Slovakia v Ireland - 12th October - K/O 19:30

Raskolnikov

NickDrake wrote: »

You keep believing that

I love Kevin Doyle - but the man is clearly not a natural goalscorer. Shane Long doesn't even get his game for Reading.

Would you like to see Andy Keogh starting?

Lukker-

Robbie should be a man and take the blame for this one. He has no problem lapping up the praise when he knocks one in against minnows so I don't see why he should dodge this bullet.

FREETV

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

Keane should just head back to Celtic , granted the league is terrible but at least he would not be as ring rusty and might even be coming into games on the back of bagging a few goals !!!

We need two decent players upfront for every match, a new midfield selection that can pass and run with the ball, Green or Greene whatever cannot even pass the ball half of the time and has no vision when on the ball!

Lord Trollington

Patser wrote: »

or Stephen Ireland;)

Blood pressure across this board just shot up.:pac:

Dont think they are saying Reid is the answer as such.. There more pointing out Traps unwillingness to change things when its clearly not working.
If its not working, and you continue to play and perform with the same personell well then it going to continue in the same vain.

Traps stubborness is a bit much. Its almost like he's came to Ireland to teach us paddy's soccer and its his way or no way at all.

NickDrake

Lukker- wrote: »

Robbie should be a man and take the blame for this one. He has no problem lapping up the praise when he knocks one in against minnows so I don't see why he should dodge this bullet.

Dead right but he won't. Tallaght to the end. Deny deny!!

Dean820

Extremely frustrating watching the game tonight. I felt like pulling my hair out at stages. We didn't play to win in the second half, it was just madness. We should of been up by two or three at half time. This team are bottlers in my opinion, every game they need to win they go and lose or draw. They should of won tonight, Slovakia shocked me they were so bad. Russia will be laughing their heads off when watching this game. I have been hopeful and optimistic throughout this campaign and still am to a certain degree but my god, this team is frustrating.

JamBur

NickDrake wrote: »

You keep believing that

Its easy to be a naysayer, easy to be pessimistic, easy to be negative......

Grow a pair

adox

Keane caused the recession as well don't you know.

Embarrassing over reactions tbh.

FREETV

rarnes1 wrote: »

Andy Reid is the answer

Trappatoni will not let him play.

Het-Field

We should have won. Pure and simple. A little extra guile and craft would have seen us garner 3 points tonight, and this would have put huge pressure on the Slovaks. The first half was decent. Slovakia were ultimately worth their draw, however, that was a result of the paupacy of attack minded play on the part of the Irish.

My Ratings

S.Given 6 No major difficulties. A player who lacks confidence. His kicking seemed erratic, and his facial expression reflected a lack of confidence.
J.O'Shea 7 Seems comfortable at right back. Capable of supporting Fahey in a positive way.
K.Kilbane 6 Nothing good, nothing bad. He descent into non-entity status fell another rung tonight. I would be concerned what a really good team could do to him.
S.St Ledger 7 A nice goal, and solid in his designated role of defence. His confidence at International Level belies the difficulties he has had at club level.
R.Dunne 7 Maintains a solid partnership with St Ledger. By and large he was consistent, and managed to outflank a variety of Slovaks to win the ball
K.Fahey 7 Seemed to fade out after a very positive first half. His crossing abilities are noteworthy. He will be a positive influence later in the campaign
G.Whelan 4 Absent. He has no ability to stamp authority on the game, and this is always apparent when acting as the senior partner in the centre. There was nothing of note achieved tonight.
P.Green 5 A slight improvement on Friday night. He seemed to be willing to make runs into decent positions, which he failed to do on Friday.
A.McGeady 7 Utilised his pace well. Won a nice penalty, and with better support from the backline he could prove useful
S.Long 7 RTE's MOTM. I would be a little more reserved. He led the line well, and he created chances. What this suggests is that Ireland have extra options up front.
R.Keane 4 His poorest night in the Green shirt. Three misses, which could easily have resulted in a Hat-Trick for Keane. Like Given, this man needs a move asap.

