Finland v Republic of Ireland - Match Thread - K.O 17.00 14/10/20 - Sky Sports

sterz

You'd swear it was a dreadful start. I'd be worried if the performances in general were terrible but they've been pretty much the opposite. The obvious thing that is lacking is someone to actually finish off the chances we're creating. Kenny doesn't have a whole lot to work with in that regard unfortunately. Connolly looks lively whenever I've seen him play but don't expect him to be the next Keane. The guy has only scored 5 goals in 33 games for Brighton.

BonnieSituation

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

Let's hope so, things can only get better after the start he's had.

This talk of long term plans or this being a 5 year plan, that simply won't wash.

For some of ye a 5 match plan won't wash.

weldoninhio

BonnieSituation wrote: »

For some of ye a 5 match plan won't wash.

There was a plan?? :eek:

LuckyLloyd

sterz wrote: »

And I think the team seemed more competitive and capable of a result in these last few games. I feel like they're moving in the right direction now under Kenny and that again, is just the facts of it.

Well, under McCarthy we drew three of four games against Switzerland and Denmark, and were knocking on the door for a winner in the last few minutes in Landsdowne against both.

We just got comfortably beaten home and away by Finland.

sterz wrote: »

You'd swear it was a dreadful start. I'd be worried if the performances in general were terrible but they've been pretty much the opposite. The obvious thing that is lacking is someone to actually finish off the chances we're creating. Kenny doesn't have a whole lot to work with in that regard unfortunately. Connolly looks lively whenever I've seen him play but don't expect him to be the next Keane. The guy has only scored 5 goals in 33 games for Brighton.

It is a dreadful start. If this was a qualification group we'd be out of the running with two games to go. The last two times that happened the manager was sacked.

Hopefully we can turn some promise in the performances into results by March. Because make no mistake, this is all about results. It is not a youth development squad.

EverythingGood

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Well, under McCarthy we drew three of four games against Switzerland and Denmark, and were knocking on the door for a winner in the last few minutes in Landsdowne against both.

We just got comfortably beaten home and away by Finland.



It is a dreadful start. If this was a qualification group we'd be out of the running with two games to go. The last two times that happened the manager was sacked.

Hopefully we can turn some promise in the performances into results by March. Because make no mistake, this is all about results. It is not a youth development squad.

Conversely we struggled against the superpowers of Gibraltar (home and away - and the away was diabolical) and Georgia.

Switzerland at home was a lucky draw. We only got going against Denmark when we went 1-0 down. And the game is Copenhagen was also brutal.

LuckyLloyd

EverythingGood wrote: »

Conversely we struggled against the superpowers of Gibraltar (home and away - and the away was diabolical) and Georgia.

Switzerland at home was a lucky draw. We only got going against Denmark when we went 1-0 down. And the game is Copenhagen was also brutal.

Yes, yes. Lucky draws and brutal games. But we didn't get beat home and away...by a much weaker side.

Look it, it's early days. But lads it's about results. If you think the complaints are bad now, if we go like this in our first two qualifiers in March the pressure will ramp up to intolerable levels.

weldoninhio

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Yes, yes. Lucky draws and brutal games. But we didn't get beat home and away...by a much weaker side.

Look it, it's early days. But lads it's about results. If you think the complaints are bad now, if we go like this in our first two qualifiers in March the pressure will ramp up to intolerable levels.

Whats going to happen when we play a pot 1 team or decent pot 2 team, who don't sit off us and let us play pointless backward and sideways passes between defense and midfield, like Bulgaria, Wales and Finland did. Who press and pressure us?? We'll be absolutely taken apart.

BonnieSituation

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Yes, yes. Lucky draws and brutal games. But we didn't get beat home and away...by a much weaker side.

Look it, it's early days. But lads it's about results. If you think the complaints are bad now, if we go like this in our first two qualifiers in March the pressure will ramp up to intolerable levels.

Ye are already at intolerable levels.

I dread to think what a Christmas in lockdown will do to ye and your inflatable hammers.

yohan the great

EverythingGood wrote: »

Conversely we struggled against the superpowers of Gibraltar (home and away - and the away was diabolical) and Georgia.

