Bulgaria v Ireland saturday 6th ko 6:30 setanta Ireland/RTÉ 2

everdead.ie

Right I know this is early but this match can virtually end Bulgaria's hopes of qualifying.
Berba is back for them.
given is fit at the moment and we have no proven replacement should anything happen.

I think the team could line up in two ways
A
Given
O'Shea Dunne St. ledger kilbane

Mcgeady Andrews Whelan Duff

Keane Best

B
Given
Foaly Dunne O'Shea Kilbane

Mcgeady Andrews Whelan Duff

Keane Best

Best to get his first competitive start due to injurys for doyle and folan

_blank_

Did Ireland win on Friday?

bUILDERtHEbOB

Des wrote: »

Did Ireland win on Friday?

Yeah man 3-0.

_blank_

bUILDERtHEbOB wrote: »

Yeah man 3-0.

Thanks

I was in Italy last week, as you can imagine this didn't exactly make headlines over there.

Who scored?

Bounty Hunter

Des wrote: »

Did Ireland win on friday?

not 3-0 iirc

Rep of Ireland 1-1 Nigeria

Keane (38) (HT 1-1) Michael Eneramo (30)

CHD

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

not 3-0 iirc

Rep of Ireland 1-1 Nigeria

Keane (38) (HT 1-1) Michael Eneramo (30)

:rolleyes:

It was 3-0 Best, St.Ledger and Lawrence scored.

PCros

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

not 3-0 iirc

Rep of Ireland 1-1 Nigeria

Keane (38) (HT 1-1) Michael Eneramo (30)

Think the lad was taking the pish.

That_Guy

Is this only on Setanta Ireland?

BaZmO*

That_Guy wrote: »

Is this only on Setanta Ireland?

It's on RTE2 as usual. Don't know why the OP just said Setanta Ireland

ShooterSF

Is Folan out? Thought he was next in line for Doyle's position.

Bounty Hunter

PCros wrote: »

Think the lad was taking the pish.

I know, wasnt sure if des was though

dogpile

Foley is nowhere near ready for competitive internationals, tho come to think of it McShane has never been nowhere near ready so team A looks about right...and as for "Berba"! did you see him in the CL final ...don't worry about that chancer

Dave!

Gibson out for this match allegedly...

Good old reliable teletext

Burial

Boring draw

busted flush

Burial wrote: »

Boring draw

il take that

The_B_Man

Table is here:
WC Group 8 table

if we lose we're still in 2nd place, 2 points ahead of bulgaria in 3rd with 3 games to go agaist Cyprus(A), Italy(H) and Montenegro(H).

BaZmO*

The_B_Man wrote: »

Table is here:
WC Group 8 table

if we lose we're still in 2nd place, 2 points ahead of bulgaria in 3rd with 3 games to go agaist Cyprus(A), Italy(H) and Montenegro(H).

And Bulgaria's game in hand is against Italy. We could almost wrap up second place if we won this match but we'll more than likely draw, which isn't a disaster either.

Evil_Clown

According to the indo today St Ledger and Hunt will start, thats the way they trained yesterday

So this is what the team might look like:

---

Given

---

O'Shea

---

Dunne

---

St. Ledger

---

Kilbane
Hunt

---

whelean

---

Andrews

---

Duff

---

Folan

---

Keane

---

dogpile

BaZmO* wrote: »

And Bulgaria's game in hand is against Italy. We could almost wrap up second place if we won this match but we'll more than likely draw, which isn't a disaster either.

Win Saturday and we're in pole to win the group! Italy are beatable at home....funnily enough I think Cyprus away could be trickier than these 2 and it's where we might come unstuck

dsmythy

I'd take a draw. 1-0 Bulgaria though presuming they keep 11 men on the field.

Mr.Nice Guy

Evil_Clown wrote: »

According to the indo today St Ledger and Hunt will start, thats the way they trained yesterday

So this is what the team might look like:

---

Given

---

O'Shea

---

Dunne

---

St. Ledger

---

Kilbane
Hunt

---

whelean

---

Andrews

---

Duff

---

Folan

---

Keane

---

It seems that Trap has finally realised McShane is a liability at right-back but is St. Ledger ready for such a big game? I'm uneasy about the O'Shea/Dunne partnership being broken up for such a massive game but Kevin Foley's gone home as he's about to beccme a Dad so there aren't many other alternatives.

