Ireland V Swtizerland (includes score)

GuanYin

Originally posted by smemon
well obviously you have to work for a win but i mean come on, albania, gorgia, russia and swizerland. ireland were ranked higher than all of those comming into that group.

The rankings mean nothing, they are heavily biased by the opposition you play.

Dustaz

Originally posted by The Muppet
How did they do in the last world cup then, Thats exactly what I mean about knowing Fnck all about football.

How about the one before that and the one before that? I actually dont remember any in-fighting from the 02 campaign, but plenty from 98 and 94 and it didnt stop them. Van Nistlerooy will probably swallow his pride and play (all the others did before him) and he will get to show his skills on the world stage. For Keane that chance is lost and its nobodys fault but his own.


To the guy saying Keane is the difference. Duh. Of course a great player like Keane would have made a difference. So would Brady, McGrath, Giles and Givens. The difference (certainly with brady and Mcgrath, im not old enough to rememeber dons retirement) is that there was always reasonable players to step into the breach. Unfortuanatly this time there doesnt seem to be anyone.

Remember that we still havent replaced McGrath. Things would have been very different if he was still around.

DaithiSurfer

I read an artcle in the sunday times a few months ago about armchair managers.

Went something like this :
Every fan is an armchair manager.
Not 1 of them has any experience at football.
All they do regurgitate what they read or hear on tv radio etc.
They then state this to be from their own 'superior mangers minds'
Also every sports writer is an armchair manager.
They know **** all, when they hear news they then turn it around to suit the slant that they normally take. e.g Dunphy will turn any situation into a 'if only Keane was here'

all in all i agreed completely with the article.
While we are not happy at time not one of us has a millionth of the knowledge of people involved in the premiership.

By all means spout out about what you think should happen, but ffs stop pretending you know any more than the other contributors to this thread. And you definitely dont know as much as Kerr or McCarthy about football, so dont pretend you're a better tactician than either of them.

By the way, this post isnt directed to anyone in particular. Apart from maybe Eamonn Dunphy:)

The Muppet

Of course a great player like Keane would have made a difference. So would Brady, McGrath, Giles and Givens.

The difference being that Keane is the only one on your list still playing professional football so there should be no need to look for his replacement for another year or so.:rolleyes:

The reason I mentioned the keane isue is that someone here recently said they thought the FAI read the soccer forum . On the off chance they do I wouldn,t want to be giving them the impression that Irish soccer Fans have forgotten about their ineptitude. The only positive thing from Saturday is that those show of tossers will not have the €3 Million qualification would have generated to give themselves "interest free loans" or to spend on Junkets.

No point in continue with this as I,ve made My point and the anger is subsiding now.

BaZmO*

Originally posted by smemon
look at france, a 100%record, 24 out of 24 points in an easy group. B]

LOL. You're comparing us to France?? Fair play to your blinkered belief in the Irish squad!! Good for a giggle though!

everyone expected them to win everygame and they did, now why cant we be the same??

Everybody expected them to get out of their group in the 2002 WC but they didn't!!

So what's your point???


B.

smemon

my point is they can HANDLE pressure, unlike us. they get results when their expected to. (the wc was a rare exception).

give us a new stadium and at home we'll be unbeatable. kerr has slipped up big time in my view at home. landsdowne is no longer a fortress.

we'll bounce back as usual, qualify for the knockout stages of a few tournaments, everyone will be happy with 2nd stage in the world cup or quarter finals in the euro championships.

someone mentioned are expectations are too high, i believe there too low. despite are poor defence and average midfield, id say were about 15-20th in the world. we should be going for world cups and believing we can WIN tournaments.

the irish never have that attitude and its a real shame, they dont believe enough in themselves as a team. and we, the fans constantly under-rate tham every bloody game. its no wonder we wern't all up in dublin giving them a hero's welcome home from basle.

dont get me wrong, i like support and atmosphere but we cant let the players have a safety net of knowing no matter what they do, we'll always be pleased with it.

marct

Originally posted by smemon
my point is they can HANDLE pressure, unlike us. they get results when their expected to. (the wc was a rare exception).

