Austria V Republic of Ireland - Tuesday, 10th September 2013 - World Cup 14 Qualifier

[Charlie Darwin]

I thought we were OK for 60 mins and with a bit more craft in the middle could have snuck one. Trap waited until the likes of Long, Pilkington and Walters were exhausted befor making his usual like-for-like subs. Wilson was awful for the goal.

We're heading for 14 points at best from this group. Worst in how long?

Wilson could have done better but he wasn't to know two of his own players would dive in front of the ball. Our defence was just massively disorganised all night.

[NeverFeltBetter]

So, lets just sum it all up:

Worst FIFA ranking.
Worst performance in a championships.
Numerous player disputes.
Failure to beat any team ranked higher or at the same level.
Worst home defeat in decades.
Open contempt for domestic league.
End of the vaunted away record.
Looking at dropping down a seed.
Millions and millions in wages.

That's just great. Anyway, it's been a treat, watching the gradual shift of pro and anti Trap from around 6:4 after the Euros to the current 1:9 or so. Just waiting for someone to continue to insist "we haven't got the players...unlucky...Paris...Estonia" so we can renew the persistent argument of the last year.

[DannyInvincible]

Oh, if only to be blessed with Stan again...

[Charlie Darwin]

So, lets just sum it all up:

Worst FIFA ranking.
Worst performance in a championships.
Numerous player disputes.
Failure to beat any team ranked higher or at the same level.
Worst home defeat in decades.
Open contempt for domestic league.
End of the vaunted away record.
Looking at dropping down a seed.
Millions and millions in wages.

That's just great. Anyway, it's been a treat, watching the gradual shift of pro and anti Trap from around 6:4 after the Euros to the current 1:9 or so. Just waiting for someone to continue to insist "we haven't got the players...unlucky...Paris...Estonia" so we can renew the persistent argument of the last year.

I hate this criticism. We got to a championship. Only two Irish managers have done that before. I hate that we did so badly at the Euros but it was a huge achievement just to get there.

[NeverFeltBetter]

This is a pretty circular argument at this point, but I refuse to simply forget about the absolutely awful performance in Poland on the grounds that getting there should have been considered victory enough (what, beating Estonia?). Ireland could have, and should have done better in that tournament and Trap rightfully takes his share of the blame for that.

[SwanVsDalton]

This is a pretty circular argument at this point, but I refuse to simply forget about the absolutely awful performance in Poland on the grounds that getting there should have been considered victory enough (what, beating Estonia?). Ireland could have, and should have done better in that tournament and Trap rightfully takes his share of the blame for that.

We could've done better but it would've went as far as scoring a couple more goals and conceding a couple less - even under a manager far more flexible and go-forward than Trap.

[Charlie Darwin]

This is a pretty circular argument at this point, but I refuse to simply forget about the absolutely awful performance in Poland on the grounds that getting there should have been considered victory enough (what, beating Estonia?). Ireland could have, and should have done better in that tournament and Trap rightfully takes his share of the blame for that.

I don't see why it's circular. We got probably the worst group a minnow has got at a European Championship in years. We got the two finalists plus a team that easily could have won it too.

[centre mid]

The most frustrating thing is that we are now in limbo, Trap wont go he will have to be pushed, FAI wont push (unless O'Brien divvies up), so we could possibly have the ridiculous situation where we will have to play out meaningless games in a potentially poisonous atmosphere.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Circular in that its all been said before. Neither of us is going to convince the other.

The only question for me now is whether it is better to release Trap this week or hold onto him until the end of the group phase. I assume there would be a financial aspect to the decision, but I would think its better for the team to start over as soon as possible.

[centre mid]

FAI press conference in Dublin cancelled tomorrow, board to meet in the coming days to discuss recent results http://www.fai.ie/international/1035...statement.html

[SwanVsDalton]

The most frustrating thing is that we are now in limbo, Trap wont go he will have to be pushed, FAI wont push (unless O'Brien divvies up), so we could possibly have the ridiculous situation where we will have to play out meaningless games in a potentially poisonous atmosphere.

