Ireland Vs Cyprus (inc. scores after kick off)

thejollyrodger

The latest word coming out of the irish is that Carr is set to start over Finnan at the right back position. REP OF IRELAND (Probable)irish independent

_____________________Given___________________


Carr_______O'Brien______Cunningham_________O'Shea


Reid______Kavanagh________Kilbane____________Duff


__________Morrison_________________Keane_______


Im going for a Ireland win. I reckon we can win by 3-0, defence looks pretty good. Kavanagh and Kilbane did well against brasil (even though it was a friendly). Having two wingers as good as Duff and Reid is probably our best asset and Keane to do the business up front.

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It's probably the best team given the current state of the squad. I rate Carr more highly than Finnan anyway.

I have a few concerns though.

Given hasn't exactly being setting the world on fire, having conceded nine goals so far this season in the Premiership. I know that all of them were not down to Given, but some of them were. It's a small doubt, and I'm sure it will prove unfounded.

Again, sticking with the Newcastle United flavour, and Andy O'Brien has been part of that same defence that has leaked nine goals. But I like O'Brien, and I am glad to see him in the team, at least he's not Gary Breen.

John O'Shea is another worry. I don't think he has made the step to International level for some reason. He has also looked shakey in the Manchester United team for a few months now, and Ferguson obviously has concerns too, having brought in Heinze.

I'd have no concerns about the wings, as we have one of the best left wingers in the world in Duff, once Kerr plays him there, and a good emerging talent in Andy Reid. I think they can cause problems for any defence.

The centre of midfield is a major problem however. Kilbane is not a natural centre midfielder, and Kavanagh plays in The Championship with a Cardiff City team that has shown none of last seasons sparkle. But Kavanagh is a good battler, and will definitely go over and above for the team, and if Kilbane gets his running boots on, he may cause the Cypriots some problems.

Up front, Robbie Keane could not have come back at a better time, but he needs a regular decent partner.

mike65

Well if ROI don't thump Cyprus....Duff must start on the wing, I'd put Doherty up front (no really!)

Mike.

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mike65 wrote:

I'd put Doherty up front
Mike.

This belongs in the Humour Forum.

mike65

seansouth wrote:

This belongs in the Humour Forum.

Well I did mean Ken! No I think he'd be more effective than Morisson. The old big fella/little fella routine seems to suit Keane better.

Mike.

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mike65 wrote:

Well I did mean Ken!

He'd be more effective than The Ginger Pelé, he could use his stick to terrorise the Cyprus defence. And once they see that scar on his face, they'll think he's hard as nails!!

gandalf

I expect a 3-0 today (well I put a few quid on that score). But then again that was before I saw Andy O'Brien starting :eek: . I agree with Mike, Doherty would be far more effective up front that Clinton "Fall over loads" Morrison who has had his chance and failed with honours !

thejollyrodger

Newcastle defenders dont exactly inspire confidence alright !!

Kerr can always bring on the doc and go for route one if we arent making progress. Its unlikely we will score early, its going to take a while

eirebhoy

gandalf wrote:

I expect a 3-0 today (well I put a few quid on that score). But then again that was before I saw Andy O'Brien starting :eek:

I'm suprised you're suprised given that Doc and Breen are the only alternatives. O'Brien has held off some mean attackers in Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, RVN, Kluivert. He has yet to concede a goal for Ireland in 2004. I know it was only friendlies but you hardly expect Ronaldo to run slower just because of that. Holland were fuming after their defeat and they were playing just like it was competition as it was the last match before EC and they had just been beaten by Belgium.

thejollyrodger

Realistically I dont think friendlies are taken serious on the continent. Its good to try out some tatical positions and see what players can do but the result doesnt seem to be taken serious. I think the dutch were more pissed of with Advocate in charge than the actual score line.

KdjaCL

Mike may have an idea there , if we not winning by 60th minute i would imagine some lumping in Kens direction would be the tactic.

Not a bad team considering , the defence looks good add in Keane into that midfield and a bag of ****e up front for morrison and thats not a bad 11.

kdjac

eirebhoy

thejollyrodger wrote:

_____________________Given___________________


Carr_______O'Brien______Cunningham_________O'Shea


Reid______Kavanagh________Kilbane____________Duff


__________Morrison_________________Keane_______

Thats the team Kerr has gone with, its just been announced. I'm delighted as that is the exact team I wanted to see out, I thought Kerr would have played Duffer out of position but gladly he didn't.

Right i'm off to the pub.