D.Gibson 5 His passing is slightly more precise, however, he didnt bring increased width or imagination to the team.
A.Keogh 4 No impact
K.Foley n/a

SantryRed

adox wrote: »

Keane caused the recession as well don't you know.

Embarrassing over reactions tbh.

There are no over reactions. There is something fundamentally wrong with Trappatoni's tactics. These faults have been there since Georgia away. Yet he refuses to fix or tweak them. Maybe he's going scenile.

JamBur

adox wrote: »

Keane caused the recession as well don't you know.

Embarrassing over reactions tbh.

+1

NickDrake

JamBur wrote: »

Its easy to be a naysayer, easy to be pessimistic, easy to be negative......

Grow a pair

By saying Keane had a shocker? For god sake, he had. What game were you watching. Two shcokers in a row

NickDrake

JamBur wrote: »

+1

So we cant say Keane had a bad game now? Who is he? the pope?

FREETV

Dean820 wrote: »

Extremely frustrating watching the game tonight. I felt like pulling my hair out at stages. We didn't play to win in the second half, it was just madness. We should of been up by two or three at half time. This team are bottlers in my opinion, every game they need to win they go and lose or draw. They should of won tonight, Slovakia shocked me they were so bad. Russia will be laughing their heads off when watching this game. I have been hopeful and optimistic throughout this campaign and still am to a certain degree but my god, this team is frustrating.

Games are won by scoring goals and we very rarely ever look like scoring in any important games! Does anyone notice a pattern?

ColeTrain

Kristian_ wrote: »

Bunch of f**king wasters imo, so much dead wood in this team including Keane. He's been a great player in the past for Ireland but lets face it he's past it.

Very harsh, on another night we would have won that.

Defence was good, Fahey and McGeady done very well. Central midfield is our downfall, nothing goes through there. Gibson isn't the answer either.

Robbie isn't past it yet, he should have had three tonight but everyone misses chances, the fact he had 3 chances tells me that and besides there isn't much other options. I would have liked to have seen Stokes on the bench tonight. Keogh and Long are workman like, Stokes can finish.

population

NickDrake wrote: »

So we cant say Keane had a bad game now? Who is he? the pope?

In fairness the Pope has had a few shockers of late

ballsymchugh

has dunphy just switched which keane he likes to shove his head up their ar5e?

JamBur

NickDrake wrote: »

By saying Keane had a shocker? For god sake, he had. What game were you watching. Two shcokers in a row

Im not arguing that he didnt have a great game, I am saying that your rampant negativity is uncalled for. He is a proven international goal scorer, our only proven goalscorer. Hypothesize all you want about a long & doyle partnership, but its not going to happen. I'm not blind to Keanes flaws (his diving wrecks my head), but I am aware enough to see a player that a lot of other teams would kill for

TheJesusWarrant

adox wrote: »

Keane caused the recession as well don't you know.

Embarrassing over reactions tbh.

Come on! He turned down moves in the transfer window when he knew he was 4th choice for spurs. He wouldn't take a pay cut and was prepared to sit on the bench when he knew he'd need game time leading up to these crucial games. Now because of his rustiness we're all paying the price. Probably his last shot at a major tournament and he couldn't care less.

Mr.Nice Guy

NickDrake wrote:

where is Robbie Captain Keane. The pride of Tallaght who can do no wrong?

...

Another awful performance by the pride of Tallaght

NickDrake wrote:

Ah for god sake wake up to it. Peno the last night.

He is having a shocker out there. Take off the tallaght glasses.

NickDrake wrote:

Dead right but he won't. Tallaght to the end. Deny deny!!

I don't know what your problem is with Tallaght but ffs build a bridge and get over it. Embarrassing.

aidan24326

Kristian_ wrote: »

Bunch of f**king wasters imo, so much dead wood in this team including Keane. He's been a great player in the past for Ireland but lets face it he's past it.

Keane isn't necessarily past it, he's still a player we need in the team but warming the bench at Tottenham is doing him no favours. Even if he was playing in the championship and knocking in goals every week we'd see a different player. Strikers are all about confidence and sharpness and Keane has neither of those at the moment, becaue he's not playing enough. He should look to get out in the January transfer window as Harry clearly doesn't want him anymore (tried all he could to sell him in August).