In full-out farce mode, Trap should pull out all the stops and recall Gibson, Stokes, Andy Reid, Stephen Reid, Andy Keogh and start them in a 4-6 formation with Wes Hoolahan.

[Charlie Darwin]

When was the last time we lost two consecutive qualifiers?

[NeverFeltBetter]

Germany and Cyprus under Stan I think.

[tricky_colour]

When was the last time we lost two consecutive qualifiers?

About a couple of hours ago!!!

[Grafter]

Germany and Cyprus under Stan I think.

Speaking of Stan, compare his 18 months in charge to Chris Coleman's 18 months in charge of Wales and Stan looks like a genius. Nevertheless Coleman is apparently going to be offered a new contract, proof that the FAI are a little better with their business than the FAW IMO

[gastric]

It's got that sad, people are now talking about Stan in a near sentimental way! Trap really has to go now.

[pineapple stu]

I thought we were OK for 60 mins and with a bit more craft in the middle could have snuck one.

Ditto, but for the first 15 rather than the first 60. Same as v Sweden. We start well, but don't have another gear to move up to. Opposition susses us out, soaks up pressure, wins. So predictable

We're heading for 14 points at best from this group. Worst in how long?

Euro 92 (8 points) probably isn't the answer you're looking for. 1986 under Hand I suppose.

Fourth place is definitely our worst finish since Kerr (which is a bit harsh as we were an Henry goal away from joint first, though I'm of the ilk that thinks Kerr has a lot of blame to take for that campaign). Even Stan managed third (just).

Not a single, solitary shot on target. At all. Awful, awful, dreadful, dire stuff. And yet the sad thing is that even if Trap goes (and I think he has to now; we're clearly going backwards), who's coming through playerwise? Down the pub, John83 made the point that we're missing Duff, Given, Andrews, Doyle and Gibson. Dunne has been injured for a long time. It's a lot of players to miss.

Worse is that we've nobody really coming through. We can't score goals (Cox and Walters are the fourth-top scorers in the squad with 4; there's no-one on 3 and only Whelan on 2). None of the u-21 names ring a particular bell bar Duffy (that may well be a reflection on me obviously) They still can't score goals. Trap has a point in that we don't have a proper (professional) league to dip into; barstoolers take a bow there.

While I think Trap has to move on, we're potentially in for a Scotland-esque period in the doldrums. Not looking good. But maybe another manager can get a team that'll get a ****ing shot on target.

[Charlie Darwin]

Is a Scotland-esque period in the doldrums so bad? They've now hired a manager who is prepared to take bad results in order to turn the team around in the long run. My worry is that we'll settle for a manager who is pragmatic and tries to get results without taking a long-term view and playing a system that is transferable and that players can buy into.

[geysir]

That's pretty much what Brady was saying, there are not the players coming through, doldrums etc etc. Scotland , Wales doom years etc

I'd more go with Dunphy's take, that there isn't that much ground to claw back against Sweden and Austria, make that the target.
And as Giles says, the place to start is with the manager's philosophy and picking the best players to put it on the pitch.
Players coming through is an unknown and not anything we can control.

[harry crumb]

Player Ratings

Forde 6 hard to fault for goal and kicking was in the main decent
Coleman 7 Ball of energy. His darting runs will be a huge asset under new manager.
Dunne 4 Looked cumbersome and distribution poor
O’Shea 5 Was doing well before injury
Wilson 5 Mixed the bad with the good
Pilkington 6 Started well and looks a good addition to the squad
Green 6 Limited in possession but was always busy
McCarthy 6 Struggled to cope with the 3v2 in the middle as the game went on.
Walters 4 Played like a player out of position
Keane 4 Lively early on but anonymous by 60 mins.
Long 6 Austrians struggled to cope with him but as the game went on he became a lone ranger.

Clark 5 Slotted in well for O’Shea.
McClean 5 A like for like sub. On back foot mostly.
Sammon 4 Summed up Traps tactics over the last 5 years.