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

Essien

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.

This sums up how I feel about Ireland under Trap. I know if we made it to the finals we'd be murdered by one of the top teams no matter who was in charge but the idea of just bending over and letting it happen is just depressing.

TheJesusWarrant

Trap is doing an outstanding job with the most limited Irish side I can remember. Unfortunately a world class manager and shiny new stadium doesn't alone get you to major tournaments. The players aren't there, you can analyze all you like but it's as simple as that. 0 goals from Keane and Doyle in the premiership, in fact I don't believe there was 1 starter that has a premiership goal. No team with aspirations should rely on the likes of Green and not-good-enough-for-hull Kilbane. McGeady's our best player by a country mile, the gameplan should be simple, get the ball to him, instead they hoof it up to doyle who's poor in the air for a man of his height. We are awful to watch, the stoke city of international football, there's no dressing it up. We haven't beaten a proper side in 9 years and so it's no coincidence we've failed to qualify for anything since then. I see people talking about a playoff, from what I've seen 2nd place is no certainty.

yabadabado

TheJesusWarrant wrote: »

they hoof it up to doyle who's poor in the air for a man of his height..

What height do you think Doyle is?he's less than 6" tall and I reckon most people would say he is good in the air.I do agree with you the long ball **** has to change.

Prufrock

Quick question hows Steven Reid doing after his injury? I've lost track of him. He's a hard tackling midfielder that would be an improvement over our current choices.

Essien

TheJesusWarrant wrote: »

No team with aspirations should rely on the likes of Green and not-good-enough-for-hull Kilbane.

A lot of people (even in this thread) have made the point that we aren't relying on these players, that there are better options out there, and the manager just refuses to play them.

Pro. F

TheJesusWarrant wrote: »

Trap is doing an outstanding job with the most limited Irish side I can remember. Unfortunately a world class manager and shiny new stadium doesn't alone get you to major tournaments. The players aren't there, you can analyze all you like but it's as simple as that. 0 goals from Keane and Doyle in the premiership, in fact I don't believe there was 1 starter that has a premiership goal. No team with aspirations should rely on the likes of Green and not-good-enough-for-hull Kilbane. McGeady's our best player by a country mile, the gameplan should be simple, get the ball to him, instead they hoof it up to doyle who's poor in the air for a man of his height. We are awful to watch, the stoke city of international football, there's no dressing it up. We haven't beaten a proper side in 9 years and so it's no coincidence we've failed to qualify for anything since then. I see people talking about a playoff, from what I've seen 2nd place is no certainty.

I wish we were as good as Stoke tbh. At least they put some pressure on the ball and focus their attacking strategy on one particular gameplan.

FlawedGenius

Prufrock wrote: »

Quick question hows Steven Reid doing after his injury? I've lost track of him. He's a hard tackling midfielder that would be an improvement over our current choices.

Hes retired from International Football.

Yakult

Hoping Green does not wear an Irish jersey again. Fair play to Trap for trying to bring him into the team but he's just not up to the standards. A long way away.

But will he be dropped for the next game?? I fcuking hope so!!

Prufrock

FlawedGenius wrote: »

Hes retired from International Football.

Well thats the end of that

maynooth_rules

R_H_C_P wrote: »

Hoping Green does not wear an Irish jersey again. Fair play to Trap for trying to bring him into the team but he's just not up to the standards. A long way away.

But will he be dropped for the next game?? I fcuking hope so!!

Doubt Whealan will be fit for Tuesday so id say it will be Green and Gibson

Sergio

Ive read alot of the posts on this thread after last nights abismal performance by the boys in green alot of people criticizing green and whelan in midfield which i agree with by the way.
But is anybody going to criticize our captain Robbie keane who was no existent for most of the game again last night apart from the penalty kick!
Hes supposed to be our captain and one to inspire the team but to me he may aswell be sitting on the bench!

tinofapples

Colinboy wrote: »

Ive read alot of the posts on this thread after last nights abismal performance by the boys in green alot of people criticizing green and whelan in midfield which i agree with by the way.
But is anybody going to criticize our captain Robbie keane who was no existent for most of the game again last night apart from the penalty kick!
Hes supposed to be our captain and one to inspire the team but to me he may aswell be sitting on the bench!

You have a point, lets call a spade a spade Robbie has been one of our better players but he's not world class. Look at his club situation !!

The amount of times last night that he allowed his frustration to be obvious to his teammates was crazy, throwing his arms in the air and all that sort of negativity. He should have shown some enthusiasm to the others after converting the spot kick (Another dive) and grabbed the ball outta the net. It would have shown the younger lads some spark/drive

Krusader

Colinboy wrote: »

Ive read alot of the posts on this thread after last nights abismal performance by the boys in green alot of people criticizing green and whelan in midfield which i agree with by the way.
But is anybody going to criticize our captain Robbie keane who was no existent for most of the game again last night apart from the penalty kick!
Hes supposed to be our captain and one to inspire the team but to me he may aswell be sitting on the bench!

