Rep of Ireland v Russia - 8th/Oct/2010

Boskowski

Ye thank god I'm not paying for the harddisks on boards

JerryHandbag

Surely Ian Harte would be a better option than Kilbane at this stage!

x in the city

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Surely Ian Harte would be a better option than Kilbane at this stage!

jack charlton is a better option than him

Optimalprimerib

i played left back for 20 mins for my local team when i was 10 before being subbed. I could fit in. May be a bit short notice for tuesday though

bonerm

tinofapples wrote: »

Terribly disappointed with the performance and result. Wouldn't this look much nicer today :

Ireland 9pts
Slovakia 6pts
Russia 3pts

I'm sure Andorra would like to be on 9pts now too. Thing is they wouldn't be deserving of it either.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

bonerm wrote: »

I'm sure Andorra would like to be on 9pts now too. Thing is they wouldn't be deserving of it either.

Other thing is, it wouldn't have been fúcking possible for them to be on 9 points this morning.

bonerm

baz2009 wrote: »

Other thing is, it wouldn't have been fúcking possible for them to be on 9 points this morning.

Ya don't say.

ColeTrain

Xavi6 wrote: »

He was quite good in an attacking sense but when it comes to putting in a shift to help his full back he is a disgrace.

It was his full back that put in the cross for the second goal. You can actually see McGeady ball watching on the replay then eventually turn and try get back in position.

The Pogrebnyak miss in the last minute came directly as a result of him just letting Zhirkov go. The two were side by side on the touchline but when Zhirkov went on the overlap McGeady just stood there.

He has some fine assets but if he keeps playing as a winger he is more of a liability than he is worth and we need Stephen Hunt back.

McGeady isn't helped by having Kilbane as his fullback. Whenever he received the ball in an advanced position he nearly always had to beat two men to get to the byline or swing in a cross. Thought he did very well last night seeing as Kilbane never got beyond him to distract a Russian defender.

As for the last minute was it not Long's job seeing as McGeady was playing behind Keane and not on the wing?

Too many people on boards haven't a clue about football. There was a poster who gave McGeady a rating of 2 on this thread. A laughable post.

I thought we were very poor last night, our tactics we like the Charlton days, hitting long balls and hoping for the best. Our first goal was never a penalty either. Trappatoni has to take some blame for fielding a central midfield like that, Green's first touch is to lose the ball, he is a Derby county player and nothing else.
We gave Russia far too much respect last night, instead of playing football against them we tried to contain them which is a pity because they were there to be beat. Still, the group is wide open and a good result on Tuesday will put us right back in it. However, we struggled to beat Armenia and the team will be much the same, Slovakia will be hard beat.

#15

Awful display of cheating from Robbie Keane last night. Disappointing to see him flapping around like that.

bonerm

#15 wrote: »

Awful display of cheating from Robbie Keane last night. Disappointing to see him flapping around like that.

Nothing new from him. He was even cheating in Paris but it was conveniently forgotten in all the hoo-hah that followed.

#15

bonerm wrote: »

Nothing new from him. He was even cheating in Paris but it was conveniently forgotten in all the hoo-hah that followed.

Claimed a handball didn't he?

Aidric

#15 wrote: »

Disappointing to see him flapping around like that.

That's what he spends a lot of the time on the pitch doing. No surprise.

Mushy

#15 wrote: »

Awful display of cheating from Robbie Keane last night. Disappointing to see him flapping around like that.

Oddly enough for the penalty that was the most believable one. Tis no wonder he cant get game time at his club though.

Name Changed

#15 wrote: »

Awful display of cheating from Robbie Keane last night. Disappointing to see him flapping around like that.

He does exactly the same thing the whole time. He dives and then throws his arms up gesturing to the referee when he doesn't get what he wants.

Name Changed

Trapattoni is not and will not get the best from our players. We were lucky before and went through the last qualification campaign without losing. But we didn't win many matches either, we only beat the cannon fodder. We can't beat a team with any substance. It's all down to Trap. He sets the team up for the draw and he never has the players on the bench with the ability to do anything if we are losing. Russia are a very poor side that we made look great. I could see this coming after the Andorra and Armenia matches. Everyone thought we were great after winning these, I couldn't believe what I was reading. Armenia totally played us off the park. We made Andorra look fairly respectable. Having a nobody like Paul Green in the team is absolutely scandalous when we have players like James McCarthy who are willing to play for us.

