predict the outcome of Ireland v Russia

Tellox

I'd say 1-1.
An early goal scored by russia, followed by a pass from duff to keane, who hammers it in the back of the net.

Johnny_the_fox

3-0 Ireland

Robbie Keane Hat-Trick

BKtje

2-0 ireland

GoneShootin

i also predict 2 - 0 ireland

Helix

3-1 ireland and for us to run away with the group

Thanx 4 The Fish

2-1 Ireland, late Clinton Morisson goal clinches it for us.

Waylander

I think that we should now be going to tricky away games like this expecting a win. No more moral victories like Spain and Germany in the World Cup. We hammered Russia over here earlier this year, and they were poor in the world cup. Ireland 2 Russia 0.

Xterminator

One Nil to the Bhoys in Green!

X

Augmerson

Happy with a 1-1 draw. Delighted with a 2-1 win. Incoherently horizontally challenged with a 2-0 win.

I predict a draw however. My liver predicts pain...:)

Pigman

1-0 to Russia.

DapperGent

2-2 us coming from behind twice.

Yerac

3-1 ireland

A$$A$$IN

2-1 to Ireland Both robbie keane goals

s8n

nervous 2-1 win for ireland robbie keane and matt holland with the goals

Seb

2-0 to ireland, Keane and Kinsella the goal scorers, please God....

Pepe LeFrits

1-0

Samba

1-1/2-1 to ireland

PiE

Currently 2-0 to Russia, Duff's been injured, defence is a sham, Finnan is playing badly for the first time ever (that I know of)... bloody shambolical.

Helix

the upside is that this game is now out of the way, and if we can win the rest of our matches we WILL qualify automatically, coz that russian team are plain bad

Tellox

its now 2nd half and the dont seem to be playing any better. I'd say 2-1 to russia, a consolation goal scored by keane around 75mins.. hopefully I'll be proved wrong for a 2-2 draw..

BKtje

none of us coulda predicted that

Augmerson

Originally posted by Helix
3-1 ireland and for us to run away with the group

Haha?

Originally posted by Johnny_the_fox
3-0 Ireland

Robbie Keane Hat-Trick

Haha?

Originally posted by B-K-DzR
2-0 ireland

Haha?

But the winner has to be me. I may be wrong, but I'm truly pissed.

Pigman

Originally posted by B-K-DzR
none of us coulda predicted that

Eh, I did. That we'd lose anyway! T'was pretty obvious really.



A lot of people here are incorrectly moaning that that the defence was ‘****e’ but in actuality it was the midfield (Holland in particular) that was to blame for todays debacle. This was evidenced by the amount of time Robbie Keane (Irelands best player today) had to spend dropping back to support when he should have been the furthest man forward at all times.

Finnan had a bad game but the back four in general (including Babb) can hold their heads reasonably high in the knowledge that four goals conceded didn't tell the true story about their contributions. Finnan should certainly be kept in the side and Babb should be kept on in the squad.

To my mind McCarthys major error today was not playing Colin Healy in place of Holland. During pre-match analysis Dunphy was right in condemning Holland. He is an inneffective player who offers little to the side other than the occasional goal that (luckily for him) usually come at crucial times in important games.

The loss of Duff seemed to be crucial to todays downfall. Not that Duff in himself was playing particularly well but more-so because the team didn't seem to be sharp enough to adapt to the introduction of Morrison and for the most part spent the rest of the match running around like headless chickens, huffing and puffing with little result.

Another major contributor to our downfall was the amount of overly optimistic vibes being sent out prior to this match by both the general public and some of the players themselves. When facing opponents of roughly equal calibre Ireland thrive on being place in the position of underdog. For us to almost be pre-match favorites in this tie was ridiculous and certainly did us no favours.

I would have been suspicious even if Brazil had travelled to Moscow saying they felt they had a good chance of winning against Russia, but for half of Ireland (and 13 people on this board might I add!) to be declaring us likely winners only made me more confident that we were going to lose.

Oh, and to all the ManUre scum out there who would surmise that it could have been different had their Cork thug been playing, it may interest you to know that Keane was on the field when Ireland lost 1-3 at home to Spain in 93, when we lost 1-3 to Austria in 95 and was even present during the low-point of the modern era when Ireland lost 2-3 to Macedonia in 97.

In fact Captain Loudmouth was right there yet again when Ireland threw away a two-goal lead against the Dutch in September 1999! So please spare me this crap about him being some kind of one-man winning machine because whilst he might have been the best player we had he certainly didn’t give us the divine right not to concede goals or lose matches.

Ronan|Raven

A terrible display by the Irish team today. But at the end of the day its one loss, we can still qualify from the group with some good performances against the rest of the teams. The russians were a poor side, we were worse far worse...

Kilbane as always offered very little and I find myself agreeing with Dunphy about Holland :eek: :eek: :eek:

All in all a poor team display bar Keane who did his best and Doherty who came on did all that he could. Im sure this will give fuel to the Roy brigade but in the end who cares?

And as for poor old Babb, I really felt sorry for the poor lad. Very unfortunate in his "comeback" to have the ball rebound off him like that. Im sure itll be his pic on all the back pages of the rags that call themselves news papers come tomorrow morning.

Lennoxschips

Oh, and to all the ManUre scum out there who would surmise that it could have been different had their Cork thug been playing, it may interest you to know that Keane was on the field when Ireland lost 1-3 at home to Spain in 93, when we lost 1-3 to Austria in 95 and was even present during the low-point of the modern era when Ireland lost 2-3 to Macedonia in 97.

