Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120401939#Comment_120401939

A few spots below us, hardly a gulf in class. We should expect to beat them at home and potentially get a point away.

Anyone who thinks we're owed 6 is delusional. Even when we had a team of PL players of well known names we weren't guaranteed 6 points.

SK will be held accountable at the end of this campaign and rightly so. He will have been given a proper shot which is all anyone can ask for.

Building momentum will be hard as we got a tough schedule to go with a tough group.

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120401939#Comment_120401939

People need to have realistic expectations.

Otherwise it is pointless.

LuckyLloyd

4 points against Greece

6 points against Gibraltar

Don’t get beat at home against France and Holland

Potentially puts us right in the mix for qualification with a pivotal game away to Holland, maybe

These are achievable aims imo. It’s what we should expect and hope for.

johnnyryan89

https://twitter.com/McDonnellDan/status/1639946803788365824

Brady replaces O'Dowda. Interesting that he says O'Dowda was a certain starter.

Further tweeted that O'Dowda isn't 100% ruled out for tomorrow.

McFly85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120402149#Comment_120402149

I would put getting a draw tomorrow night into the ‘hope for’ category. I certainly wouldn’t be expecting it.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120402149#Comment_120402149

12 points from this group would be a phenomenal achievement by this group of players imo.

Drawing with France & Holland would be massive results. Every fan/player and manager will be hoping for your results but anyone expecting it is completely delusional.

Especially as some sort of minimum as your post would indicate.

I'm confident in saying you're off your rocker if you think like that.

Pawwed Rig

Someone a bit more positive 🤣

https://youtu.be/eYDRzLV1EZA

Faugheen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120402207#Comment_120402207

It’s pure, arrogant entitlement. It’s exactly the same guff that we used to slag England about.

This is a group of lower level Premier League and Championship players, with a couple of raw talents thrown in there.

Anyone ‘expecting’ a draw against France is deluded. Can we draw against them? If chips fall a certain way then yes, we can. Should be be expecting it? Not a chance.

This is people making up very ambitious targets to stick it to the manager when they’re not met.

Brock Turnpike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120402165#Comment_120402165

All very odd re: O'Dowda. I wonder was Dan given a slap on the wrist for announcing it and then having to row back a bit?

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120402297#Comment_120402297

I'd say just miscommunication from McDonnell. Other journalist at the press conference had it reported that O'Dowda was doubtful rather than ruled out.

hawaii501

Surely the aim is to finish above Greece, anything else is a positive?

Anyone expecting a 2nd-place finish is deluded. Wouldn't even expect that during the 2002 crop of players never mind the level we're at now.

Greece are probably a better side than us as well so a 3rd place finish would be more than enough so SK to stay on imo.

Patrick2010

Sorry if it’s been posted previously but just read that Evan Ferguson can switch to England if he plays 3 or fewer competitive games for Ireland before he’s 21

Ferris_Bueller

I'd nearly just call it black and white and say that if we get to Euro 2024 Kenny deserves to keep his job and if we don't then it's time to give someone else a go. Obviously that may seem harsh or unfair due to the group we have but there is probably a decent chance we will get a playoff as usual so there is a chance it will just come down to that.

He has not achieved so far and is on course to be our worst ever manager - he needs to achieve something in this campaign. Finishing on 8 points with two draws against Greece won't cut it. The grey area of course is if he manages to get 6 points off Greece or a historic result against a France/Netherlands. I think our gut instinct will know by September if he will be staying on or not. I would love him to be a success but at some point his results need to be judged like all of his predecessors.

johnnyryan89

Sam Curtis straight into the starting XI at RB with Festy playing as a RW. Nice midfield trio too with Hodge, Phillips, and Moran.

PokeHerKing

Wow Kazakhstan have just taken the lead against the Danes

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120402384#Comment_120402384

I'm unsure if it's arrogance or ignorance tbh.

It just seems like clueless fans who only know PL and think any country outside of the well know European and SA teams are muck.