He really can only do the above formation or else bring in McShane at right-back, keep O'Shea and Dunne at centre-back and take out St. Ledger.

Here's a thought though - Stephen Carr. Would he not have been a good selection to make considering the dire circumstances? He recaptured his form at Birmingham and has landed a new contract and, perhaps I'm on my own here, but I'd feel far more comfortable with a back four ahead of Given that looked like this:

---

Given

---

---Carr

---

O'Shea

---

Dunne

---

Kilbane----

The Volt

Has no one remembered how dodgy Kilbane was against this lot at home?

dogpile

Voltwad wrote: »

Has no one remembered how dodgy Kilbane was against this lot at home?

He's long past it...the lad Delaney would be a better long term option


KK should be put out to stud to sire some more donkeys :cool:

eclectichoney

It's a pity about Gibson being out, but unfortunately Whelan probably would have started anyway.

Am very optimistic about Andrews for this match!

Ekels

I'm liking the look of this potential side. McGeady's been dropped because Trap feels he won't track back on Martin Petrov enough, I have no doubt. That's something that Hunt will do and he has the energy to balance his defensive duties with a bit of attack.
St. Ledger should be safe. He's decent and reliable. Having McShane out at right back would be far more dangerous.

Prowetod

Has the starting team been announced yet?

If not when will it be?

That_Guy

eoccork wrote: »

Has the starting team been announced yet?

If not when will it be?

Tomorrow I would've assumed.

Pighead

eoccork wrote: »

Has the starting team been announced yet?

If not when will it be?

Judging by what Tardelli and Traps have been saying during the week the team will probably look a little like this:

Given, O'Shea, Dunne, St Ledger, Kilbane, Hunt, Whelan, Andrews, Duff, Keane, Best.

Aidric

McShane being out is an absolute blessing, words fail me with that clown. A draw would be a good result here, can't see us winning it.

That_Guy

Aidric wrote: »

McShane being out is an absolute blessing, words fail me with that clown. A draw would be a good result here, can't see us winning it.

I think we'll win it to be honest. It'll be a really scrappy affair I'd imagine. A 1-0 win for us.

KerranJast

Injury concerns about Dunne and Keane :eek:

Pighead

That_Guy wrote: »

I think we'll win it to be honest. It'll be a really scrappy affair I'd imagine. A 1-0 win for us.

How on earth could you think that we'll win it! Have you gone loco? Did you see the game in Croke Park? They completely outplayed us. The only reason they didn't beat us convincingly was because of the lack of a decent striker. With Berbatov and Bojinov back now that's no longer a problem. A draw is the absolute best result Ireland can come for.

And that's my sneery condescending post out of the way for this week.

Mr.Nice Guy

Yeah I'm not too optimistic about this game. I'd love to see us surprise Bulgaria and beat them but I reckon we'll lose by a goal. Really hope I'm wrong but I feel this is one of the weakest squads we've had in a long time.

Necronomicon

KerranJast wrote: »

Injury concerns about Dunne and Keane :eek:

I could've sworn I heard that on the tv in the background alright, but that was literally all they said. Any more news on this? There's nothing on the Rte website that I could see.

Headshot

Bulgaria are evens on pp atm

mayordenis

I'm confident of a win here.

aidan24326

mayordenis wrote: »

I'm confident of a win here.

Don't know how you could be. This is a very ordinary Ireland team and if Trap can get us to the WC with the likes of Whelan and McShane in the team then hats off to him (though I still think he's too negative). If we get a draw in Sofia we're still on course for a second place finish in the group which would have been the target at the outset.

Highsider

The more i look at the irish squad the more i shake my head and think what a fantastic job trap is doing. The amount of poor poor footballers in there is beyond belief.

jaykay74

For anyone abroad they can get their fix of Dunphy and Giles on the web - live after match analysis

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/features/webextra.html

World Cup Extra: Bulgaria v Rep of Ireland


Join Bill, Eamon, John and Ronnie live as they continue their discussion on the Republic of Ireland's game against Bulgaria in Sofia in this WEB-ONLY special from 9pm on Saturday 6 June.
Users WORLDWIDE can access the show - and the panel will answer your emails relating to the match so get in touch on worldcup@rte.ie

IRISHSPORTSGUY

I feel guilty for being pleased Paul McShane is injured.

shane86

jaykay74 wrote: »

