Ireland V Cyprus

Sherifu

Phew, we'll take it.

missingtime

Dunphy's off again...

OPENROAD

Eamo Dunphy

madds

SantryRed wrote: »

God I can't wait for Finnan to be back as well.

Ditto for Stephen Reid. He would brought composure to that midfield this evening and demanded the ball. Great to see Duffer back. Hats off to Doyle for his commitment and effort for the 88 minutes he was on the pitch.

We need to improve big time if the results are to remain positive.

Mr.Nice Guy

G'wan Dunphy ya legend.

Pigman II

Trap > Dunphy

eirebhoy

1. Doyle
2. Dunne
3. Duff

Our top 3 players by a mile.

2nd half was how Trap wants it to be. It's his way. Very risky if you ask me. I'd rather have Reid in there and have about 5-10% more possession.

Anyway, delighted with the 3 points. Win our next 2 home games and we're 10 points ahead of Bulgaria with them having a game in hand.

Daysha

Pigman II wrote: »

Trap > Dunphy

Reid > Gibson

besty

Yikes, that was tense stuff at the end.

I stand corrected over Darron Gibson. I was disappointed with his input and still think McShane isn't cut out for it. Given, Dunne and Doyle were immense and I thought Duffer had a massive part to play in our success (tracking back on the left wing).

Needless to say, we'll have to up the performance against the Bulgarias and Italys but job done.

Pigman II

deise59 wrote: »

Reid > Gibson

Traps XI > Punters XI

RasTa

God we still suck. Anyway back to good owl Premiership.

~Rebel~

Agree with pretty much everyone else on pretty much everything said, Reid&Reid should be our midfield, and whenever either is fit, they should play.

Also great performances by Dunne, Duff and Doyle.

Special mention for McGeady, was impressed the way he kept trying right to the end, kept getting involved and didn't go missing late on. He threatened to drop out of the game for a while, but came back.

leggo

"John, tell them it's a disgrace! It'd mean something for you to say it!"

"Bill, hold on for a second. Eamonn, you don't think I'm backing down do you? I'd be very hurt if you said that."

Aww, they're like Tim and Dawn aren't they? The analysis will always cheer ya up afterwards, even if the game leaves me crying for a stiff drink.

Dunphy's hit the nail on the head though. We wouldn't give Staunton or Kerr that leeway. But then again they wouldn't have gotten 3 points, so it's tough to criticise. Uneasy...

JackKelly

In fairness, great performance by Given, by the entire attack and by the defense (McShane was a little dodge).

It's glaringly obvious that the midfield is the weak link, which is bloody big problem that is easily solved with the two Reid's.

Pigman II

leggo wrote: »

Dunphy's hit the nail on the head though. We wouldn't give Staunton or Kerr that leeway. But then again they wouldn't have gotten 3 points, so it's tough to criticise.

Yes, because both of them were a joke without the track record to be managing their country at that point in their careers. All this reinforced (like you say) by their results.

MIN2511

Tbh i expected a lot more from the match, Kevin Doyle played very well though and good one to Keano on that goal...(please tell RTE to stop replaying it)

We had so many chances of scoring

CiaranC

RasTa wrote: »

God we still suck. Anyway back to good owl Premiership.

The England thread is that way ->

Shocking stuff. Why are two reserve team players propping up our central midfield? These lads were atrocious tonight. Trappatoni is off his nut. Ireland to be found out if this nonsense continues.

Mr.Nice Guy

If I was to rate the players...

Given - 7 (Solid performance and made some important stops)

McShane - 5 (Very poor performance, out of his depth)
Dunne - 8 (Terrific display as usual)
O'Shea - 7 (Did what was required)
Kilbane - 7 (Broke up play well)

McGeady - 7 (Some great touches but needed a better end product)
Gibson - 6 (Not a great game from the young lad. Anonymous)
Whelan - 6 (Not up to it at this level. Poor)
Duff - 8 (Glimpses of the Duff of old and did well with the goal)

Keane - 7 (Not a vintage performance but got the crucial goal)
Doyle - 9 (Outstanding performance. Only thing missing was a goal)

eirebhoy

Pigman II wrote: »

Yes, because both of them were a joke without the track record to be managing their country at that point in their careers. All this reinforced (like you say) by their results.

