 centre backs available for the Germany game , if you count O'Shea who hasnt played centre back for his club for years

**OneRedArmy** · 02/10/2007, 3:20 PM

Originally Posted by reder

Nope and I hope that the tickets are not sent until the week of the game. This will be a thorn in the side of the obscene amount of knobends who are selling on their tickets.

Appreciate the intention of your comments, but when you are responsible for distributing 50 tickets to SC members getting them less than a week in advance is a complete pain in the hole.

Incompetent fools

**macdermesser** · 02/10/2007, 3:21 PM

Originally Posted by gustavo

2 centre backs available for the Germany game , if you count O'Shea who hasnt played centre back for his club for years

Unbucking believable .. he's playing us for all gombeens with the I'm working towards the 2010 world cup blarney ... is he planning on playing a 2-4-4 formation for the qualifiers. At the very least Andy O Brien should be there for cover .. and he has to blood a young centre half or at least have a few in the squad for experience

**greendeiseboy** · 02/10/2007, 3:22 PM

[QUOTE=tetsujin1979;781617]well then what options are there?

darren gibson!!!!!!!!!!
jay tabb
pat cregg
stephen reid
roy o'donovan
kevin foley

as far as i know all with the exception of reid and gibson are playing regularly

**Reddladd** · 02/10/2007, 3:26 PM

Surely Alan O'Brien should mean Andy O'Brien.
We're short centre backs and Andy is in the first team at Bolton.
However we have no shortage of headless chickens in and around the senior international team albeit a fast one.

**bwagner** · 02/10/2007, 3:41 PM

Originally Posted by Tuff Paddy

But Alan O'Brien is very fast!

there is a reason for this paddy....

Stan bought Alan these special boots that have go faster stripes on them ......
That sneaky wee louth chancer

**carloz** · 02/10/2007, 4:06 PM

So Gibson was good enough to come on and play some 25 minutes against Slovakia.......and now he is not good enough to get in the senior squad. Stans stupidity highlighted for the umpteenth time. Also i think it was time to call back up Andy O'Brien. He is back playing some Premiership football and is playing in a ppsition we really need cover for. These are the games where we need to look at alternatives for McShane and Dunne as they are not going to be available for every match. I think O'Brien has been unfairly taking the flack for that Cyprus nightmare. Stephen Ireland, kevin Kilbane and even to a lesser extent Dunne were every bit as bad as O'Brien that night. IMO McGeadys performances in Slovakia and the Czech republic were worse than O'Briens against Cyprus. Problem is O'Brien is in a position where mistakes are much more costly

**Stuttgart88** · 02/10/2007, 4:18 PM

Finnan was every bit as bad too. Kenny baled him out at least once.

**zenokelly** · 02/10/2007, 4:19 PM

I really couldn't be bothered repeating the exact same things I said after the last squad was named (namely the inclusion of Colgan and Douglas)

But I do feeel sorry for Stan in what you are saying about the shortage of defenders in the squad.

FACT: We are extremely short of central defenders of even a decent standard
FACT: If you take all of Andy O Briens matches for Ireland, you see that he is not international standard(all poor with a couple an exception)
FACT: He was the main culprit in the worst defeat in Ireland's history
FACT: Stan has tried the next batch of defenders in the US and he has seen their performances in training and on the pitch and he has made the decision that they are not good enough for full international duty (which he is paid to do)
FACT: If Stan picked Alan Bennett or Darren O Dea etc. in the team for the Germany match (which most of you seem you want to see) and they had a horror game, Stan would get the stick again.

PLEASE: Do not blame Stan for the shortage of defenders in the squad.

**carloz** · 02/10/2007, 4:24 PM

Originally Posted by zenokelly

I
FACT: If you take all of Andy O Briens matches for Ireland, you see that he is not international standard(all poor with a couple an exception)
.

