I had to stop watching the game at half time and left the game thinking that we were in control and at worst a nil all draw at the end.
Like I said, if you didn't notice the improvements with Barry involved, then you need to work on your observational skills.Originally Posted by pineapple stu
The main point which I think you agree with though is that Kenny has proven that he is way out of his depth.
I'm not pro-Kenny at all and I think that some of the excuses offered up to defend the lowlights of his tenure are silly (especially the Covid one, it was a global pandemic after all) and I think failing to score in half his games is pretty abysmal. This is a lousy Irish team but I don't believe he's getting the best out of them and wouldn't miss him if he was to go.
All that said you offer absolutely nothing to any discussion here. You just parrot the same banal stock cliches over and over and over and over again with (whether intended or otherwise) all the monotony and tedium of a smug, determined martyr who seems to believe that they're defending a concept beyond the understanding of mere mortals. That's not the case and you being snide with people for not bowing down to you as some sort of footballing prophet rather than showing even a hint of flexibility just informs the theory that you're simply making noise. Infract me if needed for the above Tets, I'm more than happy to take one for the team.
Hilariously I can see absolutely no difference between your posting style and Kenny's team. No imagination, no variety, just a dogged persistance to a vague ideal with a terrifying lack of an end result and complete incomprehension of the failures of your approach.
He might need another and longer holiday Tets. I see less and less of the posters, of all opinions, I and others have frequented this place for twenty years to speak to & this coincides directly with a small few who come on here to say only one thing about one subject & adding nothing to even that one discussion.
Stephen Kenny Saviour, Leader, Winner, An Autobiography - In All Good Bookstores Now
Well said Razor. Our game was crying out for a 10. Parrott was given a similar role to the one he played at home to Azerbaijan and he was out of the game both times. When we haven't played with an advanced playmaker Robinson used to drop deep and play that role - think of his goal against Qatar where he was involved several times in the move that eventually led to him being played in. I didn't notice him doing that yesterday at all.
I thought after 20 mins there was a comfortable win on the cards for us if we just eradicated the sloppiness but instead the sloppiness got progressively worse. I thought the first half tempo was too slow but I wondered if it was partly strategic, to keep more in the tank for the second half in high temperatures, but no, it was just a flat, slow, careless performance from start to finish with no player coming close to an acceptable level of performance. Tactical mistake not playing Parrot just ahead of the midfield two nothwithstanding, maybe it's time of year (several sides had unexpectedly bad results), maybe it's the travel, maybe it's the heat or maybe they just needed a right boot up the arse which never came. There was a real disappointing lack of leadership on the pitch last night. We played like we were entitled to a goal, not like we had to earn one.
This is a right hammer blow for Kenny alright but let's see how we react. I maintain that the re-boot Kenny is trying to execute is needed. He may or may not be the guy to do it but someone has to.
As for Anthony Barry, how have Belgium done since he joined their set up?
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 05/06/2022 at 3:01 PM.
what a bizarre use of ogbene yesterday i cant get my head around it at all.
Ireland record under Kenny:
Played: 23
Won: 5
Drawn: 10
Lost: 8
Goals scored: 24
Goals conceded: 23
With Barry involved:
Played: 12
Won: 4
Drawn: 5
Lost: 3
Goals scored: 19
Goals conceded: 10
Without Barry involved:
Played: 11
Won: 1
Drawn: 5
Lost: 5
Goals scored: 5
Goals conceded: 13
No matter what way you look at it, it's a pretty abysmal record but a clear difference with and without Barry. When you compare it with the McCarthy era you can see just how bad the Kenny reign has been. And McCarthy's reign was looked on as a poor one!
Irelands main problem is upfront, and if the results are not coming, he may need to try younsters upfront, I wouldn't have left Shane Long out for presence and attitude, nor Connolly since he is getting on , and I would add Coventry, Lee O'Connor Bagan and Smallbone for the senior squad, Ireland must try youngsters as the welsh did , the Europa League games arent that vital but its a chance to check your form, like friendly matches with some importance, for me the main things are both the qualies.
Last edited by Bielsa´s irish; 06/06/2022 at 1:59 AM.
coventry and o'connor not good enough. we need kilkenny getting club games , he looks a lot better than coventry. we desperately need another player with a bit of nous in the middle
I don't want to bore everyone to death but Dan Crowley? Eligible?. and if so good enough?
