Slovakia vs Ireland, Nations League Playoff - Mod Note in OP

Hammer Archer

Sheridan81 wrote: »

I admit I got the 'easy' part wrong.

But they didn't win in the 90. You lost your bet that you bragged about. You don't really know much going by your posts. Bookies must love you.

NewMan1982

For everyone saying we were not a good team tonight do you realise how low the bar is at the moment?

We’ve been dire for years now.

Some of us are encouraged by seeing the team been reasonably comfortable in possession and creating a few chances.

It’s a starting point. Hopefully we continue to improve and also unearth a few top level players in the coming years.

What’s the point in scraping into a tournament with absolute atrocious football and being certain of going home in the group stages?

At least if we change our style and eventually become good enough we will have some hope of getting beyond the groups.

Sheridan81

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

It's easy see the people who only watch Ireland once every 4 years

To be fair it's the only way to stay sane.

kona

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

It's easy see the people who only watch Ireland once every 4 years

Well at this stage any more your wasting your time.

yohan the great

Kaden Cool Ramp wrote: »

Good wumming

We did play very well against Denmark, who are a much better team than Slovakia

pgj2015

Morrison J wrote: »

Not sure why you're rolling your eyes. That's the level he's playing at realistically.

He's half decent but plenty to prove yet to say he's ready to play ahead of Browne or Molumby. Reminds me of people crying out for Daryl Horgan to start games when at Dundalk. No taking into account of the step up in level.

LOI is not the same level as the conference.

Byrne would have slotted that chance browne missed tonight. Horgan played well any time he was given a chance with Ireland.

Sheridan81

Hammer Archer wrote: »

But they didn't win in the 90. You lost your bet that you bragged about. You don't really know much going by your posts.

Admittedly I don't know much about the Irish team. I'm a Frenchman after all.

Hammer Archer

Perhaps some are happy to see teams like Georgia dominate possession against us and watch us struggle against Gibraltar, but to me, today's performance was an improvement.
As someone mentioned previously, when McCarthy came in in 1997 to replace Charlton, he didn't win his first 7 games.

RoryMac

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I don't get the outpouring of optimism really.

Kenny has now had 300 minutes of implementing his style and in all that time, against pretty average opposition, we've managed 1 goal - a Duffy header from a set-piece.

We were played off the park by a Bulgaria team that were well below us in the rankings, and the same thing happened against Finland. Tonight we took on a Slovakia side missing 3 of their most important players, most notably Skriniar, and we managed 3 shots on target in 120 minutes of football. For all the possession football talk, we were beaten on that metric 54% to 46% by Slovakia.

For years on this forum I read supporters bemoaning the more pragmatic approach of Trap, MON and McCarthy, lamenting that we really DID have the players who could do that style. Damn those dinosaur coaches we would be told. And yet our new coach who is associated with that very style tonight turned towards the more pragmatic players. This resulted in watching Hendrick pinging passes out to the mascots.

The question needs to be asked: what is the identity of this team under Kenny? If he wants to play possession football, why did he overlook the likes of Byrne and Cullen, players more suited to that style? If the answer is he doesn't believe those players are good enough at international level, then that begs the question why we have a coach with Kenny's philosophy at all.

Think about this. We actually replaced an experienced pragmatic coach who picked a pragmatic team, in favour of someone with a philosophy of possession-based football, who implemented this philosophy tonight by selecting a pragmatic side without any possession footballers in it.

A decent thirty minutes or so against a depleted Slovakia isn't my idea of turning a corner. We will get more of an idea in the next two games against Wales and Finland whether there are any signs of improvement. If Kenny still has no wins from his first 5 games then it will be reasonable to ask whether this man really is Irish football's messiah, or just a false prophet who is in way over his head.

I'd agree with most of that, it was an ok performance against a poor Slovenia team.

But it's far too early to make judgements on Kenny in the job, I think he's trying to put together a team that can play some decent football and rebuild the confidence of the squad after a pretty negative few years.

We're short on quality and the young players coming through are still a bit off the required level.

I don't see how he can be blamed for tonight, picked a solid team but ultimately we didn't score the chances we created

Brock Turnpike

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I don't get the outpouring of optimism really.

Kenny has now had 300 minutes of implementing his style and in all that time, against pretty average opposition, we've managed 1 goal - a Duffy header from a set-piece.