Switzerland at home was a lucky draw. We only got going against Denmark when we went 1-0 down. And the game is Copenhagen was also brutal.

Nah the home game against Denmark we were on top throughout and their goal was against the run of play. Hourihane missed a glorious chance in the first half

BonnieSituation

weldoninhio wrote: »

Whats going to happen when we play a pot 1 team or decent pot 2 team, who don't sit off us and let us play pointless backward and sideways passes between defense and midfield, like Bulgaria, Wales and Finland did. Who press and pressure us?? We'll be absolutely taken apart.

But you'll be happy, so you should want this? No?

Coillte_Bhoy

weldoninhio wrote: »

Whats going to happen when we play a pot 1 team or decent pot 2 team, who don't sit off us and let us play pointless backward and sideways passes between defense and midfield, like Bulgaria, Wales and Finland did. Who press and pressure us?? We'll be absolutely taken apart.

I would expect to see a much more pragmatic approach from SK when we play a really top team

NewMan1982

weldoninhio wrote: »

By finishing where expected? 3rd seed finished 3rd. A goal off automatic qualifying. We'd have beaten Slovakia under Mick. €9m thrown away on Delaney's last vanity project. One more kick in the balls from Champagne John.

Who did we beat in Micks second spell that makes you sure we would beat Slovakia?

If I recall correctly, under Mick, we struggled to beat Gibraltar away. Struggled to a draw to Georgia away.

Where was this away win under Mick that backs up your confidence?

Also you say we were third seeds therefore finishing third was right.
Would us finishing last in the NL group B not also be right then considering we were relegated to group C in the last campaign.

EverythingGood

NewMan1982 wrote: »

Who did we beat in Micks second spell that makes you sure we would beat Slovakia?

If I recall correctly, under Mick, we struggled to beat Gibraltar away. Struggled to a draw to Georgia away.

Where was this away win under Mick that backs up your confidence?

Also you say we were third seeds therefore finishing third was right.
Would us finishing last in the NL group B not also be right then considering we were relegated to group C in the last campaign.

Well said, except relegation was cancelled due to UEFA changing the format and we are still in group B

tayto lover

Michael O’Neill had a great run with an average N. Ireland team.
He could have been sacked very early in his career if a very impatient element of supporters had their way.
It took him 10 games to get his first win.
Sometimes you have to patient and let things develop before shouting for a managers head. Too many people who know very little about football calling for a manager’s head after 5 games.

EverythingGood

weldoninhio wrote: »

Absolutely laughable.

You obviously know SFA about football. Thanks for the vital contribution.

Idbatterim

The last thing we need is knee jerk reaction and back to hoofball manager, without kenny been given a reasonable shot... i can accept our attacking threat limitation , i cant accept highly paid professionals, not being able to string a 5 yard pass together...

Also this nonsense of " cant afford" x manager. For a team like ireland that is usually there or hereabouts come qualify time, the revenue difference between someone who can and cant deliver is huge financially.

Revenue from play off potentially, the finals , bigger attendance in qualifying for group games etc etc etc

NewMan1982

EverythingGood wrote: »

Well said, except relegation was cancelled due to UEFA changing the format and we are still in group B

That was my point. We finished last in group B last time so surely finishing last again in group B is the expected result.

RonanG86

tayto lover wrote: »

Michael O’Neill had a great run with an average N. Ireland team.
He could have been sacked very early in his career if a very impatient element of supporters had their way.
It took him 10 games to get his first win.
Sometimes you have to patient and let things develop before shouting for a managers head. Too many people who know very little about football calling for a manager’s head after 5 games.

Steve Clarke too. Lost 4 of his first 5 with Scotland, including two 4-0s. Won 6 out of 8 since. Including a win over Slovakia and two over the Czech Republic.

LuckyLloyd

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Ye are already at intolerable levels.

I dread to think what a Christmas in lockdown will do to ye and your inflatable hammers.

