Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

Fandymo

Two days now until El Crappico, to see who finishes bottom of the group.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837060#Comment_117837060

I don't think the ref will come out too bad out of a review. There weren't terrible decisions that i can remember from him. Their penalty looked like a stonewall penalty in real time and there wasnt enough in the video review to go against that. Connolly was diving all game so i can see why he didnt give the push on the back. He has his back turned to the Ronaldo hit. Ireland were blatantly time wasting during first half injury time and there was a VAR review during second half injury time. Doherty could easily have had a second yellow for diving as could Connolly.

On the other side, VAR should have given the Connolly penalty as it was blatant, VAR should have asked him to review the Ronaldo hit.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837079#Comment_117837079

a return to the glory days are just another disposal of a manager away.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836848#Comment_117836848

Yeah Parrott would be more suited to Azerbaijan where we'll need lads who could break the lines with passes.

I hope Obafemi hits the ground running at Swansea, as you said the next obvious choice. I think if Ogbene was fit he could have done a job up there too with Idah given his pace. I know it's LOI but the best I ever saw him with Limerick was in a 3-5-2 with Rodrigo Tosi as the target man and him playing off the shoulder of the defenders looking to get in behind.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837088#Comment_117837088

I would agree, the ref wasn’t perfect but there was nothing grievously wrong in his decisions.

edit- I wouldn’t say the Connolly penalty was blatant. A probable penalty

Fandymo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837089#Comment_117837089

Well it couldn't get much worse. We do have the massive come from behind win vs the mighty Andorra though.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836921#Comment_117836921

Yeah my biggest worry is Azerbaijan just putting every man behind the ball, and just trying to nick a goal. We struggle to break teams down that sit deep and give us the ball to try and do something. But with the first home crowd in so long it should sound like a full house even with the reduced capacity. Set pieces will be crucial for us and probably our best bet of scoring first and forcing Azerbaijan to open up a bit more.

theoneeyedman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836884#Comment_117836884

Ankle ligaments are messy, often worse than the knee longterm.

Might have been as well breaking it. Very unfortunate, hopefully it's nothing, but it looked bad.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837149#Comment_117837149

Yeah hopefully we get a bit of luck and it's something that just looks worse than what it actually is. We're surely due a bit of luck with lads and injuries. Interesting to see who Kenny calls up to replace him.

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837000#Comment_117837000

I don't know exactly what Kelleher is thinking for obvious reasons but as goal keeper he has plenty of time ahead of him,

Remember he is 22 & only started goal keeping at bout 16 (was a striker before that) so probably feels he is a bit behind others in development

No harm in learning for another year or two from Allison who one of the best in the world & facing the likes of Salah & Mane every day before he decided its time to be a number 1 some where ,

A few good cup games for Liverpool & his stock will go up meaning when he does leave hopefully it to a Prem club or upper end Championship team ,also being part of Champions league squads & the rest can only help him ,

Buzuno was not going to be part of the first team squad at City so his situation was different ,

Kelleher like Buzunu has plenty of time in the game ahead of him

jacool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837123#Comment_117837123

How blatant would you like it? The defender makes zero attempt to play the ball, and barrels into Connolly.

QQ - if that had been Duffy on Ronaldo what decision do you think would have been arrived at?

MrMusician18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836446#Comment_117836446

Sure he's only been in charge a year and a half at this stage...

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837136#Comment_117837136

The problem with Irish fans is that too many of them see managers as either messiahs or pariahs. This is drummed up by a sports media with little knowledge of how high level sport works.

kenny is probably an ok manager, nothing special. That has been my view from the start. If we sack him, we’ll probably appoint another ok manager.

even at the cutting edge of football there are few big difference makers at management level.

Bielsa at Leeds is the main one.

emery was terrible at arsenal, great at Sevilla and Villarreal.

moyes was terrible at man utd and Sunderland, great at Everton and west ham.

There are endless examples ; koeman, Pelligrini, hodgson, big Sam.

if you think a new manager at 500k a year is gonna make a huge difference well you go ahead and believe that

crossman47

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837184#Comment_117837184

Thats about right. I actually like the way Kenny has gone about it, giving plenty young players a chance and getting them to play football.

