Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

johnnyryan89

https://twitter.com/KennysKids/status/1533823882179878912

Interesting changes from Crawford if true

athlone99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165706#Comment_119165706

You do know hes still employed by the FAI and has taken the guts of 400/500k for doing nothing? Nothing to do with Kenny, your really clutching at straws to blame Kenny for that.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165657#Comment_119165657

Irish soccer not just missed the boat they have sunk it. Which lead to many Irish people looking for their soccer entertainment elsewhere so it has become a vicious circle.

I just saw a video about Brazilian football domestically revamping it's league football. Obviously on a bigger scale than Ireland. But a lot of it's problems are similar to Ireland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsajNukrSoY

Poor national league. Poorly run FA. Dependant on the national team for finances. Brazilian soccer fans seduced by big foreign soccer teams etc. Having to export talent and depending on foreign clubs to develop them.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165723#Comment_119165723

i thinking you think I think keane was hardly done by. I don’t. Keane wouldn’t be someone I’d like to see in a coaching position at Ireland.

if someone removes you from a job they shafted you or sacked you. That’s just the English langauge.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165723#Comment_119165723

Rather than blame Kenny I'd say he's pointing out that for Dunne he probably sees it as Keane getting shafted. His four year contract was basically him sticking around to takeover as Ireland manager at the end of this year.

athlone99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165742#Comment_119165742

No, not shafted. Hes was part of the previous management team. A new manager has everyright to pick his own team. John Delaney shafted irish football by putting keanes contract in place.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165714#Comment_119165714

https://twitter.com/irishfantv/status/1533826463618813952

Kilkenny on the bench, no Bagan in the match day squad. Would assume it's a midfield three of Coventry, Smallbone, and Noß with Wright, Kayode, and Kerrigan as the front three.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165750#Comment_119165750

Ok you’re entitled to your opinion that keane being placed on prolonged gardening leave for 2 years was not a sacking or a shafting

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165672#Comment_119165672

I am not buying this at all. Point me to where Dunne's comments on Ireland were uncalled for, or not fairly made? All of what he has said sounds very fair when you look at what he says.

You seem to be trying to create a pro Kenny v anti Kenny narrative. When to me. it is just people giving opinions on how the Irish football team is doing. And everyone wants the Irish team to do well. Irish managers are always analysed both positive and negatively. It is part of the job.

Is there anything in the articles that had Dunne's comments on Kenny's tactics etc that seem unfair? Honestly? I think they are clearly and concisely well made.

March 2021 -

https://extra.ie/2021/03/30/sport/soccernews/richard-dunne-stephen-kenny-ireland-tactics

Dunne -

‘People complained (in the past) that it was boring to watch but you can’t tell me it’s any better now. There’s nothing to it. We’re not more entertaining.

‘Inevitably, we lose the ball because we’re going around in circles.’

‘Previously, we were competitive, always fighting till the last game.

‘On the ten games there does not seem to be any evidence the players believe in what they are doing. It’s almost like they have fallen into this trap that they believe they need to be footballing team.’

--

November 2021

*After Portugal 0-0 AVIVA*

https://www.balls.ie/football/richard-dunne-stephen-kenny-ireland-style-491248

Dunne -

'There needs to be a balance on where we've come from. Back in March we were at rock bottom, the initial spike in performance from a new manager didn't happen for Ireland and we went straight downhill.

We have recovered now and we're back in a position where we're probably at a similar level to when he took over. Obviously it's a different style of play and new players coming in, that's where the progression is...

To me there has been a change in style of play (in the middle of the Kenny era). To me, the way he set out to play and his ideas on how he was going to change Irish football to become more of a Man City style or something like that, Ireland can't play like that.

We don't have the players at the moment to play like that. We tried that at the start and we got found out...

I think if you look at it with rose tinted glasses then yeah (you could say Kenny has improved the style), but if you look back through the eras with Martin O'Neill, Mick McCarthy, Trapattoni, Ireland teams have always played football but we get tagged with a style of football.