We were played off the park by a Bulgaria team that were well below us in the rankings, and the same thing happened against Finland. Tonight we took on a Slovakia side missing 3 of their most important players, most notably Skriniar, and we managed 3 shots on target in 120 minutes of football. For all the possession football talk, we were beaten on that metric 54% to 46% by Slovakia.

For years on this forum I read supporters bemoaning the more pragmatic approach of Trap, MON and McCarthy, lamenting that we really DID have the players who could do that style. Damn those dinosaur coaches we would be told. And yet our new coach who is associated with that very style tonight turned towards the more pragmatic players. This resulted in watching Hendrick pinging passes out to the mascots.

The question needs to be asked: what is the identity of this team under Kenny? If he wants to play possession football, why did he overlook the likes of Byrne and Cullen, players more suited to that style? If the answer is he doesn't believe those players are good enough at international level, then that begs the question why we have a coach with Kenny's philosophy at all.

Think about this. We actually replaced an experienced pragmatic coach who picked a pragmatic team, in favour of someone with a philosophy of possession-based football, who implemented this philosophy tonight by selecting a pragmatic side without any possession footballers in it.

A decent thirty minutes or so against a depleted Slovakia isn't my idea of turning a corner. We will get more of an idea in the next two games against Wales and Finland whether there are any signs of improvement. If Kenny still has no wins from his first 5 games then it will be reasonable to ask whether this man really is Irish football's messiah, or just a false prophet who is in way over his head.

Honestly you should just stop posting about football on this site. A man who pretends to watch several games simultaneously every time there's a champions league game on, and yet seemingly is clueless about football.

kona

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I don't get the outpouring of optimism really.

Kenny has now had 300 minutes of implementing his style and in all that time, against pretty average opposition, we've managed 1 goal - a Duffy header from a set-piece.

We were played off the park by a Bulgaria team that were well below us in the rankings, and the same thing happened against Finland. Tonight we took on a Slovakia side missing 3 of their most important players, most notably Skriniar, and we managed 3 shots on target in 120 minutes of football. For all the possession football talk, we were beaten on that metric 54% to 46% by Slovakia.

For years on this forum I read supporters bemoaning the more pragmatic approach of Trap, MON and McCarthy, lamenting that we really DID have the players who could do that style. Damn those dinosaur coaches we would be told. And yet our new coach who is associated with that very style tonight turned towards the more pragmatic players. This resulted in watching Hendrick pinging passes out to the mascots.

The question needs to be asked: what is the identity of this team under Kenny? If he wants to play possession football, why did he overlook the likes of Byrne and Cullen, players more suited to that style? If the answer is he doesn't believe those players are good enough at international level, then that begs the question why we have a coach with Kenny's philosophy at all.

Think about this. We actually replaced an experienced pragmatic coach who picked a pragmatic team, in favour of someone with a philosophy of possession-based football, who implemented this philosophy tonight by selecting a pragmatic side without any possession footballers in it.

A decent thirty minutes or so against a depleted Slovakia isn't my idea of turning a corner. We will get more of an idea in the next two games against Wales and Finland whether there are any signs of improvement. If Kenny still has no wins from his first 5 games then it will be reasonable to ask whether this man really is Irish football's messiah, or just a false prophet who is in way over his head.

They will be for want of a Better word fingered by wales too.

But its ok our midfield put 3 passes together and brown almost made the keeper make a save from a deflected shot .Got a corner.
We were unlucky on the break for the 3 wales goals.

Can see progress.

topmanamillion

We finished 3rd in a 3 horse race in qualifying. And the only reason we had a game tonight was an anomaly where rock bottom of a Nations League group was good enough to get a play off.
There was some very positive signs tonight and Kenny looks like he'll blow a hole in the Trap and MON guff and BS about us not having the players to keep the ball on the deck for 2 minutes.

Ferris_Bueller

Ah Jesus lads what a disappointing result. So many emotions right now, gutted that we will not be competing at the euros next summer in our own country. It will make it extra difficult if Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England are there. Part of me feels like it was a missed opportunity tonight considering Slovakia were no great shakes and the chances we had. It's hard to feel anything but disappointment right now. If the country ever needed a boost, tonight was the night.

But on the other hand, so many positive aspects to that performance. I will be the first to admit I am a Stephen Kenny fan, but I felt a weird feeling of disappointment after the two games last month even though I knew we shouldn't judge him after two games. It just felt like we were very far off what we hoped we might become. Tonight was a different story though and one of the most positive performances I've seen from an Ireland team in years. Players who have previously looked so average finally looked like international footballers, some of our better players like Duffy and McGoldrick were exceptional. It was refreshing to see us keep possession somewhat comfortably higher up the pitch and create a number of chances from open play against decent opposition.