Fandymo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837184#Comment_117837184

Kenny is massively out of his depth. Just as he was at Dunfermline.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837258#Comment_117837258

possibly so

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837184#Comment_117837184

If the FAI even have 500k to offer a new manager, we're still paying off Robbie and if Kenny was to go we'd have to pay him off too.

If Kenny was sacked at the end of the year it's probably someone with less experience than him we'd probably end up with or some lad that's been out of a job for a long time.

I'd love someone like a Bielsa, it's why I'd like to see Knight at a club like Leeds because he'll mould him into a good player rather than someone that runs around a lot. But what's the chances that the FAI could even afford or convince someone like that to come back into international football.

Jim Goodwin at St Mirren could be an option but you'll still have lads up in arms because he's never managed in England probably. But he's a young manager starting out, still only 39 and might see international football as something he'd rather ten or more years down the line.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837319#Comment_117837319

A lot of "sack the manager" fans seem to have no clue who would replace him just vague notions about a "top" manager but they are very rare in international soccer

DM_7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837136#Comment_117837136

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837176#Comment_117837176

Mod: Enough, your points were repeated ad nauseam and (both of) you are no longer adding to the discussion - from here on such posting will be viewed as intentional disruption. If you have any queries on this use PM.

Brock Turnpike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837144#Comment_117837144

Ideally we score am early goal - give us a boost and then hopefully make them open up a bit so they aren't packing 11 behind the ball.

Kermit.de.frog

One criticism I have of last night is the messing around at the back trying to play it out. Sometimes it's better to just get rid of the ball.

Another concern is this was the same as Serbia. Play well for 85 minutes but ultimately couldn't hold on.

The style of play is more attractive but we don't have the players to see games out. You can be critical of previous manager's tactics but they knew this which is why they played hit and hope.

So that's my only real complaint - we can't see games out.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837559#Comment_117837559

Last night I thought most of our players played well. Vs Serbia I think most of our players were only ok or poor. I think there was a big difference.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837088#Comment_117837088

Bernardo Silva's tackle was a borderline Red Card in the first half, and not even given as a yellow. He caught doherty I think high on the leg with studs, and was not remotely in control. He didn't seem to want some things reviewed, yet gave nonsense amounts of time for some stuff reviewed down in our penalty box. He

Weepsie

And it wasn't just that. How he handled players on each team. He was lecturing Irish lads at times, yet Pepe was in his ear constantly and allowed do it. The free kick at the end was not a free kick, not by any interpretation of the rule can you surely be awarding that as a freekick.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837559#Comment_117837559

Agree somewhat about not having the players to see games out. We don't have an out and out defensive midfielder, but also think another factor in not having the players to see games out is because of where our players are with their clubs.

Not the level they're playing at, but more so the fact we've lads not playing for their clubs and others just trying to break into their teams.

Said it yesterday that Kenny will probably go down as our Toshack, and someone else will reap the benefits of some of the ground work he's trying to implement currently.

ebbsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117835383#Comment_117835383

13, with Var.

McFly85

While the results haven’t been there, by and large I’ve been impressed with what Kenny is trying to do. Not perfect by any means but definitely an improvement.

under previous managers, we might have played similarly and may have nicked a draw, but that would be the total of what we’re looking to achieve. I get the feeling the team Kenny is putting together will improve.

Up forward is the biggest question mark right now. Connolly looks lively but his decision making is really poor. Idah looks good and should be a starter for most games, and I think Parrott should be given a chance. It may be league one but he’s playing regular football, and he looks to have a better football brain than Connolly.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837585#Comment_117837585

Think a major factor with Serbia is they often left us play around with the ball because they know we haven't really any end product. So we looked better than what we were, because weren't we down 3-1 at 70mins.

I'd have to watch it back but I'm pretty sure it was like that because you had the "at least we won the possession stats" lads who've been critical since before day one out in force. We looked better but ultimately it was because they gave us the space at times to do it, and it was coming off the back of that terrible November window so was automatically a big improvement.

bohsfan

There was a lot of positives last night. We held a lead for a long period of time and didn't totally retreat back to our penalty spot for the whole time. You could hear Kenny and Duffy shouting to push the line forward. That was encouraging, even if we did drop back very late on and concede.

It was a shame McClean was the defensive man on the left for the first goal. If that was Doherty he mightn't have been sold a pup as easily. Defend that and we were probably looking at 3 points.