When your playing hoofball the game is going to by pass Robbie, Strikers where feeding off scraps all night and long balls. I can understand his fustration at 5'10" and trying to compete with CBs who are 6'0" odd in the air, its not his game, its not his strenght.He's good at finding space, Give it to his feet and let him run at them, but we have 2 CMs who cant give a creative pass or hold onto the ball, so its hard for him

bob50

Colinboy wrote: »

Ive read alot of the posts on this thread after last nights abismal performance by the boys in green alot of people criticizing green and whelan in midfield which i agree with by the way.
But is anybody going to criticize our captain Robbie keane who was no existent for most of the game again last night apart from the penalty kick!
Hes supposed to be our captain and one to inspire the team but to me he may aswell be sitting on the bench!

I agree he was all at sea in the game to use a well used cliche he was a headless chicken running around The penalty that he got he didnt deserve

killwill

Colinboy wrote: »

Ive read alot of the posts on this thread after last nights abismal performance by the boys in green alot of people criticizing green and whelan in midfield which i agree with by the way.
But is anybody going to criticize our captain Robbie keane who was no existent for most of the game again last night apart from the penalty kick!
Hes supposed to be our captain and one to inspire the team but to me he may aswell be sitting on the bench!

First off, I hate strikers as captains. Dunne or Given should be the captain. If we had a strong commanding DM, they could also be a possibility.
As far as Robbie being non existant, that is more a reflection on the midfield. A striker feeds off supply, no supply and you are not gonna look good. He looked bright at the start when we were attacking for all of 7mins!!!!

killwill

Prufrock wrote: »

Quick question hows Steven Reid doing after his injury? I've lost track of him. He's a hard tackling midfielder that would be an improvement over our current choices.

Retired from international football. Never came back right from his injury. Playing RB now to compensate for it. Might see him playing for West Brom soon.

Pro. F

Colinboy wrote: »

Ive read alot of the posts on this thread after last nights abismal performance by the boys in green alot of people criticizing green and whelan in midfield which i agree with by the way.
But is anybody going to criticize our captain Robbie keane who was no existent for most of the game again last night apart from the penalty kick!
Hes supposed to be our captain and one to inspire the team but to me he may aswell be sitting on the bench!

What's Robbie going to do? He's a small guy with not much pace. His game is all about getting into the right position to finish off moves. At the moment the Irish team are incapable of stringing passes together to create those moves. He tries his best for the team but he is not the type who can play off of that type of piecemeal possession.

I honestly don't understand the stick he gets. He has been a great servant for his country. He has good positioning and finishing. Until the team actually starts creating chances for him he will struggle.

Sergio

Pro. F wrote: »

What's Robbie going to do? He's a small guy with not much pace. His game is all about getting into the right position to finish off moves. At the moment the Irish team are incapable of stringing passes together to create those moves. He tries his best for the team but he is not the type who can play off of that type of piecemeal possession.

I honestly don't understand the stick he gets. He has been a great servant for his country. He has good positioning and finishing. Until the team actually starts creating chances for him he will struggle.

Im not denying he has been a great servant for ireland over the years and has scored some very important goals.My problem with him is his attitude on the pitch like many other players that play in the PL week in week out.
His body langauge is always negative,never chasing back when he loses the ball instead he prefers to moan at the referee and throw his bloody hands up in the air waving them around while rolling around on the grass.
Another example was Cristiano Ronaldo when he was with Man utd very bad attitude when he loses the ball sits on his arse and throwing his hands up in the air!

Thas my whole issue with Robbie that his leadership is very questionable as he does f**k all to motivate and inspire the team especailly when were loosing.
Compare Roy keane to Robbie as Irish captains and thers no comparison IMO!

Krusader

You could also argue that no player should need motivation from their captain, the fact they are representing their country should be motivation enough.

For all we know Keane could of gave them a tongue lashing at half-time to try and motivate them

DOC09UNAM

I for one would have Dunne as captain.

stiffler123

Colinboy wrote: »

Thas my whole issue with Robbie that his leadership is very questionable as he does f**k all to motivate and inspire the team especailly when were loosing.
Compare Roy keane to Robbie as Irish captains and thers no comparison IMO!

I would give Robbie the nod over Roy as he never walked out on his country.

Pro. F

Colinboy wrote: »

Im not denying he has been a great servant for ireland over the years and has scored some very important goals.My problem with him is his attitude on the pitch like many other players that play in the PL week in week out.
His body langauge is always negative,never chasing back when he loses the ball instead he prefers to moan at the referee and throw his bloody hands up in the air waving them around while rolling around on the grass.
Another example was Cristiano Ronaldo when he was with Man utd very bad attitude when he loses the ball sits on his arse and throwing his hands up in the air!

