Slovakia vs Ireland

jameshayes

gosplan wrote:

No way can we play Andy Reid on the wing, it's just not an option.

IMO Reid is a strong player who can slow the ball down... could be good to stop the Slovaks countering(which was our problem in croker)... And he also has an very accurate cross (on a good day) may get us a goal or 2...

APM

anyone know if the lads or training today or have they left already?

jameshayes

APM wrote:

anyone know if the lads or training today or have they left already?

They were in Malahide yesterday and I think they are leaving tomorrow?


(could be wrong about when they're leaving)

BaZmO*

I think that it's essential that we get at least 4 points in the next two games. The Czechs are the team that we're battling it out with for second place as the Germans obviously have the group sewn up.

The Czechs are playing San Marino and Saturday so I reckon that'll be 3 points in the bag. The key is to get the win against Slovakia to at least give us a chance on the Wednesday.

leninbenjamin

eirebhoy wrote:

Anyone that wouldn't take a win in Slovakia and draw in Prague now is crazy imo.

they play san marino when we play slovakia. that would still leave us a point behind them going into the last 3 games.

they play: Germany away, Slovakia at home and then Cyprus away.
we play: Germany home, Cyprus home, Wales away.

pretty similar tasks for both teams, and i reckon they'll get a similar amount of points out of those games, (i'd hazard 7 each seeing as Czech and ourselves are the only teams left in the group with anything to play for). we might have it easier against Germany, but i still wouldn't base our qualification hopes on beating the Germans, Czech could easily come up with the same mighty performances that we're asking our lads to give now the run in is upon us. i think the only way we can qualify is if we go into the last 3 games above the Czechs in the table, the only way to do that is by beating them.

remember this is a doggedly inconsistent Irish team we're talking about. 3 wins in a row is a lot to ask of them.

i'd take the 4 points in terms of team progress and morale, but not for qualification.

eirebhoy

leninbenjamin wrote:

pretty similar tasks for both teams

Not really. I can't see the Czechs getting anything in Germany. We're definitely capable of beating Germany at Croker. Half 7 on a Saturday night. It'll be one of the best atmosphere's ever at an Ireland game if we're still in with a chance of qualification. In fact, I'd put money on us beating Germany at home.

leninbenjamin

eirebhoy wrote:

Not really. I can't see the Czechs getting anything in Germany. We're definitely capable of beating Germany at Croker. Half 7 on a Saturday night. It'll be one of the best atmosphere's ever at an Ireland game if we're still in with a chance of qualification. In fact, I'd put money on us beating Germany at home.

perhaps, but i dont see the logic in it. we're not better than the Czechs (yet at least), so i don't see how you can realistically expect us to fare better than them at a task where they failed. Atmosphere i guess could be our advantage here, but i wouldn't bank on it...

but even if we were to get a result against Germany where the Czech's weren't, i've a sneaking suspicion that Wales away could be our potential stumbling block. no real logic to it i guess, just a feeling. they are the typical type of team we nearly always underperform against...

_blank_

eirebhoy wrote:

I'd put money on us beating Germany at home.

Send it to me instead, Paddy and William are far too rich for you to be lining their pockets.

The Rooster

gosplan wrote:

If we want to win we should be starting mcgeedy.

No way can we play Andy Reid on the wing, it's just not an option.

Carsley
Reid
McGeedy
Hunt

I'd definitely have Stephen Ireland ahead of McGeady.

Assuming Ireland is fit, I'd be pretty confident Stan will pick Ireland, Reid and Carsley as three quarters of his midfield. I'd pick Hunt on the left but Stan will probably go with Kilbane as the final peg. I suppose he will make things difficult for the opposition and he does go on the odd good run, which never leads to anything directly, but can give a lift to the team nonetheless.

Hunt to come on then for the last 20 minutes or so, like he did so effectively in the games in Croker.

jameshayes

The Rooster wrote:

Hunt to come on then for the last 20 minutes or so, like he did so effectively in the games in Croker.

He got 3 slovaks booked in the last 10 mins as far as I remember?? Or was i imagining that?

BaZmO*

jameshayes wrote:

Or was i imagining that?

You most certainly were. Captain Caveman is good but he's not that good! There was only one yellow given out and that was to Klimpl in the 81st minute. I think it was for a foul on Cavey but either way he was definitely putting it up against them once he came on.

jameshayes

man, where did i dream that one up!?!