“Ye and your inflatable hammers”

I go to the games man. I was happy with the effort of the last campaign and the football for the most part was pragmatic and Mick seemed to be getting most of what was there to be got out of the lads. I wish Kenny well in this job, but I simply don’t see a pass completion stat as more important than a goal and a result.

He’s getting time, he’s been given 7 competitive games with no pressure to do anything as a ramp up / transition period. But he isn’t getting 17, nor should he. No manager should.

He will need to compete for qualification from March. That’s all I’m saying.

The_Kew_Tour

The obsession with Mick McCarthy is a odd one even people compare him to others.

Here is a manager who could not win his first 6 games, most of these at home
A manager that could not beat useless Iceland and Lithuania side at home and scraped(and by was it scraped) into a playoffs

A manager that had more chances to qualify for Euro 2000 than anyone could wish for(this will be repeated)
****ed up in Croatia,
Could not hang on for a corner in Macedonia
And really pissed it all away against Turkey at home.

And when everything was going well could not realise that Spain had only 10 men on the field to qualify us for a QF in world cup

We need Randolph to save our ass v Gibraltar
We won the lotto by drawing out in Copenhagen,we were ripped asunder only for poor finishing by Denmark it would have been another 5-1
Another piss poor effort in Georgia

But he still had 3 chances to qualify for Euros.
Against Switzerland we would have been soundly beaten
And we huffed and puffed all night against a Denmark side that did not show up. But yet we still ****ed up and could not get over the line

But....

After all that he would have seen us come through the Slovakia game. Evidence is all there alright.

JeffKenna

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

The obsession with Mick McCarthy is a odd one even people compare him to others.

Here is a manager who could not win his first 6 games, most of these at home
A manager that could not beat useless Iceland and Lithuania side at home and scraped(and by was it scraped) into a playoffs

A manager that had more chances to qualify for Euro 2000 than anyone could wish for(this will be repeated)
****ed up in Croatia,
Could not hang on for a corner in Macedonia
And really pissed it all away against Turkey at home.

And when everything was going well could not realise that Spain had only 10 men on the field to qualify us for a QF in world cup

We need Randolph to save our ass v Gibraltar
We won the lotto by drawing out in Copenhagen,we were ripped asunder only for poor finishing by Denmark it would have been another 5-1
Another piss poor effort in Georgia

But he still had 3 chances to qualify for Euros.
Against Switzerland we would have been soundly beaten
And we huffed and puffed all night against a Denmark side that did not show up. But yet we still ****ed up and could not get over the line

But....

After all that he would have seen us come through the Slovakia game. Evidence is all there alright.

One of two managers to ever bring Ireland to the World Cup, you forgot that bit.

noodler

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

The obsession with Mick McCarthy is a odd one even people compare him to others.

Here is a manager who could not win his first 6 games, most of these at home
A manager that could not beat useless Iceland and Lithuania side at home and scraped(and by was it scraped) into a playoffs

A manager that had more chances to qualify for Euro 2000 than anyone could wish for(this will be repeated)
****ed up in Croatia,
Could not hang on for a corner in Macedonia
And really pissed it all away against Turkey at home.

And when everything was going well could not realise that Spain had only 10 men on the field to qualify us for a QF in world cup

We need Randolph to save our ass v Gibraltar
We won the lotto by drawing out in Copenhagen,we were ripped asunder only for poor finishing by Denmark it would have been another 5-1
Another piss poor effort in Georgia

But he still had 3 chances to qualify for Euros.
Against Switzerland we would have been soundly beaten
And we huffed and puffed all night against a Denmark side that did not show up. But yet we still ****ed up and could not get over the line

But....

After all that he would have seen us come through the Slovakia game. Evidence is all there alright.

That's all a bit deranged tbh.

The_Kew_Tour

JeffKenna wrote: »

One of two managers to ever bring Ireland to the World Cup, you forgot that bit.

In 4 attempts he got to 1 tournament

The_Kew_Tour

noodler wrote: »

That's all a bit deranged tbh.

The bottom line is that had Mick been in charge we would have beaten Slovakia.