It's an outdated opinion and does smack a bit of a British style superiority mentality.

Brock Turnpike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120402794#Comment_120402794

The thing is, it's actually not that difficult to do some basic research on opposition teams to actually work out whether they are decent or not. But some people would just prefer to spout nonsense based on their narrow viewing habits.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120403030#Comment_120403030

Even with professional pundits it rife. Take the current French team, the pundits will bang on about Giroud all day but know fek all about his more influential Milan teammates Theo and Maignan.

franglan

Is there a hosepipe ban in Cork or something. An aul sprinkle on the pitch would have been handy.

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120402349#Comment_120402349

On what basis would he qualify for England?

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120403382#Comment_120403382

Through his Mom. But that switching-rule would also require him to not play any international football for 2 or 3 years.

And of course none of that actually matters, he's Irish and will obviously continue playing for Ireland. I doubt it's even a consideration in his head.

johnnyryan89

Great win for the U21s who played with ten men after Festy was sent off in the 28th minute for dissent. Festy was judged to have fouled the defender when trying to beat him and didn't take kindly to that after it happened early in game when the free should have went our way. Went over to the ref and got a yellow for something he said and as he was walking away kept saying something and the ref produced the red card.

Tom Cannon equalised in the 24th minute with a lovely assist from Andy Moran. Ball over the top which bounced beautifully for Cannon and gave him a good angle to finish from.e

Even though we were a man down we were the much better team while Iceland looked better when it was 11 v 11. Both CBs Lawal and MacNulty look very tidy players and good to see Curtis grow into the game after getting easily for their goal.

Hodge the stand out player in midfield who looked cool as you like with the ball at his feet and should have scored today. Phillips battle hard in midfield and closed down well to prevent Iceland taking advantage of the extra man. Similar Moran got through a lot of work and his assist was top notch.

Cannon was good up top trying to be an outlet for us and took his chance well. Possibly should have scored two today when before his goal he skied a left footed chance over the bar from inside the box. If his form stays good for Preston he'll surely push his way into the seniors. Could see himself and Ferguson linking up well.

Armstrong played well when coming on but for some poor decision making in the final third when we got in behind could have saw us score. Though on some occasions support was slow to get in the box. Johnny Kenny had a big impact obviously with his goal and could have had a second after good play inside the box saw him create space and his shot saved.

johnnyryan89

https://twitter.com/IrelandFootball/status/1640016591365521408

Lovely assist from Moran for the first.

https://twitter.com/KillianM2/status/1640034102572204039

Good to see a goal from outside the box go in our favour this time.

trashcan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120403396#Comment_120403396

If he has a Mom, would he not qualify for the US ?😛

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120403489#Comment_120403489

Complete agree.

A solid campaign is needed.

Alot of those arguing against you keep using facetious words like "expect" and "entitlement" in order to justify what they would consider a good campaign.

It's as tall an order as ever to get out of this group but that just makes it more disappointing we didn't make a better fist of the last one.

We've not qualified before but there is a way to do it. Being out after two/three games won't be acceptable and won't illustrate progress.

It's a tough ask but he has to make a better fist of it this time.

If Mick or MON were in charge I'd be way more confident of a tight game tomorrow, we concede alot of goals these days, particularly at home.

sjb25

Looking scared telling yas 😉🤣

Faugheen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120403537#Comment_120403537

Funny you should say that. Under Kenny’s watch we’ve only conceded one goal each against Ukraine and Serbia at home against teams ranked higher than us.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120403723#Comment_120403723

When you consider Lawal and MacNulty look so comfortable on the ball it would be great if we get a GK that's better at playing out from the back. Sloppy passing from Brooks today alright and doesn't strike me as someone comfortable in possession of the ball. Strikes me as someone who'll prefer to just go long to the forwards rather than try short chipped passes wide which a few were over hit into touch or play balls into the midfield.

Med101007

Anyone know anyone selling their tickets for the game tomorrow?? (sorry getting desperate now!)

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120403779#Comment_120403779

But also at home:

Two against Armenia.

