Ireland squad vs Holland

The Rooster

Pigman II wrote:

Anyway, here's to Irelands biggest loss for 24 years

Anyone remember who beat us by 4-0 (or 5-1 or more) in 1982?

zAbbo

Didn't see the game.

Sometime's it takes a good hammering to shake things up.

I'd take a 4-0 whipping at home now, than one in the Qualifiers.

Stan will come good.

The Insider

It’s way to early to be judging Stan’s term, see that muppet Dunphy is calling for his head on the front page of the Star this morning. The most disappointing thing last night for me was the lack of effort, in the first half it looked like the players did just not care I know we were missing a good few regulars but that is no reason not to try. At least when Douglas, Doyle and O’Brien came on they put a bit of effort in. Miller tried but he is always well off the pace when I see him playing for Ireland last night he gave away lots of ball when he came on.

If you look at last nights team it would be reasonable enough to say 7 of them would be starting against Germany. Even when we get back Keane, Duff, Given and Dunne that won’t fix the problem we have in the centre of the park which we were torn apart in last night. I have never seen Kavanagh impress for Ireland and I don’t think he is good enough but I guess Stan is limited in who he could replace him with. I said it when everyone was calling for Kerr’s head there is only so much a manager can do with limited players and unfortunately Ireland has the worst group of players that I can remember (pre 1986) IMHO.

In saying that I don’t think Stan did himself too many favours by just having 3 friendly fixtures before his first completive game he could have done with more time to try and shape his team and get across his ideas. At times last night there was absolutely no shape in our team it looked like players were unsure of the system they were playing. For the Germany game my team would be:

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Given

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---Carr---Dunne---O'Brien---Harte
---Finnan---Reid---Kilbane---Duff

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Keane

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Doyle

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Unearthly

I agree with the team above, but I don't rate Carr anymore, but we haven't got many options to keep him out of the team. Unless Andy Reid fancys the right midfield, or is he injured?

LostinBlanch

dbnavan wrote:

Alot of people who call for Stans head already, probably called for Kerr's head and McCarthy's before him.

I was "happy enough" with McCarthy until 2002 [no not just Saipan, but for not being able to see that Spain had 10 men on the pitch for the entire 2nd period of extra time. Pretty basic being able to count to 11 no?]. Kerr, I thought was the man to turn things around. I had been very impressed when seeing him speak at meetings outlining his vision for football in Ireland before he won the 2 European Championships. Sadly it didn't turn out that way. That's football. I've had my doubts with Staunton - he was a "face" and someone beholden to the FAI for his job. I think he was seen as a "safe" pair of hands.

You are right about the team that Charlton inherited in 1986. It consisted of a number of excellent players. But there were also a number of mediocre ones too. Charlton managed to gel them together into a teamn because he had the forceful personality and he also had a system, and he got the team to play to it. With Staunton I see no identifiable system or plan of action.

dbnavan wrote:

Having said all that even if I pulled on a green jersey I would show more enthusiasm for the match then some of them lads out there last night, there was no chasing, closing down, passion but most all there was no organisation of the back 4.

Two points that are down to the manager. Wouldn’t you think that a group of fringe players given a chance to break into the team would show some enthusiasm? Some of the players who showed little enthusiasm last night should never pull on a green shirt ever again. Not if they are going to play like that. Morrison and O’Shea spring to mind. Ultimately the manager has to shoulder the blame for not motivating his troops. As for the back four, they are all experienced internationals, they weren’t nervous debutants. They were managed by a man who was a defender so surely someone should know the basics of organising a defence?

dbnavan wrote:

On thing I was pleased with last night and some people disagree with me on this is....how animated and passionate Stan was on the touch line, we weren't happy with what was going on but nor was he.....I have managed teams and I always try to make sure teams now where they are going wrong and when I am not happy, what really annoys me is a manager sitting on his backside in the posh seat while his team get annihilated.

Doesn’t mean much to me, if there’s no end result. It’s a bit like Beckham running around all over the place to get noticed by the commentators so they can say how much commitment he is showing to the cause. I could be cruel and saying Staunton's playing to the camera, but even I don't believe that. I just think he is out of his depth, and I have little hope for him, and us.

Great piece of business by the FAI to tie up our man for two campaigns wasn't it? :rolleyes:

Vokes

For the Germany game, Finnan should be played in his best position - RB.
At this stage, McGeady looks like he might be better coming on as an impact sub - but there's no other options for RW.