And one thing I wanted to ask, if we are going to resort to long ball football 90% of the time, hoofing the ball up front hoping a 5'10 Kevin Doyle will flick the ball on, then why is Rory Delap not in the squad? He can do a far better job than Green plus he becomes extremely dangerous at throw ins. If we are going to rely on this long ball tactic, then surely Delap would be the first name on the teamsheet?

Sergio

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Way too harsh on Keane. I thought he played very well tonight. Lot of people on this forum are very poor readers of the game.

Your joking with me right???????????????????

Keane is one of the most over rated player ever to wear the green jersey.Even harry Rednapp has found him out with him warming the bench every week for spurs!!!!

All he does is throw his hands up in the air and roll around on the grass!!!
I think he should be dropped for tuesday night and replaced with shane long!

maynooth_rules

http://greenscene.me/2010/10/player-ratings-ireland-v-russia/

Player rating from last night

maynooth_rules

Trapattoni is not and will not get the best from our players

Bloody come off it now, he is getting more and above what he can from our squad. Not one of our players would make it into the the English starting 11. We have no right to think we can simply turn over a team like Russia, who have a lot of players playing consistently in the Champions league. Given, Kilbane, Whelan and Keane started last night and they are not getting much action at club level. What do you consider to be getting the best from our players, winning every game?? People need to realise the players we have at our disposal, and trust me Trap is getting everything he can from them. Last night could very well have just been a very very off night. TBH that Russia performances was probably the best I have seen in Dublin in a good ten years. We can dismiss the players, formation manager all we want, but there are times that the opposition just get everything right and have a perfect night. everything clicked for Russia last night, it very well may not in Skopje for them on Tuesday. that is just the way Russia are

orourkeda

Name Changed wrote: »

Trapattoni is not and will not get the best from our players. We were lucky before and went through the last qualification campaign without losing. But we didn't win many matches either, we only beat the cannon fodder. We can't beat a team with any substance. It's all down to Trap. He sets the team up for the draw and he never has the players on the bench with the ability to do anything if we are losing. Russia are a very poor side that we made look great. I could see this coming after the Andorra and Armenia matches. Everyone thought we were great after winning these, I couldn't believe what I was reading. Armenia totally played us off the park. We made Andorra look fairly respectable. Having a nobody like Paul Green in the team is absolutely scandalous when we have players like James McCarthy who are willing to play for us.

And one thing I wanted to ask, if we are going to resort to long ball football 90% of the time, hoofing the ball up front hoping a 5'10 Kevin Doyle will flick the ball on, then why is Rory Delap not in the squad? He can do a far better job than Green plus he becomes extremely dangerous at throw ins. If we are going to rely on this long ball tactic, then surely Delap would be the first name on the teamsheet?

Because he's brutal

shano_88

Colinboy wrote: »

Your joking with me right???????????????????

Keane is one of the most over rated player ever to wear the green jersey.Even harry Rednapp has found him out with him warming the bench every week for spurs!!!!

All he does is throw his hands up in the air and roll around on the grass!!!
I think he should be dropped for tuesday night and replaced with shane long!

You think he should be dropped?

Thats mad, Hes Ireland all time top goalscorer by some distance. He mightn't be world class buts hes the best we've got.

SantryRed

We've been riding our luck since Trappatoni took over. See Bulgaria away, Italy home and away, Cyprus home and away as proof. Their luck was going to run out at sometime and now it has. Russia showed us up and this is what happens when you stand off players of that quality and put them under no pressure when they have the ball.

Boskowski

Name Changed wrote: »

Trapattoni is not and will not get the best from our players. We were lucky before and went through the last qualification campaign without losing. But we didn't win many matches either, we only beat the cannon fodder. We can't beat a team with any substance. It's all down to Trap. He sets the team up for the draw and he never has the players on the bench with the ability to do anything if we are losing. Russia are a very poor side that we made look great. I could see this coming after the Andorra and Armenia matches. Everyone thought we were great after winning these, I couldn't believe what I was reading. Armenia totally played us off the park. We made Andorra look fairly respectable. Having a nobody like Paul Green in the team is absolutely scandalous when we have players like James McCarthy who are willing to play for us.

And one thing I wanted to ask, if we are going to resort to long ball football 90% of the time, hoofing the ball up front hoping a 5'10 Kevin Doyle will flick the ball on, then why is Rory Delap not in the squad? He can do a far better job than Green plus he becomes extremely dangerous at throw ins. If we are going to rely on this long ball tactic, then surely Delap would be the first name on the teamsheet?