NickDrake

JamBur wrote: »

Im not arguing that he didnt have a great game, I am saying that your rampant negativity is uncalled for. He is a proven international goal scorer, our only proven goalscorer. Hypothesize all you want about a long & doyle partnership, but its not going to happen. I'm not blind to Keanes flaws (his diving wrecks my head), but I am aware enough to see a player that a lot of other teams would kill for

Would they really kill for him? I don't think they would. Name a top European side he would start for?

pistolpetes11

NickDrake wrote: »

Dead right but he won't. Tallaght to the end. Deny deny!!

Makes no odds if the lad is from Tallaght or Tipp , get over it !

He had a poor game ,simple as !

happyoutscan

Keane was shocking tonight, simple as.

Manc-Red

We're 2 points down on Russia - I'd have bitten my right arm off to be in this place at this stage.

Other than last Fri's farce, we're not doing too badly.

If we had have got beaten tonight - we we're in deep s*it.

FREETV

aidan24326 wrote: »

Keane isn't necessarily past it, he's still a player we need in the team but warming the bench at Tottenham is doing him no favours. Even if he was playing in the championship and knocking in goals every week we'd see a different player. Strikers are all about confidence and sharpness and Keane has neither of those at the moment, becaue he's not playing enough. He should look to get out in the January transfer window as Harry clearly doesn't want him anymore (tried all he could to sell him in August).

All it takes is a few passes or knock downs inside the box to have strikes on goal, playground stuff which these so called pros cannot even do! Pathetic!

JamBur

NickDrake wrote: »

Would they really kill for him? I don't think they would. Name a top European side he would start for?

I was saying it from an international viewpoint, there are lots of countries who would love to have him up front. I also dont doubt that he could do a job at Everton or Villa.

Pauleta

Some really bad football tonight. Slovakia look like they are having a World Cup hangover, and in fairness Ireland they have never played good football.

Carlos_Ray

McCarthy, Chris McCann, Seamus Coleman, O'Dea, Gary Deegan, Greg Cunningham, and Gibson are the players that we should be looking to now.We could also do with calling Walters up the the squad.

We're an average team at best, but playing Kilbane (still) and players like Green and McShane is merely preparing for a football Kamikaze mission. Traps selection policy betrays the fact that he has no interest in development of our national team. Picking a 28 year old average championship player like Green, and nationalising him over real young Irish talent is the decision that turned me from a Trap supporter into a critic.

TheJesusWarrant

Manc-Red wrote: »

We're 2 points down on Russia - I'd have bitten my right arm off to be in this place at this stage.

Other than last Fri's farce, we're not doing too badly.

If we had have got beaten tonight - we we're in deep s*it.

I thought everyone was in agreement that we were going to go and try win this group, given our history in the playoffs being woeful. 2 points off Russia with a trip to Moscow to come spells 2nd place to me.

bonerm

Ah Manuela, be still my heart.

population

Manc-Red wrote: »

We're 2 points down on Russia - I'd have bitten my right arm off to be in this place at this stage.

Other than last Fri's farce, we're not doing too badly.

If we had have got beaten tonight - we we're in deep s*it.

But that is only down to the sheer paucity of talent in this group.

SeanKev

What crevice did Green come out of?

He's the new McShane and I'm not talking about the hair.

Kristian_

adox wrote: »

Keane caused the recession as well don't you know.

Embarrassing over reactions tbh.

He was flapping around like a wounded penguin all night! What did he contribute? He's just not up to it at this level anymore. He cost us 2 points with that lame penalty.

Manc-Red

population wrote: »

But that is only down to the sheer paucity of talent in this group.

Never the less thats the situation we are in & we're in with a chance of still winning it.

I don't think we will but a second is not beyond our reach here.

Things should be worse but are not.