Its hard to feel any nice feelings right now and I am definitely disappointed about going out. It will take a couple of days to get over but at the same time I am optimistic about the future and more confident than I was this time yesterday that Stephen Kenny is the right man to take us forward and that Ireland can play football.

DM_7

Mod: annoying result but please keep it civil.

No abuse, no having a go at or ranting against other posters.

- If you can't be civil don't post.
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- If you see a post you don't like, but decide to reply, put forward a point that furthers discussion.

Please do not reply to this mod note in thread

simongurnick

As gutted as I am about the result, I feel positive about the future. That performance was night and day from Finland and Bulgaria and another day , one of our chances go in. Hourihanes being the proverbial sitter.
The fact we have players like Idah, Connelly, Byrne etc. Not even feature tonight brings hope.
I know its early days but the the combo of kenny with duffer and Andrews could be good.
Not sure if anyone on here is involved in rovers underage set up, but by all accounts duff was bringing a new level of professionalism to the team.
Slovaks really did t look like scoring. We need to build on that and bag some onions.
Coybig

Man with broke phone

Ireland didnt look like a 1980s team.

You can see the manager changing things. Im excited about the future. Some good players coming through.

For the first time in decades I think we are improving as a team, at a rate where we will go up through the rankings over the next few years.

Francie Barrett

Morrison J wrote: »

Not sure why you're rolling your eyes. That's the level he's playing at realistically.

He's half decent but plenty to prove yet to say he's ready to play ahead of Browne or Molumby. Reminds me of people crying out for Daryl Horgan to start games when at Dundalk. No taking into account of the step up in level.

The step up from LOI to international level is huge. While it's certainly worth considering Byrne, the time to do it is not in a vital one legged knock out tie to qualify for a major tournament.

dfx-

Sheridan81 wrote: »

I thought it was poor stuff. Pundits need to cop on. Nil-nil versus an average Slovakia side missing key players doesn't indicate there are better days ahead. Look at the stats-they're in Slovakia's favour. We didn't really deserve to win and we didn't win. We almost never win against half-decent sides. Same old bog-standard, piss-poor rubbish.

The only reason we're in contention in the first place is because every Tom, Dick and Harry is being given a chance to qualify for tournaments nowadays. Even Scotland are still in it.

If Northern Ireland beat the Slovaks it'll just illustrate perfectly how bad we are.

Look lads, I'm done supporting Ireland. From now on, I'm sticking to Liverpool and I'm going to pretend to be French/German/Brazilian on here-whichever one suits best depending on the situation. I'd appreciate it if you played along, thanks.

Yours,
Sheridanio.

Sheridan81 wrote: »

Admittedly I don't know much about the Irish team. I'm a Frenchman after all.

Ok, that's enough of this. Do not post in this thread again.

NewMan1982

We will probably see a different set of players start in Wales with the 3 games to play in this window.

siblers

It's very frustrating. Got a very handy draw because of some odd geographical rule which screwed N.Ireland over. Got a playoff place we didn't deserve. Largely dominate the game and still can't score. How the **** didn't Hourihane score I don't know

We have a much better team that N.Ireland yet they are in the final.

Even Scotland qualify and they are awful

radiata

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I don't get the outpouring of optimism really.

Kenny has now had 300 minutes of implementing his style and in all that time, against pretty average opposition, we've managed 1 goal - a Duffy header from a set-piece.

We were played off the park by a Bulgaria team that were well below us in the rankings, and the same thing happened against Finland. Tonight we took on a Slovakia side missing 3 of their most important players, most notably Skriniar, and we managed 3 shots on target in 120 minutes of football. For all the possession football talk, we were beaten on that metric 54% to 46% by Slovakia.

For years on this forum I read supporters bemoaning the more pragmatic approach of Trap, MON and McCarthy, lamenting that we really DID have the players who could do that style. Damn those dinosaur coaches we would be told. And yet our new coach who is associated with that very style tonight turned towards the more pragmatic players. This resulted in watching Hendrick pinging passes out to the mascots.

The question needs to be asked: what is the identity of this team under Kenny? If he wants to play possession football, why did he overlook the likes of Byrne and Cullen, players more suited to that style? If the answer is he doesn't believe those players are good enough at international level, then that begs the question why we have a coach with Kenny's philosophy at all.

