Anthony Stokes

CSF

Grasping his chance with open arms.

Bleating Lamb

Like a lot of lads on fringes of Irish side,Stokes is a limited player at the top level.

fullstop

CSF wrote: »

Grasping his chance with open arms.

Open legs more like. NUUUUTS

Lennonist

CSF wrote: »

Grasping his chance with open arms.

You appear to be champing at the bit to have a go at Stokes, why would that be now? Elaborate if you will.

CSF

Lennonist wrote: »

You appear to be champing at the bit to have a go at Stokes, why would that be now? Elaborate if you will.

Well he has been the thorn in our side for pretty much the whole game.

Lennonist

CSF wrote: »

Well he has been the thorn in our side for pretty much the whole game.

You could say that about a lot of the players tonight. Would you like to elaborate on why you are focusing on Stokes in particular?

fullstop

Lennonist wrote: »

You could say that about a lot of the players tonight. Would you like to elaborate on why you are focusing on Stokes in particular?

The thread is entitled 'Anthony stokes', no?

Lennonist

fullstop wrote: »

The thread is entitled 'Anthony stokes', no?

True. Still it was CSF that bumped it during the game tonight, and the question was addressed to him.

CSF

Lennonist wrote: »

You could say that about a lot of the players tonight. Would you like to elaborate on why you are focusing on Stokes in particular?

Because he was the one that there was so much clamour about to get a chance, this thread being made about it and all. If the same was about Stephen Kelly, I'd be criticising his wasting of his big chance too. However nobody cares about Kelly and he isn't really worthy of much discussion.

With that said, I don't think it has been a terrible performance from Ireland, and if it wasn't for a few individual errors from Stokes and Kelly, things could be looking a little bit better.

CSF

Lennonist wrote: »

True. Still it was CSF that bumped it during the game tonight, and the question was addressed to him.

And I've answered, I was one of the major posters in this thread when there was the clamour, surely you can see why the bump is a bit relevant tonight?

Much like Glen Whelan, he looks the part of a top footballer: flash boots, tattoos, big wages and dead-eyed stare.

But if you look at him playing, he's actually hopeless, and like Whelan, its hard to gauge what he actually brings to the team

Lennonist

CSF wrote: »

And I've answered, I was one of the major posters in this thread when there was the clamour, surely you can see why the bump is a bit relevant tonight?

There was no clamour to get Stokes to start tonight, even on this particular thread on Boards.ie.

There may have been posters asking why he wasn't in the squad. He's definitely an option, which he wasn't in the last few years of Trap's reign, because he systematically ignored him among others.

CSF

Lennonist wrote: »

There was no clamour to get Stokes to start tonight, even on this particular thread on Boards.ie.

There may have been posters asking why he wasn't in the squad. He's definitely an option, which he wasn't in the last few years of Trap's reign, because he systematically ignored him among others.

There was clamour for Stokes to be given a chance to prove himself. Which he now has been and is largely (but not entirely) to blame for this result.

CSF

CSF wrote: »

There Which he now has been and is largely (but not entirely) to blame for this result.

That's harsh. He's not up to much, but with or without him there I think we'd be in much the same position. If he'd taken that chance, I think Germany would have just stepped it up a notch, and actually converted one of their 15 chances

CSF

Deleted User wrote: »

That's harsh. He's not up to much, but with or without him there I think we'd be in much the same position. If he'd taken that chance, I think Germany would have just stepped it up a notch, and actually converted one of their 15 chances

He gave Germany a goal, missed an easy chance, and wasted 2 more great opportunities. Massive negative impact.

Agreed that Germany have the potential to step it up another gear but you can only give yourself a chance by not giving away silly goals, and by taking the few clearcut chances you do get.

CSF

CSF wrote: »

He gave Germany a goal, missed an easy chance, and wasted 2 more great opportunities. Massive negative impact.

Agreed that Germany have the potential to step it up another gear but you can only give yourself a chance by not giving away silly goals, and by taking the few clearcut chances you do get.

I hear you, and I absolutely don't rate the lad (see above), but I still think that if you took him out, the result would have been much the same, therefore I don't think his impact was game changing

CSF

Deleted User wrote: »

I hear you, and I absolutely don't rate the lad (see above), but I still think that if you took him out, the result would have been much the same, therefore I don't think his impact was game changing

With that attitude though, the underdog just shouldn't turn up. And the result couldn't be much the same, Stokes has no excuse to not have at least 1, probably 2.

