Republic of Ireland Teamtalk/Gossip/Media Stories/ Discussion thread

Dublin_Gunner · 15-10-2009 1:57pm

Archimedes wrote: »

Really? Is this the "Ronaldo doesnt cut it against the better teams" argument again? Please, just say yes, and I can make you look like a fool in one post.

No, you won't make me look like a fool, and he is most effective against weak opposition. Its been discussed over and over, and you, obviously being a Ronnie fanboy, will never admit it.

SlickRic · 15-10-2009 2:02pm

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

No, you won't make me look like a fool, and he is most effective against weak opposition. Its been discussed over and over, and you, obviously being a Ronnie fanboy, will never admit it.

obviously.

like any other player, they'll be better against weak opponents.

doesn't denounce the fact he's proved he can do it in the big games, against big teams.

Peyton Manning · 15-10-2009 2:07pm

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

No, you won't make me look like a fool, and he is most effective against weak opposition. Its been discussed over and over, and you, obviously being a Ronnie fanboy, will never admit it.

Most effective against weak opposition? Well, thank you very much Captain Obvious. What bloody player isnt at their best against weak opposition? What an absolute BS argument.

How about the 2008 Champions league final against Chelsea where he made a mockery of Essien and grabbeda goal for his troubles? How about the Champions league semi final against Arsenal at the Emirates where he was one of the best players on the pitch and grabbed 2 goals? Same story for the 7-1 rout of Roma in 2008 - 2 goals and a fantastic performances? What about the times he has terrorised England for Portugal, for whom he has 22 goals? How many goals does he have agaisnt Arsenal? And those are performances right from the top of my head, there are plenty more I could bring up if I had to time to properly back up this post. This "Ronaldo isnt a big game player" is absolute nonsense. Scored goals for fun in England, is currently scoring goals for fun in Spain, has scored goals for fun for his national team......but no, the lad is absolute shite. Let's wait for him to move to the Bundesliga and really prove himself. Wouldnt have anything to do with the fact he played for United.

Xavi6 · 15-10-2009 2:08pm

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

No, you won't make me look like a fool, and he is most effective against weak opposition. Its been discussed over and over, and you, obviously being a Ronnie fanboy, will never admit it.

Well we're shite so he'd have a field day

Dublin_Gunner · 15-10-2009 2:10pm

Don't get me wrong, I do think he's a good player, but someone to be feared in an Interantional? Nope. Not IMO anyway. I'd be more fearful a contructive, strong, organised central midfield, or top class strikers than a skillful winger.

And I wasn't trying to state the obvious above, but he knows how to exploit weaker opposition unlike his better opposition forays (apart form maybe Inter last year).

Most players look the same no matter who they're against, but he seems to be able to exploit weaker teams better than most. Its nto a criticism, merely an observation, and an opinion.

I can't believe people jump to his defence just because I state I wouldn't be fearful of Portugal, just because of Ronaldo.

Anyway, getting away from fancy-pants, I still think the real team for us to fear are France. Too much quality throughout, and if they get the ball in our final third, they WILL score.

Pro. F · 15-10-2009 2:11pm

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

No, you won't make me look like a fool, and he is most effective against weak opposition. Its been discussed over and over, and you, obviously being a Ronnie fanboy, will never admit it.

Can't believe the Ronaldo doesn't do it against big opposition argument is still going on. Silly.
And if your point actually is that he is better against weak opposition then you deserve some sort of obvious statement of the year award.

Peyton Manning · 15-10-2009 2:12pm

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

I can't believe people jump to his defence just because I state I wouldn't be fearful of Portugal, just because of

Its not that - heck, I wouldnt be even scared of Portugal or Ronaldo. But its got nothing to do with him not doing against the bigger teams, its got to do with the fact that Carlos Queiroz is a sh*te manager.

Prufrock · 15-10-2009 2:24pm

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

I can't believe people jump to his defence just because I state I wouldn't be fearful of Portugal, just because of Ronaldo.

Kevin Kilbane or *shudder* Paul McShane defending against Ronaldo would give me nightmares.

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Anyway, getting away from fancy-pants, I still think the real team for us to fear are France. Too much quality throughout, and if they get the ball in our final third, they WILL score.

