Ireland starting 11 for tomorrow.

HashSlinging

I think people should chillax the head, last night we got three points. For once we got lucky lets hope it continues.

The likes of man utd have won trebles on luck like that.

masterK

One thing that strikes me from the formation/tactics last night is that Staunton didn't pay one bit of attention to how San Marino would play. Everybody knew San Marino would have 11 players behind the ball and would totally congest the penalty, any decent manager would have developed a strategy to combat this.

It was blindingly obvious that Duff, Keane and Long where all being marked by 2 players, we knew this would happen. What we should of had was an attacking midfielder sitting just behind the strikers, there was acres of space for such a player to run into in the area just outside the box, there were also a lot of secondary balls to be picked up, yet each time a ball was cleared to the edge of the box there was no Irish player there.

But instead of doing this what did Staunton do? He played Carsley sitting just in front of the back 4, I'm not even sure we needed a back 4 never mind another player sitting just in front of them.

gucci

what a poor dissappointing performance. robbie keane looks a shadow of his former self. hunt should have started, based on his hi-energy performances in premiership he was ideal for a game like last night, when he came on he hit the post and fired in 3 or 4 very good crossses.
we were so so lucky. this performance could have been put in to the "freak" category were it not so soon to the cyprus shambles. the players need to apply themselves better to each game, not look like they expect to win.

its difference if you have a set way of playing, at a club, ie play the wings etc and you know if you stick to what your good at you'll win, the players need to apply themselves more to work together at international level as they have such a short time to create a team style. which ultimately leads us to leadership on and off the field. feel sorry for stan but he looks hopelessly out of his depth. but he was lacking any genuine leaders on the field last night (richard dunne and mcshane perhaps?)

shane86

seansouth wrote:

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

WTF did I tell yiz?

Now, there were two or three posters who attacked me in the day leading up to the match. I said I'd come on here and hold my hands up if I was proved to be a doom and gloom merchant.

Will you hold your hands up to me and accept that all I said was correct?

Staunton HAS to go. Keane needs to stripped of the captaincy.

Delaney should resign.

Didnt have time to post yesterday but was reading Seans posts and was amazed at the replies. People with the expectation that we would walk it. I was in town and for the 1st half the pub was half empty, the fairweather crowd so assumed we would walk it it didnt even need to be watched. I on the other hand watched with all the nervousness of an Ireland Vs Germany/Holland/whoever game, confident I couldnt relax until I saw a 3rd goal knocked behind. Only minutes in it became apparent it was a lazy affair. Keane shouldve come off after 20. It was undoubtedtly the worst Irish performance I remember watching (for reasons I cant go into I only half watched Cyprus)

Time they stopped giving Keane his game automatically because of who he used to be. If you told someone 2 years ago we would only be in with a shout thanks to Kilbane yid have been laughed at. Ive defended Stan before, what with the run of injuries he had to contend with, but last night was brutal.

redspider

Well, well, well. Football, eh.

Ireland got out of a self-made jail last night. Many people have the knives out for Staunton today, and Delaney, but even with the players selected they should have been able to beat the likes of a 'Ballinteer 11', no disrespect to any area with 30,000 people, which is what San Marino effectively are, albeit one that gets a lot of practice.

To be fair to Ireland, they came close to making it 2-0 on several occasions. But there was not enough urgency in this match. 4-4-2 was probably the wrong formation, but even saying that, you would expect the likes of Finnan and O'Shea and others to get up the pitch and press in the final third.

There was a laziness in attitude. They all thought the match was won before going out and it was just a case of how much. A wrong attitude to take and it very very nearly bit us.

Also to be fair to Ireland, the San Marino goal was the only attempt on goal they had in the whole match, and it was a comedy of errors, defenders and goalies clashing, the ball breaking through a tackle and squeezing through the legs of a static McShane. Henderson was mainly to blame for coming out in the first place, you could say as much as 80% at fault for this goal.

Ireland had hit the post before that, and also Stokes was a whisker away with another chance and the goalie well beaten. And that is the nature of football. What could have easily have been a 3-0 win, and perhaps written down as a poor performance, ends up as a 2-1, a lucky 3 pts and sacking calls. It happens.

I felt sorry for the San Marino lads. Their first goal sinc 1998 and the chance of a point to boot, what they have been waiting for for decades, and then to be cruely defeated in the last minute. They were close, but they can have no gripes. Its not as if they can get up this morning and say they deserved the draw, is it? As a team for character though, they certainly deserve something, and that raise the point of a second tier for the 'smaller' countries. They would get more chances for success in that.

As for calling for Staunton's head, I dont think we will qualify out of this group, so it could very well happen at the end.

Unless things change, drastically !