give us a new stadium and at home we'll be unbeatable. kerr has slipped up big time in my view at home. landsdowne is no longer a fortress.

we'll bounce back as usual, qualify for the knockout stages of a few tournaments, everyone will be happy with 2nd stage in the world cup or quarter finals in the euro championships.

someone mentioned are expectations are too high, i believe there too low. despite are poor defence and average midfield, id say were about 15-20th in the world. we should be going for world cups and believing we can WIN tournaments.

the irish never have that attitude and its a real shame, they dont believe enough in themselves as a team. and we, the fans constantly under-rate tham every bloody game. its no wonder we wern't all up in dublin giving them a hero's welcome home from basle.

dont get me wrong, i like support and atmosphere but we cant let the players have a safety net of knowing no matter what they do, we'll always be pleased with it.

I think me agreeing with Smemon is one of the signs of the apocalypse but in this instance I do and this was one of Keano's points. We should'nt just be happy with our lot- 'Oh well at least it was good craic' etc. We should be looking to push on from past achievements.

Dustaz

Originally posted by smemon
my point is they can HANDLE pressure, unlike us. they get results when their expected to. (the wc was a rare exception).

Err, how long have you been watching football? The French have been notorious underacheivers. 98 and 2000 were the exception rather than the rule.

give us a new stadium and at home we'll be unbeatable.

Silly me! There was me thinking it was Tactics, Skill and hard work that won matches, when actually it was steel and concrete all along!! Id get yourself a good mangerial position before your secret leaks out.

the irish never have that attitude and its a real shame, they dont believe enough in themselves as a team.

This is a misconception. In Italia '90, the Irish took the field in the belief that if they could beat the italians in the quater-final they could win the world cup. This is what Charlton told them and this is what the players were aiming to do. Ambition did not start and end with Mr Keane.

Its just about being realistic, With our current squad we are not going to win much.

Oswald Osbourne

Originally posted by Killah_B
I was 15

And I was 8. What's your point?

Originally posted by Killah_B
and didn't give two flying fcuks about football

as opposed to now of course? :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Killah_B
- since my conversion (1993) I've been to about 12 games all of them friendlies because I can't get tickets to competitive matches...

Wow that's big of you! And besides, as I've demonstrated it's still possible to get into matches even if you can't block book by keeping your ear to the ground. So what's your excuse now?

Originally posted by Killah_B
Sorry I don't match up to your exacting standards of being 'a fan'

That's ok. From the sound of you I personally couldn't care less whether you turn up for matches or not. More room for the rest of us genuine fans so you're actually doing me a favour.

Originally posted by Killah_B
... maybe I should practice being a sanctimonious twat like you, but it seems you have too much of a head start...

Not too much of a headstart I'd warrant from your unrestrained and immature comments.

Originally posted by Killah_B
I'll slag bandwagon jumpers regardless of where they are from, and have done regularly on these boards... I call a spade a spade, and a twat and twat.

Funny cos you sound like a typical bandwagon jumper yourself. There's two kinds - the kind who grab all the tickets during the gravy years and then theres the kind who sit in front of the TV slagging off the opposition team/fans and heartfeltly proclaiming that they'd be in the ground but they 'couldn't get tickets'.

The fact that you haven't gone to even ONE single competitive game in 10 years clearly shows that you're not that bothered. Even when I was a kid and hadn't a pot to piss in I found a way whenever I could cos it was something I really wanted to see and be part of.

Originally posted by Killah_B
Twat.

Charming! Do you kiss your TV with that mouth?

Bateman

>Some supporter he was! These are the kind of 'fans' who won't be missed from Lansdowne.

In fairness, you have to strike a balance between the people who pay for their tickets in advance, guaranteeing the FAI a decent source of income, and the people who are actually passionate about the game; it can't be all one or the other. Although the balance is too far in the one direction, there are far too many people moaning about international tickets.

