Republic of Ireland Team Talk/News/Rumours 2020/2021 - see Mod Note in OP [18/11/20]

scouserstation

tastyt wrote: »

Really hope Byrne starts tonight . I don’t think he will though , I think Kenny has made it clear already that he won’t really consider him while he’s still at rovers judging on game time he has got already .

I know some think it’s a stupid thing to say because he plays for rovers but I honestly think he is our most talented and creative midfielder and I fully expect that to just be a given in 12/18 months time when he’s playing at a higher level

He’s not just another loi player , he’s arguably the best player to ever play in the league and is clearly too good for it , he has already done well in the Dutch league and can play at a higher level

I think Kenny views him as more of an impact player which I would agree with, he can come off the bench and cause problems for any team in the final 20 minutes or so of a game however tonight is a different occasion where we are seriously depleted of our usual first team players and I think Kenny should start him to get a good look at how he would cope starting a competitive must win game like this, there will probably never be a better opportunity for Byrne than tonight

gormdubhgorm

I hope for the sake of Ireland diehard supporters there are some positives today.

The poor lads on 'Irish Football Fan TV' are getting more dispirited and desperate sounded by the day. At this rate they might never smile again!

So for all thier sakes I hope there is at least a goal and no loss!
If that is not too optimistic?

henke

In other news Ireland U21s lead Luxembourg 1-0 on the stroke of HT.

secman

Interesting to see how Jack Byrne does from a start. Best of luck to him.

~Rebel~

secman wrote: »

Interesting to see how Jack Byrne does from a start. Best of luck to him.

Has this been posted officially anywhere? Can’t see it... he’s in the LiveScore lineup, but just their makeyuppy placeholder unconfirmed one.

~Rebel~

sugarman wrote: »

Nah team hasn't been confirmed yet, Kenny was fairly tight-lipped on it too when asked last night. I don't think Byrne will start. Probably go with Brady, Hourihane and one of Cullen or Knight.

Yeah, kind of expecting that too. Though would love to see Byrne start, since we already know exactly what Brady offers.

wadacrack

https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2030117--republic-of-ireland-vs-bulgaria/?iv=true

Randolph

O Shea Duffy Long Manning

Knight Hourihane Brady

Horgan Collins Curtis


Disappointing to see no Byrne.

wadacrack

https://twitter.com/swearimnotpaul/status/1329127641367109637

Father Hernandez

Is that the u21s officially out and not qualifying for the Euros?

I can see online is they won't be 1 of the top 5 runners up, wondering if anyone can confirm.

dfx-

yourdeadwright wrote: »

That begs the question why hasn't he ben picked up then ?

Surely he would be a no brainier for even a lower end of the championship team ?

Is there a reason he is not in England ?

You should listen to Byrne's interview on his career since Manchester City last year. Teams in relegation scraps playing him on the right and in 442s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4f4hB-ITK4

Burke also had no interest in being loaned from Preston to the lower leagues either after 6 months at Gillingham. It's good to see.

D.Q

sugarman wrote: »

Pointless playing Hourihane and Brady, we know exactly what we're going to get or more accurately not get from the pair of them.

He should be looking at Cullen for that DM spot.

I feel for Kenny, he's had a tough start to things and I think he has the right idea.

However, how many times can he persist with the same bollox in midfield and think it'll be different.

secman

sugarman wrote: »

Nah team hasn't been confirmed yet, Kenny was fairly tight-lipped on it too when asked last night. I don't think Byrne will start. Probably go with Brady, Hourihane and one of Cullen or Knight.

I had seen it on an app for results but it didnt say "probable". Since looked at it and only change ti lineup was Knight for Byrne.
Hopefully he gets a run out.

adaminho

D.Q wrote: »

I feel for Kenny, he's had a tough start to things and I think he has the right idea.

However, how many times can he persist with the same bollox in midfield and think it'll be different.

In fairness apart from Randolph, Duffy, Brady and Hourihane the rest of the team is light on experience. At least if you keep the spine of the team strong you have a chance.

adaminho

adaminho wrote: »

In fairness apart from Randolph, Duffy, Brady and Hourihane the rest of the team is light on experience. At least if you keep the spine of the team strong you have a chance.

Experience is a buzz word in football.