Err what performances are you basing this on. he has always been very reliable for Ireland and is a more than capable central defender. Dont tar him with that perfromance against Cyprus, the team was brutal then and Dunne was every bit as bad as him. We need options at central defence and he is still the best we have that is not in the squad. O'Dea has hardly been setting the world alight this year and McCarthy doesnt look great at Charlton. O'Brien is back playing central defence in a premiership team now, and has generally looked good in a green shirt. thats enough for me

PLEASE: Do not blame Stan for the shortage of defenders in the squad.

who selects the squad. of cource its Stans fault. he cant find room for any central defenders yet he can find room for a very average winger from Hibernian that has proven nothing at any level. Yes we are low on central defenders but you should always ALWAYS have at least 4 in the main squad, whatever level they are.

**Irish_Praha** · 02/10/2007, 4:42 PM

Originally Posted by zenokelly

FACT: If Stan picked Alan Bennett or Darren O Dea etc. in the team for the Germany match (which most of you seem you want to see) and they had a horror game, Stan would get the stick again.

PLEASE: Do not blame Stan for the shortage of defenders in the squad.

I know we don't have much quality as back-up for Dunne and McShane and it will probably be an O'Shea-Dunne pairing for the German game. However, all we are asking is that he includes someone in the squad as back-up who plays regularly at CB for his club. I consider overlooking Andy O'Brien, who has lots of international experience and has had many, many more good games than bad for us, is a poor decision IMO. His poor performance against Cyprus was because he wasn't match sharp. I'm not saying he's the best defender in the world but what will Stan do if Dunne or O'Shea get injured during the game? Play one of the strikers there? or Kilbane because he's tall? I know I'd prefer to take my chances with O'Brien than any of those options. I'd even consider throwing on one of the young lads as a better option and think at least one of the CBs from the U21s should have been included in the squad to start with, if this building for the future bullsh!t is to be believed.

**zenokelly** · 02/10/2007, 5:04 PM

Originally Posted by carloz

Err what performances are you basing this on. he has always been very reliable for Ireland and is a more than capable central defender. Dont tar him with that perfromance against Cyprus, the team was brutal then and Dunne was every bit as bad as him. We need options at central defence and he is still the best we have that is not in the squad. O'Dea has hardly been setting the world alight this year and McCarthy doesnt look great at Charlton. O'Brien is back playing central defence in a premiership team now, and has generally looked good in a green shirt. thats enough for me

who selects the squad. of cource its Stans fault. he cant find room for any central defenders yet he can find room for a very average winger from Hibernian that has proven nothing at any level. Yes we are low on central defenders but you should always ALWAYS have at least 4 in the main squad, whatever level they are.

I do not think he deserves to play for us again, unless he really shows something for Bolton that he has failed to show me previously. IMO, he cost us at least a play-off place for the last world cup with his needless sending off against Israel and the peno he gave away in that match. He has never pulled off a near great performance in any Irish match so how you can say he should be given a chance is beyond me. (maybe I'm just being too harsh but I basically think he is ****e!)

The exclusion of O Brien from Stan's previous squads is one decision I have been happy about.

Next thing you'll want Morrison back, and Alan Lee ffs!

It is not Stan's fault he has no decent options to choose from so no it isn't his fault with the few defenders he's chosen.

**carloz** · 02/10/2007, 5:15 PM

Originally Posted by zenokelly

I do not think he deserves to play for us again, unless he really shows something for Bolton that he has failed to show me previously. IMO, he cost us at least a play-off place for the last world cup with his needless sending off against Israel and the peno he gave away in that match. He has never pulled off a near great performance in any Irish match so how you can say he should be given a chance is beyond me. (maybe I'm just being too harsh but I basically think he is ****e!)

The exclusion of O Brien from Stan's previous squads is one decision I have been happy about.

Next thing you'll want Morrison back, and Alan Lee ffs!

It is not Stan's fault he has no decent options to choose from so no it isn't his fault with the few defenders he's chosen.

No what im saying is we need at least another central defender in the squad. Who would you recommend then??? Or would you agree with having two available centre halfs for the Germany game. Yes our options are not great but you pick the best of what you have and O'Brien is that. So your blaming him for costing us qualification even though John O'Shea gave away the penalty for hand ball.The sneding off seemed to be for O'Brien breathing to heavily on Dudu Awat, it really was a stupid decision to send him off from a ref who bought into Awats antics all night. thats hardly O'Briens fault. I think you are being very harsh, im not exactly a massive fan of the guy, but we need to select more central defenders and he is probably the 3rd/4th best we have at the mo