Redspider

Carcharodon

Staunton made one of the most rediculous comments I have ever heard after the match, something like;

*San Marino will get stronger and prove harder to beat as the group goes on*

Yea Stan, after losing 0 - 13 to Germany, they will now go give them a run for their money in Munich :rolleyes:

I honestly dont really blame players too much, there was a bit of effort there but they were just clueless, they didn't know how to break down the worst team in Europe.
Carlsey did what he was asked to do but should of been told to take control of game and push forward, was no need for him to sit back so much.
Ireland was very poor, not up to the standard yet
oh god I don't know, San Marino........:eek: .....embarrassing

Carcharodon

redspider wrote:

Henderson was mainly to blame for coming out in the first place, you could say as much as 80% at fault for this goal.

No - 100% at fault.
No need for him to rush out at all, I seriously doubt if the San Marino player would of even got a shot off, McShane had it covered

LuckyLloyd

HashSlinging wrote:

I think people should chillax the head, last night we got three points. For once we got lucky lets hope it continues.

The likes of man utd have won trebles on luck like that.

lol

quad_red

HashSlinging wrote:

I think people should chillax the head, last night we got three points. For once we got lucky lets hope it continues.

The likes of man utd have won trebles on luck like that.

[Shakes head] Are you being serious?

redspider

gucci wrote:

what a poor dissappointing performance. robbie keane looks a shadow of his former self. hunt should have started, based on his hi-energy performances in premiership he was ideal for a game like last night, when he came on he hit the post and fired in 3 or 4 very good crossses.
we were so so lucky. this performance could have been put in to the "freak" category were it not so soon to the cyprus shambles. the players need to apply themselves better to each game, not look like they expect to win.

its difference if you have a set way of playing, at a club, ie play the wings etc and you know if you stick to what your good at you'll win, the players need to apply themselves more to work together at international level as they have such a short time to create a team style. which ultimately leads us to leadership on and off the field. feel sorry for stan but he looks hopelessly out of his depth. but he was lacking any genuine leaders on the field last night (richard dunne and mcshane perhaps?)

I agree with these sentiments. The result against Cyprus and this one cant be put down to blips or freaks. Arguably the 5-2 loss against Cyprus was worse.

San Marino are ranked 195th in the world according to:
http://www.eloratings.net/world.html

and Ireland, 37th.

Cyprus are 84th.


Redspider

BaZmO*

seansouth wrote:

Now, there were two or three posters who attacked me in the day leading up to the match. I said I'd come on here and hold my hands up if I was proved to be a doom and gloom merchant.

"Attacked You"???? WTF? I had a different opinion than yours, that's all. I didn't "attack you" and if my memory serves me correct I can't remember anybody else attacking you either. I just felt that this game should have been a walk in the park and quite frankly it should've been.

I most certainly put my hand up and say that you were right but I thought at the time, and still do think that with the players that Ireland have we should be quite easily beating a team like San Marino.
If the Ireland team (essentially a team of Premiership footballers) were to play San Marino (a team of part timers) tomorrow I still believe that we should easily beat them. Even without my “fans head” on I believe that. The reason why everybody is so upset about the result (or more so the performance) is that San Marino aren’t a good team (look at their stats) and we embarrassed ourselves last night and as Eirebhoy said we were a kick of the ball away from giving them the best result in their history.

seansouth wrote:

Staunton HAS to go. Keane needs to stripped of the captaincy.

Delaney should resign.

I agree wholeheartedly and I would’ve agreed with you wholeheartedly before the game too. Unfortunately though it’s not gonna happen.

I’m absolutely gutted this morning after last night’s debacle but as a fan I can never understand how people can say stuff like “I hope we lose” and have such a defeatist attitude from the off. I still want Ireland to qualify for the Euros, unfortunately with performances like last night’s and with Stan at the helm it’s looking less and less like a possiblilty.

Ironically enough I’ve to pay for my tickets for the next two games today.

It just shows how messed up the FAI are as an organisation. They had a chance to have the money for the Croker matches in the bank and if we hadn’t of won last night nobody would’ve taken up their allocation of tickets, as we would’ve been out of the running for qualification thus missing out on important revenue.

loyatemu

Henderson was entirely at fault for their goal. I know Paddy Kenny is no worldbeater but he is playing in the premiership every week, and given the position Sheffield United are in he's seeing plenty of action too.

What exactly happened between him and Stan that resulted in him being dropped?

_blank_

BaZmO* wrote:

"Attacked You"???? WTF? I had a different opinion than yours, that's all. I didn't "attack you" and if my memory serves me correct I can't remember anybody else attacking you either.

Fair enough, I posted after I got home form the pub. I was tired and emotional.

BaZmO* wrote:

Ironically enough I’ve to pay for my tickets for the next two games today.