We have always played when we got time to play, played in the right positions and been effective in games. This Irish team overplayed at times and caused their own problems.

Since the (first) Portugal game we have found our own system where we don't need 90 per cent possession. We can pass the ball, we can still be a nice football team to watch, but we're effective.

Last night was a very effective performance. We tried to build up at the times, but ultimately we went long. It wasn't perfect, we lacked a body in midfield to be a little bit more creative.'

--

June 2022 - After Armenia loss 1-0 away.

https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/richard-dunne-ireland-armenia-263140

Richard Dune: Ireland made the 'same mistakes' against Armenia.

"If you look at that game today, it’s very similar to the games that we’ve played previously," Dunne said on Premier Sports.

"So, you need to analyse them and you need to understand why are we still making the same mistakes 18 months down the line.

"The ones that we made against Finland, Luxembourg and stuff like that. The results are all that matters now because the performance wasn’t good enough.

"The results haven’t been good enough for a long time and I just don’t know where the Irish team goes from here."

"Ireland very rarely made it difficult for Armenia. We never really turned them and made it difficult for them. There needs to be more variety in Ireland’s play to put pressure on teams. It’s almost like a dirty word to play a long ball or something like that.

"It all becomes desperate towards the end. It’s like, 'Let’s play lovely football and then we panic, we’ll just knock it long'."

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165468#Comment_119165468

So the other former pros that see positives are being dishonest.

This is Dunne's opinion. Nothing more. And it is an opinion he has held since day 1. He was never willing to give it a chance

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165829#Comment_119165829

There’s a high degree of cynicism in Dunne’s comments about …well everything about Kenny would you not sense from those comments? That’s maybe how he naturally sees it. On the other hand he’s not going to come out and say “my mate got shafted”…he’s just measuring his comments to be, on the surface analytical but undermining of every thing about Kenny.

my own approach is I wish Kenny well, he’s one competitive match into a new contract and the fai have no money or even a sponsor so talking about replacing him now just makes me roll my eyes.

ireland invests nothing in football infrastructure, the “home of Irish football” is a half condemned ruin. We invest buttons and we get the appropriate return.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165891#Comment_119165891

I don't see it as cynicism. I see it as a former footballer turned pundit. Giving his opinion. His comments seem very consistent IMO. If Dunne was like Dunphy flip flopping all the time. Coming out with OTT mad stuff, then I might agree with you. But I think Dunne's opinions are given very fairly.

And if he wanted to stick the knife in he would be making personalised attacks *like Dunphy made a living on*. But instead Dunne's comments are on the tactical aspects of Ireland. He has commented where Ireland have gone wrong in his opinion, and said when they have been effective.

To me Dunne sounds genuine and worried about the Irish team, and Irish football in general. I get a sense of frustration off him. Not cynicism. When he is seeing the same mistakes happening after an 18 month period. It is definitely a worry.

It will get to the stage where it could be very difficult to get a manager to manage Ireland. I think.

Personally I believe Kenny's success has being not being afraid to bring through players. But at the same time being afraid to move from a philosophy of play that makes Ireland less competitive - given the players available.

Francie Barrett

Not sure what to make out of that team that Crawford is putting out. I worry there's a lack of balance there and the midfield could end up getting swamped.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165942#Comment_119165942

Ok, I’ve given my opinion of my perception of Dunne’s comments

johnnyryan89

When you listen to Lisa Fallon talk compared to the usual talking heads it's night and day really. You know she's put effort into studying the opposition and talking about both teams. No surprise really when she's worked as an opposition analyst. Listening to Kenny Cunningham talk is as painful as chewing shards of glass.

Francie Barrett

Adaramola is a speed demon.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165382#Comment_119165382

Ireland were good under Jack and McCarthy because they had a generation and a half of quality players that played at the top level when things were very different.

The landscape of English football had utterly changed in the last 30 years let alone the last 10.