Idah was immense up front, particularly after we took the lead. He provided and outlet we have often lacked over the years when holding a lead. Reminded me of the donkey work Walters used to do for us. He took down long balls, controlled and found our midfield many times. Again, positive.

We have given youth a chance and they haven't looked totally out of depth. Naive maybe, but that's to be expected. Some of their play was not only pleasing on the eye but actually carried a threat.

Im as disappointed as anyone in how the game panned out. But there was a lot of positives in there. Hopefully they build experience and belief now in what's left in the group.

Kermit.de.frog

Agree. It's all about Euro 2024 now and building momentum in to those qualifiers. I think most fans would be happy with a few good results in the rest of the group and getting younger players experience.

They still have work to do. Failure to get results in the next two games would wipe clean any positivity about last night.

siblers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837039#Comment_117837039

I was wondering if the FAI will lodge a complaint.

ben.schlomo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836929#Comment_117836929

For now Connolly is at the higher level and I'd imagine if he were to leave Brighton he'd be in the Championship. Their goal scoring records across all levels are fairly similar so I don't think you can say one can finish when he gets a chance and the other doesn't. I've no issue with Parrott, just don't think he's currently suites as a wide player for us.

Liam O

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837764#Comment_117837764

I think the VAR didn't want to give the penalty in the first half. The ref just looked at it for too long and decided that he wasn't going to change it because he couldn't decide.

Coillte_Bhoy

Cant see it so i presume the Tickets sub forum is gone? Anyway, im wondering what the story is with single tickets for the Serbia game? On Ticketmaster most available tickets are in pairs but there is the odd single one available?? Im unsure whether to buy or not??

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117838127#Comment_117838127

It will be like taking one step forward with that performance last night and two steps backwards if we follow it up with another lackluster performance like Luxembourg.

Serbia though I'll be somewhat less judgemental simply for the fact that three games in six days is tough, even **** tougher when you've got quite a few lads picking splinters from their hole at club level.

This is where Kenny needs to show his squad management and possibly rotate some guys out for Azerbaijan to try keep legs fresh as fresh can be for the Serbia game. Plus get some subs on quicker, it's often been a negative with him and yeah maybe last night you're thinking too many changes could have a negative effect and disrupt things, but against Serbia lads will really be feeling it come the 60th minute mark given the lack of game time some are getting at club level.

Also what would you class as two good results for Kenny. Nothing less than six points, nothing less than four points, or two draws with two more good performances?

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117838216#Comment_117838216

For all the stick Connolly is getting about wasting chances, we still gotta realise he was getting into those positions in the first place. Biggest issue is his decision making, and often has his head down and doesn't see what's around him to pick out the better option.

Maybe that's just down to the stop start career he's had so far, but he has time to iron those mistakes out of his game but he needs to start getting a run of games to pick up form.

We've also still gotta realise that he's 21 and the oldest of all the young strikers we've got. I'll hold my hand up and say I blew my load too quick when he scores those two goals against Spurs and thought yup he's our next superstar.

Fans will often just be more critical because he's the one playing at a higher level and the fact we've no strikers between the ages of 25 and 30 who should be leading line for us thanks to years of neglect to the development of Irish football.

crossman47

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117838265#Comment_117838265

Good result four points, three acceptable.

ratracer

I think 4 pts out of 9 would have been the maximum expected of the team before these 3 fixtures began. Hopefully that is still achievable. Major change takes time, and it is starting to show with these young lads. I hope SK is left in charge for the whole qualification campaign to see how his ideas pan out. If it doesn’t work, then at least it was tried.

ben.schlomo

I'd be happy with 4 points. I'd take 3 if we had two more good performances though. As long as we see more progression it's fine with me.

eire4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837585#Comment_117837585

I think thats fair. I felt last night was a sign of progress albeit with a massive dose of heartbreak at the end.

eire4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117838240#Comment_117838240

Think your probably right about VAR and the PK.

eire4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117838586#Comment_117838586

Again I agree and think that is fair.

briany

Have to say that I was sceptical about Kenny going into last night's game, but he had the team playing some surprisingly good football at times. Personally, I accept this campaign is pretty much a write-off and is now about building for the future, so I'm happy to see Kenny be given more time.