I'd ring the credit card company and block the payment.

Vokes

Couldn't see the game last night because of work. Was shocked when i heard the result

Anyone have any non-youtube links to the 'highlights' ?


Stan Out!

seansouth In !!

TwoShedsJackson

Well the match was a humiliating shambles but I'm so glad I didn't hear Staunton's postmatch interview because judging by the quotes here I would probably now owe the pub I was in a new plasma tv

Robbie Keane couldn't finish a one piece jigsaw at the moment, I thought he only scores against the ****e teams?

Staunton clearly has no ability to motivate, and no clue tactically. The honourable thing to do would be to resign and admit he had made a hash of it. If Delaney had any decency he would do likewise.

It'll be a long wait so.

BaZmO*

loyatemu wrote:

What exactly happened between him and Stan that resulted in him being dropped?

AFAIK Kenny asked for a sabatical from the Irish squad due to personal reasons.

seansouth wrote:

Fair enough, I posted after I got home form the pub. I was tired and emotional.

No worries. It's just a pity that you were right!

seansouth wrote:

I'd ring the credit card company and block the payment.

Nah, couldn't do that. At the end of the day I'm still an Irish fan through the thick and thin.

TwoShedsJackson wrote:

Well the match was a humiliating shambles but I'm so glad I didn't hear Staunton's postmatch interview because judging by the quotes here I would probably now owe the pub I was in a new plasma tv

Stan really doesn't do himself any favours in the postmatch interiews. He didn't need to individually slate each player but he did need to say that as a team it wasn't good enough otherwise he just looks silly, something that he's turning into a fine art at this stage.

_blank_

SofaKing wrote:

Stan Out!

seansouth In !!

I'd never work for that shower in Merrion Sq.

Never.

WhiteWashMan

WhiteWashMan wrote:

if ireland didnt turn up until half time, san marino would still be 2-1 down at half time.

im curious to know what the reaction would be tomorrow if it were a 1-0 win or worse, a 2-1 win.

thank you.

thank you very much

what a disaster. looks like i was bang on the money. for once

shane86

Firstly, it needs to be said the only people who should be more ashamed than the FAI, the team and Stan is WhiteWashMan, Kojak and Zane from MTV2. I recall previously Zane said he would support San Marino in Landsdowne in 06, that he wanted them to win to force Stan out. And WWMAN with his smiley faced "haha i was right! Go me!" attitude. I feared myself that we would only scrape a win (I assumed 3-0 tbh, but there ya go). If I had been right, I certainly wouldnt have been proud of the fact unlike you pair (mind you, Id have probably been slighly prouder than the cack last night we endured). Id almost sooner have them lose than these fairweather treasonous lot with their up San Marino rubbish. Hey, Id love to be back in the glory days of the 90s and early this century. However, a real fan takes the rough with the smooth. One reason I never hugely followed a particular Premiership team was because when I was a kid half the lads I knew had your attitude. Its Newcastle on year, when they do ****e they move on to Man U. Your national side is having a poor run so you just abandon them. Nobody, and I mean nobody who would put such a negative spin on a (albeit woeful) Ireland victory, who would rather see the team lose/draw just to get Stan out, these people shouldnt even be giving an opinion. These people are nothing but sell outs, glory chasers, Judases, whatever feckin term you can think of. Whether they were to be getting thrashed 3-0 by the ex soviet republic of Sh1tzplayaria or lifting the World Cup in 2010, you dont and shouldnt have a place being a part of either event.

Almost as unbelieveable was the roasting Sean got for suggesting he was of the opinion we would get a narrow win (thankfully, unlike the other 3 posters, he said this with regret rather than a hope of "Ill show them"). Like Sean, I felt I wouldnt relax until we were 3-0 up. When it went beyond 15 minutes without a goal we knew we were in trouble. Nonsense like "I nearly wish it had stayed 1-1". When the second goal knocked in, I roared. We all did. In that brief moment when we forgot the awfulness of the entire game, we even drunkenly chanted "yil never beat the Irish". It was, for a minute, an ecstatic moment. It was only when the whistle blew we calmed and realised it was the worst match we ever saw. If that had been Ireland V Germany, we would still be on a buzz from it. But it wasnt, it was a skin of the bollix victory against a Division 3 side. I honestly cant imagine an Irish fan sitting calm as you like as Ireland save their qualification chance.

But now, to the aftermath. Some of you may recall I was never calling for Stans head as big as most people. He did, after all, have the worst run of injury trouble imaginable. But after last night, and the laughable after game comments, Im for the chopping block. What was it, Ireland showed strong spirit? Me bollix. If Ireland were playing Germany in a do or die decider, and played well, and in the last minute of play knocked in the winner, that would embody fighting spirit. What doesnt embody it is a team with mostly 5 figure per week players scraping a victory against a best 11 you could pick in Leitrim. Keane shouldve been taken off at 30 minutes.