I agree with some of the stuff you're saying but overall I think you're getting carried away.

Ireland - and no disrespect meant here - are by their own standards (looking at the teams they had over the years) a pretty poor side at the moment. And I mean they're not exactly giants at the best of times. Again no disrespect at all.

And none of all these other names thrown in the mix would mean a significant change to that. This McCarthy guy may or may not be better than Green or whoever we're talking about but for gods sake he's 19 and plays for Wigan. Sounds like a 'nobody' to me., too. Hardly a certainty to lift the team out of the bogs of mediocrity.

There's only so much ANY manager can do with the player material available.

On top of that - I don't know where you're getting your soccer wisdoms from - but Russia aren't a kack side. They traditionally lack punch when they play the big guns but they are a footballing side with skilled players who keep the ball on the floor and move it around quickly. On a bad day they can look 'found out' but they can also give anyone serious trouble and their home defeat to Slovakia is almost unprecedented - look up their qualifying records. Certainly in a different league to Ireland anyway.

On top of that the players that are meant to be Ireland's pillars like Dunne, Keane, Given are either off form or not getting first team football. Others like O'Shea who are supposedly first teamers in class sides just don't have the right character to instill confidence or ooze leadership.

I said it before. Any team can have a bad day. When you're a bad side and you need to draw on your fighting spirit and punch above your weight all the time you're not allowed a bad day. 'Cos when you're having it it will be seriously bad. That's what happened yesterday. Why that is so totally unexpected to some and warrants heads rolling I don't get at all.

Essien

Boskowski wrote: »

And none of all these other names thrown in the mix would mean a significant change to that. This McCarthy guy may or may not be better than Green or whoever we're talking about but for gods sake he's 19 and plays for Wigan. Sounds like a 'nobody' to me., too. Hardly a certainty to lift the team out of the bogs of mediocrity.

Surely him being 19 is a good thing? And at least Wigan are in the Premiership. Green is 27 and made his competitive debut last month, he has proved right all the other managers who never called him up, he is beyond muck.

I doubt many people claim we have the players avilable to beat Holland or Spain but for the love of God we can do better than the ****e Trappatoni persists with.

yabadabado

no one is saying McCarthy is gonna change us into world beaters but he is a highly talented 19 year old playing in the EPL ,he has started every game for wigan so far this season .for him not to be in the squad is a joke,green is a journey man and aint gonna improve at this stage whereas McCarthys career is on the up and I reckon within 2 years he will be playing one of the top 6 clubs.Marc Wilson would also offer more to the team that Green.

Fuhrer

yabadabado wrote: »

green is a journey man

Hes 27 and hes played for two clubs in his entire career.


Mother of ****ing christ, some people

yabadabado

Fuhrer wrote: »

Hes 27 and hes played for two clubs in his entire career.


Mother of ****ing christ, some people

ok,Journeyman is probably not the corrert term to describe him.either way he is utter ****e and out of his depth.

killwill

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

James McCarthy isn't exactly a key player for a poor Wigan team (he has potential though), Fahey isn't a regular for Birmingham, Coleman another non regular for Everton. It's the same as what people were like with Steven Reid, going on about him as if he would miraculously win us every game we play, but hate to break it to yas lads, Ireland have no world class players and very few above average players.

I would say McCarthy is a key player for Wigan.
Coleman has made RB his own at Everton. And Fahey whilst not a regular, is definitely good enough to be starting for the Green Army.
IMO we will see McCarthy playing for a team like Villa in the not too distant future. Coleman is a class act already and it is criminal that he is not a RB with O'Shea at LB. Another option would be to bring Cunningham.

yabadabado

I think Coleman has been getting his game on the right wing for Everton.Kevin Foley would do a job at RB but the future is coleman.Trap likes to play 2 holding midfielders so it should be no problem playing attack minded fullbacks like Coleman.

killwill

yabadabado wrote: »

I think Coleman has been getting his game on the right wing for Everton.Kevin Foley would do a job at RB but the future is coleman.Trap likes to play 2 holding midfielders so it should be no problem playing attack minded fullbacks like Coleman.

If we had attack minded full backs last night supporting the lads on the wings, in particulr McGeady, the game was there for the taking. When we started to pump high balls into the box for the last 20mins Russia struggled. If we could keep the ball on the ground until the final 3rd and start pumping crosses in I would be much happier. Not to mention we would be keeping the ball alot more too, which obviously helps our centre backs out.
I liked Dunnes honesty in his interview last night. It was almost a bit of a rant!