Think about this. We actually replaced an experienced pragmatic coach who picked a pragmatic team, in favour of someone with a philosophy of possession-based football, who implemented this philosophy tonight by selecting a pragmatic side without any possession footballers in it.

A decent thirty minutes or so against a depleted Slovakia isn't my idea of turning a corner. We will get more of an idea in the next two games against Wales and Finland whether there are any signs of improvement. If Kenny still has no wins from his first 5 games then it will be reasonable to ask whether this man really is Irish football's messiah, or just a false prophet who is in way over his head.

Talk about a load of waffle!

kona

radiata wrote: »

Talk about a load of waffle!

Well, we are out. Waffle it is.

They couldnt put the ball in the goal to save their lives.

Hourihane miss was absolutely inexcusable.

And sort of striker would know that if the ball comes.to.you there just ****in smash it into the corner no messing.

Maybe kenny has been let down, but here he is over 200mins in and only one goal.

Last min. Corner. From a cb.

The_Kew_Tour

siblers wrote: »

It's very frustrating. Got a very handy draw because of some odd geographical rule which screwed N.Ireland over. Got a playoff place we didn't deserve. Largely dominate the game and still can't score. How the **** didn't Hourihane score I don't know

We have a much better team that N.Ireland yet they are in the final.

Even Scotland qualify and they are awful

North have great chance alright,Scots have go Serbia which wont be easy but I guess if not in raffle like us cant win

kona

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

North have great chance alright,Scots have go Serbia which wont be easy but I guess if not in raffle like us cant win

Fact is, we wouldnt have beaten N.I

scouserstation

kona wrote: »

Fact is, we wouldnt have beaten N.I

This would of been an interesting game, 2 ex league of Ireland managers going head to head for the euros

fullstop

kona wrote: »

Fact is, we wouldnt have beaten N.I

That’s not a fact though, is it? It’s your opinion.

kona

fullstop wrote: »

That’s not a fact though, is it? It’s your opinion.

Sure is, we have scored 1 goal in like 4 games. Odds on to win alright :)

You must be a superstar gamblooor!

Fact is for 2 years youd have made a deposit on a house if you rolled A e50 over a under 2.5 in ireland games.

kona

scouserstation wrote: »

This would of been an interesting game, 2 ex league of Ireland managers going head to head for the euros

60:40 possession ireland. 3.1 northern ireland. Everybody goes home happy as per boards.ie and ybig.ie

PROGRESS

simongurnick

kona wrote: »

Sure is, we have scored 1 goal in like 4 games. Odds on to win alright :)

You must be a superstar gamblooor!

Fact is for 2 years youd have made a deposit on a house if you rolled A e50 over a under 2.5 in ireland games.

This is a fact. And I know this...and I like a bet but i am on optimist to a fault. Had money on Shane scoring a header today and hourihane scoring
My cover was Ireland winning on pens. Oh well.

breezy1985

siblers wrote: »

It's very frustrating. Got a very handy draw because of some odd geographical rule which screwed N.Ireland over. Got a playoff place we didn't deserve. Largely dominate the game and still can't score. How the **** didn't Hourihane score I don't know

We have a much better team that N.Ireland yet they are in the final.

Even Scotland qualify and they are awful

Well NI have to play Slovakia now so we can test that theory out.

And Scotland are not there yet either

Doctor Jimbob

I'm no huge Kenny fan but you can't blame the manager for that last night unless you think he should have been out there putting the chances away himself.

smelly sock

It feels a lot different than any defeat from the last decade or so. There is a future there and if we dominate teams at out level away from home the results will come good soon.

The_Kew_Tour

Slovakia will have 3 key players back for NI game too.

Serbia beat very good Norway team in Oslo.

Our neighbour's wont have it all their own way. North do look better than 50/50 though

The_Kew_Tour

Doctor Jimbob wrote: »

I'm no huge Kenny fan but you can't blame the manager for that last night unless you think he should have been out there putting the chances away himself.

Agree with that to extent. When was last time Ireland created 3 clear cut chances in a game like this. Definitely positives although this will sting for some time

smelly sock

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Slovakia will have 3 key players back for NI game too.

Serbia beat very good Norway team in Oslo.

Our neighbour's wont have it all their own way. North do look better than 50/50 though

Yeh please god they have an off day. I yhink they should progress being at home though. Hopefully euro 2021 is then cancelled.

The_Kew_Tour

smelly sock wrote: »

Yeh please god they have an off day. I yhink they should progress being at home though. Hopefully euro 2021 is then cancelled.