The1337_Stephen

Bad News

http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2378

kryogen

well we really need to have finnan back for the czech game, then again if we dont win against the slovaks there wont be any point in even playing the czechs:eek:

jameshayes

Bummer...

Raskolnikov

We simply cannot be expecting the Czech's to be held to a draw by Cyprus, it ain't gonna happen.

We need to secure 4/6 points to even have a chance of qualification. No if's or but's.

gosplan

Raskolnikov wrote:

We simply cannot be expecting the Czech's to be held to a draw by Cyprus, it ain't gonna happen.

We need to secure 4/6 points to even have a chance of qualification. No if's or but's.

what that guy said!!!

I'm beginning to lean towards the idea that not only do we need a minimum of 4 points but we need to come away from the Czech game with all 3.

Currently C14, IR13, SL9

Assuming Slovakia beat Wales at home and Czechs beat San Marino:

A win against Slovakia and draw agains the Czechs would leave it at
C18, IR17, S12.

A draw against Slovakia and win against the Czechs would mean.
C17, IR17, SL13.

After that we've got Germany and Cyprus at home and Wales away, a fixture list that will yield about the same amount of points as the Czech one of Germany away, Slovakia home and Cyprus away.

Goal difference anyone?

Slovakia having San Marino twice with the Czech match in between could be a saviour for us if they're still in it as they'll really have something to play for. National issues willl come into it when they play each other as well so you never know what to expect.

To summarise...we fu*ked it up against Cyprus!!

Praetorian

Nothing less than 6 points will do for me. We lost a lot of ground at the beginning and we can't afford to have the usual Irish "sure a draw will do" attitude. We shouldn't expect the Czechs or anyone else to do us any favours later in the campaign

Stromecek

Just my two cents,
I have a feeling that the Slovakian game will be the harder of the two,
if we come away from Bratislava with three points that will set us up nicely for the Czech match in the Toyota arena.

The thing with the Slovaks is that they have serious inconsistancy you never know which side will show up, as well as that I think they lack real firepower up front but they are a hard workin side with sparks of creativity on the counter attack they will be hard to beat but I'm confident.

As reguards the czech match, the mood around here in czech is certainly not one of confidence, there were serious ruction in the czech squad after the last series of games in the group, especially absolutely scrapping the win against cyprus, there has been personality clashes and rancour within the squad, the media questioning Bruckners job and how far he can take this czech side after a long time in charge and the squad is certainly not as strong as in previous years.

Seems to me that the czechs are experiencing a dip of form and confidence just as Ireland are experiencing the opposite still it will be a tough job to beat the czechs at home but I'm full of optimism, they certainly are more vunerable now than they've ever been.

and just to concour with a previous poster Molly Malones is definetly the best Irish pub to watch the match stay the hell away from Rocky O'Reillys my god what an over priced, english lout infested kip or maybe a big czech sports bar with loads of other random matches and fans watching games simutanously is good craic or legends if you want to watch with a pile of dejected Praguers after a famous Irish win

My hopelessly green tinted optimistic prediction:
six points

darkman2

Do we have a team capable of getting 6 points from the 2 matches - yes. Question is did the Denmark game lift enough question marks about how Ireland historically perform away. TBH no it was pointless. So Im gonna be optimistic go for 4 points and were still in with a shout.

gosplan

anyone hear anything about this being flooded?

BaZmO*

gosplan wrote:

anyone hear anything about this being flooded?

They showed pictures of the pitch on the 6 o'clock news and it looked pretty water logged, at least around the corner flag it did. I didn't see the full report however, but it did look like it was chucking down. I suppose it'll depend on the drainage at the ground.

The_B_Man

low scoring game so...


prob 0-0. Or hopefully we'll get a last minute winner courtesy of John O'Shea!

I presume that the game on Wed will also be wet, since the countries are right beside each other, and most likely experiencing the same weather. Just depends on how we play in the rain.

BaZmO*

The_B_Man wrote:

low scoring game so...