Fuhrer

killwill wrote: »

If we had attack minded full backs last night supporting the lads on the wings, in particulr McGeady, the game was there for the taking.

Aye, the game would be there for the taking for Russia


Did you even watch the game last night?

We were taken apart down the wings and that was when the fullbacks were staying back, you think we would have done better if they were up the other end of the pitch when the russians charged down the flanks?

killwill

Fuhrer wrote: »

Aye, the game would be there for the taking for Russia


Did you even watch the game last night?

We were taken apart down the wings and that was when the fullbacks were staying back, you think we would have done better if they were up the other end of the pitch when the russians charged down the flanks?

Yes I watched the match, I didn't say I want the fullbacks to park the bus in the Russian half now did I?
Quick counter attacking football is what I am talking about. If it's not on you don't break forward. Ireland lost the game last night because they were hoofing the ball forward putting themselves under ridiculous pressure.

SantryRed

Fuhrer wrote: »

Aye, the game would be there for the taking for Russia


Did you even watch the game last night?

We were taken apart down the wings and that was when the fullbacks were staying back, you think we would have done better if they were up the other end of the pitch when the russians charged down the flanks?

if we were pushed further up the Russians wouldn't have had so much space.

Boskowski

Look, this is ridiculous. Do people actually read posts beyond what they would like to project into what someone's saying?

McCarthy is 19 and he plays for Wigan, cool. Green is 27 and doesn't, also he was quite poor last night. McCarthy may have been better last night or he may not have.

My point was that even if he had been on the pitch instead of Green it wouldn't have changed a damn bloody thing yesterday and it wouldn't change a thing on the overall outlook.

They're not a great squad with or without McF*****Carthy. They can't afford off days but like every other team they have one now and then.

Honestly, to all the Trap trashers. When was the last time you've seen Ireland playing exciting looking quality controlled passing football that puts a team like Russia under pressure?
2nd question. What makes you think that some other coach could bring in McCarthy and Reid and the other fkn Reid and whoever elses name is spouted about and all of a sudden they'd start beating teams like Russia and they would look good while doing that? Do you really believe that?

Edit:
Between this and a lot of the other posts it becomes evident that a fair percentage of people haven't the faintest idea how football works and the closest they got themselves to a football pitch is the bleeding telly.

Fullbacks pressing up and supporting counters. Against a slick passing side like Russia. Mother of Jaysus. Will you please look at that squad again? We don't have Lahm on the right and Lizarazu on the left you know...

Fuhrer

killwill wrote: »

Yes I watched the match, I didn't say I want the fullbacks to park the bus in the Russian half now did I?
Quick counter attacking football is what I am talking about. If it's not on you don't break forward. Ireland lost the game last night because they were hoofing the ball forward putting themselves under ridiculous pressure.

No, Ireland lost the game last night by standing off the Russians for two of the goals and not taking their chances for the first.

They almost got back even by playing hoof ball

titan18

Boskowski wrote: »

Look, this is ridiculous. Do people actually read posts beyond what they would like to project into what someone's saying?

McCarthy is 19 and he plays for Wigan, cool. Green is 27 and doesn't, also he was quite poor last night. McCarthy may have been better last night or he may not have.

My point was that even if he had been on the pitch instead of Green it wouldn't have changed a damn bloody thing yesterday and it wouldn't change a thing on the overall outlook.

They're not a great squad with or without McF*****Carthy. They can't afford off days but like every other team they have one now and then.

Honestly, to all the Trap trashers. When was the last time you've seen Ireland playing exciting looking quality controlled passing football that puts a team like Russia under pressure?
2nd question. What makes you think that some other coach could bring in McCarthy and Reid and the other fkn Reid and whoever elses name is spouted about and all of a sudden they'd start beating teams like Russia and they would look good while doing that? Do you really believe that?

Honestly,we may not look good against Russia who ever we'd bring.We'd look better though.

The question on Ireland playing exciting football isn't right though as our last 3 managers have been afraid to play it imo.

killwill

Boskowski wrote: »

Look, this is ridiculous. Do people actually read posts beyond what they would like to project into what someone's saying?

McCarthy is 19 and he plays for Wigan, cool. Green is 27 and doesn't, also he was quite poor last night. McCarthy may have been better last night or he may not have.