They might qualify but reckon there a chance too that with Covid still going be about next summer that Euros might be placed in 1 country like CL snd Europa League.

It wont be cancelled but I think making these teams travel all over Europe wont be wise. Playing them in 1 or few venues close together makes more sense now.

Zico !

Played some good football last night but we couldnt finish a plate of chips.

no way we deserved to be in this play off in the first place total farce how many opportunities we had to qualify jokeshop

doherty you could tell he was going to miss no composure barely a run up and got injured a few minutes before he took it nah i wouldnt left him take one.not scoring from 12 yards if your a pro is poor.

anyway one good point is our awful day tripper fans wont humiliate us with their bs next summer

plibige

kona wrote: »

Fact is, we wouldnt have beaten N.I

How is that a fact, you have no way to prove that. You keep making sweeping statements as if they are facts but they aren't.

Stop talking nonsense.

We lost a playoff on penalties that we should have won, these things happen.

If you can't see the positives in changing the style of play, fine. But a lot of us can.

If you need me to explain it its simple. We have been struggling against the likes of Georgia and Gibraltar in recent years. Hit and hope and keeping it tight is archaic stuff, that every team, including the minnows knows how to deal with now.

We have a high number of players playing week in week out in the Premier league again. Why not allow them to play football. Its not that we aren't going to be a threat from corners and set pieces its that we now have the opportunity to create from elsewhere.

Rome wasn't built in a day, no team should ever be judge on 200 minutes. Even the suggestion is nonsensical to the point of farcical.

If you can't see the positives in that, that's fine, but that's your issue not ours. A lot of people like to look for positives, its nice when there are enough we don't have to look too hard.

I for one am very positive about our chances over the next 4 years. And to be honest I think that is a reasonable amount of time to give Kenny, and expect him to get.

No need to be throwing the baby out with the bath water after 200 minutes, and a lost penalty shootout

AndyBoBandy

Having had the night to absorb the result, a few points/notes.

Very disappointing to to not still be in with a chance of qualifying. Slovakia were there for the taking, and sadly we didn't take them and paid the price. We'd have rightly fancied our chances against Northern Ireland. Richie Sadlier said it very well though, that on the basis of the qualification group, as well as the Nations League, we were diabolical, and before last night, we'd have had no qualms about not qualifying for the Euro's because we were awful. We were shockingly bad.

It's very unfortunate to not be in a tournament we are partly hosting, however this is somewhat negated by the fact that the games will all more than likely be behind closed doors (there's no end in sight to Covid, and I don't think fans will be attending any matches any time over the next 12 months).

We played very well last night, better than any game under McCarthy, and one of the better performances I've seen from Ireland in a long long time (we actually tried to play football, and did).

Yes we couldn't finish in a brothel blaa, blaa, blaa, etc, etc.... but Rome was not built in a day, and if we don't have a goal scorer, we don't have a goal scorer, theres feck all we can do... I saw enough last night to be very confident going forwards in this team and manager. The goals will come, players will come through, and we'll score goals playing good football along the way. It's a long term project to transform a hoof it up the pitch team into a football playing team, and Kenny needs the time to do it right.

We went toe to toe with a similarly ranked team last night, and for large parts of the game were the better team, creating far more chances. We've struggled in recent times to play like that against teams ranked 50-100 places below us, and normally when we'd play teams in or around us rankings wise, we played 'puke' football "Defend, Defend, Defend, and we'll see where we are with 10 minutes to go, or try to score from a set piece".

I really really hope Kenny will get the time he needs from fans and media alike, rather than that typical Irish thing of 'sack him' and get someone else in only to be back to square 1 all over again.... If we do this right, we could have a great & successful* manager on our hands, and someone that could be managing Ireland for 10+ years.... but here's hoping eh??

*successful for me would be qualifying for perhaps 2-3 of the next 5 major tournaments, while playing decent football along the way.

Billcarson

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

They might qualify but reckon there a chance too that with Covid still going be about next summer that Euros might be placed in 1 country like CL snd Europa League.

It wont be cancelled but I think making these teams travel all over Europe wont be wise. Playing them in 1 or few venues close together makes more sense now.

I think that's what they should do and leave the euros being played around Europe till 2024. What's the point in playing around Europe if no fans or few fans can go to the matches. Who knows maybe Ireland will get to play in the euros in dublin after all,in 2024.