Now Irish players don't get a look in because the market is swamped with cheaper alternatives from further afield.

I'm not sure how the FAI building academies in Ireland is going to change things.

What will theses academies feed ?

Will foreign teams take lads from these in preference to guys they develop themselves?

noodler

Think Dunne's comments are quite correct.

Ever since the first game against Bulgaria away, it's clear we revert to long ball when a goal down.

johnnyryan89

Andy Gray would be proud of that hit. Cracking goal from Smallbone.

Mushy

Lovely finish by Smallbone, deserved lead

PTH2009

Get Smallbone and Noss into the senior team

johnnyryan89

Have been impressed with Smallbone tonight and just looks better playing centrally where he can get involved in play.

gormdubhgorm

I just looked up more Dunne comments when asked about Ireland -Q - Is Ireland easy to play through

His Answer, again seemed balanced considered opinion

https://youtu.be/hwDV8saUHdE

—

I looked up Lisa Fallon to remind me of her comments. As perhaps posters want a contrast from the Dunne stuff.

In November 2020 we had Lisa Fallon saying Kenny needs time but must learn to adapt

and she used this quote -

‘The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails…" – John C. Maxwell’

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/1120/1179550-kenny-needs-time-but-he-must-learn-to-adapt/

November 2021 - Kenny has captured hearts and minds’

https://www.thesun.ie/sport/football/7917661/stephen-kennys-ireland-irish-nation-rte-lisa-fallon/amp/

To me Fallon only wants to drum up positive intangibles rather than practical analysis like Dunne does.

Despite the fact that Fallon is a good tactical analyst when called upon. So her fluffy positivity on Kenny puzzles me.

—

That said when Azerbaijan beat Ireland she did say/

‘When you don't put the chances away, and they started to find little pockets of space and get balls into the box and we weren't getting pressure on; by not getting pressure on the ball I felt that goal was starting to come.’

https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/rtes-lisa-fallon-praised-analysis-24911351.amp

It could have been the Armenia game if you just changed the country name.

athlone99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166074#Comment_119166074

Do you follow the LOI? Many many players based here being signed up by foreign clubs. So LOI acadames are doing something right. Majority or irish squad over the last 15 years have come through the LOI.

Well if we dont try and train and grow our own nobody will. With that attitude we may give up football..

Pawwed Rig

How come Kilkenny not playing?

johnnyryan89

This Smallbone lad looks good eh. Lovely delivery into the box for the knock back across the goals for Kerrigan to score.

Ferris_Bueller

3-0 now, Tyriek Wright scores from an Evan Ferguson cut back. Had tickets for tonight but dying of a hangover so didn't go in the end, half watching here on the telly and it seems like a better performance than Friday night.

johnnyryan89

3-0 and the team playing some lovely stuff.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166138#Comment_119166138

The facts that a majority of Irish players have LOI backgrounds coincide with the drop in quality of the national team and the inability of Irish players to break into the top tier teams in England.

athlone99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166279#Comment_119166279

Or English clubs no longer only look here, they have the money to look worldwide.

johnnyryan89

Adaramola has been impressive for his U21s debut. This lad is fast, very fast which is something we lack in the FB department.

johnnyryan89

https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status/1533856765267394562

https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status/1533861292758425603

https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status/1533866134033862659

Could have and probably should have been a fourth and maybe a fifth. Ferguson missed a header which I thought he'd knock in after the keeper saved a Smallbone free kick late on.

The_Kew_Tour

Enjoyed that. Smallbone looks a baller..

Xander10

Can we give Smallbone a minute against Scotland

Given what's happened in the past.

Pawwed Rig

Evan Ferguson is the best prospect there imo. Very young still and already knocking on the door of an EPL first team.