What did experience count for when Brady launched the ball into the stands when we had Waled backpeddling with McClean overlapping and other options.

Doesnt matter how many games someone has played. Making good decisions can happen as much at 17 as 34.

showpony1

I haven't seen much of Byrne, the only logical conclusion is he is a poor/overhyped player if Stephen hasn't picked him tonight.

Francie Barrett

showpony1 wrote: »

I haven't seen much of Byrne, the only logical conclusion is he is a poor/overhyped player if Stephen hasn't picked him tonight.

Byrne had a very bad case of Covid. My guess is that Kenny feels he doesn't have the fitness to start a full game.

Captain Havoc

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Byrne had a very bad case of Covid. My guess is that Kenny feels he doesn't have the fitness to start a full game.

I was also thinking that this could be the case. It's a pity as it would have been a chance for him to shine, particularly as Bulgaria's squad is also depleted.

DJIMI TRARORE

2-0,C+C up front with 1 each

Francie Barrett

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Looking at the FIFA rankings, it's also still (remotely) possible for us to get into the second pot. Russia have had a bit of a collapse in form and are now in danger of being caught up.

If we win our game against Bulgaria we will be on 1,457.6 + 5.96 = 1463.56

If Russia are beaten by Serbia they will be on 1,468.8 - 7.23 = 1461.57

If Romania draw to N. Ireland (or are beaten) they will be in 1,458.3 - 0.27 = 1,458.03

If Norway draw to Austria (or are beaten) they will be on 1,456.0 + 1.09 = 1457.09

Serbia are walloping Russia 4-0 at half-time. Norway and Romania both drawing. We just need to win this and I (think!) we are in pot 2! Come on lads, it doesn't have to be pretty. A goal in injury time going off Duffy's arse will do.

Quazzie

0-0 against the Bulgarian B team. This would be worse than a defeat.

noodler

Quazzie wrote: »

0-0 against the Bulgarian B team. This would be worse than a defeat.

It's almost an Irish C team tbf.

We should be winning

pjohnson

Quazzie wrote: »

0-0 against the Bulgarian B team. This would be worse than a defeat.

0-0 would comfortably be his best result.

franglan

Lads Norn Iron winning away to Romania and Russia getting hammered by Serbia... If this continues and we win we are second seeds I take it.

Francie Barrett

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Looking at the FIFA rankings, it's also still (remotely) possible for us to get into the second pot. Russia have had a bit of a collapse in form and are now in danger of being caught up.

If we win our game against Bulgaria we will be on 1,457.6 + 5.96 = 1463.56

If Russia are beaten by Serbia they will be on 1,468.8 - 7.23 = 1461.57

If Romania draw to N. Ireland (or are beaten) they will be in 1,458.3 - 0.27 = 1,458.03

If Norway draw to Austria (or are beaten) they will be on 1,456.0 + 1.09 = 1457.09

Romania are losing, Russia are getting hammered and only a 1 goal lead for Norway.

We look unlikely to score..again.. though.

Witcher

franglan wrote: »

Lads Norn Iron winning away to Romania and Russia getting hammered by Serbia... If this continues and we win we are second seeds I take it.

'And we win' says he and there more chance of Craggy Island FC winning

TheadoreT

Give Brian Kerr another crack for the world cup qualies.

gormdubhgorm

TheadoreT wrote: »

Give Brian Kerr another crack for the world cup qualies.

It would be madness. I thought he was hard done by the FAI was very close to doing well. Maybe too cautious.

Soups123

With the FAI in the mess it is, this Kenny experiment will be allowed rumble on for some time.

This is the worse Ireland I’ve ever seen, makes O’Neill and Trap look more adventurous going forward

Christy Browne

Cullen, Byrne, Parrott improved things massively when they came on. Kenny is caught between two stools and needs to pick one. Can’t try to change our style of play while playing the likes of Hourihane and Brady.

Was the perfect night to try out a Cullen, Knight, Byrne midfield. We’re going into the WC Qualifiers now knowing our midfield is crap and having barely tried any alternatives.

Soups123

Christy Browne wrote: »

Cullen, Byrne, Parrott improved things massively when they came on. Kenny is caught between two stools and needs to pick one. Can’t try to change our style of play while playing the likes of Hourihane and Brady.