AndyBoBandy

Billcarson wrote: »

I think that's what they should do and leave the euros being played around Europe till 2024. What's the point in playing around Europe if no fans or few fans can go to the matches. Who knows maybe Ireland will get to play in the euros in dublin after all,in 2024.

This.

Pick a big city with 2-3 big stadiums and do it there, like Madrid or London.

Hate to say it but London would be ideal for it... Wembley, Emirates, Spurs, Olympic Stadium etc... even though they'd be all empty...

TheCitizen

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Having had the night to absorb the result, a few points/notes.

Very disappointing to to not still be in with a chance of qualifying. Slovakia were there for the taking, and sadly we didn't take them and paid the price. We'd have rightly fancied our chances against Northern Ireland. Richie Sadlier said it very well though, that on the basis of the qualification group, as well as the Nations League, we were diabolical, and before last night, we'd have had no qualms about not qualifying for the Euro's because we were awful. We were shockingly bad.

It's very unfortunate to not be in a tournament we are partly hosting, however this is somewhat negated by the fact that the games will all more than likely be behind closed doors (there's no end in sight to Covid, and I don't think fans will be attending any matches any time over the next 12 months).

We played very well last night, better than any game under McCarthy, and one of the better performances I've seen from Ireland in a long long time (we actually tried to play football, and did).

Yes we couldn't finish in a brothel blaa, blaa, blaa, etc, etc.... but Rome was not built in a day, and if we don't have a goal scorer, we don't have a goal scorer, theres feck all we can do... I saw enough last night to be very confident going forwards in this team and manager. The goals will come, players will come through, and we'll score goals playing good football along the way. It's a long term project to transform a hoof it up the pitch team into a football playing team, and Kenny needs the time to do it right.

We went toe to toe with a similarly ranked team last night, and for large parts of the game were the better team, creating far more chances. We've struggled in recent times to play like that against teams ranked 50-100 places below us, and normally when we'd play teams in or around us rankings wise, we played 'puke' football "Defend, Defend, Defend, and we'll see where we are with 10 minutes to go, or try to score from a set piece".

I really really hope Kenny will get the time he needs from fans and media alike, rather than that typical Irish thing of 'sack him' and get someone else in only to be back to square 1 all over again.... If we do this right, we could have a great & successful* manager on our hands, and someone that could be managing Ireland for 10+ years.... but here's hoping eh??

*successful for me would be qualifying for perhaps 2-3 of the next 5 major tournaments, while playing decent football along the way.

I don't see that happening at all. I think anyone with an ounce of sense wouldn't blame the manager for that exit last night. Stephen Kenny will get time and support so long as there are signs that good work is being put in by himself and the players and there was signs of that last night despite going out on penalties.

breezy1985

Most international teams bar the elite play pretty average football I don't understand when people dump on Ireland. From what I can see we are one good goal poacher away from being one of the best teams at our level.
People forget what massive overachievers we have been and looking objectively from the outside I would say most foreign commentators would say Ireland are about where they should be given our size and resources

Loafing Oaf

eire4 wrote: »

Distinct lack of quality other then at the back really.

Seemingly Grealish tore it up for England last night.:(

NewMan1982

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Seemingly Grealish tore it up for England last night.:(

Some good news though, I reckon Philips is set to take Rice’s place long term

WesternZulu

breezy1985 wrote: »

Most international teams bar the elite play pretty average football I don't understand when people dump on Ireland. From what I can see we are one good goal poacher away from being one of the best teams at our level.
People forget what massive overachievers we have been and looking objectively from the outside I would say most foreign commentators would say Ireland are about where they should be given our size and resources

Especially when you consider the lack of investment and the standing of our national league in Europe.

Where has Michael Obafemi been?

rob316

We will do nothing until we produce a striker of note again. I have high hopes for Connolly but hes young yet. All the pretty football or pragmatism in the world won't matter if there isn't someone there to finish.

Kenny needs time though, if we are seriously going to change how we play. Plenty of those lads can play technical football on the floor for their premiership teams, the ability is there.

champchamp

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Where has Michael Obafemi been?

Kenny didn't pick him for some unknown reason.

breezy1985

rob316 wrote: »

We will do nothing until we produce a striker of note again. I have high hopes for Connolly but hes young yet. All the pretty football or pragmatism in the world won't matter if there isn't someone there to finish.

Kenny needs time though, if we are seriously going to change how we play. Plenty of those lads can play technical football on the floor for their premiership teams, the ability is there.

I would say our number of completed passes in the opposition half in this match was higher than some Irish managers had in a whole term at the helm