Ireland Vs Bulgaria

Dub13

How do you think we will do...?I was going to put a few Eurobucks on us but its not realy worth the risk at 8/11.I think we should win Bulgaria were crap at Euro 2004 and they have a new manager.

StickyMcGinty

Dub13 wrote:

they have a new manager.

none other than the man himself Hristo Stoichkov!!

it'll be cool to seee him, what a legend!

anyone else going by the way? hardly going to be a sell out is it?

Big Ears

Ireland 2-0 , Bulgaria to create 2 decent chances while we dominate the game , and should score more .

Ronan|Raven

Hopefully should be a good match, heading up myself later on to it.

Big Nelly

Many tickets left? was thinking of heading over but with this rain I think Sky is calling and a few cans!

Will expect it to be a good game as long as da pitch isnt like a pond...remember game(against Denmark I think) and it was raining like this and everytime Duffer got the ball and ran it just sat in water....... :mad: .......wud tink Ireland will win by at least 3-0....Duff and Macken to get one a piece!! maybe Morrison can knock one in to get his confidence back!!

GuanYin

[edit] The Denmark game was postponedm I think it was the USA we played when the picth was waterlogged. [/edit]

I imagine Ireland to win 3-1

I'll guess he'll probably start with:

---

Given

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Carr---Cunningham---Doherty---O'Shea

Miller

---

Keane

---

Kilbane----Reid

---

Morrisson----Duff

---

StickyMcGinty

ahh the USA game.. had such craic in the crowd that day the game was sooo sh1te.

i dont think the bulgarians will roll over, like most east europe teams they'll be stubborn, and the weather will suit them more than us

Big Nelly

VinnyL wrote:

ahh the USA game.. had such craic in the crowd that day the game was sooo sh1te.

i dont think the bulgarians will roll over, like most east europe teams they'll be stubborn, and the weather will suit them more than us

Yeah prob was US game, cant remember now! was a good laugh but was soaking!!!

Cant see da Bulgarians doing much! where terrible in Euro's and in a transistion period now! new coach and a few new players from wat I have read! will see......hopefully do give da lads a gud run out! they need it for the upcoming games.....wud like to see

---

Given

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Carr---Cunningham---Doherty---O'Shea

Miller

---

Keane

---

Reid----Duff

---

Morrisson----Macken

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This wud prob be lineup except O'Brian for Doherty in the first game if Robbie still out!

LegacyUser

Morrisson should be dropped as he is utter ****e. Give that bloke Lee a chance. Looks like a good target man.

GuanYin

cheesedude wrote:

Morrisson should be dropped as he is utter ****e. Give that bloke Lee a chance. Looks like a good target man.

Morrison actually played well the last couple of games and his partnership at Birmingham was the main reason for Forssell's haul last year (as Forssell himself admitted).

Big Nelly

cheesedude wrote:

Morrisson should be dropped as he is utter ****e. Give that bloke Lee a chance. Looks like a good target man.

Is Lee not struggling to be fit for tonite?

bizmark

---

Given

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Carr---Cunningham---Doherty---O'Shea

Miller

---

Keane

---

Kayanagh----Duff

---

A.Reid

---

---

Macken

---

*or barrett*


3-0

Big Nelly

bizmark wrote:

---

Given

---

Carr---Cunningham---Doherty---O'Shea

Miller

---

Keane

---

Reid----Duff

---

A.Reid

---

---

Macken

---

3-0

Only one Reid in squad, Stephen is injuryed! more is the pity! class player

bizmark

Is kavanagh called up?

GuanYin

bizmark wrote:

Iskavanagh called up?

yes he is

Big Ears

VinnyL wrote:

i dont think the bulgarians will roll over, like most east europe teams they'll be stubborn, and the weather will suit them more than us

If they play the same type of game they did in the Euro's then they will definetly not be like most East European teams , and thw weather will suit us .(not that we don't pass the ball around a lot , its just thet were used to it ) , and if they do play like they did in the Euro's they will not be one bit stubborn , Martin Petrov being the only player to really look out for .

Dub13

I am going to put 100 EuroBucks on us to win at 8/11,I think we will do it.

StickyMcGinty

whats that about a fool and his money....? too many factors (weather, poor turnout) pint towards a 0-0 draw! crazy game to put that much spondoolix on

BaZmO*

We "should" easily win afterall Bulgaria were the team that in Euro2004 got thrashed 5-0 by Sweden, 2-0 by Denmark and were beaten 2-1 by Italy. It all points to an Irish win. However, with something like 8 Bulgarians from the Euros being dropped and a new manager in the fold, they might feel like they have something to prove.

3-1 to Ireland.

Big Ears

and the team is..........................Given..........................................

Finnan......................Doherty.........Cunningham........................O'Shea



Miller.......................Keane..................Kilbane..........................Duff.

..................................................................Reid.........................