Anyone who backs Trap and critisises Kerr is a hypocrite imo.

Pigman II

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

If I was to rate the players...

Given - 7 (Solid performance and made some important stops)

McShane - 5 (Very poor performance, out of his depth)
Dunne - 8 (Terrific display as usual)
O'Shea - 7 (Did what was required)
Kilbane - 7 (Broke up play well)

McGeady - 7 (Some great touches but needed a better end product)
Gibson - 6 (Not a great game from the young lad. Anonymous)
Whelan - 6 (Not up to it at this level. Poor)
Duff - 8 (Glimpses of the Duff of old and did well with the goal)

Keane - 7 (Not a vintage performance but got the crucial goal)
Doyle - 9 (Outstanding performance. Only thing missing was a goal.)

Gibson and Whelan were yards worse than McShane.

SantryRed

Great to see us winning playing so bad.

Only other time we've done that in the past four years was San Marino away.

If we had of played like that under Kerr or Staunton, we wouldn't of won tonight. It's this system that Trap is getting into the players heads which is getting us wins wiothout being dominant.
It's great.

By the time Bulgaria come to Croker this system will be in the players heads even more and people must remember that. Slowly but surely we're improving and it's great to have seven points from those first 3 games.

Roll on Georgia.

eirebhoy

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Whelan - 6 (Not up to it at this level. Poor)

He put in 2 man of the match performances before this... Maybe he just needs a playmaker beside him.

Mr.Nice Guy

Pigman II wrote: »

Gibson and Whelan were yards worse than McShane.

I disagree. McShane's stupidity almost cost us two points. The other two were poor but I don't think they ever put the result in jeopardy.

TheDoc

sigh, it just hurts more and more everytime i watch ireland, its like watching a mediocre championship game...

Redi&Reid are the answer in midfield?

Ireland are not currently blessed with good midfielders...but I'll take them over what seem to be two mediocre holding midfielders...i mean really mediocre...

Robbie Keane gets on my nerves the more i see him in a green shirt. He just wont play a strikers role, he runs his tank down doing stupid stuff, and moaning and shouting, instead of getting in to score. ( Dont mention his glorified tap in) Richard Dunne should be captain end of, hes the best player on the park match after match.

But that midfield,mcshane and mcgeady( so called kaka) make me cringe.

In my opinion for any Irish squad to reach a big competition is a success, anything after that is a bonus, the squad and crop of players arnt good enough to achieve anything more then this.

But my god I fear for when we come up against a decent team.

Lets all remember this was a substantially weakend Cyprus side....

And the more i read over the quote " Whelan for us will be a Gattuso, essential to our core to building a winning irish side" Can someone nicely tap Trap on the shoulder and remind him that Whelan cant even break into the Stoke squad, he barely gets into the reserves...jesus christ, if Whelan is our Gattuso...I'm sure Gattuso is going to sue for defamation of character.

Pigman II

eirebhoy wrote: »

Anyone who backs Trap and critisises Kerr is a hypocrite imo.

Thanks for that vague statement.

SantryRed

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

If I was to rate the players...

Given - 7 (Solid performance and made some important stops)

McShane - 5 (Very poor performance, out of his depth)
Dunne - 8 (Terrific display as usual)
O'Shea - 7 (Did what was required)
Kilbane - 7 (Broke up play well)

McGeady - 7 (Some great touches but needed a better end product)
Gibson - 6 (Not a great game from the young lad. Anonymous)
Whelan - 6 (Not up to it at this level. Poor)
Duff - 8 (Glimpses of the Duff of old and did well with the goal)

Keane - 7 (Not a vintage performance but got the crucial goal)
Doyle - 9 (Outstanding performance. Only thing missing was a goal)

McGeady a seven!?!!? Jesus Christ he nearly lost us the three points giving the ball away so much in the second half. Was dying to see Joey O'Brien come on and just play two right fulls to stop all of the Cypriot attacks.

CiaranC

This "Eamonn Dunphy" character is hilarious. Think ill watch all my football on "television" like the rest of yous from now on, its BRILLIANT

Necronomicon

eirebhoy wrote: »

He put in 2 man of the match performances before this... Maybe he just needs a playmaker beside him.

