Czech Vs Ireland

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The Rooster wrote:

But presumably there's nobody else he feels can fill the right side slot.

Or maybe he's a shít manager.

You decide.

~Rebel~

I dont get this. Even if he does decide to field an unchanged team (bar reid for ireland) why release the team now? as Des pointed out we had very obvious weakness's which the czechs now have plenty of time to go over and figure out how to exploit (not very hard). If Kelly starts at LB i really fear for us.

Aside from the obvious bad selection for the last game, id be inclined to change the team a bit anyway to leave us a bit of an unknown quantity rather then helping the czechs out every way we can..

Incredibly unlikely, but im still hoping he's trying to be clever and will actually opt for;

---

Given
O'Shea--Dunne--McShane--Kilbane
McGeady--Reid--Carsley--Hunt

---

Doyle--Keane
, maybe even Murphy at RW after McGeadys performance (though not a big fan of that either)

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~Rebel~ wrote:

he's trying to be clever

AAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....AAAAHAHAHAHAHA



AAAAAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHHAAAAAAHAHAAAAAAAA


HHHAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAA

DeadSkin

~Rebel~ wrote:

Incredibly unlikely, but im still hoping he's trying to be clever and will actually opt for;

---

Given
O'Shea--Dunne--McShane--Kilbane
McGeady--Reid--Carsley--Hunt

---

Doyle--Keane
, maybe even Murphy at RW after McGeadys performance (though not a big fan of that either)

Ha!! Stan clever!!! Stubborn as fcuk is what he is

ntlbell

DesF wrote:

AAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....AAAAHAHAHAHAHA



AAAAAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHHAAAAAAHAHAAAAAAAA


HHHAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAA

QFT

DerekD Goldfish

One small ray of hope is without Koller the Czech havent much to come in his place other strikers Piták and Fenin have 3 caps and no goals between them.
while their keeper, defense and midfield has quality in it the lack of experienced strikers may help.

~Rebel~

as i said, im hoping, not expecting. Anything to cling to to stop me falling into another blood boiling rage over the stupidity of it all! Im getting tired of being angry and baffled at the decisions and performances. Im pretty sure im near the stage now of just watching ireland matches in a trance like vegetative state. I swear, during the last one, at times, id find that 5 minutes would have elapsed and i'd just faded away, watching almost brainlessly. Didnt miss anything.

I still have a feeling Robbie Keane is going to score though.

BaZmO*

~Rebel~ wrote:

I swear, during the last one, at times, id find that 5 minutes would have elapsed and i'd just faded away, watching almost brainlessly.

Just like Stan so...

~Rebel~

BaZmO* wrote:

Just like Stan so...

Ba Dum Tish!

leninbenjamin

i'm beginning to think that it would be better to start Hunt for MgGeady, but let Kilbane slide in the midfield along Carsley and give Reid a free role, while getting the best out of Hunt on the left. McGeady is crap on the right, so much so that he's not much better than nobody playing there imo, i'd rather see Reid playing from there but drifiting into the centre so we can finally see his passing put to good use. this also gives us a bit more drive grunt in the centre of the park as we at least know, unlike Ireland, Kilbane will work his socks off.

another possibility might be top let Keane start from the midfield, seeing as he ends up there anyway and sticking Long or someone else up along side Doyle. probably too lightweight though?

One Cold Hand

FOR F*CK SAKE!!!!! THIS IS SO F*CKING FUSTRATING!!!

Stan and the FAI are really annoying me now. I'm so pissed off. I used to really look forward to Irish matches, but I'm looking forward to the next 3/4 games AT ALL. It's so annoying seeing them get simple things wrong. WHY THE F*CK ISN'T HUNT PLAYING???!!?!?!? I know people say that it's not Stan's fault, he has no expience, but none of us have any experience and we'd all play Hunt. We'd all also play our Left back (O'Shea) in the left back position and our right back (Kelly) in the right back position.

Can someone clarify something for me. Is Kelly a natural right back? If so why has Stan swapped him and O'Shea? He did this with Finnan and O'Shea didn't he? I think this is why Kelly was so bad, cos he was out of position. To me this is like playing Dicky Dunne up front and Robbie Keane in central defence, probably a worse decision than not playing Hunt. MADNESS!