He is one I have had my eye on since his Bohs days

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166380#Comment_119166380

England's U21s had a midfield trio of James Garner, Curtis Jones, and Jacob Ramsey. One lad that plays games with Liverpool, one whose a first team regular with Aston Villa, and another who was a vital player in a Forest team that won the playoffs. Conor Gallagher has also played midfield this campaign along with them also having Jude Bellingham whose probably gonna be world class. I'd say it's safe to say evil Mr Southgate won't want to steal him, or Smallbone would have interest.

Xander10

Refreshing to listen to a fully positive post match review of am Ireland game.

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166420#Comment_119166420

I know , it would seem unlikely. But when Rice was on the bench nobody was really thinking he would reach the heights he did.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166305#Comment_119166305

Yea that's exactly it.

But people keep rabbiting on about how we need to build academies here with no real idea about what theses academies are supposed to achieve.

Building academies to feed Championship and lower level teams is a waste of money.

We caught lightning in a bottle when it came to player quality and the circumstances of English game during the Jack and first McCarthy era.

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166420#Comment_119166420

England are beyond stacked. Its a non issue.

athlone99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166457#Comment_119166457

So again if we dont, where do we get our players from?

We need to build acadamies here so that at a minimum they play in the LOI, the better players then go abroad. The overall standard of thE LOI will then improve. Going forward without a functioning strong league we will not move forward.

Francie Barrett

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166439#Comment_119166439

I don't agree. I think it was pretty clear early on that Rice was going to have a big future. He was a first team player in the West Ham team at 18 and never looked back after nailing down his place.

I know Smallbone has had a torrid time with injuries, but he's 22 now and has never been able to get regular games for Southampton. The chances of him showing the type of dramatic form that's required for him to warrant an England call-up is virtually impossible. To give you perspective on how the improvement that would be required, James Maddison got 12 goals and 8 assists this season for Leicester. If he didn't even make the England squad, that should give you an idea just how far behind Smallbone is.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166603#Comment_119166603

To put Smallbone's lack of playing time into perspective, overall he's played a total of 863 mins of senior football with Southampton, Kelleher played 750mins this season for Liverpool. 469 of those mins came in his first season when he missed the first half of the season through injury, and he's made 45 match day squads for Southampton and has been an unused sub in 25 of those.

With a bit of luck he can get a loan move and play regularly because he was very good this weekend and would walk into our midfleld.

Gusser09

Smallbone wont get called up until he's playing league 1.

Its all about cj hamilton.

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166860#Comment_119166860

Smallbone is with Southampton No?

He might get a championship loan next year if Southampton can spare him. He has had an injury hit time recently which is hopefully behind him. Massive difference between 21s and senior football. Kenny has shown he isn't shy about blooding young lads so if he gets some form and appearances behind him he will surely be in the mix for the senior team

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166882#Comment_119166882

Yeah, the main thing for him is just to get playing football. It's hard to step up to senior international level as an outfielder if you're just not playing at all, especially considering the serious recent injuries he's had.

Fandymo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166860#Comment_119166860

Can Smallbone receive the ball from his centre back. Then pass it back to him? That’s Kennyball.

Gusser09

The next 2 games are crucial. If we dont get at least 1 win i think the rest of kennys reign is pointless. Even the most die hard of LOI fanboys are starting to see this as a failure. He looks devoid of any ideas on the side line. He got it wrong on Saturday and getting it wrong for Kenny is a habit.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166882#Comment_119166882

Kenny is playing a goalie who has the grand total of a dozen games in his entire career. He's lashing on Will Keane ffs.

Ive no faith in him after that nonsense on saturday.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119166914#Comment_119166914

Comparing keepers with outfielders is fairly pointless... keepers can (and often do) come into teams after spells out and do grand. Outfielders need to play to be at their best. For keepers it's practically a different sport as far as what they actually have to do.

Will Keane's not the best, but he plays. Smallbone meanwhile doesn't play. He started the season with a cruciate injury, and was eventually able to play a few reserve games around November, before breaking down again with a calf injury and was out for another 2 months. Since then he's played about an hour of senior football.

Let's let him play a bit of football without getting injured before we start piling on the pressure to throw him into the senior international side.