One against Luxembourg.

One against Ajaerbaijan.

Two against Latvia.

One against Finland.

One against Serbia.

You've excluded away of course. We used to be very strong there too but

Three against Serbia.

Two against Portugal.

Two against Scotland

One against Ukraine.

One against Armenia.

One against Bulgaria.

The clean sheets are less prevalent than they used to be.

cdeb

Two against Norway and Belgium B too if you include friendlies.

Higgins5473

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120403779#Comment_120403779

I thought I’d seen and heard all the nonsense positive spin on Kenny’s reign if that is what you are trying to do. Very peculiar stat. Who cares when we’ve also conceded against muck like Luxembourg and Azerbaijan.

DM_7

Mod: Any more posts that categorise other people as pro Kenny or anti Kenny will be treated as trolling and a forum warning will apply. If you can't discuss the actual content of posts do not reply to them or post about them.

McFly85

Clean sheets are less prevalent but in fairness he’s trying to do a bit more than put 10 men behind the ball and hoof it to Shane Long hoping to get a set piece for 90 minutes. And, thankfully we’re scoring more too.

Be interesting to see what the setup is like tomorrow. France will have most of the ball so we’ll need to soak up a lot of pressure.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120404475#Comment_120404475

They're also the type too that if they score first they might just be more dangerous going forward if they left us have possession and then picked us off on the counter.

Think the worse thing that could happen Monday night is if we go 1-0 down and then panic. They're a team that are gonna be deadly on the counter and could rip us a new one if we lose possession and the teams out of shape. If we're losing by one goal and there's 20mins left then proceed to give it your best lash in search of an equaliser.

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120404475#Comment_120404475

We've been trying for a few years but alot of our possession breaks down in the final third regardless. Hopefully it can translate into results.

I don't actually agree no football was played under the previous managers of course. It's just a simplistic criticism.

Faugheen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120404631#Comment_120404631

It’s not a simplistic criticism.

We spent years playing a game that involved us hoofing the ball up to someone like Shane Long, who wasn’t tall enough to battle the biggest defenders in the air and when he did win it, there was zero support and we just lost the ball again. Rinse and repeat.

Meanwhile, we completely ignored his best features - his lightning pace, ability to get in behind the defense and beat the offside trap (hello Germany). The turgid, horrible football encouraged by dinosaurs who were backed by corrupt billionaires (and another corrupt CEO) absolutely ruined his Ireland career.

Technically gifted footballers like Andy Reid and Wes Hoolahan were wasted by previous managers because of this ‘results first’ mantra which, as we all know, has proven to have been worth sweet **** all other than a few lads getting to go to Poland on a piss up.

Now, we’re in a tribal mindset of people who are stuck in the past and get see what’s in front of them because we had players called Roy Keane and Paul McGrath once upon a time so therefore we have a god-given right to be at major tournaments - and then on the other side is those who sees what that shot show of an organisation has done to football in this country and is trying to spell it out for the old men yelling at clouds, only for it to fall on deaf ears.

Now, above, we have ‘saying no football was played under previous managers is simplistic criticism’ - what a laughable statement. Everyone is expecting this team to run over Greece and that the manager has to prove he can do it when previous managers who played all the gorgeous football would limp home against Georgia by the skins of their teeth.

It was turgid stuff, bar the odd game when we needed to get a result and we had nothing left to lose. Suddenly the managers had some ambition. If only they’d show it against Georgia instead of playing for 0-0.

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120404691#Comment_120404691

Honestly we won't agree, you want to portray everything before SK as root one (Shane Long this, Shane Long that) whereas I say there it was more balanced than that.

Then there is your bizarre fixation a 0-0 with Georgia which you'd probably tell me now that I'm arrogant if I said I expected Kenny to beat them.

Walters was typically our most effective frontman of the post Keane period though tbh. I am glad we played to his strengths. Got us to euro 2016.