ButcherOfNog

YeatsCounty wrote:

Does anyone here know if there's some medium quality highlights for those of us who missed this match for the ages?

Sorry, there were no highlights, even Industrial Light and Magic couldn't tart up anything in that game to even remotely resemble highlights.

Jazzy

hahahaha!! the advantages of being half- scottish!!!

ive given up supporting ireland, scotland is where its at

i hope...

WhiteWashMan

shane86 wrote:

And WWMAN with his smiley faced "haha i was right! Go me!" attitude..

what? i predicted the score line and i got it right,and therefore i should be ashamed of myself?

who said anything about abandoning anything.
i think you have just decided to make stuff up about people here and have a rant.
you rant away my little friend, but dont involve me.

if you want my opinion on the situation, its a couple of pages back. im not going to reiterate my feelings just to placate someone who cant be arsed to read what anyone else says.

shane86

WhiteWashMan wrote:

what? i predicted the score line and i got it right,and therefore i should be ashamed of myself?

who said anything about abandoning anything.
i think you have just decided to make stuff up about people here and have a rant.
you rant away my little friend, but dont involve me.

if you want my opinion on the situation, its a couple of pages back. im not going to reiterate my feelings just to placate someone who cant be arsed to read what anyone else says.

I did read your first post. It was the later post with the smileys and an attitude that gave me the impression you had won money on your prediction that annoyed me. Hell, I was half expecting a result like this as said. Im not proud or happy that I was correct. Im not happy that my assumption was better than the people who said we would walk it. If you actually read MY post you might notice I made a distinction between the two negative groups- the 3 posters with their "hope we lose/wish we drew/haha i was right" attitude, and the likes of Seansouth and myself who desperately wanted a cricket score but knew it may not happen, and with a heavy heart admitted as much. I stand by what I said, those who wanted us to lose/draw just to satisfy their petty mentality against Staunton have no place following Ireland. To read posts by these people criticising Delaneys attitude when they themselves have these intentions for their own team is an embarrassment.

mewso

You're watching the Ireland match and it's 1-1 against San Mairno. Suddenly God appears and says "If San Marino draw or beat ye you'll get rid of Stan, hire a top class manager, barely miss qualification for the Euros. I'm not a miracle worker (well not this time). After a solid improvement in performance you'll easily qualify for the next world cup and get to the final. Not telling you who wins though". You turn to him and say "sorry mate, I'm a die-hard Ireland supporter and I want them to win".

I find it idiotic the way people jump in here saying posters are not patriotic etc. yada yada for maybe partly thinking things might get better if we don't win. Get off your high horse folks.

Call Me Jimmy

musician wrote:

You're watching the Ireland match and it's 1-1 against San Mairno. Suddenly God appears and says "If San Marino draw or beat ye you'll get rid of Stan, hire a top class manager, barely miss qualification for the Euros. I'm not a miracle worker (well not this time). After a solid improvement in performance you'll easily qualify for the next world cup and get to the final. Not telling you who wins though". You turn to him and say "sorry mate, I'm a die-hard Ireland supporter and I want them to win".

Quoted for truth from the bible.

WhiteWashMan

shane86 wrote:

I did read your first post. It was the later post with the smileys and an attitude that gave me the impression you had won money on your prediction that annoyed me. Hell, I was half expecting a result like this as said. Im not proud or happy that I was correct. Im not happy that my assumption was better than the people who said we would walk it. If you actually read MY post you might notice I made a distinction between the two negative groups- the 3 posters with their "hope we lose/wish we drew/haha i was right" attitude, and the likes of Seansouth and myself who desperately wanted a cricket score but knew it may not happen, and with a heavy heart admitted as much. I stand by what I said, those who wanted us to lose/draw just to satisfy their petty mentality against Staunton have no place following Ireland. To read posts by these people criticising Delaneys attitude when they themselves have these intentions for their own team is an embarrassment.

?

you said i should be ashamed.

why?

becuase i got a score correct. i support ireland, and right now, i agree with muso that ireland would be better served by ousting the entire lot, and starting again.
i support ireland on the pitch, but i also support ireland off the pitch. and theres more to ireland than 11 players ona pitch.

i think if you cant see what other people are saying, then you are pretty shortsighted.
ashamed. no, never. im proud of ireland, just the same as im prouod to be a spurs suppoerter,. but it doesnt mean i have to blindly accept all that is going on in my teams.
the only people that should be ashamed are those players that didnt give 100% on the pitch and those people behind the team that take this piss out of our national association.