Stan out, swiftly followed by the Muppet Delaney.

leninbenjamin

one thing that's occured to me. why dont Kelly and O' Shea just take the ****ing initiative and switch to their normal positions anyway? once they're on the pitch Stan wont be able to do squat.

One Cold Hand

leninbenjamin wrote:

i'm beginning to think that it would be better to start Hunt for MgGeady, but let Kilbane slide in the midfield along Carsley and give Reid a free role, while getting the best out of Hunt on the left. McGeady is crap on the right, so much so that he's not much better than nobody playing there imo, i'd rather see Reid playing from there but drifiting into the centre so we can finally see his passing put to good use. this also gives us a bit more drive grunt in the centre of the park as we at least know, unlike Ireland, Kilbane will work his socks off.

another possibility might be top let Keane start from the midfield, seeing as he ends up there anyway and sticking Long or someone else up along side Doyle. probably too lightweight though?

Sorry but I disagree. As Gilesy said about playing Duffer on the right or up front, you always play your best players in their best position. For me that would be Hunt on the left, Reid in the middle and McGeady on the right. I know McGeady wasn't great, but he's the best right sided midfielder we have.

One Cold Hand

leninbenjamin wrote:

one thing that's occured to me. why dont Kelly and O' Shea just take the ****ing initiative and switch to their normal positions anyway? once they're on the pitch Stan wont be able to do squat.

That's exacltly what we we're saying watching the Slovakia match! I'd be so pissed off if I was in their position I'd just swap, tell Stan to swivel on it!

gosplan

Last chance Stan(loon)

Poor choice not fielding Hunt.

I can see the argument about the midfield needing to be a bit more defensive and Kilbane gives that but it's pointless if Kelly's going to be a weak link at LB.

Besides, we need to score and they've got a weakened front line so surely going for goals would be the better option.

Stan luckily happened on a great attacking midfield of Hunt, McGeedy and Reid during the Denmark match but he's clearly too stupid to notice it.

I'm not sure if he could do much about O'Shea though, without Finnan and Carr, we really don't have another viable option there.

I expect the Czechs to be quite defensive in this game. they don't need a win and won't want to risk too much.

They'll probably go with the foolproof tactic of allowing us to score first, thereby guaranteeing themselves a draw.

~Rebel~

One Cold Hand wrote:

I know McGeady wasn't great, but he's the best right sided midfielder we have.

But hes not a right midfielder, he's much better on the left. Having said that with Ireland out we're seriously lacking options there.

leninbenjamin

~Rebel~ wrote:

But hes not a right midfielder, he's much better on the left. Having said that with Ireland out we're seriously lacking options there.

ever notice that all McGeady does when he gets the ball on the right these days is run straight for the left corner flag til he's dispossessed? he doesn't even seem to know what position he is playing in. i'm a firm believer that any centre midfielder or full back would be able to do just as effective a job on the right as he does, seeing as he does nothing (with the full exception of Johnathan Douglas who should never have been given an Irish cap imo). at least a grafter of a player would offer some cover for the always falling asleep JOS at right back.

Mezcita

DerekD Goldfish wrote:

One small ray of hope is without Koller the Czech havent much to come in his place other strikers Piták and Fenin have 3 caps and no goals between them.
while their keeper, defense and midfield has quality in it the lack of experienced strikers may help.

Don't think Cyprus and San Marino are exactly laden with world class strikers but they still managed to score against us.

We're in big trouble here. It’s been suggested earlier but even if we did manage to qualify we would get torn apart in the finals.

Can't bare to watch really. But I will just for the inevitable disappointment.

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gosplan wrote:

Last chance Stan(loon)

Er.....

gosplan wrote:

They'll probably go with the foolproof tactic of allowing us to score first, thereby guaranteeing themselves a draw.

emc2

leninbenjamin wrote:

ever notice that all McGeady does when he gets the ball on the right these days is run straight for the left corner flag til he's dispossessed? he doesn't even seem to know what position he is playing in. i'm a firm believer that any centre midfielder or full back would be able to do just as effective a job on the right as he does, seeing as he does nothing (with the full exception of Johnathan Douglas who should never have been given an Irish cap imo). at least a grafter of a player would offer some cover for the always falling asleep JOS at right back.