KELTICKNIGHTT

happyoutscan wrote: »

Keane was shocking tonight, simple as.

i agree,3 good chances out of 4 he had,the penalty summed it up for him,not having regular team football isnt helping him,theres time i think we missing a good leader on pitch ,

oldyouth

Keane missed the peno at the death of the 1st half. That happens. What is unacceptable is the fact he couldn't give a toss for the 45 minutes after that. Some captain :mad:

McGeady put in a big shift tonight. Fair play

Krusader

Kristian_ wrote: »

He was flapping around like a wounded penguin all night! What did he contribute? He's just not up to it at this level anymore. He cost us 2 points with that lame penalty.

Who should replace him

talla10

Manc-Red wrote: »

We're 2 points down on Russia - I'd have bitten my right arm off to be in this place at this stage.

Other than last Fri's farce, we're not doing too badly.

If we had have got beaten tonight - we we're in deep s*it.

This is the typical attitude we have to get away from. We should have won tonight the second half performance was terrible and in end didnt deserve to win but coming into these two games we were 3 points ahead of Russia now were 2 points behind!

KELTICKNIGHTT

how about given for captain

FREETV

Kristian_ wrote: »

He was flapping around like a wounded penguin all night! What did he contribute? He's just not up to it at this level anymore. He cost us 2 points with that lame penalty.

:D:D A Penguin may have even come closer to actually scoring when being on the ball!

Manc-Red

TheJesusWarrant wrote: »

I thought everyone was in agreement that we were going to go and try win this group, given our history in the playoffs being woeful. 2 points off Russia with a trip to Moscow to come spells 2nd place to me.

I wouldn't argue against that.

FlawedGenius

Threw away 2 points there. Keane missed some absolute sitters!! FCUKEN ****E!! cost us qualification to south africa aswell, trying to take it around the keeper:mad:im furious.. at best we will get a playoff spot:(
Slovakia muck also. We havent even played Macedonia, and there no pushover:(

ultain

Kristian_ wrote: »

He was flapping around like a wounded penguin all night! What did he contribute? He's just not up to it at this level anymore. He cost us 2 points with that lame penalty.

steady on there;)..he had a bad game tonight, he doesnt have many of them....he's still willing and able for this level (which isint saying much)

Mr.Nice Guy

Still a long way to go. I wouldn't be pessimistic. Here comes the Keane bashing on the webcast. :rolleyes:

NabyLadistheman

FlawedGenius wrote: »

Threw away 2 points there. Keane missed some absolute sitters!! FCUKEN ****E!! cost us qualification to south africa aswell, trying to take it around the keeper:mad:im furious.. at best we will get a playoff spot:(
Slovakia muck also. We havent even played Macedonia, and there no pushover:(

Grow up! did Keane not score in the Stade de France?? in Bari?? he's not playin regularly & that showed tonight. Low on confidence & form

Manc-Red

talla10 wrote: »

This is the typical attitude we have to get away from. We should have won tonight the second half performance was terrible and in end didnt deserve to win but coming into these two games we were 3 points ahead of Russia now were 2 points behind!

Look, thats my opinion...

We played a lot better than Fri - we proved we can outplay a decent team that played well in a WC on their own patch.

We are in a good position in this group but I for one am not deluded enough to think we're in this position to win that group on merit yet.

But we still might do so - weird that aint it?

Warper

2 penos effectively had a 4 point swing tonight. Macedonia's miss 10 mins from time and Keane's miss just before half-time. Maybe if both had been scored we would be 2 pts ahead of Russia instead of the opposite way around.

In fairness to the lads they done alright tonight and should have won. There is obviously some mental block being unable to beat decent teams away from home or at home for that matter. We seem to be happy enough with a draw which will only come back to haunt us again. Every Qualifying campaign is the same.

Manc-Red

FlawedGenius wrote: »

Threw away 2 points there. Keane missed some absolute sitters!! FCUKEN ****E!! cost us qualification to south africa aswell, trying to take it around the keeper:mad:im furious.. at best we will get a playoff spot:(
Slovakia muck also. We havent even played Macedonia, and there no pushover:(

Ah Kop on would ya.

We're in a decent position & we could still do it yet