Georgia vs Ireland

darkman2

MONTENEGRO 1 - 1 BULGARIA


CYPRUS 1 - 1 ITALY


We may top the group tonight....meh...


Bulgaria and Italy potentially pissing away easy enough 2 points.


Dont forget they will have to play Georgia in Tblisi. A pretty intimidating place.

eagle eye

I don't know that much about any of them sides but I'd be shocked if Italy don't manage a win against Cyprus.

leninbenjamin

darkman2 wrote: »

Dont forget they will have to play Georgia in Tblisi. A pretty intimidating place.

unlikely. that's why FIFA were so reluctant to have it be played in a neutral venue in the first place; the precedent is set. the Russians are unlikely to be going home.

Raskolnikov

2-1 Montenegro!

They look like a very good team!

juvenal

Any links to the goals/highlights?

shane86

eagle eye wrote: »

I don't know that much about any of them sides but I'd be shocked if Italy don't manage a win against Cyprus.

If it is largely the same team man for man who went to Euro 08, I wouldnt be shocked at all, they were horrific.

darkman2

Raskolnikov wrote: »

2-1 Montenegro!

They look like a very good team!

Is it that they look good or Bulgaria look ****e? - still it is a worry. Montenegro are unknowns but should not be seeded last - we know that much.

Raskolnikov

Justice!

2-2!

Het-Field

Points dropped by the Bulgarians. The first and second team will be contingent on who gets 16-18 points against Georgia, Montenegro andCyprus Either way, I am not as confident about our trip to Montenegro as I was two hours ago.

They can clearly cause a problem or two

Raskolnikov

FT, 2-2.

I think it was a case of both really. Montenegro worked really hard tonight but were able to rely on Vucinic who played really well. Bulgaria didn't look any great shakes, but certain did enough to deserve the draw.

eagle eye

Over the last few minutes its clear that the Cyprus defence is not that convincing, especially that keeper.

~Rebel~

eagle eye wrote: »

Over the last few minutes its clear that the Cyprus defence is not that convincing, especially that keeper.

still dangerous looking going forward though. No giving up.

<edit>
GAY!!!

Di Natale 1-2

Tom65

****ing Italians! Arse!

LuckyLloyd

shane86 wrote: »

Kilbane was the clear winner. He turned up with an injury and gave 110%, was sharp as **** when he had the ball. Kilbane is approaching the last few years of his club career, so it isnt as if he plays his arse off for Ireland to convince top clubs, he knows he is too long in for Fergie or Big Phil to sign. But he plays his arse off for Ireland out of a genuine pride in his dads country, and despite the stick he gets he is ****ing consistent.

Thank you. I couldn't agree more to be fair. For all the stick he gets around here he is one of the few guys who you have been able to count on providing 100% the last few years from as far back as the McCarthy era.

noodler

I hope the ability of the Cypriots isn't lost on anyone. They held the Germans in our group last year as well don't forget. We have to win in Montenagro. Play offs are not our speciality.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

noodler wrote: »

I hope the ability of the Cypriots isn't lost on anyone. They held the Germans in our group last year as well don't forget. We have to win in Montenagro. Play offs are not our speciality.

I was gutted when the Italians scored. I was checking teletext every few seconds when I finally decided to view it via an online stream. I was nearly in tears when the pizza munching, long haired gits scored.

On another note, we are in a very good position if we win on Wednesday - a 2 pt head start on Bulgaria obviously.

eagle eye

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Thank you. I couldn't agree more to be fair. For all the stick he gets around here he is one of the few guys who you have been able to count on providing 100% the last few years from as far back as the McCarthy era.

As long as there is a decent Manager to tell him where and how to play. Under Steve Staunton and Mick McCarthy he played many games like a headless chicken taking the ball and running for the corner flag and not looking up or passing the ball when options were available.

Today he played very well and you have to hand it to Manager, he was not at any of this speeding down the wing. He looked like a different player.

He has always given everything for Ireland. No disagreement with you there.

Tom65

Group 8 as it stands:
1. Ireland
2. Italy
3. Bulgaria
4. Montenegro
5. Cyprus
6. Georgia


I'd be happy with that come October 2009

aidan24326

noodler wrote: »

I hope the ability of the Cypriots isn't lost on anyone. They held the Germans in our group last year as well don't forget. We have to win in Montenagro. Play offs are not our speciality.