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So, I'm stuck in work, and there is a TV in the next room, sitting idle, and we can't have it because the "facilities manager" hasn't given the go ahead, and he's not answering his phone.

:mad:

So can you good people please let me know the general run of play, how individuals are performing et cetera.

How do the 20,000 green wigs look, and the "boom sticks", are they "booming".

therecklessone

Great glancing header from Clint, 1-0 Ireland.

KdjaCL

1-0 morrision hes missed 2 chances already , some nice build up play by ireland but Cyrpus intent on fouling a lot and 2 players on Duff everytime he gets a whiff of the ball.

Strong 1st half Cyprus no shots on goal as of yet.

kdjac

KdjaCL

bbc or planetfootball will have min by min commentary.

kdjac

therecklessone

2-0, Andy Reid screamer.

Playing out of his skin. £5 million? A steal with this performance.

KdjaCL

Superb goal , from all of 30 yards keeper may have been unsighted but cracking shot .


kdjac

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Ste-

I agree great goal by Reid, Morrison is having a good games as is Duff.
I'd say another one or two for us in the second half.

Don't think Kavanagh is playing too well.

thejollyrodger

2-0 great. The cyprutis dont look great but created a few 1/2 chances.

Well done Clint. The fella was under a lot of pressure and does a lot of work. Great to see him score !!

Magnificant goal by Reid!!

Duff looks a bit under pressure.

zAbbo

Never thought i'd say this, but could we take off Duff and Keane

Reid/Morrison/Kav playing well

woosaysdan

second half kicking off two nil to ireland and another few goals in it especially if they play like they did in the first half!!! we need to score hard with weaker nations cos its going to be a tight group at the end!!!

_blank_

Be nice to get another couple, keep the Goal Difference/Goals Scored up, it could come to that with the Swiss.

Hopefully it's a clean sheet too.

therecklessone

Duffer's best move of the match, and its a peno!

KdjaCL

Morrison is not doing what hes suppsoed to ie play football at a high level , hes not holding it up missing stupidly easy chances.

Him and kavanagh not good enough for internatiuonal football.

peno to ireland

kdjac

therecklessone

Keano!

3-0

Record equalled.

woosaysdan

gwan keano!!! ole ole ole ole ole ole need to score a few more goals though

therecklessone

Great shot from Duffer, would have been a magic goal.

Bard

Nice one Robbie Keane scoring the penalty making him now Ireland's all-time top scoring player.

3-0 to Ireland. Grand!

Can see us scoring again alright...

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Did Stephen Carr go off with a face on him?

And who replaced him?

KdjaCL

seansouth wrote:

Did Stephen Carr go off with a face on him?

And who replaced him?

Finnan Carr was bolloxed

kdjac

DerekD Goldfish

A good performane against a very poor team

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gandalf wrote:

I expect a 3-0 today (well I put a few quid on that score).

Well done, what odds did you get on that?

edit:/

I see the Swiss are 2-0 up on the Faroe's after about a half hour.

gandalf

11-2 were the odds.

I didn't expect Cyprus to be as poor as they were thou. We should have put a few more away against them, goals could be a factor in this group. I would expect Reid to be snapped up in January if he keeps putting in performanaces like that he was excellent.

_blank_

3-0 now to the Swiss, and its half time.

Also, Norn Iron lost 3-0 at home to Poland.

thejollyrodger

great result, pity we didnt get 4-0 and have 3 in a row

I thought it was a good performance against a poor side. It took a while to get a goal but once we did, there was no question about the result.

Kavanagh did very well distributing the ball, some great passes (like the one way out to Duff on the left). He did a lot more than I thought he could.

Carr did very well going forward, he looks a lot better than finnan. Even though he seemed bollocksed at the end.

O Shea looked good going forward too. But Cyprus werent great.

Whatever happened the last 20 odd minutes of the game. Robbie Keane (fair play for equaling the highest goal scoring record) but he looked like he was out on a training pitch. Missing balls and doing strange dummies when there was no other irish player around. Funny since it was against such a crap team.

Pigman II

3-0 now to the Swiss, and its half time.

It's actually 4-0 at HT

Also, Norn Iron lost 3-0 at home to Poland.

haha ... oh I forgot I'm not supposed to find that funny.

Pigman II

Glad to see Ireland decided to go on vacation after half-time. Clearly they were doing the smart thing and thinking of next Wednesday as the match had already been won at 2-0.

Also Despite being 4-0 up in the other game the Swiss don't look impressive and if we can contain their unquestionable attacking potential we can easily punish their questionable defence.

thejollyrodger

Also, Norn Iron lost 3-0 at home to Poland.