Or a very high scoring game due to some calamitous defending. Who knows? Stan has invented a whole new style of football.....Luckybag Soccer!!

leninbenjamin

Kilbane to start in defense apparently...

hmmm... i guess i dont have any major issues with this, but i'd prefer an actual full back in the starting lineup. Has anyone watched him play left back for wigan? how's his positional sense?

zuutroy

leninbenjamin wrote:

Kilbane to start in defense apparently...

hmmm... i guess i dont have any major issues with this, but i'd prefer an actual full back in the starting lineup. Has anyone watched him play left back for wigan? how's his positional sense?

Oh Lordy...expect Harte sized gaps at the back

aidan24326

The_B_Man wrote:

Just depends on how we play in the rain.

Well the rain ought not be an issue in fairness! Jesus we'd be hard pushed to get away with that excuse. A good wet mucky evening will suit us fine.

Both these games are winable, we saw in the home game that Slovakia are nothing special, and the Czechs are not as good as they used to be.

Dont be at yourself

Anyone got a stream for tonight's game? Shockingly, it's not on Japanese TV!

Ronan

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

Anyone got a stream for tonight's game? Shockingly, it's not on Japanese TV!

PM sent

Vokes

I wouldn't mind watching the RTE stream. Anyone have a method for getting at it from outside Ireland?

Thanks.

The1337_Stephen

---

Given

---

Oshea---Mcshane--Dunne--Kelly
Mcgeady--Ireland--Carsley---Kilbane
Keane

---

Doyle

thats the team...

Where is Andy Reid though, maybe coming in 2nd half for big Impact?

luckylucky

SofaKing wrote:

I wouldn't mind watching the RTE stream. Anyone have a method for getting at it from outside Ireland?

Thanks.

Think I'm heading out to local festival here in Portugal but if I stay in I'd like to get the stream as well. I haven't seen an Ireland game in ages

The Rooster

The1337_Stephen wrote:

---

Given

---

Oshea---Mcshane--Dunne--Kelly
Mcgeady--Ireland--Carsley---Kilbane
Keane

---

Doyle

thats the team...

Where is Andy Reid though, maybe coming in 2nd half for big Impact?

I would have had Killer at LB and Hunt on the wing. I'd definitely have Reid in and McGeady out. But big vote of confidence for Aidan - hopefully he'll thrive on it. He's the only creative influence we have.

Ireland is playing very well for City, he'll need to get on the ball a lot.

The1337_Stephen

Kelly and oshea are on wrong sides though aren't they...?

gosplan

aidan24326 wrote:

Both these games are winableQUOTE]

They are IMO. Don't think a mucky pitch will help us too much. Reid's passing and Mcgeedy's running will be affected.

Slovakia are bigger and stronger and for once it isn't advantageous to us if the match develops into a straight up physical contest.

leninbenjamin

bloody hel, Stan baffles once again. is he just doing it out of spite at this stage?
Reid should defienitly be in there without a doubt, i'd rather see him start in the centre, but even on the wong he's still better than McGeady for me.

and JOS/Kelly... why? JOS is always better on the left anyway.

rtsp://89.207.56.18/broadcast/rte2-450.rm

Open RealPlayer and put this into the 'open' bit. Think it'll work. It's a good solution, not a great solution.

zuutroy

Here we go....105 minutes of the best torture a TV license can buy.

The1337_Stephen

The slovaks are using "a local" goalkeeper, doesn't mean he'sbad but still

GOALLLLLL IRELAND!!!!!!!!!

zuutroy

YYYYYYYYYEEES!....SKill-bane!

Ireland's scored!

Roar

nice finish from ireland (the player)

nice play from robbie keane to set it up

glad i switched over from x factor

The1337_Stephen

My god Kilbane is lucky, amazingly lucky

KdjaCL

Roar wrote:

glad i switched over from x factor

:eek:

Poor cross, poorly defended and a simple goal , get in


kdjac

The1337_Stephen

Slovakia are looking very poor at the back, Doyle nearly on target there

String

nice start! hopefully can hold the lead now!

The1337_Stephen

We really need to hold up our defences now.
Kilbanes doing a hunt, run at the defence and pray for a free

Supercell

Ireland are sitting back a bit, how many time have I seen them do this at 1:0 and pay the price on 90?, its a bit exasperating.

KdjaCL

mac geady has to get at least one cross ffs


kdjac

Roar

did mcgeady ever learn to play football, or does he just keep his head down and aim for the corner flag every time?