I think, though, that in trying to reshape the ethos of the team, there should be room made for things the team had traditionally been good at. Like, it was nice to see the team playing it out from the back at times, but I don't know if it's the best idea at 85 minutes in where they're tired and playing a more skilful team. I think it might be better at that point in the game to play two banks of four and long balls up to someone subbed in fresh, who can attempt to tie up the ball at the other end, nick a free kick and waste a bit of time (if defending a lead). Liked the gamesmanship Ireland were at last night. In a perfect world, it wouldn't happen and everyone would just get on with the game, but if every other team is going to do it, Ireland should do it as well, and to the utmost.

johnnyryan89

https://twitter.com/FAIreland/status/1433408549191835648

If anyone is in the area and has some free time it could be worth checking it out as McLoughlin and Zefi are two cracking young attacking players.

Jim Gazebo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837088#Comment_117837088

His attitude more than anything else annoyed me. He was standing over Irish players going down injured and really going overboard about time wasting. You don't see it in every game. He'll get burnt doing that if someone gets a serious injury and he's more worried about ushering them off the pitch.

McFly85

The refereeing team was dreadful. It felt at times like both sides were being held to different standards.

VAR should have alerted the referee to the slap and the Connolly penalty (indeed, there was added on time for a nonsense VAR check for a Portugal penalty)

The 4th official failed to alert the referee of a requested substitution for Ireland for several minutes, only finally doing it after the equaliser went in.

The free kick for the Molumby handball was incredibly harsh, and an example of how strict the ref was to Ireland.

It really felt like the referee enjoyed being a part of the Ronaldo legacy, and Ireland did very well to get as far as they did at 1-0.

Collie D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117838250#Comment_117838250

They were only for sale in pairs. I’ve a spare if you’re interested? Had to buy four even though I only wanted three.

Also have a pair for Saturday - same reason as above and then one lad had to pull out so could have just bought two all along.

All Block 113 - printed tickets so you’ll have to trust me that I don’t have dozens of copies :) No offence taken if not.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117839123#Comment_117839123

I didn't realise till I saw someone mention on twitter that Ronaldo was the only Portuguese player booked last night. That Bernardo Silva wasn't booked for taking Doherty out and making no attempt to even play the ball.

Ferris_Bueller

How are we feeling ahead of Saturday?

Last night's performance was brilliant, but I would still have the same worries about playing Azerbaijan. If the opposition sit back and we have to break them down we have generally struggled. We will need to move the ball quicker than we have been and have players who are not afraid to try something and take responsibility. You also have to factor in math fitness - O'Shea will be out. Doherty may or may not be fit. Will guys like Connolly and Hendrick have another 90 mins in their legs having played such little football? I'd be bringing in Parrott if we stick with the two up top, although we did go with a 4-5-1 type set up vs Andorra.

I think Saturday will be the defining game of Kenny's era. Win with a decent performance and I think he will and should be offered a new contract, fail to win and there are going to be calls for his head, understandably. I wonder will anyone come into the squad to replace O'Shea and Shane Long.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117839391#Comment_117839391

I have the same worries. I don't know if I've already picked an XI for Saturday in another post but this would be the one I'd go with:

-------------------------Bazunu

---Omobamidele - Duffy - Egan

Coleman - Molumby - Cullen - Manning

--------------------------Parrott

-----------------------Idah - Connolly

Could play McGrath instead of Molumby to have another baller on the pitch to pass it around, but I also think it would be great to spring him and Horgan from the bench for maybe Idah and Connolly to add fresh legs in attack to support Parrott.

I'd be looking to get Coleman, Cullen, Idah, and Connolly off early enough, a lot earlier than Kenny often makes subs.

If we could call up someone to replace O'Shea maybe a full back because we've only got Coleman, Doherty, and Manning. Plus Kenny said Doherty was feeling unwell in the game. Could always switch to back four and put Nathan Collins at RB if needs be.

But Kenny's squad management is gonna need to be A1 to keep lads from being shattered going into the Serbia game. They've only got two competitive games this window while we've got three and doubt they've got lads who'll be starting that aren't playing at club level.

Edit:

Pretty sure I saw today that Robinson is training again, and saw a picture of him with other players in the cafeteria. Could be an old photo though, but if not we should try to call him in for Long.