Russia would be a far worse draw for the away draw alone imo. Big powerful guys who can defend against set pieces well and can score goals to boot.

Pro. F · 15-10-2009 2:43pm

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

I can't believe people jump to his defence just because I state I wouldn't be fearful of Portugal, just because of Ronaldo.

No people disagreed with you because you said he doesn't play half as good against decent opposition

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Ronaldo never seems even half as good for Portugal. And why's that? Oh, because most of the time he's actually playing against decent opposition.

That is obviously untrue.

and this is a weird thing to say:

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Most players look the same no matter who they're against,

eh no. Most players look better when playing against weaker opposition. That's why playing against tougher opposition is seen as a better test.

everdead.ie · 16-10-2009 9:07am

So Trap has said Reid may never recover, Gibson is who he hopes will develop into a player of similar quality and he's stepping up the search for players eligible to play for Ireland with Kyle Naughton of spurs mentioned(who looks quality doubt he'll play for us tho more likely to play for England)
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/1016/1224256787934.html

Jaimie O'Hara might be a good shout if we could persuade him to declare for Ireland can play in centre/left midfield and can fill in as a left back

Dublin_Gunner · 16-10-2009 12:51pm

No doubt Naughton & O'Hara would be great additions to the squad, I wonder what the likelyhood of them declaring is though...

noodler · 16-10-2009 12:55pm

New rankings out. We only jumped 4 places.

Disappointing but I guess you have to actually win games.

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html#confederation=0&rank=186

Dublin_Gunner · 16-10-2009 1:15pm

noodler wrote: »

New rankings out. We only jumped 4 places.

Disappointing but I guess you have to actually win games.

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html#confederation=0&rank=186

Yes, beating the likes of Montenegro would help, let alone holding onto a lead for more than 2 minutes...

Its making me sick to think we're ranked below our Northern brethren.

Bloody hell, Spain only need a mere 3 points to go 1st.

Mr Alan · 16-10-2009 1:29pm

Jamie O'Hara would be superb for us.

Pro. F · 16-10-2009 1:32pm

everdead.ie wrote: »

So Trap has said Reid may never recover, Gibson is who he hopes will develop into a player of similar quality and he's stepping up the search for players eligible to play for Ireland with Kyle Naughton of spurs mentioned(who looks quality doubt he'll play for us tho more likely to play for England)
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/1016/1224256787934.html

Jaimie O'Hara might be a good shout if we could persuade him to declare for Ireland can play in centre/left midfield and can fill in as a left back

Didn't O'Hara turn us down before? Might have been during Stan's reign.

If Reid is to never return we really are in a bad way.

It's good to hear Trap talking about looking for new players at least. Presumably that means he has already looked at the obvious options and they don't fit his plans

Pighead · 16-10-2009 1:37pm

noodler wrote: »

New rankings out. We only jumped 4 places.

Disappointing but I guess you have to actually win games.

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html#confederation=0&rank=186

Bit of a joke those rankings to be fair.

Cameroon beat Togo and the mighty Gabon twice and they leap a massive fifteen places in the rankings up to number fourteen.

briany · 16-10-2009 1:58pm

Yeah there's some anomalies in this ranking it seems. How come the Czech Republic jumped up a few places despite the fact that they completely failed to qualify for the World Cup?? How come Northern Ireland stay ahead of Ireland even though they've gone out too and lost at home to Slovakia?Croatia too. Does qualifying for the World Cup playoffs not earn you a few ranking points?

Dublin_Gunner · 16-10-2009 2:42pm

briany wrote: »

Yeah there's some anomalies in this ranking it seems. How come the Czech Republic jumped up a few places despite the fact that they completely failed to qualify for the World Cup?? How come Northern Ireland stay ahead of Ireland even though they've gone out too and lost at home to Slovakia?Croatia too. Does qualifying for the World Cup playoffs not earn you a few ranking points?

Its the actual match results that count AFAIK, not qualification.

You could have a good few results, but still not qualify, and get yourself a fair few ranking points.

Our silly draws have limited our points tally.