..........................................Morrison .

G

I have 100 on Ireland at same odds. We should turn Bulgaria at Lansdowne even if morrison plays.

Morrisson should be dropped as he is utter ****e. Give that bloke Lee a chance. Looks like a good target man.

Agreed. He'll be second fiddle to The Donkey at B'ham this season and that's saying something.

eirebhoy

cheesedude wrote:

Morrisson should be dropped as he is utter ****e. Give that bloke Lee a chance. Looks like a good target man.

Can you imagine an Englishman saying "Give that bloke Defoe a chance"?

I don't think Bulgaria were that bad at Euro 2004. They were the better team against Sweden until the 3rd goal went in (which shouldn't have been a penalty) and had a lot more possession. They had a terrible game against Denmark but regained some pride with a good performance against Italy.

Carr hasn't played for Ireland in a while so I'm wondering why he didn't start today (he sat out Monday's training so he could have a slight knock). It's a pity Dunne wasn't called up as he would/should have started ahead of Doc.

Hopefully they will line up as Big Ears has it (I know its the team but maybe Kerr will play Duff up with Morrison). Reid will need to give Morrison a bit of support otherwise I can see him being a but like Fitzpatrick for Shels last week.

I was looking forward to seeing Kavanagh play with Keane but Kilbane got the nod ahead of him. I'm a big fan of Kilbane so I'm not disappointed but hopefully Kav gets at least a half an hour (If he does I have a feeling he'll score ).

I'm not happy with Doc at centre half but other than that its fine.

GuanYin

Well 10/11 isn't a bad prediction.

Don't laugh, but that could be not unlike Arsenal's formation. With Reid Sitting back and Duff turning to a third striker while miller tucks into the centre.

Arsenal do much the same with Bergkamp sitting behind Henry, with Lundberg/Pires/Reyes going forward and Pires/Lundberg tucking in (delete applicable)

bizmark

Nice defence there :rolleyes:

bizmark

1-0 A.reid free kick

thejollyrodger

1-0 great!!

how does ireland look ?? performance wise

bizmark

Grand other than one slip up at the start which nearly put us 1 down

bizmark

HT somewhat boreing tbh A.reid playing very well

eirebhoy

Boring match when Bulgaria have the ball, when Ireland have it they usually make something of it. Reid is the best player on the pitch and apparantly Curbishly is watching him. Duff had a good start but hasn't done much since but he can't do a lot playing on the right. Nothing else really of note. Hopefully there'll be a few substitutions at h/t to liven things up.

woosaysdan

and i was going to take tonite off work to watch the match just a well i didnt!!!

bizmark

1-1 bugger

Töpher

How?

bizmark

Fine volly from inside the box

Ping Chow Chi

eirebhoy wrote:

Boring match when Bulgaria have the ball, when Ireland have it they usually make something of it. Reid is the best player on the pitch and apparantly Curbishly is watching him. Duff had a good start but hasn't done much since but he can't do a lot playing on the right. Nothing else really of note. Hopefully there'll be a few substitutions at h/t to liven things up.

I walked passed Curbishly at the city ground when I went to see Forest v Ipswich, he apparently is after Reid - big Joe is holding out for 5 mil though, which I think is a fair price for the lad.

Töpher

My commiserations to all those who put 100 on tonights match!

Davey Devil

Golden rule of gambling, never put a bet on an International Friendly.

Tellox

Reid was sharp, as was keane. Very suprised to see him replaced with kav, thought kilbane should've gone. Another 100% effort 0 results performance from him. Morrison got into his positions well, but should've at least scored one. Dreadful finishing. How did he miss that header? He seemed to go missing after he took that knock. Thought he should've been replaced earlier, but Macken did worse. Duff didnt look his usual self, needs to get playing regularily again. Quinn didnt look too great either.

The defending was atrocious, Bulgaria should've won. I'd rather if they did, might give us the kick we need before going into qualifiers. A blind man would've wondered if we were playing home or away, the crowd didnt make a bit of noise.

And I would've liked someone to break that diving bulgarians twats leg before the match ended, he doesnt deserve to play professional football.

All in all, a substandard performance. Had we have taken our chances in the first half and finished them, it could've been so much better.

thejollyrodger

so much for the polished performance before the world cup qualifiers, lets up we can get a result in 2 weeks time !!

eirebhoy

I usually have a lot to say after an Ireland match but I honestly can't think anything to add to my half time comments.

The Bulgarian's obviously rate us very highly, it was like the goalscorer had won the world cup. I'd never seen individual time waste as much as that number 7, I'm sure Stoichkov will have a few words.

What we can take from this game is Duff has to play on the left against Cyprus. Keane might be back by then BTW.

France drew 1-1 at home to Bosnia and Switzerland drew 0-0 at home to N.Ireland.

thejollyrodger

im watching the match on telly now, WTF was that by the irish defence at the start of the match?? The grass looks too long (as usual). Clinton should have scored as well !!