Lennonist

CSF wrote: »

There was clamour for Stokes to be given a chance to prove himself. Which he now has been and is largely (but not entirely) to blame for this result.

The "clamour" I think, is in your head.

CSF

Lennonist wrote: »

The "clamour" I think, is in your head.

I think the fact that this thread exists in itself warrants this discussion.

fullstop

Lennonist wrote: »

The "clamour" I think, is in your head.

Why is it offending you so much?

Seaneh

fullstop wrote: »

Why is it offending you so much?

Because CSF is full of beans and creating a situation which never happened for the sake of having a go at people who wanted Trap gone so he can try save face for being a bluefaced trap apologist for so long.

As bad as we were tonight, we were a lot better than the home match against Germany.

Lennonist

CSF wrote: »

I think the fact that this thread exists in itself warrants this discussion.

What discussion? Whether Stokes should be in the Ireland squad or the "clamour" in your head?

Stokes should be in the Ireland squad, in my view.

Seaneh

Lennonist wrote: »

What discussion? Whether Stokes should be in the Ireland squad or the "clamour" in your head?

Stokes should be in the Ireland squad, in my view.

I think anyone with half a brain would agree.

Dempsey

CSF wrote: »

There was clamour for Stokes to be given a chance to prove himself. Which he now has been and is largely (but not entirely) to blame for this result.

I think you are setting the bar impossibly high if you expect players to come in from the cold and perform against Germany away from home

A_Sober_Paddy

He was awful tonight...Had 3 chances and wasted all 3 of them

CSF

Seaneh wrote: »

Because CSF is full of beans and creating a situation which never happened for the sake of having a go at people who wanted Trap gone so he can try save face for being a bluefaced trap apologist for so long.

As bad as we were tonight, we were a lot better than the home match against Germany.

Me? Trap apologist? Think you have the wrong person.

Lennonist

fullstop wrote: »

Why is it offending you so much?

He was directly asked, but he chose to swerve it, which is entirely his choice.

CSF

Dempsey wrote: »

I think you are setting the bar impossibly high if you expect players to come in from the cold and perform against Germany away from home

Maybe so, he was particularly poor though.

CSF

Lennonist wrote: »

He was directly asked, but he chose to swerve it, which is entirely his choice.

I wasn't swerving, as far as I can tell Stokes is the only one with a thread calling for his inclusion, I've seen calls for it elsewhere on this forum, the Celtic thread, Facebook, Twitter. When a thread like this exists, I think it warrants discussion.

The_Kew_Tour

Shocking tonight.

Doyle is a gonner too.

Lennonist

CSF wrote: »

I wasn't swerving, as far as I can tell Stokes is the only one with a thread calling for his inclusion, I've seen calls for it elsewhere on this forum, the Celtic thread, Facebook, Twitter. When a thread like this exists, I think it warrants discussion.

Yeah, calls for Stokes to be included in the squad.

CSF

Lennonist wrote: »

Yeah, calls for Stokes to be included in the squad.

I haven't said anyone was demanding his start though. But with a player with that much discussion, I think it warrants discussion when he gets a chance and makes an absolute balls of it.

Seaneh

CSF wrote: »

I haven't said anyone was demanding his start though. But with a player with that much discussion, I think it warrants discussion when he gets a chance and makes an absolute balls of it.

So what strikers would you have ahead of him in the squad?

Doyle? Sammon? Keogh?

Seriously, who?

We only have 3 half decent strikers in Long, Keane and Walters, after that we don't exactly have much to pick from.

Stokes, on form and ability, deserves to be in the squad, easily, and to argue otherwise is, well, stupid.

homerjay2005

7 chances just shown their for Stokes...a decent striker would have scored at least 3 of them.

The_Kew_Tour

The air shot took the biscuit. had he blown it over the bar fair enough but to completely miss it was lol worthy for while.

CSF

Seaneh wrote: »

So what strikers would you have ahead of him in the squad?

Doyle? Sammon? Keogh?

Seriously, who?

We only have 3 half decent strikers in Long, Keane and Walters, after that we don't exactly have much to pick from.

Stokes, on form and ability, deserves to be in the squad, easily, and to argue otherwise is, well, stupid.