Looking on the bright side, we should jump a few places should we qualify, as we'll have to beat a high ranked team to get in.

everdead.ie · 16-10-2009 3:33pm

No as far as i know o'hara was talked to about under 21 level but it was never followed up.

ArmaniJeanss · 16-10-2009 4:29pm

Pighead wrote: »

Bit of a joke those rankings to be fair.

Cameroon beat Togo and the mighty Gabon twice and they leap a massive fifteen places in the rankings up to number fourteen.

Its a 4 year cycle so its not just what happened in the last month, but what happened 49 months ago (now just beyond being taken into account) that can be important.
The bad results which they must have had in August and September 2005 (when they failed to qualify for the last World Cup) are now no longer counting against them which gives them a double boost in the rankings.

noodler · 16-10-2009 5:31pm

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Its a 4 year cycle so its not just what happened in the last month, but what happened 49 months ago (now just beyond being taken into account) that can be important.
The bad results which they must have had in August and September 2005 (when they failed to qualify for the last World Cup) are now no longer counting against them which gives them a double boost in the rankings.

I think its is only the seeding for qualification draws that is based on the last 3 qualifying campaigns.

40% for this campaign
40% for Stans
20% for Kerr's

Looking likely we will be third seeds again for the Euro draw.

ArmaniJeanss · 16-10-2009 6:03pm

noodler wrote: »

I think its is only the seeding for qualification draws that is based on the last 3 qualifying campaigns.

40% for this campaign
40% for Stans
20% for Kerr's

Looking likely we will be third seeds again for the Euro draw.

Fairly sure the FIFA rankings are on at least a 4year cycle, so that a FIFA Wold Cup is always taken into account. It would explain Cameroons move up anyway.

By the UEFA aren't using the FIFA world rankings for the next draw for Euro12, they are using the UEFA National Co-Efficient !!. At the last release in September we were 20th (ignoring Poland/Ukraine) so need to move up two places to be in the 2nd pot.

joe123 · 16-10-2009 8:35pm

Ah those rankings are a joke. What are Switzerland and USA doing so high up....

What time is the playoff draw monday?

Happy Monday · 16-10-2009 8:40pm

joe123 wrote: »

Ah those rankings are a joke. What are Switzerland and USA doing so high up....

What time is the playoff draw monday?

1pm - I just know it's going to be France.

JPA · 20-10-2009 12:35pm

Giovanni Trapattoni is ready to do the Italian Job on Fabio Capello and steal Gary Cahill from under his nose.

Trapattoni wants to pinch Bolton defender Cahill from old Serie A adversary Capello and hand him a chance of playing for the Republic of Ireland at next year’s World Cup.

Cahill qualifies for Ireland due to one of his grandparents coming from the country and Trapattoni has been alerted to his availability, following new Fifa rules installed last week.

The 23-year-old has played for the England Under-21s and was called up to Capello’s senior squad last week.

But he was not even on the bench against either Ukraine or Belarus and Trapattoni is set to pounce by offering him an international future with Ireland - who could still qualify for next year’s World Cup.

Anyone see this? It will NEVER happen, Cahill has been going on about playing for England for ages now.

noodler · 20-10-2009 12:46pm

I am pretty easy going when it comes to casting our net but we shouldn't chase people who have openly said they want to play for England IMO.

Paul Tergat · 20-10-2009 12:49pm

Cahill would be fantastic for Ireland I think but I hope he plays for England

LowOdour · 20-10-2009 1:51pm

I will eat my arse if Gary Cahill decides to play for us. Good player but probably in with a good shout for place in england world cup squad. Stranger things have happened i guess

greendom · 21-10-2009 9:15pm

Ribery is OUT for both matches

everdead.ie · 21-10-2009 10:36pm

Made my day:)

briany · 21-10-2009 10:43pm

OK well even with Ribery out, it's still a team with some quality in it. Still, one less threat to Ireland's hopes can't be bad eh?

Dublin_Gunner · 21-10-2009 11:52pm

greendom wrote: »

Ribery is OUT for both matches

Excellent, that on leaves Henry, Anelka, Benzema & Govou as the attacking threat.

The_B_Man · 21-10-2009 11:57pm

^ a lot of people are saying that but...