My point was that even if he had been on the pitch instead of Green it wouldn't have changed a damn bloody thing yesterday and it wouldn't change a thing on the overall outlook.

They're not a great squad with or without McF*****Carthy. They can't afford off days but like every other team they have one now and then.

Honestly, to all the Trap trashers. When was the last time you've seen Ireland playing exciting looking quality controlled passing football that puts a team like Russia under pressure?
2nd question. What makes you think that some other coach could bring in McCarthy and Reid and the other fkn Reid and whoever elses name is spouted about and all of a sudden they'd start beating teams like Russia and they would look good while doing that? Do you really believe that?

Between this and a lot of the other posts it becomes evident that a fair percentage of people haven't the faintest idea how football works and the closest they got themselves to a football pitch.

Fullbacks pressing up and supporting counters. Against a slick passing side like Russia. Mother of Jaysus. Will you please look at that squad again?

I was not bashing Trap at all. I believe he is as good a manager as we can get, or probably as good a manager as is out there. Dunne said it himself. They are too scared to pass the ball around, so they resort to hoofing the ball forward, putting further pressure on the defenders again.
Try keeping the ball, and pushing further up on your opponents to stop them passing or at least make it more difficult for them. I am not looking for an Arsenalesque performance here at all.

inmyday

Boskowski wrote: »

Look, this is ridiculous. Do people actually read posts beyond what they would like to project into what someone's saying?

McCarthy is 19 and he plays for Wigan, cool. Green is 27 and doesn't, also he was quite poor last night. McCarthy may have been better last night or he may not have.

My point was that even if he had been on the pitch instead of Green it wouldn't have changed a damn bloody thing yesterday and it wouldn't change a thing on the overall outlook.

They're not a great squad with or without McF*****Carthy. They can't afford off days but like every other team they have one now and then.

Honestly, to all the Trap trashers. When was the last time you've seen Ireland playing exciting looking quality controlled passing football that puts a team like Russia under pressure?
2nd question. What makes you think that some other coach could bring in McCarthy and Reid and the other fkn Reid and whoever elses name is spouted about and all of a sudden they'd start beating teams like Russia and they would look good while doing that? Do you really believe that?

Edit:
Between this and a lot of the other posts it becomes evident that a fair percentage of people haven't the faintest idea how football works and the closest they got themselves to a football pitch is the bleeding telly.

Fullbacks pressing up and supporting counters. Against a slick passing side like Russia. Mother of Jaysus. Will you please look at that squad again? We don't have Lahm on the right and Lizarazu on the left you know...

I agree with that post 100%, fair play to you.

And you are right everyone is an expert sitting on the couch, or in the pub with a pint in their hand.
I dont understand why Trap gets the abuse.
But I'm sure many will disagree with you

Boskowski

I think people need to accept there is a thing as a teams natural strength. And despite that being a steteotype Italians are defensive and tactical, spaniards are are slick and quick, Germans are controlled and have the fundamentals right, Englush are playing power football and Irish are bony battlers,awkward to Play and hard to beat. They just won't play like arsenal any time soon. I'd love to see Germany playing like the Barca of the nineties but it won't happen. Play to what you're good at.

killwill

Fuhrer wrote: »

No, Ireland lost the game last night by standing off the Russians for two of the goals and not taking their chances for the first.

They almost got back even by playing hoof ball

Yes I agree they stood off the ball way too much last night. Showed too much respect for a team that is only above average. The one thing we are good at as a team under Trap is to frustrate our opponents, which didn't happen last night. On a positive note, I do believe we won't perform that poorly again.
I also don't think bringing in a couple of players will turn us into Holland or Argentina either by the way. I just think we will be a little less one dimensional!!

WallyGUFC

Disaster all round really. Russia were just so much better on the night, so much better. They destroyed us but we let them. We have to bashers in the middle that did nothing last night. They're not creative so they're deployed to break up the play and they didn't get near Russia. Green I thought started well but faded terribly and shouldn't play again.
The first goal was disastrous defending, the second Kilbane and McGeady were drawn into the middle and the third was lucky but our own fault for not closing down. The game was over at that stage and Russia went hibernating. Would have been totally undeserved to get anything from it.
Not many positives apart from Dunne and also I thought Long played well when he came on. But Trap put on a passer (Gibson) and completely bypassed him with Given punts upfield in the last 20 minutes?! Baffling.