I shouldnt, but I thought it was funny too.hehe

I think everyone (including me ) should give Clinton Morrison a break. Johnny Giles pointed out that he is pretty young and has yet to find his niche. Quinn was a mess when he was that age and took him a while to find his form and score all those goals.

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6-0 now to the Swiss

63 mins gone

KdjaCL

Morrison is a 2nd rate div 1 player who doesnt deserve to be playing at international level but sadly lack of competition for that place and him scoring 9and missing 5 easier chances0 mean he will get another game with us.

Soon as a better option becomes available hopefully he cast off. He has a simple job hold up the ball he is completley useless at doing it and not once today did he hold up the bal to allow the midfield to come onto it.

Hopefully Kavanaghj is injured and cant play on wed if he makes thos estupid mistakes and crap passes against a decnet side we will be punished.

kdjac

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KdjaC wrote:

Soon as a better option becomes available

His name is Jason Byrne, or Glen Crowe, or the lad from Cork Village whose name escapes me.

Only Kerr, like the rest of the FAI ignores the LoI when it comes to the national team.

eirebhoy

First off, good to see Zinedine learnt the national anthem, he's probably the only English born player that knows it.

The back four was solid, O'Shea had a very good game and was impressive going forward.

Duff had a woeful first half, even with his right footed assist. Mourinho was at the match so I was getting worried but he put in a good second half performance. He was been tripled up on at times. Reid was simply himself, great performance. Super goal from Reid too, were starting to score a few from outside the box (Keane - Holland, Barrett - Jamaica, Duff - whenever he scores). Kilbane was OK, he wasn't the best but was still good enough to keep his place against the Swizz. Kavanagh's long ball passes were spot on. He gave away a few short passes but you have to expect a few hiccups as he was been played out of position. He won a lot of tackes too.

Morrison had a good game and has learnt how to head a ball. Keane was crap. People slated Keane for been selfish but today he was far from that, I prefer the selfish Keane. Congrats on his record though, even though Quinn didn't take peno's.

The players kept their energy for Wedensday but they should have went on to score a couple more. We came second in 2001 on goal difference which could have cost us dearly. Hopefully the Swizz line out with the same defence as today, very shaky against the part timers.

I'm happy anyway.

KdjaCL

seansouth wrote:

His name is Jason Byrne, or Glen Crowe, or the lad from Cork Village whose name escapes me.

Only Kerr, like the rest of the FAI ignores the LoI when it comes to the national team.

No player in EL is good enough for National team yet , Jason Byrne is a fair weather player, Crowe cant kick a ball under pressure and relies on simple tap ins created for him < does not happen often at international level.

Dunno who you mean of cork but only player i have seen capable of national team is Dessie Byrne but hes a nutcase and needs to hit the same form that got pats €400,000 (and we got him back for free sweet deal) He has the touch and technique to play PL and international football but is a nutcase and may never regain the form needed to play at a high level again.

I would love to see it happen but atm there isnt anyone good enough to play for National team

kdjac

Pepe LeFrits

Anthony Stokes!

I was very impressed with Reid today, with Duff on form and Keane holding things down in the centre our midfield would be quite formidable.

There's cause for optimism for the Swiss game methinks...

ella minnow pea

seansouth wrote:

the lad from Cork Village whose name escapes me

john o' flynn?

and sorry but i can see elliot and even mcgeady making it before any eL player.

smemon

carr and keane were rubbish, didnt even look interested, carr constantly stayed back and failed to overlap or get forward.

keane kept diving and dumying, looked stupid. rest of the side looked solid apart from right midfield but i suppose that was expected seen as we had a left sided player over there.

duff was sheer class along with reid and o'shea, the 3 of them stood out.

good enough atmosphere too compared to the friendlies. the band should go to all the games, wouldnt like to be sitting beside them though.

the carlsberg wigs were a nice touch, so were the people that gave them out

3points and a clean sheet with big players out is a very good result, however i dont like this 'draw will do' mentality going out to swiss.

thejollyrodger

carr and keane were rubbish, didnt even look interested, carr constantly stayed back and failed to overlap or get forward.

Carr was sick before the match and wasnt going to start. Kerr took him off near the end. He didnt look great coming off the pitch. I would defintely start him over Finnan.

andyman

Yes, Carr didn't look well at all.Hope he's ok for the Swiss game.

Big Ears

kaids wrote:

Anthony Stokes!

take you're time Kaids , he will be ready soon , to go and break whatever future record Robbie sets .