I think he definitely missed Reid. The two of them made an outstanding pair in the opening two games. It's such a pity we just can't rely on Reid to stay fit.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

That was ****ing sh!te. Trapattoni nearly cost us the game. WTF does Andy Reid need to do to get into the team? Whelan was poor but I never want to see Gibson near my national side again !!

Mr.Nice Guy

SantryRed wrote: »

McGeady a seven!?!!? Jesus Christ he nearly lost us the three points giving the ball away so much in the second half. Was dying to see Joey O'Brien come on and just play two right fulls to stop all of the Cypriot attacks.

I think the thing with McGeady is that for every bit of magic he gives, there is also the moments he runs down a dark alley. He can get away with it more in the SPL unlike in international football. I still think though that he's worth a place in the team and I think he provides something that no one else bar Duff can offer.

SantryRed

Necronomicon wrote: »

I think he definitely missed Reid. The two of them made an outstanding pair in the opening two games. It's such a pity we just can't rely on Reid to stay fit.

Get the FAI to buy Reid! Actually, he'd probably still get injured:pac:

Pigman II

don't post this sort of crap in the soccer forum - GY edit

SantryRed

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

That was ****ing sh!te. I know I'm kneejerking but Trapattoni nearly cost us the game. WTF does Andy Reid need to do to get into the team? Whelan was poor but I never want to see Gibson near my national side again !!

We won. Jesus Christ, yous sound like Engalnd fans.

eirebhoy

SantryRed wrote: »

Great to see us winning playing so bad.

I don't agree with that. Keane, Doyle, Duff and McGeady were at or close to their best imo. Dunne certainly was. O'Shea was about level par. Kilbane played as well as he could imo. McShane's a poor right back and at least we have Finnan to come back in.

Gibson and Whelan are the only players there that I'd expect better from.

2 of our players were below par imo. I don't think it's a typical case of a good team winning while playing badly.

Steven Reid will make an enormous difference though. Finnan will obviously improve us too.

Pigman II wrote: »

Thanks for that vague statement.

What's the criticisms of Kerr? The same things could probably be put on Trap. As you know I liked Kerr so I'm not criticising Trap.

SantryRed

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I think the thing with McGeady is that for every bit of magic he gives, there is also the moments he runs down a dark alley. He can get away with it more in the SPL unlike in international football. I still think though that he's worth a place in the team and I think he provides something that no one else bar Duff can offer.

We cannot afford him in the starting eleven if he's going to do this though. The way Trap plays. Consolidating leads. McGeady can't play in that.

Keep him on the bench and if we need a goal then bring him on.

Raskolnikov

As long as Trap is going good results, I will grudgingly accede to Reid staying on the bench.

I think most people would feel that way.

SantryRed

eirebhoy wrote: »

I don't agree with that. Keane, Doyle, Duff and McGeady were at or close to their best imo. Dunne certainly was. O'Shea was about level par. Kilbane played as well as he could imo. McShane's a poor right back and at least we have Finnan to come back in.

Gibson and Whelan are the only players there that I'd expect better from.

2 of our players were below par imo. I don't think it's a typical case of a good team winning while playing badly.

Steven Reid will make an enormous difference though. Finnan will obviously improve us too.

I mean collectively as a team. We didn't click.
McGeady close to potential? Does he give the ball away that much in the SPL?

GuanYin

PigmanII gets an infraction.

This is a soccer forum. Talk about soccer.

Raskolnikov

SantryRed wrote: »

Keep him on the bench and if we need a goal then bring him on.

Hunt is the better impact sub.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Raskolnikov wrote: »

As long as Trap is going good results, I will grudgingly accede to Reid staying on the bench.

I think most people would feel that way.

You are very easily pleased. Gibson was a disgrace.

Pigman II

eirebhoy wrote: »

What's the criticisms of Kerr? The same things could probably be put on Trap. As you know I liked Kerr so I'm not criticising Trap.

I'm not critcising Kerr's efforts. He probably did the best he could given the situation he and the team were in. I'm saying he made a mistake taking the job in the first place at that point in his career. He hadn't worked his way up and hadn't proven himself at that level. He clearly lost the dressing room long before his tenure was up.