Cerdito

The Rooster wrote:

Anyone remember who beat us by 4-0 (or 5-1 or more) in 1982?

We lost 7-0 away to Brazil in 1982.

A tour of Central & South America that also included a 2-1 defeat to Trinidad & Tobago. I think John Giles might have been manager at the time.

[Edit]It was actually Eoin Hand in charge[/Edit]

The Insider

Unearthly wrote:

I agree with the team above, but I don't rate Carr anymore, but we haven't got many options to keep him out of the team. Unless Andy Reid fancys the right midfield, or is he injured?

Yeah either do I and would much prefer Finnan in there but I am not sure who else we have for the right wing, McGeady?? But the German game would be a huge step up for him. Andy Reid could be a class player but IMO has the wrong attitude and is carrying way to much weight. So the only option I can think of is Finnan.

Jivin Turkey

The team lacked leadership on the pitch last night without probably our first four choices of captain (definitely our first three). There is only so much the manager can do from the sideline. The Dutch came here with a lot to prove after a woeful WC. Van Basten’s omission of the likes of RVN and MVB was essentially a golden ticket for the likes of Huntelaar to go show his worth. These guys are going to be some of the best in the world, are people surprised to see them play as well as they did last night?

Forget the result, just like everyone forgets Kerr’s friendly results. It was a woeful performance but I’d rather get these out of the way in friendlies instead of qualifiers. At least now the whole team will have received a huge wake-up call prior to some of the biggest games of our campaign. And in typical Irish fashion, for some reason I’m more hopeful of going to Stuttgart and getting something on foot of this trouncing, than I would be if we had battered the Dutch 3-0. We always play better in hope than expectation, because we really are not that good.

Things that can be taken from the game are Doyle must start in Germany. I’m a fan of Morrison (in terms of what else we have available) but Doyle has shown in his brief international career that he is a decent player. Morrison looked off the pace last night where Doyle looked fresh and hungry. I’m sure he is raring to go at club level too.

Next the sooner Carr retires from international football again the better. He is slow, lazy and disinterested in the Irish set up and has been since 2002. Retire from international football at 29? After all you have achieved? Want to focus on your club career because 38 games (if even) a season and maybe a cup run to the quarters with Tottenham or Newcastle has taken its toll on you? Get a life. The thing that annoys me the most is that Finnan, one of our genuine class players, is always played out of position to accommodate Carr. Play Finnan at RB for crying out loud. Who cares who plays RW, McGeady, Reid, Duff even Jason Byrne , just once Carr is not in the team adding nothing.

Thirdly we need to develop a new leader at the back. Dunne can do it, but when he is gone there is nobody. McShane should definitely be brought into the next squad in an attempt to develop him into that leader. He will be playing regular championship football with one of the bigger sides so hopefully he can develop as expected.

I was one of the lucky ones to have paid to see that performance last night, and all else I have to say is roll on Stuttgart, and I don’t think we are going to come home empty handed.

Fanny Cradock

Staunton deserves a chance - everybody does. However, the glimpses of what may await us fills me with doubt over our qualification chances. Given the importance of each game in international football, weighed up against the fact that he may take a time to impose himself, i think it is reasonable to give the man 2 (3 max) competition games before he is given a dreaded "vote of confidence". this said, i believe, despite the FAI's words, many a stone was left unturned, and we didnt, in fact, get a world class manager. i stand to be proved wrong on this, but if i was the FAI i'd be making a new shortlist.

cournioni

Disgraceful performance.

soma

BaZmO* wrote:

Way to go with all the Chicken Licken impressions. :rolleyes:

Seaneh

Culchie wrote:

That young Holland teamed 'pissed' on that young Irish team there tonight .... why?

5 times our population, a professional league with 4 world class acadmeys, a history of the top 4 clubs in the country haveing an average first team age of less than 25 because thier national league is basically a farm... There are many reasons.

herbieflowers

True, but those lads out there last night lacked any committment, you can;t teach that. They showed no passion, didn't get stuck in etc. Football is only so much about technical ability.

Marcais

herbieflowers wrote:

True, but those lads out there last night lacked any committment, you can;t teach that. They showed no passion, didn't get stuck in etc. Football is only so much about technical ability.

Absolutely, Carr, O'Shea, Morrison....nothing left on the pitch instead of everything left on the pitch.