Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

Why does it matter what the team were "traditionally good at" it's not the same players and we haven't been good playing 4-4-2 hoofball in years

Irish players, Connolly in particular, were faking injuries in order to waste time in the second half. This is one unwelcome development under Kenny. I have never seen this happen under previous managers and, also, if he insists on his defenders playing out from the back it will this team's and his own ruination. Bog standard championship level defenders are simply incapable of doing this. Even the likes of Maguire and Stones are uncomfortable playing in that fashion, looking awkward and under pressure and, generally, ending up passing back to the keeper who hoofs it upfield. Kenny must organise his defence to play to their strengths. The reason we lost against Portugal was because of rank bad defending and not because of the brilliance of Ronaldo. He had two free headers.

If the ref feels that there’s timewasting by the players then he’s free to warn/book them and add on what he feels is necessary, which is what he did, no issue there. But that doesn’t excuse the other refereeing issues, and it doesn’t give him free reign to be easier on one side than the other.

And we lost definitely because we were tiring and started making mistakes, but both goals were influenced by poor officiating-Kenny wanted to get 2 subs on at 1-0 but he couldn’t do that because the 4th official didn’t do his job.

And the winner came about with additional time added on because VAR had a potential penalty check for Portugal( which would be fine if they could do the same for Ireland) and then they were given a free kick for the flimsiest handball decision you’ll ever see. It really felt like Portugal were being given every opportunity to win the game.

If you don’t like having the team play out the way they do I can understand that, and there’s an argument to be made for getting this team to see games out which is an issue, but I wholeheartedly disagree that the only reason we lost is due to poor defending.

Kenny is learning on the job and adapting the play to be alot more practical. Great to see Duffy and Coleman back in the team I'd imagine even Kenny would admit dropping them was his biggest mistake so far.

We're seeing alot less faffing around at the back although we were nearly caught out messing against Portugal. Alot of our play was the long ball upto Idah and hope he can hold it up. I'm OK with that as it was working a little.

We've stopped trying to beat teams on possession as it was getting us nowhere and actively looking to progress forward as quick as possible.

Kenny has realised our best weapons remain down the flacks, getting crosses into the box and set pieces, this is where we're most dangerous and most likely to score.

The fact that he's willing to change and learn I'd like to see the contract extended to give him the Euros and then take stock after that.

As silly as it may sound the only negative I take from the Portugal game was the result.

Don't think I've enjoyed an Irish game as much in years. First half especially but even the second half there was some decent football played and we could have nicked a second.

Heartbreaking stuff in the end but I've always said I'd rather lose every match trying to play proper football. No point qualifying for tournaments playing like $hit. Hopefully this is the start of Kennys era. One good thing is the lads get to put the result behind them quickly.

Agree with other posters, a win and a draw or 2 wins are the only acceptable results now.

Terrible, but that's because the team completely lost all its discipline after scoring first.

All the way back to Trap I have been screaming for Ireland to be more proactive with bringing in new caps.

It's the main reason I am happy to cut the current team some slack

Nice business for Rovers...

Shamrock Rovers are quids in after Gavin Bazunu’s swift elevation to become Ireland’s first-choice goalkeeper.

Mirror Sport can reveal that Manchester City are paying the Hoops a tidy six-figure sum for EVERY competitive international appearance he makes up to a set limit.

It was one of the clauses inserted in the transfer deal when the Premier League champions signed the now 19-year-old from Rovers for €500,000 in 2019.

Rovers are already guaranteed almost half that figure again following Bazunu’s two competitive senior outings to date under Stephen Kenny.

Didn't say MON should have down a 180. He changed things for the first couple of friendlies, even had Callum O'Dowda playing as the the advanced midfielder in a 3-5-2. But the minute the first somewhat competitive game came around he reverted back to 4-4-2 with Walters and McClean up front and made a bunch of Welsh youngsters look like world beaters.

Stressful spectacle? Don't agree with that.

The only thing stressful is the playing around at the back in our own box. Plenty of times on Wednesday it would have better getting rid of it. The penalty showing how risky that is.

Overall atm it's far less stressful to watch than under the 3 previous mangers imo where the likes of Georgia or Kazakhstan routinely had our goal under siege after we knicked a goal from a hit and hope. Or when Amenia played us off the park in a crucial Euro 2012 qualifier at home, a game we were ludicrously fortunate in.