If you had a choice of playing a better team with 5 world class players or 4 world class players, which do you think you'd have a better chance with?

as tesco says: Every little helps!

What I'm worried about now is the karmic balance! If France are having all this bad luck, when are we gonna get some? I'm worried we'll pick up a knock somewhere to one of our mainstays, and we'll be rightly fupped!

darkman2 · 21-10-2009 11:58pm

Could we be shafted anymore then we have been? Yes, it has been announced only 8,000 tickets will be available for the away fixture in Paris. French FA won't sell the tickets online either. It will be in tomorrows papers.

This should be the bloody corruption WC at this stage.

PCPhoto · 22-10-2009 12:03am

if the french arent selling to the irish .... they stadium will probably only have about 40,000 ...maybe 50,000 in total. (wild guess on my behalf)

thats a fair amount of empty seats....stade de france has an 80,000 capacity (I assume its on it Stade de France)

(I'm sure there will be more than 8000 Irish at the game).........are we doing the same to the French - offering a small amount of tickets ?

EDIT: How many government ministers will be at the game ?

Dublin_Gunner · 22-10-2009 12:06am

Ah no you're right - any bit of luck we can get is a bonus (no disrespect to Ribery, hope his injury isn't too bad).

Just hoping we have a few of ours back, like Reid in particular.

Helix · 22-10-2009 12:06am

8000 is about right for away allocation?

Kingp35 · 22-10-2009 12:08am

10% of the stadium is always the away allocation. The French have done nothing wrong and are offering us the right amount of tickets so stop moaning.

Bluetonic · 22-10-2009 12:09am

No news here, we are getting the mandatory allocation of 10%, the same we offer to away travelling fans.

Any Irish person can buy a ticket in the French end once they make their purchase in France, where a good few outlets will be selling them.

darkman2 · 22-10-2009 12:17am

Maybe we should not have any online booking for them? They were spooked by all the talk of many 1,000's of Irish fans being in the stadium. They know what they are doing.

No online booking!? This is 2000 and fcuking 9 for Christ sake. Nobody should defend this. It's a continuation of the manipulation. It's pretty obvious what is going on. Unless you live under a rock.

greendom · 22-10-2009 12:18am

I heard that the ref is French and the linesmen are Platini and Blatter, It's a fix I tell ye

MisterAnarchy · 22-10-2009 12:25am

darkman2 wrote: »

No online booking!? This is 2000 and fcuking 9 for Christ sake. Nobody should defend this. It's a continuation of the manipulation. It's pretty obvious what is going on. Unless you live under a rock.

Show me where you can buy tickets online for the home leg at Croke Park ???:rolleyes:
The French are entitled to do as they wish ,there was never going to be a repeat of the last match in Paris.
This is a play off match ,not a routine qualifying match.Chalk and Cheese.

Pal · 22-10-2009 1:42pm

you can buy French tickets from noon today across France in all the major supermarkets.

GavRedKing · 22-10-2009 2:08pm

Its a simple case of would you like 20,000 French in Croke Park??

No, having a home game and a 90% home crowd gives every team that slight advantage and I know I would be annoyed if the French managed to get there hands on Irish tickets.

That said, 20000 Irish in France is ok, sure us Irish are great craic :pac:

FutureGuy · 22-10-2009 2:08pm

Pal wrote: »

you can buy French tickets from noon today across France in all the major supermarkets.

Ehhhh...bonjour...je voudrais...10000 billets. Merci beaucoup!

stovelid · 22-10-2009 2:10pm

If people are not satisfied with a 10% away allocation, I trust they will also support an away allocation far in excess of that for the French when they come here?

enda1 · 22-10-2009 2:13pm

Anyway by all accounts tickets are selling like hotcakes!

And I got 2 French tickets!

Screw you FFF (not FIFA by the way OP tut tut)!!!

tomred1 · 22-10-2009 2:14pm

Some tout now will go over on a cheap flight and come back with hundrerds of tickets.

stovelid · 22-10-2009 2:22pm

Bought our home tixs today. :cool:

Pal · 22-10-2009 7:37pm

ring a friend in France and get them to buy you a ticket.

do it quick because they will be gone in a few days

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