The ability of the Cypriots won't be lost on anyone who saw the game tonight. They matched Italy all the way and were very unlucky to lose in the end. This is obviously not a vintage Italian team but even still, Cyprus played some good stuff tonight and there will be no easy points against them that's for sure.

Hard to know about Wednesday night, I expect it could be tougher than today's game. If we can win it would be a huge boost as that would put us 5 points clear of Bulgaria who don't play on Wednesday, and the Bulgarians next game after that is against Italy.

newballsplease

THE OTHER PLUS THING I TOOK OUT OF THE GAME TONIGHT IS NO IRISH BOOKINGS, OUR SQUAD IS SMALL ENOUGH, SO WE DONT WANT SUSPENSIONS COMEING INTO BIG GAMES.
I TAKE IT ITS 2 YELLOWS FOR A 1 GAME BAN? AM I RIGHT?
SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS

~Rebel~

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Thank you. I couldn't agree more to be fair. For all the stick he gets around here he is one of the few guys who you have been able to count on providing 100% the last few years from as far back as the McCarthy era.

I hate him in center mid, and im not a fan of hmi out on the wing as for all his effort he's not the most creative (much like hunt today), but at LB for me he has to be one of the first names on the teamsheet. Gives his all every game, busts his ass to support the attack and always makes sure he's back to cover.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

This sums up why we should NEVER allow McShane near the starting XI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGMuoxihmu4

FrankGrimes

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

This sums up why we should NEVER allow McShane near the starting XI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGMuoxihmu4

Quality! I know you could probably take all the worst parts of any player's career and piece them together into a damning video, but in fairness any player that actually has that amount of f*ck ups in his career has to be wondering how the hell he's getting paid to play football professionally. If you took the bits in that video that showed up his lack of pace and forgot the rest of his mistakes, that'd be enough to prove to most people he's nowhere near a top flight player.

Let's not get revisionist on Kilbane - he was mediocre on the left wing and poor in the middle. He offerred very little going forward from the wing but in fairness to him was a reasonable option for defensive cover in away games. But it has to be said he is pure solid at left full (one of my mates was saying he was a left full since about 2001 so we never hear the end of it now). He hasn't been tested by a truly top class winger against him for Ireland, but everything he's done to-date suggests he'll be up to it when it comes and he is very assured in possession too.

Mr.Nice Guy

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

This sums up why we should NEVER allow McShane near the starting XI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGMuoxihmu4

Ha, hilarious stuff. Give Trap that video pronto.

darkman2

Its funny cause I can see the Cypriots looking at Ireland and saying they would beat us - and rightly so - they did it last time (5 - 2!!) - Me thinks we have some cheek talking down to these titans of international football....tbh its Cyprus im MOST worried about - not Italy. Cyprus BELIEVE they can beat us - not only that they know so. They are not exactly a bad outfit either on results over the last 2 years.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

This sums up why we should NEVER allow McShane near the starting XI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGMuoxihmu4

Everton seem to like him...

noodler

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Quality! I know you could probably take all the worst parts of any player's career and piece them together into a damning video, but in fairness any player that actually has that amount of f*ck ups in his career has to be wondering how the hell he's getting paid to play football professionally. If you took the bits in that video that showed up his lack of pace and forgot the rest of his mistakes, that'd be enough to prove to most people he's nowhere near a top flight player.

Let's not get revisionist on Kilbane - he was mediocre on the left wing and poor in the middle. He offerred very little going forward from the wing but in fairness to him was a reasonable option for defensive cover in away games. But it has to be said he is pure solid at left full (one of my mates was saying he was a left full since about 2001 so we never hear the end of it now). He hasn't been tested by a truly top class winger against him for Ireland, but everything he's done to-date suggests he'll be up to it when it comes and he is very assured in possession too.

Eh Kilbane had a bunch of great games for us in the middle? Paris?

Its a stupidly popular thing to do (criticise Kilbane) but anyone whos knows a thing about football would find a bunch of other players in the Irish teams of the last ten years more worthy of criticism.

Jesus that Mcshane video is damning. Has he lost his way to that extent or was the Czech game just a fluke? He was amazing in the championship with the Baggies the season Sunderland bought him. Maybe the EPL is ust s tep too far.

Xavi6

Lol what a feckin donkey McShane is. Worse than Bramble, and that's saying something.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Everton seem to like him...

I support Sunderland and he is one of the worst players I have seen in recent years. Everton away (7-1 defeat) was one of the most horrendous performances I have ever seen from a defender, Mark Lawrensen even nicknamed him "McShame" on MOTD. He was out of the team for months but was recalled for Newcastle away because of a defensive crisis and he totally ****ed off and the locals couldn't forgive him for being so bad against our biggest rivals. There were plenty of more bad performances but they were the real eye catchers.

eirebhoy

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Quality! I know you could probably take all the worst parts of any player's career and piece them together into a damning video, but in fairness any player that actually has that amount of f*ck ups in his career has to be wondering how the hell he's getting paid to play football professionally.

Puyol!

Anyway, on the video. He's not the fastest guy in the world. We know that. He's still always seems to be the one player that is chasing the guy who beats the offside. Why not take something positive from that instead of looking for his faults? It's certainly not him that's holding the line up that high in the pitch at the age of 21. That's why he needs a proper organiser beside him. Someone with the sense to know they can't play the line that high up the pitch.

I could download that video and put together his actual genuine f*ck ups and it'd be a lot smaller.

He makes more mistakes than most but boy god does he make up for them with his dominance. When he cuts down on the mistakes he's gonna be some player. Trap knows it.

Beside someone like Richard Dunne for a few seasons his reputation would be so much higher.

PHB

I'm sorry, is this a big joke? Are people saying McShane should have cleared that?

Kilbane is always great when the ball is in the air. The guy is an immense header of the ball and will mop up any balls coming up to him. Against a tricky winger though he isn't good enough. Probably our best option though, though Delaney has been relatively impressive for Ireland when he's played.

Gareth37

As expected Eire beat Georgia. 1-2 was the same scoreline as the last time they met in Georgia.

Again Robbie Keane seemed really out of form and surely Darlly Murphy is better than Keane and Keogh?

A good decision not to play Andy Reid, he would have been recked after 20 minutes the way Eire play.
Eire will get at leats a draw against Montenegro although if the Monts take the lead Eire may have to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Its a very good system that Trap plays, this is the way the team should have played for the past 20 years.

I think the style of play that Eire plays will mean that we will get points of every team in the group including Italy. In fact Eire's style of play is very counter productive for Italy so I expect 4 points there.

Eire WILL finish in the top 2, and I think its going to be a top of the table finish. I cannot see any points being dropped against Cyprus or Georgia and at leats 4 points against Monengro.

Can't see a victory away to Bulgaria but may get a draw there and at leats 4 points against Italy.

noodler

Kilbane is great in the air, relatively quick and good in the tackle. I disagree with you if you are saying Delaney could do any of the above better. Kilbane is our best choice and doesn't let us down.

For instance, what the hell kind of an attempt was that by O'Shea to close down the Georgian for their goal? So half-hearted it hurts.

Keane wasn't involbved much but when he comes deep and gets the ball, he looks composed, slows things down and makes decent passes. Alot of our player can'r do that in the opposition half.

How about a 4-3-3 with Whelan and the two reids in midfield and Keane and McGeady either side of Doyle? I just reckon maybe it would bring Keane into the game more for a start.

Xavi6

eirebhoy wrote: »

Puyol!

Anyway, on the video. He's not the fastest guy in the world. We know that. He's still always seems to be the one player that is chasing the guy who beats the offside. Why not take something positive from that instead of looking for his faults? It's certainly not him that's holding the line up that high in the pitch at the age of 21. That's why he needs a proper organiser beside him. Someone with the sense to know they can't play the line that high up the pitch.

I don't care what age he is. The centre halves are always in charge of the line. He should not be stepping up unless he is sure his full backs are going with him. The one against Rooney is an horrendous error. He needs to be aware of everything around him and not just step up because he thinks that's what should happen.

He makes more mistakes than most but boy god does he make up for them with his dominance. When he cuts down on the mistakes he's gonna be some player. Trap knows it.

Dominance me hoop. He is not dominant in the slightest. He is slow, awkward and reads the game poorly. Some players don't get better with age and McShane will be one of them.

Gareth37

noodler wrote: »

I disagree with you if you are saying Delaney could do any of the above better. Kilbane is our best choice and doesn't let us down.

Yes, I 100% agree with you.

Delaney used to play for Hull but once they gor rid of him their results dramaticaly improved. Watching him too suggests that hes not very good although he is much much better than O'Dea.

Looking at all the Celtic players it really shows that they have been out boozing for the past few weeks. They all were absolutely terrible for Scotland and McGeady looked slow and rusty last night despite a great cross for the goal.

PHB

Xavi6 wrote: »

Dominance me hoop. He is not dominant in the slightest. He is slow, awkward and reads the game poorly. Some players don't get better with age and McShane will be one of them.

Funnily enough, that was apparently the exact opinion of Uniteds coaching staff when they decided to let him go.

cournioni

eirebhoy wrote: »

Puyol!

Anyway, on the video. He's not the fastest guy in the world. We know that. He's still always seems to be the one player that is chasing the guy who beats the offside. Why not take something positive from that instead of looking for his faults? It's certainly not him that's holding the line up that high in the pitch at the age of 21. That's why he needs a proper organiser beside him. Someone with the sense to know they can't play the line that high up the pitch.

I could download that video and put together his actual genuine f*ck ups and it'd be a lot smaller.

He makes more mistakes than most but boy god does he make up for them with his dominance. When he cuts down on the mistakes he's gonna be some player. Trap knows it.

Beside someone like Richard Dunne for a few seasons his reputation would be so much higher.

I'm afraid I disagree wholeheartedly there. He was absolutely ****e yesterday too. As soon as he came on yesterday you just knew the irish defence would become unsettled. He is a headless chicken on the football pitch, pure and simple. He has a serious lack of pace and has zero football intelligence. If I was to compare his defensive skills with anything it would be with that of a dog chasing a car down the street and not coming close. Completely out of his depth as a professional footballer never mind an international one. Say what you want about O'Shea, but this guy is in a whole other league when it comes to ****e players.

eirebhoy

Xavi6 wrote: »

I don't care what age he is. The centre halves are always in charge of the line.

A (one) centre half is usually in charge of the line (this isn't Sunday league). The vast majority of 21 year olds follow the line, not lead it.

Dominance me hoop. He is not dominant in the slightest.

Tell that to Berbatov, Koller, Benni McCarthy, Kevin Davies... Also, he showed when he played with Brighton that he was too good for the Championship as every time I read a match report he was man of the match or thereabouts.

Anyway, I should have stuck to my word and stopped defending him. Everyone knows by now that I rate him and they can buy me a pint at the 2012 European championships!

noodler

Come off it mate. Theres a reason he was dropped from the Sunderland team and then allowed to leave on loan.

Championship seems to be his level alright.

Draupnir

Anybody else wondering why that donkey McShane tried to head the ball of the line? He basically loafed himself in the knee doing it so surely he could have kicked it?

In fairness to the guy, he is pretty rubbish, a second rate defender who will never make. Eirebhoy, give it up, its not gonna happen with this chap!

Unearthly

darkman2 wrote: »

Its funny cause I can see the Cypriots looking at Ireland and saying they would beat us - and rightly so - they did it last time (5 - 2!!) - Me thinks we have some cheek talking down to these titans of international football....tbh its Cyprus im MOST worried about - not Italy. Cyprus BELIEVE they can beat us - not only that they know so. They are not exactly a bad outfit either on results over the last 2 years.

Italy are world champions and reached last 8 of the European Championships yet you are more afraid of a team who has never qualified for a major tournament, and are ranked 65th in world football

Xavi6

eirebhoy wrote: »

A (one) centre half is usually in charge of the line (this isn't Sunday league). The vast majority of 21 year olds follow the line, not lead it.

What line is he following then? On those videos he's usually first in line to step up. His full backs haven't moved

Tell that to Berbatov, Koller, Benni McCarthy, Kevin Davies... Also, he showed when he played with Brighton that he was too good for the Championship as every time I read a match report he was man of the match or thereabouts.

Maybe he should go back to that level. He clearly isn't a Premiership defender no matter how much you want to sugar coat it.

Anyway, I should have stuck to my word and stopped defending him. Everyone knows by now that I rate him and they can buy me a pint at the 2012 European championships!

If McShane is starting for Ireland in 4 years time people will have a lot more on their plate than forking out for a pint for you!

noodler

Cypriots look to have more legs tbh.

cournioni

eirebhoy wrote:

Tell that to Berbatov, Koller, Benni McCarthy, Kevin Davies...

And what do they all have in common?? Pace.

Whenever McShane goes in for a tackle, it's usually down to lady luck when he wins the ball...

eirebhoy

My final point - McShane has been very impressive overall for Ireland so far, that's all that matters. A few mistakes but also 5 or 6 really good performances.

If you think McShane is brainless he can look a lot worse than he actually is. Same goes for Puyol. I've seen Puyol run around like a headless chicken millions of times but I know he's an intelligent player. McShane has a lot more football intelligence than I think people realise. Trap obviously thinks so anyway.

PORNAPSTER wrote: »

And what do they all have in common?? Pace.

You're spot on there but he showed when partnering Dunne that he can also defend well against a team with fast attackers. Beside someone like Danny Higginbottom though I'm not so sure.

Anyone any idea who he'd likely be playing beside at Hull?

scruff321

cyprus look half decent but they were playing an irish team with no confidence,determination and a complete lack of organisation we'll beat them, as for montanegro,meh there a very small country who we know not much about but feck it i think if we play like we did last night we should pick up the 3 pts,although we must not allow the opposition to retain possession and pass the ball around like we did last night the georgians grew in confidence and dominated possession (without alot of success) for spells in the game.anyway c'mon ireland lets get the 3 pts wedesday!:)

Xavi6

eirebhoy wrote: »

My final point - McShane has been very impressive overall for Ireland so far, that's all that matters. A few mistakes but also 5 or 6 really good performances.

If you think McShane is brainless he can look a lot worse than he actually is. Same goes for Puyol. I've seen Puyol run around like a headless chicken millions of times but I know he's an intelligent player. McShane has a lot more football intelligence than I think people realise. Trap obviously thinks so anyway.

The only reason he's near the Ireland squad is because we have no one else and Trap has feck all options at centre half.

At club level he can be shipped out on loan and replaced by a new signing. You don't have that luxury at international level.

Basically he's there by default.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

eirebhoy wrote: »

My final point - McShane has been very impressive overall for Ireland so far, that's all that matters. A few mistakes but also 5 or 6 really good performances.

If you think McShane is brainless he can look a lot worse than he actually is. Same goes for Puyol. I've seen Puyol run around like a headless chicken millions of times but I know he's an intelligent player. McShane has a lot more football intelligence than I think people realise. Trap obviously thinks so anyway.


You're spot on there but he showed when partnering Dunne that he can also defend well against a team with fast attackers. Beside someone like Danny Higginbottom though I'm not so sure.

Anyone any idea who he'd likely be playing beside at Hull?

Like I said in a previous post, I watch Sunderland week in, week out and he was way out of his depth. We thought he was the Ginger Maldini after his debut against Spurs but everything went briskly downhill after that. If he was playing instead of Jonny Evans or Nyron Nosworthy until the end of last season, I assure you Sunderland would have been relegated.

As for Higgy, most SAFC fans accepted he was a decent back up player by the time he moved back to Stoke last week and far more competant than McShane when called upon at PL level.

I noticed on MOTD Hull's defence was split open at ease by Wigan, I fear for them if McShane is assigned to shore up that defence.

eirebhoy

Xavi6 wrote: »

The only reason he's near the Ireland squad is because we have no one else and Trap has feck all options at centre half.

When I heard that Trap had watched every Ireland game from the last few years I knew he'd be impressed with McShane. I said this months ago. I'm pretty certain if McShane didn't get that injury in the summer and went to Hull in the summer he would have played last night. Trap isn't just selecting him. He rates him.

As for Higgy, most SAFC fans accepted he was a decent back up player by the time he moved back to Stoke last week and far more competant than McShane when called upon at PL level.

Gary Caldwell is far more accomplished than Bobo Balde but put Balde beside even a Kenny Cunningham and you'll doing well to find much better. I hope you get my point.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Xavi6 wrote: »

The only reason he's near the Ireland squad is because we have no one else and Trap has feck all options at centre half.

At club level he can be shipped out on loan and replaced by a new signing. You don't have that luxury at international level.

Basically he's there by default.

Andy O'Brien was very good for Bolton last season, I wish he would come out of international retirement.