1000%

Mantis Toboggan

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

The bottom line is that had Mick been in charge we would have beaten Slovakia.

Nobody knows that for sure.

McFly85

If Mick had been in charge, the only way he would have qualified is if the penalty shootout went differently, because there’s absolutely no way his team would have won the game in 120 minutes.

Under Mick(and O’Neill and Trap for the most part) Ireland played the most risk-averse game of football in Europe. Defence was the absolute priority, and the only time we would ever leave any space at the back or push forward with more energy was when we were losing, or when a draw wasn’t good enough.

The campaign had a good result in the draw in Copenhagen but mostly terrible performances. The approach in Tbilisi was criminal. No urgency against a below average side knowing a win would leave us needing a point from the last 2 games to qualify outright. And still after the game we had Mick telling us a point there was a great result he would have taken beforehand.

So I can guarantee that if Mick was happy with a point against a team ranked 89th in the world, he would have been delighted with a draw and a chance at penalties in Bratislava.

EverythingGood

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

The bottom line is that had Mick been in charge we would have beaten Slovakia.

1000%

What are you basing that on? In this campaign, take away Gibraltar, and we won one game - Georgia in Dublin. Our away form was diabolical - no goals in Copenhagen, Tbilisi or Geneva. I was at all of those aways, including the Gib one. We were terrible and showed zero ambition, zero appetite and zero creativity. What makes you think we would've been any different in Bratislava?

*Sorry 1-1 in Copenhagen.

The_Kew_Tour

EverythingGood wrote: »

What are you basing that on? In this campaign, take away Gibraltar, and we won one game - Georgia in Dublin. Our away form was diabolical - no goals in Copenhagen, Tbilisi or Geneva. I was at all of those aways, including the Gib one. We were terrible and showed zero ambition, zero appetite and zero creativity. What makes you think we would've been any different in Bratislava?

*Sorry 1-1 in Copenhagen.

#324

You will find I was being tad sarcastic

Shane Duffy did score in Copenhagen. I was at it too. Great evening. The only one though in campaign. Cant believe you forgot that

TheCitizen

noodler wrote: »

That's all a bit deranged tbh.

Whoosh

EverythingGood

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

#324

You will find I was being tad sarcastic

Shane Duffy did score in Copenhagen. I was at it too. Great evening. The only one though in campaign. Cant believe you forgot that

Soz, hard to get sarcasm in written form sometimes. I was in Denmark for all 3 recent games - the best for me was Aarhus - **** game - but great couple of days.

Fr Tod Umptious

JeffKenna wrote: »

One of two managers to ever bring Ireland to the World Cup, you forgot that bit.

Playoff against a non UEFA team helped a lot.

Bridge93

To be fair that 2002 campaign team was arguably our strongest ever side. Certainly up there with the late 80s/ early 90s. Also our most entertaining side for sure for me. That campaign we scored 23 goals in 10 games, including draws in Lisbon and Amsterdam, where we threw away a two goal lead. Should've qualified automatically. The tournament itself has been done to death, a real 'what if' around a lot of what transpired.

Remember having a video of the qualifying campaign when i was young. Mustve watched it 100 times. Naive young me thinking qualifying for tournaments was the norm.

The_Kew_Tour

Mick deserved time. It was aging squad in 96 when took over. But his results were still horrendous in that group. Romania got 28 points from 30.

I love to have seen Mick be a success as much as anyone. I just want best for the team.

The amusing part though is assuming something was going happening when no evidence of it really going to happen. Hence my post earlier.

I be forever thankful for Mick getting us to WC 2002 and while I felt Roy was right, I felt Mick had no other choice send him home, plus I felt this was FAI fault far more than Mick.(let's not go there anymore though eh)

I love Mick honestly and I know he wants whats best, but his results And performances have not cut the mustard and it's as simple as that.

The fact he thought it was a "Point Gained" v Georgia was enough and team subsequently played like a average team following game, all be it against a good Swiss side.

If Kenny said that at any stage against Pot 5 side he be lambasted.

noodler

TheCitizen wrote: »

Whoosh

Are you ok old man?

Do you have gas?