Just as well Armenia have opened up the group because at least Yerevan is out of the way and Russia still have to go there. But if we play like that again this campaign we won't qualify. It's the worst I've seen this team play since Trap came and it better be a once off but next Tuesday is massive if we want to qualify.

Pro. F

Horrible performance last night. We are completely fúcked in the middle of the park and it makes games like that almost impossible to survive in. The job of the four attacking players was made impossible because of the lack of support and decent possession.

It's certainly not all Trap's fault that the team is the way it is - the current crop of available players is very weak - but he does have to take a fair bit of stick imo.

He sets the team up to sit deep and invite the opposition on. This is a terrible choice as it makes life so much easier for the opposition. We should be putting more pressure on the ball all over the pitch, you don't need better players to do that, the team has done it successfully recently.

He starts players like Green in games like this. There are far better options available (not great options but better) but Trap's stupid fúcking ''never change a winning team'', idiotic, superstitious management decisions mean that we had to have a complete passenger in the middle last night. Kilbane is another player who should not be in the team.

Yes we have a poor selection of players but we also have a shít manager.

/rant

(Just in case it's important - this is not a just an overreaction to the result, I was saying the same things before the kick off.)

Warper

We got shown up last night. Russia were much better than us and the 2 late goals just papers up the cracks a bit. Lets face it, we just dont have the quality. Half of our team either play in the Championship or sit on their team's subs bench. There is no truely world-class player in the squad. We have been poor since Korea and thats a fact. We couldnt get out of a poor WC group last time and we are not going to get out of this Group either. Another playoff defeat is what will probably happen.

Kilbane needs to be dropped. St Ledger is average, our entire midfield is average apart from McGeady who is our best player. Doyle and Keane try their best and are a decent partnership. Seamus Coleman should start every game. It doesnt matter if Andy Reid plays or not, he isnt great anyways and cant even make the Sunderland first team. Trap has done a decent job since he took over with a very average squad. We havnt beaten a top team in donkeys. People go on about the Paris match as if we were Brazil. Everyone saw how piss-poor France are in the WC and we still couldnt beat them, the same goes for Italy.

In saying that we are a hard team to beat normally and there is some hope but in reality we are a small nation with limited resources.

billyhead

Folks,

I saw this posting on another forum and for me it sums up everything nicely about Irelands limitations and future outlook.

Right, I attempted to post this last night but the iPhone isn't really conducive to quick-fire ranting...

We won't qualify unless we get an incredibly favourable draw in a playoff, because we won't win this group and we certainly won't be a best runner up.

Last night was a shambles from start to finish. The team selection was wrong and the system was wrong. We keep getting shouted down by people telling us we have ideas above our station and they're right in a way. We don't have a single world class outfield player and soon when Shay goes over the hill we won't have any at all. But we have better players both in our squad and sitting at home than we have on the pitch.

In order then:

Westwood needs to be given games so that when the inevitable happens, and Shay gets an injury, we have a tried backup rather than someone trying to get a handle on playing international football.

Kilbane, even if we qualify, won't - or at least shouldn't - be part of the squad. He's a liability and every team we play has sussed that. So that poses the question of who plays at LB. My own preference is O'Shea with Coleman at RB. If we somehow qualified with Kilbane in the team he will be too old when the competition itself comes around. Trap likes Cunningham but he'll have to be exceptional to get a game at City, so his short term prospects don't look good. I also like Ward at Wolves. He's not top class but he works hard and offers something going forward.

The centre-halves are fine, if lacking in depth, and other than Ciaran Clarke at Villa I don't see any new options coming through. O'Dea is awful. Marc Wilson has the makings of a good player so we need to work him in or around the first team and see if he offers us something, either at the back or in midfield.

At right back Stephen Kelly should play when Coleman doesn't, with Paul McShane given special dispensation to **** off and play for anyone else. Foley also looks half decent. Worth a chance, IMO.

Midfield is where our real issues are. Andrews and Whelan are plodders, with all due respect to them. But what really annoys me is that they are allegedly there to win the ball back and stop the opposition playing but both are so lacking in positonal awareness and tactical nous that they constantly lose runners both off and behind them. Neither can pass a ball particularly well so if the sole ability you need to play central-midfield for Ireland is to run then Dervla O'Rourke looks a better bet.

All of that goes for Green as well, times about a million. I'm not going to say any more on him as it would be unfair. He's a lower league footballer who is wildly out of his depth, which isn't his fault, no matter how hard he works.