For anyone abroad they can get their fix of Dunphy and Giles on the web - live after match analysis

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/features/webextra.html

World Cup Extra: Bulgaria v Rep of Ireland


Join Bill, Eamon, John and Ronnie live as they continue their discussion on the Republic of Ireland's game against Bulgaria in Sofia in this WEB-ONLY special from 9pm on Saturday 6 June.
Users WORLDWIDE can access the show - and the panel will answer your emails relating to the match so get in touch on worldcup@rte.ie

Is the match itself available abroad on the RTE site? Kicks off 3am Sydney time, major sesh on beforehand so Im concerned I might get too pissed to get into a pub showing it T`internet might save me.

jaykay74

shane86 wrote: »

Is the match itself available abroad on the RTE site? Kicks off 3am Sydney time, major sesh on beforehand so Im concerned I might get too pissed to get into a pub showing it T`internet might save me.

No it looks like the match itself is ireland only. The tv coverage finishes at 9pm and then this webcast starts and the lads are meant to field email questions. I'm going to send in one about honesty of effort and how players like Berbatov don't need to have it to be good

http://www.rte.ie/sport/webcastschedule.html

Xavi6

Should be no hassles getting a decent stream with it on both Sultana and RTE.

That_Guy

Xavi6 wrote: »

Should be no hassles getting a decent stream with it on both Sultana and RTE.

Can't find any links yet from myp2p.eu. Says they'll be up at half one this afternoon.

lisbon_lions

That_Guy wrote: »

Can't find any links yet from myp2p.eu. Says they'll be up at half one this afternoon.

Yeah, they usually have them up when they say they will. Big big match this evening - have to say I would take a draw now tbh. Bulgaria will be all out pressure with their WC lives on the line. I can see us nicking one against the run of play but cannot see us holding Berbatov and co out for 90 mins...

eirebhoy

Highsider wrote: »

The more i look at the irish squad the more i shake my head and think what a fantastic job trap is doing. The amount of poor poor footballers in there is beyond belief.

I'm sorry. Bulgaria's top defender plays for Leicester. He's injured for this game and they have a defensive crisis.

Look at the Bulgarian team full of stars that wouldn't want to be playing in the premiership...

BULGARIA (4-4-2): Ivankov (Bursaspor); Kishishev (Litex Lovech), Topuzakov (Hapoel Tel Aviv), Tomasic (Maccabi Tel Aviv-ISR), Stoyanov (Sanfrecce Hiroshima); Georgiev (Terek Groznyi), S Petrov (Aston Villa), Rangelov (Energie Cottbus), M Petrov (Man City); Berbatov (Man Utd), Bojinov (Man City).

Jesus we rate Bojinov as one of their star players just because he has Man City beside his name when we have a team full of premiership regulars (or soon to be). The only player actually not a regular starter is Folan.

Xavi6

eirebhoy wrote: »

Jesus we rate Bojinov as one of their star players just because he has Man City beside his name

Speak for yourself.

I rate Bojinov because he has power, pace and is clinical in front of goal. That sort of combination means trouble for any defence.

jaykay74

Xavi6 wrote: »

Speak for yourself.

I rate Bojinov because he has power, pace and is clinical in front of goal. That sort of combination means trouble for any defence.

but this isn't just any defence. Oh wait....

Nalz

I was at the game in croke park, some horrible stuff by us but I think we can spring a surprise.

Bulgaria arent that great. I dont think Berbatov or Boijnov add much to them. The two Petrovs are under-rated however

I heard they have defensive probs, missing one or two, any truth in that?

SlickRic

this will be dire.

but...i'll be yelling at the screen begging for a result.

i fancy glenn whelan to nick us a goal for some reason. it's such an odd premonition i might put a few quid on it with a 1-1 draw.

eirebhoy

Xavi6 wrote: »

Speak for yourself.

I rate Bojinov because he has power, pace and is clinical in front of goal. That sort of combination means trouble for any defence.

You're a Man City supporter. Few Irish people have actually seen him. He's started 3 games in the last 2 years. He could be great but most Irish people don't know that. They see a foreign name with Man City in brackets and he's great.

A lot of Irish look at the Bulgarian squad, see their 3 or 4 star players. They look at the Irish squad and pick out the worst players.

Their defence looks rubbish on paper. Their number 1 defender plays in League 1 and he's injured. But they're probably better than us as we only have Kilbane in defence...:rolleyes: