Mick McCarthy

**tetsujin1979** · 11/01/2008, 1:30 PM

Wasn't there a large amount of press dedicated to the fact that England were spending time practising penalties in their training camp before the World Cup? Didn't do them much good against Portugal did it?

**Bondvillain** · 11/01/2008, 1:38 PM

Originally Posted by Torn-Ado

One look at some of Irelands penalties against Spain in 2002 illustrates just why players should practise their penalties.

Cant agree with that. Look at Robbie Recently : Money-on to score if Spurs got a spot kick , but recently, theres a quiver in his confidence. In a tournament situation, who's to say that your 5 dead eye, ice-in-the-veins penalty takers will all have the nerve & vigour on the day, whether they've been practicing or not?

What if your preferred first 5 shooters dont have the bottle to volunteer? Or have been Injured, rested or sent off?

The solution there is of course to make sure your entire squad practices penalties so there'll never be a shortfall. "Total Deadball" as it were, however, this is about as practical as having them practice to be tall.

You could practice penalty taking all you want. Each penalty is a different mathematical equasion producing vastly different results.

**eirebhoy** · 11/01/2008, 1:39 PM

Then you have Arsenal's set of unstoppable penalties to win the FA cup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWlOLJ-2JSs

**Torn-Ado** · 11/01/2008, 1:42 PM

It's not going to be foolproof 100% of the time. Portugal may well have practised that bit more. But the attitude was right. Why does Golfers always practise 4 ft putts in Golf? So when the time comes, they'll be ready no matter how easy it looks.

One thing is for sure. If Mick had actually practised penalties in the WC and left the 'Sort it out yourselves lads' attitude at home, we could have done a lot better. Some of the penalties that day were the worst I ever seen.

**Stuttgart88** · 11/01/2008, 1:45 PM

Originally Posted by Torn-Ado

Some of the penalties that day were the worst I ever seen.

Keane & Finnan's were good, Holland a bit unlucky but Connolly & Kilbane's weren't worthy of professional footballers. Shockingly inept.

**jbyrne** · 11/01/2008, 2:22 PM

Originally Posted by Torn-Ado

This statement is a joke. Why is it that some players hardly ever miss a penalty. Or why in the WC final last year, all penalties were scored except for one that hit the underside of the bar.

It was a knockout phase of the biggest tournament in the world and the chance that it would end in a draw after 120 minutes was high. Therefore, practicing penalties is extremely important at that stage in a competition and not just a 'lottery'.

One look at some of Irelands penalties against Spain in 2002 illustrates just why players should practise their penalties.

heard liam brady say once that the way to practise pens was to tell the keeper in training which side you were going to put it to and still try and score. seeing as we would be a far better team if we could only get our penalty taking right maybe brady is the man for the job!

**Drumcondra 69er** · 11/01/2008, 3:08 PM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Keane & Finnan's were good, Holland a bit unlucky but Connolly & Kilbane's weren't worthy of professional footballers. Shockingly inept.

Yep, not worng there. Thing is, had Holland scored (and like you I thought he was very unlucky) who's to say that the pressure wouldn't have been less on Connolly and Kilbane and they my have struck their penalties better? The fact Holland had hit the bar put us on the back foot and changed the dynamic. Every shoot out is different, you can't practice for the pressure involved or replicate how your legs are going to be after 120 minutes. Still think it was unforgiveable of Quinn to bottle taking one given that he'd been in the situation before in teh play offs with Sunderland and buried his peno that day.

Personally I had every man in the sqaud numbered from 1 to 23 in order of where they're going to take their penalties if they're on the pitch so at least that's sorted out in advance but you'll never recreate the situation and pressure meaningfully on a training ground.

As for the golfing analogy, I've always laughed at that, how many times have you seen golfers miss putts that they'd knock away in their sleeep on a practice round when the chips were down. Look at Garcia in the open for example....

**Wolfie** · 11/01/2008, 3:12 PM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Connolly & Kilbane's weren't worthy of professional footballers. Shockingly inept.

I didn't envy them their task but their demeanor even on the run up to the ball spoke volumes.

As we all know, we should have nicked that game in extra time before it got to peno's.

**Greenforever** · 11/01/2008, 6:42 PM

Originally Posted by Torn-Ado

This statement is a joke. Why is it that some players hardly ever miss a penalty. Or why in the WC final last year, all penalties were scored except for one that hit the underside of the bar.

It was a knockout phase of the biggest tournament in the world and the chance that it would end in a draw after 120 minutes was high. Therefore, practicing penalties is extremely important at that stage in a competition and not just a 'lottery'.

One look at some of Irelands penalties against Spain in 2002 illustrates just why players should practise their penalties.