Raskolnikov

Like I said, as long as we're getting the results, I will accept his selection.

7 points from 9 is a decent haul. If we can make it 10 from 12 with a home win at Georgia, we're going to put some pressure on Bulgaria.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

My ratings

Given 8
McShane 4.5
Dunne 10
O'Shea 8
Kilbane 6
McGeady 7.5
Whelan 3.5
Gibson 1 (No I am not being effing harsh)
Duff 8.5
Doyle 9
Keane 8

eirebhoy

SantryRed wrote: »

McGeady close to potential? Does he give the ball away that much in the SPL?

Did he give the ball away much? I have the match on Sky+ so I'll watch it again but can't remember him giving the ball away much. He lost possession trying to beat a player once and maybe misplaced a couple of passes (no more than Keane). Overall though I thought he played very well, Trap certainly did.

CiaranC

SantryRed wrote: »

I mean collectively as a team. We didn't click.
McGeady close to potential? Does he give the ball away that much in the SPL?

Whats your obsession with McGeady here. He was playing right back, winger and central midfield all at once tonight because he was surrounded by incompetents and reserve team wasters. He did quite well. Not quite the finished article, but looks a sight better than the likes of Gibson and Whelan.
Dreadful performance. Like trying to play football with a black hole just formed in the centre circle.

SantryRed

CiaranC wrote: »

Whats your obsession with McGeady here. He was playing right back, winger and central midfield all at once tonight because he was surrounded by incompetents and reserve team wasters. He did quite well. Not quite the finished article, but looks a sight better than the likes of Gibson and Whelan.
Dreadful performance. Like trying to play football with a black hole just formed in the centre circle.

It just frustrated me in the game the way he has so much potential, can get by players but his final ball, it's so bad.

Hopefully he'll get it right, but he'd be unbelievable if he picked the right pass more often.

Mr.Nice Guy

SantryRed wrote: »

We cannot afford him in the starting eleven if he's going to do this though. The way Trap plays. Consolidating leads. McGeady can't play in that.

Keep him on the bench and if we need a goal then bring him on.

If you don't play him who do you go with instead? Hunt? He had a poor game against Montenegro. I do like Hunt but I think McGeady has more natural ability.

I think ultimately it's better to go with McGeady as he has the craft to crack open a defence as he did setting up Doyle's goal against Georgia. Some better finishing tonight and he could have wrapped the game up.

I know he can be frustrating as hell sometimes but I think he's a player worth sticking with. Hopefully with a few games under his belt he will continue to improve.

CiaranC

eirebhoy wrote: »

Did he give the ball away much? I have the match on Sky+ so I'll watch it again but can't remember him giving the ball away much. He lost possession trying to beat a player once and maybe misplaced a couple of passes (no more than Keane). Overall though I thought he played very well, Trap certainly did.

Apparently we are playing hold-up wingers now, the centre of midlfield and Robbie Keane are an elaborate subtefuge. Get the ball to the tiny quick fella on the wing and get him to hold it up and not give it away, everyone will expect us to use a forward or these two galoots in the middle. Its genius!

Pigman II

CiaranC wrote: »

Whats your obsession with McGeady here. He was playing right back, winger and central midfield all at once tonight because he was surrounded by incompetents and reserve team wasters. He did quite well. Not quite the finished article, but looks a sight better than the likes of Gibson and Whelan.
Dreadful performance. Like trying to play football with a black hole just formed in the centre circle.

Hear hear. You have to look at it as 9 man Ireland beating 11 man Cyprus. The sooner we get Stephen Reid back the better.

SantryRed

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

If you don't play him who do you go with instead? Hunt? He had a poor game against Montenegro. I do like Hunt but I think McGeady has more natural ability.

I think ultimately it's better to go with McGeady as he has the craft to crack open a defence as he did setting up Doyle's goal against Georgia. Some better finishing tonight and he could have wrapped the game up.

I know he can be frustrating as hell sometimes but I think he's a player worth sticking with. Hopefully with a few games under his belt he will continue to improve.

I agree he's much better going forward, but when defending leads like tonight, we needed someone who wouldn't run into holes and have no support doing so.

I agree with you that he will improve. Just so frustrating.