Thas my whole issue with Robbie that his leadership is very questionable as he does f**k all to motivate and inspire the team especailly when were loosing.
Compare Roy keane to Robbie as Irish captains and thers no comparison IMO!

His body language and attitude isn't as bad as CRonaldo. Keane moans a bit but he's not in that league.

If we're only looking at his suitability as a captain then yeah, I sort of agree with you. Maybe he shouldn't be captain as he's not the type of player to dig in and inspire others with his work rate. Although comparisons to Roy are a bit unfair - how many captains in history come out of that comparison favourably?!

Aside from the captaincy issue, I think he does a grand job. I wouldn't expect a goal poacher to be doing much tracking back and I can understand his frustration when he spends entire qualification campaigns dealing with balls fired in at his neck by the likes of Whealan.

#15

Colinboy wrote: »

Compare Roy keane to Robbie as Irish captains and thers no comparison IMO!

Unfair comparison anyway. Robbie is a few levels below Roy as a player.

Mr.Nice Guy

I don't get the Keane criticism either. He throws his arms about because he's frustrated and he wears his heart on his sleeve. I've no problem with that because it shows he cares. I'm not a fan of his willingness to go to ground so easily but in fairness Duff has been guilty of this since he was a teenager and avoids flak for it.

I am certain Keane does inspire the players around him. How could he not? He is our all time leading goalscorer. He has been there for us on the big occasions time and time again. The players know full well if he is missing we are in deep trouble considering the lack of options we have up front.

WallyGUFC

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I don't get the Keane criticism either. He throws his arms about because he's frustrated and he wears his heart on his sleeve. I've no problem with that because it shows he cares. I'm not a fan of his willingness to go to ground so easily but in fairness Duff has been guilty of this since he was a teenager and avoids flak for it.

I am certain Keane does inspire the players around him. How could he not? He is our all time leading goalscorer. He has been there for us on the big occasions time and time again. The players know full well if he is missing we are in deep trouble considering the lack of options we have up front.

He throws his arms in frustration because he doesn't get free kicks for his dives. Or maybe he's such a sporting person that he throws them in the air looking for yellow cards for his dives. Either way he's a good goalscorer but personally I wouldn't have him as captain.

Kidchameleon

tinofapples wrote: »

He should have shown some enthusiasm to the others after converting the spot kick (Another dive) and grabbed the ball outta the net. It would have shown the younger lads some spark/drive

I think Robbie knew better than anyone that it wasn't a penalty. He'll do anything to get a goal for us but he's respectful enough not to celebrate a goal like that

killwill

stiffler123 wrote: »

I would give Robbie the nod over Roy as he never walked out on his country.

I seem to remember him being sent home!!!!!!

bonerm

killwill wrote: »

I seem to remember him being sent home!!!!!!

1. Walked out on his country.
2. Returned
3. Sent Home

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Sergio

stiffler123 wrote: »

I would give Robbie the nod over Roy as he never walked out on his country.

I wouldnt even get into an argument about this past issue with you my friend.We wouldnt of even gotten to that worldcup in japan 2002 if it wasnt for Roy keane so time to let that one go and get over it

JerryHandbag

Well I'm just glad we're not Scotland with a manager who advocates anti-football by playing 4-6-0 formations.

bonerm

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Well I'm just glad we're not Scotland with a manager who advocates anti-football by playing 4-6-0 formations.

Well what would you do with a side that almost managed to lose at home to Liechtenstein? I think I'd be playing 9-0-1

JerryHandbag

bonerm wrote: »

Well what would you do with a side that almost managed to lose at home to Liechtenstein? I think I'd be playing 9-0-1

I just think to take the field in a competitive game without a forward is shocking. I dont think even Liechtenstein would contemplate such a move.

Just let me console myself with the fact that Traps tactics havent got that extreme (yet!)

briany

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Well I'm just glad we're not Scotland with a manager who advocates anti-football by playing 4-6-0 formations.

I thought that was a joke when I read it first. It's nearly like something you'd hear on the sports report on The Day Today. Even the minnows line out with strikers in their formation even if in effect they're defending as much as everyone else.

Fr Tod Umptious

Kidchameleon wrote: »

I think Robbie knew better than anyone that it wasn't a penalty. He'll do anything to get a goal for us but he's respectful enough not to celebrate a goal like that

Possibly the most pathetic statement I have ever read on baords.ie

You are joking aren't you ?

He'll do anything to get a goal for us - you mean he will cheat and that's Ok cos he is creating for 'us'?

he's respectful enough not to celebrate a goal like that - well let me see, his goal meant we were 1-3 down, I think he did not celebrate cos it was hardly worth celebrating !!!

FUNKY LOVER

meh we have been screwed over so many times by cheats,israel keeper henry etc,so for once iom glad we got something from cheating,honesty obviously gets you nowhere in football anymore...