What would I change then? Andy Reid is a must. He can pass the ball and he's a threat from dead balls. He might not be amazing defensively but one of Whelan or Andrews would help him in that regard. Gibson should play if Trap persists with sending Big Andy to Coventry, and if Big Gibbo is out of favour too then someone like McCarthy who has a bit of something about him on the ball. Fahey seems to have gained a lot of currency with his goal last time out and he at least wants to pass the ball, which is a good start. Over all of those I'd take back Steven Reid, but my understanding is that he and Trap have reached the point of no return, and Trap considers him damaged beyond repair what with his knee problems.

The wingers almost take care of themselves, as it will generally be one of McGeady, Duff, Hunt and Lawrence. McGeady's a frustrating player but at least he tries to do something with the ball, and for that I'll excuse him some of his more idiotic decisions.

Uo front we're very light again. Keane and Doyle all the way, with Folan and Walters on the bench, Folan for the odd occasion we want to go more direct, not as our Plan A. Long is not an international striker, last night's energetic performance aside and there are massive doubts over Hunt, Stokes and the rarely-seen Leon Best. Cillian Sheridan doesn't even deserve to be mentioned.

As I said, I don't believe we'll qualify. And no matter how much more organised we are since Trap arrived, that makes him a failure, IMO. I'd prefer to lose by trying to play a bit of football than lose trying desperately not to lose. And one's just as likely as the other at the moment, depsite Trap's suggestions to the contrary.

As I said earlier in this thread, we need to exploit the granny rule and bring in a few players who can add a little more quality to the squad. After all, that's why Trap's persisting with this 'caveman' football, isn't it? Except it feels to me like he's picking the players to fit a system when it ought to be the other way around.

As the panel said last night, if we're going to go long ball then let's do it properly and fill the team with lumps whose only purpose is to get to second phase ball and stop the opposition from playing. I can't wait....

Pro. F

Warper wrote: »

People go on about the Paris match as if we were Brazil. Everyone saw how piss-poor France are in the WC and we still couldnt beat them, the same goes for Italy.

Just on this point which is being made by a lot of people at the moment - the French team we played in Paris were in much better shape than the team which eventually turned up (or failed to turn up) at the WC. I'm not saying that we were playing against a top team in Paris or anything like that but the quality of the Irish performance that night shouldn't be completely written off. That was the best performance this bunch of players has produced and we should be looking to emulate that - for me that means Trap needs to cop the fúck on and stop making the team sit deep.

herbieflowers

Probably the worst performance under Trap. Whelan and Green were bypassed time and again - neither looked particularly fit. As bad as it was that must've been the first time we've conceded three at home under Trap.

It's one match, an awful performance, it happens, just write it off. At least there'll be no complacency going into the Slovakia match. Three teams still on six points and a long way to go yet.

Kristian_

An Arsenal fan was asking earlier about the Russian squad and the posability of getting an Arshavin autograph. Was down in the four seasons earlier and Arshavin and some other dude just sauntered through the lobby. Personally I could have swung for him but you may get lucky if you were down in the general vicinity. I think they are there until Monday.
I don't have anything else to say thats not allready been said about that shambles last night.

Dean820

Anyone else notice how biased Liam Brady has been since coming back on to the RTE panel. Its getting to a point now where he just makes himself look silly.

Krusader

Dean820 wrote: »

Anyone else notice how biased Liam Brady has been since coming back on to the RTE panel. Its getting to a point now where he just makes himself look silly.

Dont think he was biased, he stated that the over use of the long ball was are downfall and the tactics didnt work
He was however holding a bit back, i would say

bonerm

Dean820 wrote: »

Anyone else notice how biased Liam Brady has been since coming back on to the RTE panel. Its getting to a point now where he just makes himself look silly.

Is he still with Arsenal? I heard him agreeing with some quoted pre-match criticism of Arshavin.

stiffler123

My first time in the stadium in ten years, man it was depressing. We got absolutely destroyed. It's not a complete disaster though. It's very possible to get a result against Slovakia. The lads won't be happy about last night and will hopefully go out with a point to prove and pass the ball a bit. If we do beat Slovakia, hopefully Trap will try some new players out against Norway and hopefully we will see a couple of players evicted from the first team. I think Fahey deserves a spot, he is a decent player and offers more in attack. I have a lot of faith in Trap though and hope we bounce back from last night on Tuesday.