Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

But they aren't going to be down 10k people... because there were people interested in going to A GAME but were turned off by the package deal... They ended up buying nothing. That's who they are targeting here.

Suppose we'll know a bit more from the attendance tonight

It is a bit of "what if" though I do suppose as you wouldn't know unless they actually the single ticket sales but I would guess you would have seen a better turnout on Saturday anyway.

Might even have created a better atmosphere even, help create an environment where people return because the experience was good... Crazy idea?

How were you so certain from before Kenny took the job that he was going to be a failure? What does your crystal ball say about John O'Shea if he gets the gig?

MON was our best manager since McCarthy the first time around and he deserves a lot of credit and respect. However it turned extremely sour very quickly at the end. The last year of his reign was worse than any of the Kenny era IMO.

More like; now that the worst manager in our history is gone, the manager who failed miserably on 6 fronts and drove our rankings down to 62nd in the world, we can only have hope that the next manager can turn things around and recover from the wasted 3 years under Kenny.

Can’t speak for anyone else of course but as someone who was a fan of his appointment it was right that he was sacked. He definitely wasn’t up to it, and even though he got a tough group he made some pretty glaring mistakes, particularly with Greece away and Netherlands at home.

What I would disagree with in regards to any conversation about his legacy, is that he set back Irish football by years, or that any potential failures in the upcoming campaign can be attributed to him. He’s gone, rightly so - that’s the end of the conversation around him.

So dropping from 34th in the world to 62nd doesn't have any negative effects for Ireland? 🤣 Having many of our promising young players enter senior international football under the direction of an incompetent manager, with a losing culture doesn't have a negative effect?

The new manager has to pick us up off the floor. That is a very difficult job to do. We're all glad that Kenny's gone but we shouldn't forget how bad it was under him because some of his supporters are uncomfortable. And we definitely shouldn't let those supporters, especially in the media, away with sniping at the new manager because their man was exposed as a terrible manager.

Hopefully the recovery continues against Switzerland tonight and then the manager appointment brings some positivity back.

Sagnol & Poyet go head to head at 5. Loser to be announced as new Ireland manager afterward...

U17s hammered 5-0 v Croatia. Out of Euros

Would be nice to see Jake O'Brien get a run out.

Or the form at that age group is indictive of the underfunding in grass roots and LOI academies. The Croatians do youth development the correct way, we do not.

Wasn't just me so. Looked like a lad just thrown in from stands. The lack of pace......

It was like they pulled a random guy from the Lansdowne gym and asked him to just jog around a bit.

Although I remember Kevin Kilbane's first start when he looked utterly useless. Dragged off at HT and was lucky to get that far. Went on to get 100+ caps.

Festy should start. He's playing quite regularly in Serie A, and at a higher level than most of our squad. It's a friendly, give him a start and hook him at half time if he's not up to it. Really see what he's made of. What's the harm?

Maybe Oshea sees him in training and thinks he’s ****?

His cameo of 6 or so mins he done 2-3 **** things so I could see why.

bottom half of serie A is a **** standard

Nehuen Perez started for Argentina in a friendly on Saturday. He also plays for Udinese. If playing for **** standard bottom half Serie A team is good enough for the world champions then it's good enough for us.

Ultimately the only way to properly judge him is to give him some meaningful minutes. I'm not a massive fan of Ebosele but I'm open to what he can bring to the side in an aging position for us.

I'd like to think O'Shea has done some research on him by watching him play for Udinese, and has made the decision he's good enough for the squad. A poor 6 minute cameo shouldn't be enough to decide whether he's good enough or not.

i don’t think we should be giving lads a go because we don’t know what they are capable of without throwing them in.

i think how football managers look at things like this by what is he doing in training and off the bench. Is he outperforming competition for his place?

football fans and a lot of media look at it like “sure give him a go what’s the harm”

different mindsets

And has already been selected for the squad, so clearly the managerial decision has already been made that he adds value.

would like to see him get at least 30 minutes. The fact he was actually brought on the last day gives the impression O’Shea wants to see him in action too. Wasn’t a great few minutes, but it was only a few minutes. Players need a little time to feel their way into a game sometimes.

That's that argument boxed off so.

Hope Brady and Coleman's legs can manage that sort of quick turnaround!

Nice to see Johnston get a start. Hopefully get a few changes on 60 minutes and get to see a few more lads get some time. Ultimately, the only value we can take from these two games is positive individual performances - anything tactical will be wiped clean immediately with a new manager anyway.

The fact they were so specific about April would make me think we'll have to wait a few more days yet.

Elsewhere, the "loser goes to ireland" playoff looks a tight affair, still 0-0 late in added time now.

<edit> extra time it is.

This is a great watch, brilliant tension and two teams playing decent stuff at a tempo i'm not sure we could ever match, even with these lads increasingly tired legs now.

Into the second half of extra time now - Greece rattled the crossbar in the first half of extra time, while Georgia forced the Greek keeper into a great point blank save. Greece a little more controlled, while Georgia are breaking fast and pressing hard. Kvara just had to come off though, which is a big blow for them.

Honestly, we could only hope to play at the tempo these two teams have played at today... thankfully neither side has been playing for pens, which usually ruins extra time. Quality and intensity has been high. Really enjoyable (the stakes and tension definitely help too!).