I heard some on the radio saying that McGeady was like a pro evo player(he said play station but think he ment this) he runs in straight lines does a few step overs and then loose the ball. (I think it was big Cas on the last word!)

PHB

I remain hopeful

leninbenjamin

emc2 wrote:

I heard some on the radio saying that McGeady was like a pro evo player(he said play station but think he ment this) he runs in straight lines does a few step overs and then loose the ball. (I think it was big Cas on the last word!)

LOL! that's the perfect analogy, couldn't have put it better meself!

missingtime

He should play the team that played against Denmark...first time in a long time when an Irish team didn't make me feel sad.

jobonar

missingtime wrote:

He should play the team that played against Denmark...first time in a long time when an Irish team didn't make me feel sad.

See that would be the sensible thing to do! Stan doesn't do sensible. How he could change a team that played so well i do not no. Injuries of course would force changes but still.

I know people say friendlies mean nothing but it still would have made sense to start with the same team against Denmark. Kilbane hasn't got the pace for left wing anymore so Hunt should be starting.

DeadSkin

On the news there, they showed some of Stans' press conference, and if I'm not mistaken he said the game on Sunday would not have suited Reid
Whats he on about, crazy f**ker!!!!!??

PHB

It's not Stan's fault he isn't good enough, he just isn't up to that level of management. Delany is the one who should be fired.

herbieflowers

Tbh I'd prefer to judge Stan at the end of his 'four-year plan', when he gets a proper chance to mould a team

BaZmO*

DeadSkin wrote:

On the news there, they showed some of Stans' press conference, and if I'm not mistaken he said the game on Sunday would not have suited Reid
Whats he on about, crazy f**ker!!!!!??

In fairness to Stan I think he was right, that Namibian Pack would of destroyed him!

Joeyjoejoe43

Just wondering, is there anywhere online I can watch the game? Preferably for free...Cheers.. Oh and my prediction for the Sloakia game was a 2-2 draw, so here's mine for this game, Ireland 2 Slovakia 1..

TwoShedsJackson

BaZmO* wrote:

In fairness to Stan I think he was right, that Namibian Pack would of destroyed him!

If any of our football players could go into the rugby team it would be Andy Reid, at least if he still has the 'physique' he had six months ago.

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Joeyjoejoe43 wrote:

Just wondering, is there anywhere online I can watch the game? Preferably for free...Cheers..

Do you live in the 26 Counties? If so, RTE will be streaming the game, for free.

If you don't live in Ireland, you could try a proxy changing thing, but I haven't the foggiest where to look, or how they work.

BaZmO*

TwoShedsJackson wrote:

If any of our football players could go into the rugby team it would be Andy Reid, at least if he still has the 'physique' he had six months ago.

I think aul Ricky Dunne would fit in quite well too, but unfortunately we need him.

DesF wrote:

If so, RTE will be streaming the game, for free

That stream is actually extremely good quality, I was looking at it the other night.

One Cold Hand

herbieflowers wrote:

Tbh I'd prefer to judge Stan at the end of his 'four-year plan', when he gets a proper chance to mould a team

A Four year plan!!?? Stan doesn't even know what he's doing tonight, nevermind in four years!! I am generally in favour of giving managers time but I think Stan's time has to be up after the Slovakia game. I (and evryone else) had reservations about Stan before he started, and if anything he's gone backwards since he started. The game on sat was the biggest joke of all, and he's made one (forced) change to the team??!

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BaZmO* wrote:

That stream is actually extremely good quality, I was looking at it the other night.

It's one of the things I'd actually applaud RTE for tbh, the quality fo their live streams has been excellent for the football.

Also for their coverage of the election in May.

Crystal clear picture, never breaks up or slows down. It really is excellent.

Well done RTE.

Mr Alan

Think, tbh, the whole four year plan thing doesn't really hold water at international level. Get in a coach who knows wat they're doing, is able to motivate and inspires confidence, and likes to play his best team. We have a team of good Premiership players (in the main) and we should be doing better than we are. San Marino?Cyprus? Where did they feature in the 4 year plan?