Was the perfect night to try out a Cullen, Knight, Byrne midfield. We’re going into the WC Qualifiers now knowing our midfield is crap and having barely tried any alternatives.

You’d do a better job of it yourself Christy

MisterAnarchy

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Looking at the FIFA rankings, it's also still (remotely) possible for us to get into the second pot. Russia have had a bit of a collapse in form and are now in danger of being caught up.

If we win our game against Bulgaria we will be on 1,457.6 + 5.96 = 1463.56

If Russia are beaten by Serbia they will be on 1,468.8 - 7.23 = 1461.57

If Romania draw to N. Ireland (or are beaten) they will be in 1,458.3 - 0.27 = 1,458.03

If Norway draw to Austria (or are beaten) they will be on 1,456.0 + 1.09 = 1457.09

Did losing to England have an effect ?

Pawwed Rig

Christy Browne wrote: »

Cullen, Byrne, Parrott improved things massively when they came on. Kenny is caught between two stools and needs to pick one. Can’t try to change our style of play while playing the likes of Hourihane and Brady. .

He left it too late to bring on Byrne.
I thought Cullen was excellent when he came on. He was actually running and moving the ball quickly which contrasted with the pace of the game up to that point.
I liked Manning and O'Shea too and thought Long did well and stopped a certain goal at one point.
Robbie showed what he can do shooting wise and should have been launching them on sight to test the goalkeeper. Horgan was excellent in the first half but seemed to tire as the match wore on.
Negatives Curtis and Hourihane didn't show much. Duffy was poor again

If he made the subs on the hour mark it would have energised the team and I think we could have won it. 75/80 minute mark is too late and was too late against Wales too.

Francie Barrett

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Did losing to England have an effect ?

Losing to England made no difference.

Mr.Nice Guy

Kenny doesn't look like he is going to move away from Hendrick and Hourihane. They have been mainstays in his team so far. This is what he said about losing Hendrick for the game tonight:

"Jeff is doing really well at the moment. He has shown a better range of passing, a more ambitious range of passing, has shown an ability to drive forward with the ball in space, and he is putting in an unbelievable shift in terms of kilometres clocked up.

"That central midfield role probably suits him better than playing higher up the park. He will be a loss."

He seems to think he is going to turn Hendrick into an entirely new footballer. I think Hendrick has been an utter liability at times, and while he may have ambitious passing, the ambition rarely lives up to the end product. Hourihane tonight was hugely frustrating. He gave the ball away numerous times and didn't have the desire to win it back.

It's all well and good wanting to play a certain style but if you pick players ill-suited to it, nothing productive will come of it. Said it before: he's picking players that were useful in a pragmatic Ireland style and trying to convert them into something they're not. These guys are approaching 30 and aren't the future.

We also don't have ball-playing CBs. Duffy has shown at Celtic he is not comfortable, and he lacks pace. If we're going to play this way then he probably has to be dropped, but can you afford to drop the chap who scored the only goal of this managerial reign, and who still looks one of the best routes to a goal?

It's a mess.

tastyt

8 games in this awful performance is all on Kenny . At home against an awful side , no signs of progress no matter how you spin it.

And there is no point waffling on about a new style, bringing in a new era and trusting young players when you have the perfect opportunity to play them but persist with Hourihane, Brady , Collins.

Talks of progress?? Where ? Possession? Maybe . Chances created ? No way . Goals ? Enough said .

And to top it all off he waits until 15 mins to go to make an attacking substitution having not scored a goal from open play in 8 games .

I was happy with the appointment but it’s been an absolute disaster .

I think those players will go back to their clubs with an awful lot of doubts about Kenny now, coming from where he has he had to work extra hard to win them over , which I doubt he has .

Lastly, whatever about style, possession , shape blah blah blah , in 40 years supporting us I have never seen us play with less passion , urgency , energy or bite as we have done in the last 8 games and that’s ****ing sad .

We are also now a team that’s easy to play against and are ****e with the ball

Pawwed Rig

I was nearly shouting at the TV with Christie sauntering over to take the throw in late on and fiddling with the ball. Throw the thing in for Jaysus sake. 3 mins into injury time.

radiata

San Marino are the only team who scored less than Ireland in the Nations League, but they only played 4 games!