I'd probably have Doyle ahead of him for his international experience. not that I would want either seeing a whole lot of competitive gametime. I think we should only be playing 1 up front going forward anyway.

Again with that said, I don't have any particular issues with Stokes being a squad member, as long as his contribution when called upon is significantly better than that tonight.

grenache

At least Stokes got in the position to be on the end of chances - if it was a certain Robbie Keane you'd find him standing out on the wing as far away from goal as possible.

simongurnick

grenache wrote: »

At least Stokes got in the position to be on the end of chances - if it was a certain Robbie Keane you'd find him standing out on the wing as far away from goal as possible.

Absolute nonsense man. You have to be taking the piss mate?

grenache

simongurnick wrote: »

Absolute nonsense man. You have to be taking the piss mate?

No. You're looking at the game in black and white terms. How many chances did Robbie Keane have against either Sweden of Germany? Few if any. He tucked in a rebound against the Swedes and that was about it. Stokes found himself on the end of more chances tonight than Keane has all year. Yes he made a dogs dinner of them, but at least we are creating the chances and against strong opposition. Considering it was his appearance in a green jersey in 2 years, I was encouraged by Stokes' enthusiasm, if not his finishing.

CSF

grenache wrote: »

No. You're looking at the game in black and white terms. How many chances did Robbie Keane have against either Sweden of Germany? Few if any. He tucked in a rebound against the Swedes and that was about it. Stokes found himself on the end of more chances tonight than Keane has all year. Yes he made a dogs dinner of them, but at least we are creating the chances and against strong opposition. Considering it was his appearance in a green jersey in 2 years, I was encouraged by Stokes' enthusiasm, if not his finishing.

If you're not taking the piss, you should be. Keane made the most of whatever chances he got and put them away. Phenomenal return for an Irish striker.

Ryu Hayabusa

I'd prefer Conor Sammon to Anthony Keogh, Sammon offers some steel to the front line where as Keogh is a buffoon

ben.schlomo

Ryu Hayabusa wrote: »

I'd prefer Conor Sammon to Anthony Keogh, Sammon offers some steel to the front line where as Keogh is a buffoon

Who the fudge is Anthony Keogh???

Seaneh

Ryu Hayabusa wrote: »

I'd prefer Conor Sammon to Anthony Keogh, Sammon offers some steel to the front line where as Keogh is a buffoon

Connor Sammon is one of the worst player to ever wear an Irish jersey.

Lennonist

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Who the fudge is Anthony Keogh???

:pac: Does he mean Anthony Stokes or does he mean Andy Keogh?

Either way he's wrong to prefer Conor Sammon to either of them.

He's very average.

Good enough for the Scottish league but out of his depth when it matters

Seaneh

rarnes1 wrote: »

He's very average.

Good enough for the Scottish league but out of his depth when it matters

But, seriously, who do we have that's better besides Keane, Walters and Long?

Nobody, on that basis, he needs to be in the squad unless we switch to one up top, and even then, I'd have him in the squad because odds are Walters will be used on the wing.

Seaneh

Seaneh wrote: »

But, seriously, who do we have that's better besides Keane, Walters and Long?

Nobody, on that basis, he needs to be in the squad unless we switch to one up top, and even then, I'd have him in the squad because odds are Walters will be used on the wing.

Keane is still imo head and shoulders above the rest of them.

Major problem when he quits

Seaneh

rarnes1 wrote: »

Keane is still imo head and shoulders above the rest of them.

Major problem when he quits

But that doesn't answer my question at all.

Seaneh

Seaneh wrote: »

But that doesn't answer my question at all.

The answer to your question is probably nobody unfortunately.

Dempsey

I think people would cut off their nose to spite their face when it comes to certain things.

I didnt see the match live but I watch in full on the rte player afterwards. I think the rte pundits some of their criticisms reeked of vested interests.

Stokes could have done better with 3 of the chances created but remember that neuer pulled off some fantastic saves from clarke during the match aswell. The encouraging thing is that he's getting into those positions and not chasing corner flags like long, walters and doyle do. if ireland managed to finish a chance at 1 r 2 nil, it could had been a different game. Conceding the first so early ruined the gameplan.

That said, id have used different tactics and players to noel king but its not a stick to beat him or the players with

Its abit much to bring in players from the cold and expect them to perform like they were never gone, especially against Germany away with the tactics employed.