LuckyLloyd

PHB wrote:

It's not Stan's fault he isn't good enough, he just isn't up to that level of management. Delany is the one who should be fired.

QFMFT

I would just like to say that the most annoying and baffling decision in terms of the team for tonight is that McGeady will be on the park despite a performance of complete and utter ineptitude on Saturday. What message does that send out to everyone else?

I personally would have thrown Reid on the right, moved Kilbane to the centre and put our most inform player on the left in the hopes that he might do some ****ing damage. Unfortunately, dropping Kilbane at the present time is not an option. His heart and workrate will be needed tonight.

This could be ugly.

herbieflowers

millersangel wrote:

Think, tbh, the whole four year plan thing doesn't really hold water at international level. Get in a coach who knows wat they're doing, is able to motivate and inspires confidence, and likes to play his best team. We have a team of good Premiership players (in the main) and we should be doing better than we are. San Marino?Cyprus? Where did they feature in the 4 year plan?

In fairness who'd want the job? So Stan leaves the job and leaves the team in an apparently worse position than when he came, hardly desirable. In fariness to him I think many managers would've struggled...

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herbieflowers wrote:

In fariness to him I think many managers would've struggled...

An actual manager would have picked his best players.

It's painfully obvious to even the dogs in the streets that Hunt and Reid should have been involved at some stage on Saturday.

A decent manager and Ireland certainly wouldn't have conceded five goals against Cyprus.

Irteland wouldn't have needed a last minute stroke of luck to beat San Marino either.

But again, Stan should never have been in the job.

masterK

Did anybody hear Richard Dunne on the radio this morning saying "we'll try and keep it tight and hopefully nick a goal near the end".

If that is their approach to the game they might as well not turn up.

herbieflowers

DesF wrote:

An actual manager would have picked his best players.

It's painfully obvious to even the dogs in the streets that Hunt and Reid should have been involved at some stage on Saturday.

A decent manager and Ireland certainly wouldn't have conceded five goals against Cyprus.

Irteland wouldn't have needed a last minute stroke of luck to beat San Marino either.

But again, Stan should never have been in the job.

Meh, still think he had more to do than Kerr and McCarthy when they entered the job. I don't necessarily think it's his fault, perhaps the FAI for opting for the most affordable, suggestible option ie Staunton. Maybe the FAI should match their expectations of where this country can go footballing-wise with an appointment to match...still, people spout on about how he should be ousted but who do you get in? Who would want to manage Ireland?

ntlbell

herbieflowers wrote:

In fariness to him I think many managers would've struggled...

It's the Irish job it will always be a struggle for any manager.

But what shouldn't be a struggle is to pick the right 11 players.

I can't think of an easier job for a manager.

herbieflowers

Yeah I'm not necessarily disputing that. Fact is, Staunton had no experience in management, nevermind any relevant experience. He was taken on, "aided" by Robson (basically a figure to appease dissenters), by an incompetent organisation. Putting a manager in that situation smacks of ignorance, especially seeing as the job of Irelnad manager post-McCarthy and post-Kerr was going to be, arguably, more difficult than the task faced by the aforementioned managers.

But one thing that strikes me is the expectation - from the FAI, the media and the fans. It's as if we've earned the right to appear at major competitions. Fact is, all the money gained from appearences at WC 90, 94 and 2002 was not pumped back into the Irish game, and now it's suffering. Other supposedly smaller nations have caught up and the "no easy games in qualifying" is more relevant to the international scene than it ever was. Added to that the pool of players from which to choose from has decreased witht the demise of the granny rule, and, for a small nation anyway, that's crippling.

Now I'm not making excuses for Staunton, I'm just saying it's not merely a case of the manager in charge, there's a heap of internal factors within the FAI which have contributed to the overall standard of the side in recent times.

_blank_

herbieflowers wrote:

Added to that the pool of players from which to choose from has decreased witht the demise of the granny rule

What?