GuanYin

Back from the match. Was poor spectical. Reid was MotM by a long sea mile. Miller looked poor as did Finnan, lost his man several times. Breen has hopefully played his last game on that performance. Cunningham was as solid as usual, he really is a model pro. Keane didn't look as firey as usual. Otherwise, Morrisson didn't do himself any favours, he had two good chances on a plate, especially the one just before he was taken off. O'Shea looked rusty too.

First game of the season and the players need to sharpen up. Too many poor performances.

Was Duff's worst performance for Ireland, in recent memory too.

jesus_thats_gre

Just back myself and it was a poor game.. Duff was man of the match for me by a long shot.. Keane and Miller did virtually nothing, they seemed to be side by side for half of the match. O'Shea was poor, as was Finnan. Doherty needs to be put down!

gandalf

Well I am glad they got their bad performances out during a friendly game. Also at least they weren't beaten.

Saw some of the Swiss game and they looked very poor against Northern Ireland. The lads need to get decent results in the next two games. God I hope Robbie is fit soon !!

Davey Devil

syke wrote:

Was Duff's worst performance for Ireland, in recent memory too.

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Duff was man of the match for me by a long shot

I didn't see the match. Were you two watching the same game, who's talking crap?

Dewey

So glad i didnt go to the match. I cant belive people put €100 euros on Ireland in a FRIENDLY.

I was disappointed with Doc was playing and i hope O'Brian will be fit for the Cypus game. Breen didnt look to go either.
Another good proformance by Andy Reid and a lucky goal, I think he should start on the left of midfeild and move Duff up with Keane. Duff got off to a good start but disappeared in the second half.

Kerr said he feels the players in the squad are ready for the Quilifiers but i'm not so sure about Quinn,Macken,Doc,Breen. I was very surprised to see Finnan playing ahead of Carr but i still expect Carr to start the Cypus game.

I also hope Holland is back.......i cant belive i said that. i just think Keane brings out the best in him and they work well together.

GuanYin

Davey Devil wrote:

I didn't see the match. Were you two watching the same game, who's talking crap?

For my money he tried alot of tricks but didn't pull them off. Took the wrong option alot and gave away the ball too easily and not early enough. He did start quite well but faded fast.

eirebhoy

Davey Devil wrote:

I didn't see the match. Were you two watching the same game, who's talking crap?

He's set himself high standards so while a neutral probably would have been impressed, he was poor by his own standards.

Dewey, Duff up front is tried, tested and failed.

I might aswell post what I read about the other teams in our group:

France 1-1 Bosnia:

Fabien Barthez; Bernard Mendy, William Gallas, Sebastien Squillaci, Patrice Evra; Eric Abidal, Rio Mavuba, Benoit Pedretti, Jerome Rothen; Thierry Henry, Peguy Luyindula.

Bosnia were missing 3 first choice players and played very badly. France put in a lot of work but just couldn't get a winning goal. Henry missed a penalty. Luyindula scored the goal for France.

Switzerland 0-0 N.Ireland:

Zuberbuhler, Haas, Muller, Murat Yakin, Spycher, Huggel, Vogel, Wicky, Cabanas, Hakan Yakin, Vonlanthen. Subs: Roth, Henchoz, Lonfat, Muff, Frei, Magnin.

Switzerland also gave it their all but couldn't score. Magnin and Muff hit the woodwork for the Swizz.

Croatia 1-0 Israel

Croatia scored a header from a freekick which apparantly is Israel's weakness (defending set pieces).

Others:
Cyprus 2-1 Albania - Cyprus look like they've improved since our last meeting. Michalis Konstantinou with the 2 goals.

Faroe's 3-2 Malta - Borg, Petersen and Benjaminsen with the goals.

thejollyrodger

Doherty needs to be put down

HAHAHA:)

Big Ears

looks like the only countries that did well in our group , were the too that are the weakest .

Although the Faroe's would be expected to beat Malta and maybe underachieved tonight .

Cyprus could find themsleves doing well if Albania played like they did in the Euro's qualifying group .

Israeli people are small of course set-pieces are they're weakness .
Eyal Berkovic defending a cross :eek: .

Was Bolton's new signing from Israel playing tonight ? .

A poor performance from Ireland , but the players aren't up to full match fitness .

Although with the other nations doing so poorly , Ireland's result dosen't seem so bad .

Ronan|Raven

Damn traffic out of Dublin! Us country folk hate traffic! Pretty poor game, some good moments. Was as to be expected. Had a few quid on Reid to score the opener so not a bad night.

PHB

Duff just doesn't play up front.
He's been tired there again and again for ireland.
If you put him on the left he can create a chance that anyone here could score, and if hes forced to go up front he doesn't get an service.

Its not like we have to choose between two really good left wingers.
We have one good left winger, put him there.