I could on. So many games we were outplayed by weak opposition as a tactical choice.

We just don't have results which is a hurdle we need to get over tomorrow and Tuesday.

Id agree for the most part. I don't think anything less than 6 or 4 points is abject failure. As you say performance is a big part of the picture. But I do think results need to start to drip in now or the wheels could come off as far as squad psyche and pressure on management etc.

Dan McDonnell reporting that Robinson is back in the frame for the Azerbaijan game. Huge news, he's been excellent for West Brom so far this season.

Have we had a comment about Liam Scales travelling on the magic plane yet!!

Rte showing the game.

If he can have the same impact as Jamie McGrath in Scotland then that's great for us. Celtic aren't stocked at LB, and fans have been critical of Greg Taylor and Montgomery only has just over 200mins for senior football I think. Not even 3 full games. That LB spot is there for Scales to make his own if that's where he'll play.

I don't know guys. People saying all that matters is the performances, but if we're failing to win against Azerbaijan tomorrow, we're getting into the realm where we could end up finishing bottom of the group. Would anyone fancy going to Luxembourg and Azerbaijan after failing to beat either at home and needing 6 points?

People are also forgetting that poor results now will also impact our FIFA World Ranking which is used to determine seedings for the qualification groups stages of Euro 2024. As of right now we are ranked 27th of all the UEFA nations. If we drop below 30th, then that will mean we're in pot 4 for the draw and is likely to make qualification very difficult. The draw will be next year and between now and then, our five remaining qualifiers carry the most weight in how many ranking points we can gain/lose. If we can finish this qualification campaign strongly and get 3 wins, we should be safe to retain our third pot status. Any further defeats to Luxembourg or Azerbaijan would put us in serious jeopardy of dropping into pot 4.

Not screwing up these remaining qualifiers is critical.

Along with beating Azerbayjian would be good to see us bang in a few goals and start opening up defences and creating more, we're still mainly reliant on crosses into the box and set pieces.

I think performances are definitely most important as I think it’s unfair to ask the team to have a massive change in personnel and philosophy and go out and get something out of a side that are a few years further down the road in terms of development. 13 UEFA teams will go to the World Cup and it’s a pipe dream to think that we’d be in the mix while giving the squad such a significant refresh, regardless of who they got to manage the team.

But a result against Azerbaijan is vital I think. They’re the bottom seed so they should be beating them regardless of the changes Kenny has been making. We need a high tempo performance and ideally a win with at least 3 goals. And the reason I think that is that they need to follow up the performance in Portugal to show its progression and not a one off.

I personally wouldn’t get rid of him either way because I don’t think there’s anyone out there who would be better for the team long term, but it’s not my decision and I would completely understand if they decided to part ways with him at that point.

I don't think talk of progress would outweigh even a draw tomorrow. We have to win.

If we don't the knives will be out.

Well we hope they are the weakest team in the group 😂

Honest question, how would the FAI afford to pay his remaining wages, Robbie Keane wages, and a new managers wages?

You'd like to think so, but there are some who have backed him to the hilt to such an extent that they will never be able to admit it's not worked.

If a foreign coach, without his media connections, had a record of 14 games managed, 1 win, 5 draws, and 8 defeats, and a win percentage of 7%, they'd already be toast.

Well for me, I'm hoping Anthony Barry throws his hat into the ring whenever the job comes available. But are they gonna go with someone whose experience is only as a coach.

Jim Goodwin has expressed a desire to manage his country but he's in contract with St Mirren until 2024. A possible contender come then if Kenny is still around and fails to qualify for Euro 2024.

Tony Mowbry could be an option. Out of contract next summer I think and someone here often passes comment that Blackburn try to play possession football, and he's often played three at the back at times I believe. The average age of their squad is 23.9 so he's working with younger players so would be a good indicator he wouldn't abandon the young lads in our squad for the older players.

Well yes but part of that would be because the foreign coach who let's say got the job instead of Kenny would not have worked with the Irish underage set up and probably would not care about the Irish team or players long term other than getting results to keep his job.

Also it's a sign of just how crap we have been. It's only at this rock bottom point that people are willing to make such a long term gamble