#15

FUNKY LOVER wrote: »

meh we have been screwed over so many times by cheats,israel keeper henry etc,so for once iom glad we got something from cheating,honesty obviously gets you nowhere in football anymore...

Screw that, cheating is cheating.
If you're willing to benefit from cheating, you lose all right to compain when another cheat out-cheats you.

Bob_Harris

#15 wrote: »

Screw that, cheating is cheating.
If you're willing to benefit from cheating, you lose all right to compain when another cheat out-cheats you.

What is with this "we are being such hypocrites benefiting from cheating"?

Since when did Irish fan get so morally superior?

If Ireland had got a replay against France then you may have a point.

The fact is, France cheated and were rewarded. We should be glad to take every soft penalty that is given to us tbh. Every other team does.

#15

Bob_Harris wrote: »

What is with this "we are being such hypocrites benefiting from cheating"?

Since when did Irish fan get so morally superior?

If Ireland had got a replay against France then you may have a point.

The fact is, France cheated and were rewarded. We should be glad to take every soft penalty that is given to us tbh. Every other team does.

My views are independent of the France game.

I hate cheats, none more so than on my own teams.

Cheating is ruining football. It's a stain on the game.

Whether Ireland got a replay or not is not the point at all.

stiffler123

Guys we lost the match. So unless we win the group by goal difference, I don't think the dodgy penalty really matters.

SlickRic

Robbie Keane cheated, just like he said he would if he'd had Henry's chance in that playoff.

it's amazing to see the amount of people vindicating the cheating, it really is, after the embarrassment that was these boards all those months ago.

Keane should be ashamed of himself, but he won't be, because it's the culture of the game now.

it doesn't mean i have to like it, and it physcially makes me cringe when i see a player do it.

____________________________________________________

oh, and we were absolutely f*cking brutal on Friday night.

Kevin Kilbane, my God, you need to be put out of your misery. give the slot to Cunningham and be done with it.

Russia took the sting out of our rousing start expertly, and showed how to play football against hoofball.

if they'd had a solid backline, and if they'd not missed some wonderful opportunities, it would've been far more comfortable. and it really should have been, such was the gulf in class. that being said, i was delighted with the spirit we showed.

this group is going to be weird, so i still have plenty of hope that we can come out the right side of it all.

what i want to know is though; where is the football we played away to France? if we can get that back, we have absolutely every chance.

SantryRed

The only reason we played so well against France is because we caught them off guard after the woeful first leg display. And France weren't very good anyways!

OPENROAD

SlickRic wrote: »

Robbie Keane cheated, just like he said he would if he'd had Henry's chance in that playoff.

it's amazing to see the amount of people vindicating the cheating, it really is, after the embarrassment that was these boards all those months ago.

Keane should be ashamed of himself, but he won't be, because it's the culture of the game now.

it doesn't mean i have to like it, and it physcially makes me cringe when i see a player do it.

____________________________________________________

oh, and we were absolutely f*cking brutal on Friday night.

Kevin Kilbane, my God, you need to be put out of your misery. give the slot to Cunningham and be done with it.

Russia took the sting out of our rousing start expertly, and showed how to play football against hoofball.

if they'd had a solid backline, and if they'd not missed some wonderful opportunities, it would've been far more comfortable. and it really should have been, such was the gulf in class. that being said, i was delighted with the spirit we showed.

this group is going to be weird, so i still have plenty of hope that we can come out the right side of it all.

what i want to know is though; where is the football we played away to France? if we can get that back, we have absolutely every chance.

I am surprised the Irish media are not making more out of the penalty incident, well not really surprised, I just hope people remember this nxt time people start taking the high moral ground.

tolosenc

OPENROAD wrote: »

I am surprised the Irish media are not making more out of the penalty incident, well not really surprised, I just hope people remember this nxt time people start taking the high moral ground.

I don't think he cheated. He wasn't fouled, but to me, it didn't look like he dived. He fell, tripped over himself or whatever. I'd be more pissed off about it if the ref had actually given the 2 clear penos we should have had in the 1st half, when McGeady was body-checked, and Lawrence was booted between the legs!

Warper

tolosenc wrote: »

I don't think he cheated. He wasn't fouled, but to me, it didn't look like he dived. He fell, tripped over himself or whatever. I'd be more pissed off about it if the ref had actually given the 2 clear penos we should have had in the 1st half, when McGeady was body-checked, and Lawrence was booted between the legs!

Ya right, it was a blatant dive.

Will people stop going on about that one performance away to France. There are a number of possible reasons for that night.
- France underestimated us as they had it easy in Croker
- France were under immense pressure at home
- France were basically poor as can be seen in their qualifying
- We had nothing to lose so it was a gung-ho attitude
- That was a once-off match, any team can exceed themselves in 1 game