Staunton said when he took the job that he was going to unearth players playing at any level in England who had Irish grannies, and cap them.

ntlbell

herbieflowers wrote:

But one thing that strikes me is the expectation - from the FAI, the media and the fans. It's as if we've earned the right to appear at major competitions.

I think you're way off the mark here, and I can only speak about people I know or have met at games etc and the expectation level has remained the same as it ever was and that's commitment from the players and common sense from the manager.

What any irish fan I know wants to see is our best 11 players on pitch giving everything they have for the jersey we're not England, we're not dillusional and we know that what we have is a fairly limited squad and because of these limitations it is absloutley crucial that you put your best players forward and make sure they have the right attitude once this is in place the results will take care of themselves and for me as i said all ready for a manager this is one of the easiest jobs you will ever have because you have to be a real fuc*ing moron to make any mistakes.

One Cold Hand

I agree completely that the FAI are mainly at fault, BUT

Stan has still gotten things wrong that ANYONE else would have gotten right. And not just one or 2 things, lots of things:

1. Constantly playing Kilbane
2. Not play Reid or Hunt, at any stage, vs Slovakia
3. For some bizarre reason continually playing the 2 full back in the wrong position
4. I feel playing Carsely is a bad decision (dunno if everyone feels this is a bad idea or not tho')
5. There's tonnes of other fuk ups he's made that I can't even be bothered thinking of

Utterly baffelling...

Mr Alan

lay off on Kilbane.

LuckyLloyd

millersangel wrote:

lay off on Kilbane.

YEAH!! I'm sick of people complaining about him. Right now he deserves his place on merit. He has played pretty well this campaign, and we are getting 100%+ from him at all times. Are we getting 100%+ from Keane and O' Shea at present?

And Carsley is absolutely neccesary at the current time. Easily the most assured central midfielder we have available to us.

BaZmO*

One Cold Hand wrote:

1. Constantly playing Kilbane

This seriously getting boring at this stage. We have such a glut of versatile midfielders that ply their trade in the Premiership don't we? :rolleyes:

One Cold Hand wrote:

2. Not play Reid or Hunt, at any stage, vs Slovakia

Agreed

One Cold Hand wrote:

3. For some bizarre reason continually playing the 2 full back in the wrong position

Kelly has been playing Left Back for Birmingham this season and O'Shea is just as comfortable playing in any position across the back four, granted he doesn't exactly set the world alight but moving him to LB would still be putting a right footed player on the left.

One Cold Hand wrote:

4. I feel playing Carsely is a bad decision (dunno if everyone feels this is a bad idea or not tho')

The reason why we got destroyed 5-2 in Cyprus was due to the omission of Carsley. With him in the team it was a totally different team performance against the Czechs in the next game.

One Cold Hand wrote:

5. There's tonnes of other fuk ups he's made that I can't even be bothered thinking of

Why not?

Listen, fact of the matter is Stan is not up to the job and everybody knows this.

One Cold Hand

Keane isn't functioning besause the midfield isn't. He can't just conjure goals out of nothing (although Doyle did on Sat!). O'Shea is out of position and no, we're not getting 100% from him either.

Kilbane is rubbish. His role is to create. He doesn't do that and more often than not he gives the ball away. His 'assist' on Saturday was a complete fluke and if it wasn't for Keane's quick thinking wouldn't have happened.
The excuse that 'he works hard' is too often bandied about. He's not an outstanding ball winner (and he's not there to do that anyway). I work very hard every time I play and that hasn't gotten me anywhere.

Think of it this way, Kilbane is never going to get better. Ireland are currently in a transitional period and I feel that the likes of Kilbane and Carsley should be dropped and Hunt, Ireland, McGeady and Reid played all the time, even if they have the odd clanger, they are learning, improving and have potential.

ntlbell

One Cold Hand wrote:

Think of it this way, Kilbane is never going to get better. Ireland are currently in a transitional period and I feel that the likes of Kilbane and Carsley should be dropped and Hunt, Ireland, McGeady and Reid played all the time, even if they have the odd clanger, they are learning, improving and have potential.

If you play a midfield of

Hunt, Ireland, McGeady and Reid

who's going to protect the back four?

What are we going to do when you loose the ball?

watch reid try to waddle his fat arse back?

get off the stage.