Your statement shows your complete lack of understanding of the game, while the highest level i ever played was amateur league, i was involved in two penalty shoot outs as a player on sucessive weeks, the first week we practised before hand and were well beaten, the following week same players took them no practice before, and all scored, as i said it is a lottery no matter if it's schoolboy or world cup

**Deckydee** · 11/01/2008, 7:12 PM

It takes a lot of Liathroidi to step up and take a penalty in the WC, whether you have practiced or not

**jmurphyc** · 11/01/2008, 7:18 PM

Originally Posted by Deckydee

It takes a lot of Liathroidi to step up and take a penalty in the WC, whether you have practiced or not

Yes, but it also takes a lot to play in the World Cup. Whilst penalties are more of a lottery than open play, if you continually practice them you will get better at them and have a better chance of scoring. To say it doesn't matter whether you practice them or not is a complete joke IMO.

**irishfan86** · 11/01/2008, 7:18 PM

All about your ability to stay calm.

Practice helps some people stay calm, and there are others who will always bottle it under pressure.

To say that it is pure luck though simply isn't true. There are techniques which can increase your success rate- I remember Doyle saying he had read a German book on penalty taking which helped him score a few in his first Premiership season.

**paddywhack** · 11/01/2008, 9:29 PM

would really like mick back...he is a good manager who would have the respect of the senior players like keane, finnin and duff..also worked with a lot of Irish youth at wolves

**NeilMcD** · 11/01/2008, 10:18 PM

Originally Posted by Greenforever

Your statement shows your complete lack of understanding of the game, while the highest level i ever played was amateur league, i was involved in two penalty shoot outs as a player on sucessive weeks, the first week we practised before hand and were well beaten, the following week same players took them no practice before, and all scored, as i said it is a lottery no matter if it's schoolboy or world cup

Sorry I think your example does not prove jack ****. Practice makes perfect. Just becaue you have anectotal evidence of it not work is hardly proof that your theory stands up. In all walks of live and esp high level sport it is proven that those who practice the most generally turn out to be the best. Add to this their god given talent and you get the likes of Tiger Woods. Of course if you practice practice practice there is still a chance at that moment in time you may miss but there is less chance that will happen. If practising was not worth it, why would players practice freek kicks, or set pieces or any act of defending or to be honest any part of training.

Finally I know this is anecdotal but it still pretty much stands up. The Germans, they practice and they study other peoples penalties and they have only lost 1 penalty shoot in their history and in addition they have only missed 1 penalty in World Cups.

**Jerry The Saint** · 11/01/2008, 11:48 PM

Interesting study - http://www.umcg.nl/azg/nl/english/nieuws/91006

If you believe that taking penalties is a lottery, then you are more likely to fail

23 juni 2006 Football players who believe that taking penalties is a lottery are not only mistaken, but are also more receptive to anxiety-induced stress...

**OwlsFan** · 12/01/2008, 7:37 AM

Anyone tell that to Dave O'Leary

?

**Jerry The Saint** · 12/01/2008, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by OwlsFan

Anyone tell that to Dave O'Leary

?

We all know O'Leary doesn't exactly have low self-esteem - if he thought penos were a lottery then he was 100% confident he had the winning ticket (even if the rest of us weren't

)

**geysir** · 12/01/2008, 11:05 AM

I understood that O´Leary took a lot of penalties in practice.
When he stepped forward to take that penalty in Genoa I thought well he must be good so we are alright.

**Greenforever** · 12/01/2008, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Sorry I think your example does not prove jack ****. Practice makes perfect. Just becaue you have anectotal evidence of it not work is hardly proof that your theory stands up. In all walks of live and esp high level sport it is proven that those who practice the most generally turn out to be the best. Add to this their god given talent and you get the likes of Tiger Woods. Of course if you practice practice practice there is still a chance at that moment in time you may miss but there is less chance that will happen. If practising was not worth it, why would players practice freek kicks, or set pieces or any act of defending or to be honest any part of training.

Finally I know this is anecdotal but it still pretty much stands up. The Germans, they practice and they study other peoples penalties and they have only lost 1 penalty shoot in their history and in addition they have only missed 1 penalty in World Cups.

WHile i accept what you are saying, I personally believe it's a lottery given that its 5 v 5 not a single player taking one, and given that the situation changes all the time depending on if your ahead or playing catch up etc, as regards studying other peoples penalties, id agree the keeper should have studied all potential opposing penalty takers.

Anyway we'll have to agree to disagree on this one

**shakermaker1982** · 12/01/2008, 2:48 PM

Practice makes perfect. If I was a professional footballer and I entered a competition which involved penalty shoot outs I'd want to practice. It's impossible to replicate the crowd and the pressure but you can make sure your striking the ball correctly and work on trying to feint the keeper.

The Germans, they practice and they study other peoples penalties and they have only lost 1 penalty shoot in their history and in addition they have only missed 1 penalty in World Cups.

That is one impressive statistic. If penalties were a lottery then they'd surely have a higher miss rate?