Francie Barrett

I feel sorry for Duffy. He gets dogs abuse for not being able to play it from out the back, but yet he is the one who is forced to be the deep-lying playmaker because the ball comes back to him from midfield so often and no one else is willing to take on the role. His defensive play was actually very good tonight, and he prevented what looked like a certain goal to me. But all that is forgotten because he played some bad passes. If Kenny wants us to play from the back, then the responsibility is on him to find a player who can actually do it.

Manning was poor. Maybe it was just a lack of match fitness, but compare him to O'Shea, and even Christie who actually ran at the defence; the difference was night and day. I have to question why Manning started at all tonight. O'Shea was probably MOTM for me. Faultless at right back defensively, was a threat going forward, wasn't afraid to get stuck in at all.

Brady is another getting dogs abuse, I don't think he did badly. His set piece delivery was excellent, and he created the best chance of the match. He certainly played a lot better than Hourihane, who offered no real shield for the defence, or very little going forward either.

Knight didn't look comfortable in the holding midfield position, but looked a lot better when he was switched with Horgan's position after he went off. I don't know where his future lies in terms of positions, this game suggests to me he is better further up the pitch.

I am amazed Brady gets slaughtered, yet the front three get off pretty much scot free. Curtis was anonymous, he was given one decent chance and he totally fluffed it. Collins tried hard, but he lacked the quality to have an effect. Horgan tries his bollix off, but other than create one decent chance, was anonymous.

tastyt

tastyt wrote: »

8 games in this awful performance is all on Kenny . At home against an awful side...

Our best third string team, roared on by the 5 fans, and you'll get people out there saying ridiculous stuff like "well, we were kinda missing about 18 players, it surely can't be all on him"

PTH2009

I thought having Kenny in charge was a positive thing?

LuckyLloyd

PTH2009 wrote: »

I thought having Kenny in charge was a positive thing?

It's a fairytale appointment for some people. But it's been absolute ****e. Gone quite obviously backwards compared to where we were under McCarthy. Luckily for Kenny, the FAI have no money to pay him off.

wadacrack

Guardiola wouldn't do much with a front three of Collins, Horgan and Curtis as your front three. Good league one players but International football obviously a massive step for them

LuckyLloyd

This is the first calendar year since 1971 where Ireland's senior team haven't won a game of football.

Soups123

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Our best third string team, roared on by the 5 fans, and you'll get people out there saying ridiculous stuff like "well, we were kinda missing about 18 players, it surely can't be all on him"

It’s a cop out really to excuse what’s happening with this, all teams are playing without crowds.

Losing players has been tough and you can accept some of the results but not all, the performances have been absolutely awful too again some allowances but not to the extent of what he’s delivered.

His use of players has been poor, his substitutions left late every time and a clear lack of ability to change up a game.

He’s came from a poor level, he’ll be the last LOI experiment ever

Dr. Bre

Frustrating cos Serbia and the north did us a favour !

Azatadine

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

It's a fairytale appointment for some people. But it's been absolute ****e. Gone quite obviously backwards compared to where we were under McCarthy. Luckily for Kenny, the FAI have no money to pay him off.

Yeah, if this was a few years ago I have no doubt he'd be gone. We are now performing worse than during the Staunton era. Such a bad appointment from day 1 and its not just hindsight on my part either.

LuckyLloyd

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

It's a fairytale appointment for some people. But it's been absolute ****e. Gone quite obviously backwards compared to where we were under McCarthy.

The glory days when our full strength side would sweep a goal or 2 past Gibraltar.

el Fenomeno

Witcher wrote: »

'And we win' says he and there more chance of Craggy Island FC winning

We could really do with the cunning guile and ruthless finishing of a Fr Romeo Sensini.

Mr.Nice Guy

wadacrack wrote: »

Guardiola wouldn't do much with a front three of Collins, Horgan and Curtis as your front three. Good league one players but International football obviously a massive step for them

Collins and Curtis featured last year in Ireland's 3-1 win over Bulgaria under McCarthy. Also had another League One player involved that day in Alan Judge.

Think the quality of coaching is a bigger issue than the quality of personnel.

Francie Barrett

Here's the seedings for the World Cup qualifiers.



Possible group of death: Belgium, Switzerland, Ireland, Bosnia, Armenia, Moldova.

A potentially handier group: Croatia, Slovakia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Andorra, San Marino.