Maybe like on Saturday. He might have helped in last 20 mins to change formation to gave a 10 behind and out and out stricker
I think the reaction has been a tad OTT, and I’d rather reserve full judgement until after the next three games. Agree the result is not good enough but the performance wasn’t that bad, although admittedly lacking the tempo and urgency to win a competitive game. We created chances to score and had long period of comfort and control. However, our dead balls deliveries were poor, and our set plays lacked imagination to capitalise on our aerial strength. Our substitutions had no impact. And Kelleher has to save that.
The result aside, we are in a far better position than where we started under Kenny. The strength of the squad is improved, there is a nice complementary balance there, and we do have genuine pace and a X factor in the forward line that we didn’t previously have. Ogbene is an absolute find for us. Whatever happens with Kenny going forward, the squad he has assembled gives reason for optimism.
The problem with football is that it's relative. The players aren't good enough to bring Ireland up a level; they might be decent with different qualities than the usual Irish teams(more speed) but other teams are getting better as well, you're only as good as the teams you're up against. I don't see our team being good enough in the near or long term to move up a level or two. These things can change though but we look like a team in terminal decline. It can happen, I see Bulgaria lost 5-2 to Georgia at home, they qualified for the Euros in 04 and the last thing I remember was them just kicking Swedish players off the pitch knowing they were out. Nearly 20 years later they haven't been back to a major tournament. At this stage, qualifying for the World Cup is a true measure of a European countries football success, the Euro's is still a great tournament but even poor sides can qualify.
Last edited by irishultra; 06/06/2022 at 10:42 AM.
We have been in decline for 20 odd years but I think we're turned a corner. We don't have a Robbie Keane/ Damien Duff creative star quality to build a team around, see Norway here with Ødegaard/ Haaland, but collectively the squad is getting better imo and would argue there is changing positivity/ belief in our approach to games. I'm optimistic about the future. :-)
Well that’s all you’re ever going to see when you are a glass half empty sort of person.
Before the match, due to the conditions, distances involved and the lengthy gap for many of the players between the end of their club seasons and this fixture, I expected to see a certain ring-rustiness and lack of sharpness in our play until we got into our stride. And this was borne out in our first half performance; we started slowly but improved as the half wore on - the final twenty or so minutes before half-time wasn't actually too bad. I fully expected the team to go out in the second half, really take the game by the scruff of the neck and get the goal we needed to open the game up.
Instead the opposite was true; Armenia started to take more control - underscored by the spectacular goal they had chalked off for offside - and I could see belief building in the Armenians that despite losing their previous game 9-0, Ireland were, in fact, no great shakes, and they could actually get a result on the day. We just couldn't respond, Kenny didn't make the changes that were obviously needed and the inevitable happened.
I thought both wingbacks were poor. Stevens - a doubt before the game - didn't look match-fit and Coleman looked like you'd expect a veteran coming off the back of a gruelling relegation battle to look. Were they really the best choices in the 30-plus degree heat?
The front three were deeply unimpressive. Parrott and Ogbene didn't dovetail with the wingbacks as you'd hope and they instead seemed to impede each other. We needed a focal point to our attack, ideally a genuine number 9 with a physical presence. Robinson isn't either of those things. His best position is coming off the left in a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3.
Cullen offered nothing in a creative or attacking sense. Hendrick ran out of steam after 50 minutes or so and this wasn't addressed nearly early enough. Collins and Egan contributed almost nil to our attack. Collins was sloppy in possession and Egan didn't look comfortable. We need a left-footed player on the left-hand side of defence in games like this where we expect to have the bulk of possession.
The shape just didn't work.
People often cite the lack of quality players at the coach's disposal when examining our failings, and of course there's a lot of truth in that. But the reality is that Kenny was outthought by his opposite number on Saturday.
Shorn of their retired star man Mhkitaryan, the vast majority of the Armenian squad play in the Armenian league - ranked behind the leagues of Lithuania, Moldova, Kosovo, Luxembourg and, yes, the League of Ireland.
There's no excuse for what happened the other day.
Last edited by Trequartista20; 06/06/2022 at 11:34 AM.
Isn't Connor Ronan more like the kind of player needed to unlock a packed deep-lying defence? Parrott should have been used in that type of role though, so it's not like there wasn't anyone like that available to us.
Kenny could have some LOI players who are at peak fitness in the first 11 but instead slavish obsession with English football means he picks players who are coming off 46 game league campaigns and relegation battles.
you are deranged if you think theres enough good loi players to make a difference at international level.
Is it confirmed that Sykes is injured? Someone on YBIG claimed he was but I can't find verification. He would at least provide something different.
We're in desperate need of creativity, someone capable of the unexpected - a moment of magic. But obviously those sort of players are in short supply.
Would Mandriou have been a useful option?
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