To the people moaning about tickets, have they actually ever queued for an hour to try to get a ticket when the public allocation (and there is ALWAYS one) goes on sale from Merrion Square? Have they ever sent application forms for away games to the FAI. Come on, if you're all real fans, you could make one or two away trips a year, might have to sacrifice a few pints, but...

And with regard to kid's not having the money for tickets, the FAI continue to this day to break UEFA rules by having a schoolboy standing section in the ground; maybe the system here is biased towards Dublin schools, but that's just tough.

Christ's sake, we'll have a qualifier in under a year, and we don't know where we are going to be playing it. Some things are more important. Real fans won't hesitate to attend the friendlies, but I suspect we are far from a nation of real fans, and closer to the nation of bandwagon jumpers that someone alluded to earlier. **** like Tom Humphries give this nation a bad name...

GuanYin

Originally posted by The Muppet
The difference being that Keane is the only one on your list still playing professional football so there should be no need to

Can you just clarify something for me Muppet?

You seem to indicate in your posts that Keane should be in a position to play for Ireland if it wasn't for FAI muppets.

However, Keane has given injury as his reason for retiring from international football and said that he would have otherwise played for Kerr.

So in your opinon, is Keane lying to Ireland and turning his back on his country even though we have a new manager or is he actually injured.

If its the latter, then why do you keep harping on about Keane playing? If it really is an injury, he would not be playing for Ireland regardless of what happened in Saipan. If its the former, then why is he not just saying "I'm not playing coz of the FAI" and making up excuses? That doesn't sound like Keanes way of doing things.

If you are going to harp on about "KEane playing for IReland if it wasn't for teh FAI" then you really need to clear this up.

The Muppet

If you are going to harp on about "KEane playing for IReland if it wasn't for teh FAI" then you really need to clear this up.

YAWN!

No I Don,t ?:D

GuanYin

Originally posted by The Muppet
YAWN!

No I Don,t ?:D

Ok, then I take it you can't.

I'll book mark this for the next time you start a Keane Vs. The FAI rant

The Muppet

Ok, then I take it you can't.

Take what you want but that is not what I said.

I'll book mark this for the next time you start a Keane Vs. The FAI rant

You make a habit of misquoting me so that'll be nothing new. I suppose I must have annoyed you at some point.:D

Dustaz

Originally posted by The Muppet
Take what you want but that is not what I said.

No but its how it looks to everyone reading this thread.

GuanYin

Originally posted by The Muppet
Take what you want but that is not what I said.



You make a habit of misquoting me so that'll be nothing new. I suppose I must have annoyed you at some point.:D

Ha, don't flatter yourself I just think you're funny.

First time I've ever seen you not want to back up an argument....

GuanYin

Originally posted by Dustaz
No but its how it looks to everyone reading this thread.

Muppet has a habit of ignoring posts that prove him wrong or that he can't answer.

Don't expect any sort of response

The Muppet

posted by sykeirl
Muppet has a habit of ignoring posts that prove him wrong or that he can't answer.

I think you'll find I only ignore your drivel .

Dustas I think I have explained my opinion on the keane issue here before.
5 other people on this thread mentiond keane before i did , yet sykeirl chooses to take issue with me on it .

You can read what you want from my refusal to reply to him, the regulars here know the true reason.

GuanYin

Originally posted by The Muppet
I think you'll find I only ignore your drivel .

Dustas I think I have explained my opinion on the keane issue here before.
5 other people on this thread mentiond keane before i did , yet sykeirl chooses to take issue with me on it .

You can read what you want from my refusal to reply to him, the regulars here know the true reason.

Mneh, I was just asking you coz I thought I saw you mention it before.

Was a harmless enough question, I don't see why you are gtting stroppy.

Dustaz

Originally posted by The Muppet

Dustas I think I have explained my opinion on the keane issue here before.
You can read what you want from my refusal to reply to him, the regulars here know the true reason.

Well, i am a regular here, i just ignore a lot of the noise here.

In fairness you are usually one of the first posters (i wont say ManU fan ) to defend keane and bring him up.

He asked a fair question and I would like to see an answer. Feel free to link me to one of your previous posts.