Tbh 0-0 against georgia wasnt great but the most depressing game iv watched as an ireland fan was 1-0 away vs a team of amateurs who had just formed an international team where we never pressed forward. Our team was terrible at the time in fairness but for all the talk of latvia being low ranked gibralter where about 80 spots behind them again in the rankings. Georgia im not sure have been within 140 or so spots of them in recent history

McFly85

The Euro 2016 campaign was probably our most memorable due to some big results, but it was also the most forgiving format we'll ever have(third place getting an automatic playoff). We finished third even though we took 4 points off Germany. I would guess that some here would consider non qualification an utter failure and sackable offence if we were to take 4 points off France and finish 3rd.

And we really didn't play that much football for the most part - there was the odd exception to this, definitely(usually when Hoolahan would be in the team) - but by and large our whole core philosophy was to avoid defeat. And I don't disagree with it as a starting point - get organised and then build from there. But we wouldn't do that, we actually did the opposite, regressed even further into this philosophy and were told that this is the only way that we can play football. This happened under Trap and O'Neill, and continued under Micks second stint.

And my big gripes with playing this way is that, while it can get you some results, there's a fairly low level of genuine success with it. You might get to a Euros if you get a decent group but that's pretty much it. Also, and I understand this is purely personal, but playing that way is horrible to watch.

athlone99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120404696#Comment_120404696

To be fair to Faugheen, i think he means the majority of games we poor with us camped on our 18 yard line until the last 10/15 mins. There were a handful of good performances in between those poor games. Its going to take time to change the style of the team, we have young players who have been coached to play the ball on the ground, build up play etc. Some posters here think we need to go back 20 years and play to the strengths of us Irish which no longer exist in our squad.

Kenny has tried to change the style of the team and be more progressive, there has been some good games, some very poor games but the team is trending in the right direction. Kenny may not be the right man long term but we will have to wait and see. He got screwed by the draw, some of that his own fault (previous results) and some very bad luck (France taking a year off before the WC). If we are some what competitive and can finish 3rd he should stay on in my opinion but Greece will be no pushovers and in reality they have actually gone and won a tournament.

johnnyryan89

No Parrott, Keane, Brady, or O'Dowda in the 23 tonight supposedly so Coleman and Idah passed fit. According to Dan McDonnell Coleman was training at RWB in training so could see Doherty at LWB.

Thoughts are Ogbene will start over Obafemi because of lack of matches. Which wouldn't be a bad call as we'll need our front players doing a lot of rubbing tonight. With a bit of luck the game is tight and then bring Obafemi on for Ogbene.

DM_7

Match thread for tonight:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058289933/ireland-v-france-euro-qualifiers-27-03-23-ko-19-45

Brock Turnpike

Parrot, O'Dowda, Keane, Brady all out of squad tonight.

Coleman and Idah in.

Either Doherty or McClean at LWB.

Id suggest saying greece have won a tournaments just as irrelivant as the people who have expectations based on the early 00s

artanevilla

For every team like Greece that wins a tournament once in a blue moon there is hundreds that don't all the time. For reference the youngest player in that 2004 squad is 41 now so that win is hardly relevant.

Zico

No one expects a win so it's a free shot.

A lot like Armenia and Latvia against us.

Let's give it a lash and don't die wondering.

Med101007

A new section has gone up on Ticketmaster for tonight's game. Its separate from the the previous dual package with the Latvia game. There are no tickets available at present but does this mean that the last minute tickets might be about to be released??

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120404103#Comment_120404103

Probably not a surprise given that Kenny is trying to foster a more expansive attacking mindset. That's going to leave holes in defence as well as leave many more opportunities for opponents to nick a badly played pass along the back.

Really, instead of the interminable debate about whether an adventurous or conservative style of football is best, you can just go back and look at which manager had the best average goal margin per game, look at how that was achieved and go with that. Football is a results business. You do whatever gets the best in that respect. If that means 11 men behind the ball, so be it.

Brock Turnpike

https://twitter.com/ANLOAPod/status/1640389435312205825?s=20

Nothing to worry about, right?