In fact Captain Loudmouth was right there yet again when Ireland threw away a two-goal lead against the Dutch in September 1999! So please spare me this crap about him being some kind of one-man winning machine because whilst he might have been the best player we had he certainly didn’t give us the divine right not to concede goals or lose matches.

"Captain Loudmouth" was only 75% fit when we threw away the 2-0 lead in the Amsterdam Arena (I was there). After the match the players were celebrating the draw and "Captain Loudmouth" walked off, disgusted that we threw away two points.

You can't really blame a midfielder for any result from the Charlton era, seeing as our tactics in those days bypassed the midfield.

The Macedonia loss is due to us having a muppet as manager, a muppet that dragged Paul McGrath out on the town (even though he wanted to stay in) a few days before the Macedonia game, resulting McGrath getting himself plastered and kicked off the squad. Hardly the best preparation for an international match now is it?

Keep your paws off Keane.

---

As for the match. Ian Harte wouldn't have scored that own goal like Phil Babb did, because Ian Harte would have been 20 yards behind still tracking back. Babb did what he could in a bad situation, closed down the angle so that the attacker could only shoot straight at Given. He couldn't do anything about the rebound hitting off his chest, that was just bad luck. The real culprit for that goal was whoever gave the ball away so cheaply in midfield. I'd still rather have Phil Babb at left back instead of Harte any day.

Finnan and Holland had bad days, but we'll given them that, seeing as they've saved the team in the past. But people like Kilbane, Harte and McAteer continue to have bad days. These need to be dropped.

AND DAMIEN DUFF SHOULD PLAY ON THE WING!!!!

BKtje

sight this day is just turning out to be one **** thing after another. 1st the irish match. Then i learn the r300 i have coming have problems and now i just deleted my huge post.

guess ill start again.

You predicted a loss. Not a totaly fall apart to which iw as refering.

Our defence AND midfield was brutal.
For the first goal the midfield didnt close the supplier down fast enough and Finnan was outta position. The russian tok his goal well enough tho.
Second was bad defending as well. Don't recall the lead up but from the replays you couldn't see one player near him as he was talking his free shot from INSIDE the box.
The third was defences problem. 100%. The lone striker got in betwee our captain and harte to have a free go at goal. Don't tell me that that was midfields fault.
We all know what happened for the last.
Finnan looked very nervous from the start and didnt really get up to speed in the game. He tried tho, fair play to him for giving his all even tho he played ****e.
Harte didnt play too bad? did him and Finnan switch places after the world cup or something.

Losing Duff was indeed a major blow. However he did only 1 thing in the match and that was save our defence from Russia having a good chance. Morrisson fell over more than Klinsman when he got into the box.

After the world cup we had, of course people would be optimistic. Russia in fairness were ****E, Ireland unfortunately were just worse. Russia were shabby in defence and we looked like scoring whenever we got a half chance in the box. We woulda won if we didnt **** around at the back.

Oh, and to all the ManUre scum out there who would surmise that it could have been different had their Cork thug been playing

ManUre scum? get a ****ing life loser. Dont throw us all into one big pile whatever you do. Are we supposed to apologise for supporting who we do? Jesus . I'd like an apology for that tbh as would most decent Man U fans im sure.
Back to the topic and point u mentioned. Not having one of the best (arguably) midfielders in the world playing for us was really a blessing in disguise was it? He may be a muppet but hes still a GREAT player and a pretty good captain. He might not have stopped us losing but i dont think some of those msitakes woulda been made. Cunningham as a captain was disappointing to say the least.

Robbie Keane was the only player on that pitch today who deserved an irish shirt. Maybe Given too but he also made mistakes.

I aint calling for McCarthy's sacking as he got us to the World Cup and got us pretty far in the forementioned compo. He deserves another chance and so do the team. Just dont let that performance happen again please please pelase...

Pigman

Originally posted by Lennoxschips
"Captain Loudmouth" was only 75% fit when we threw away the 2-0 lead in the Amsterdam Arena (I was there). After the match the players were celebrating the draw and "Captain Loudmouth" walked off, disgusted that we threw away two points.

God, you lot have always got some lame excuse.

Originally posted by Lennoxschips
You can't really blame a midfielder for any result from the Charlton era, seeing as our tactics in those days bypassed the midfield.

God, you lot have always got some lame excuse.

Originally posted by Lennoxschips
The Macedonia loss is due to us having a muppet as manager, a muppet that dragged Paul McGrath out on the town (even though he wanted to stay in) a few days before the Macedonia game, resulting McGrath getting himself plastered and kicked off the squad. Hardly the best preparation for an international match now is it?

God, you lot have always got some lame excuse.

Originally posted by Lennoxschips
Keep your paws off Keane.

God, you lot have always got some lame excuse.

Originally posted by B-K-DzR
You predicted a loss. Not a totaly fall apart to which iw as refering.

Still, considering I was the ONLY person on this thread to even dare predict that Ireland would lose that makes it a pretty decent guess on my part.

Originally posted by B-K-DzR
ManUre scum? get a ****ing life loser. Dont throw us all into one big pile whatever you do. Are we supposed to apologise for supporting who we do? Jesus . I'd like an apology for that tbh as would most decent Man U fans im sure.

I'm sure you would, you're not getting it though.

Originally posted by B-K-DzR
Not having one of the best (arguably) midfielders in the world playing for us was really a blessing in disguise was it? He may be a muppet but hes still a GREAT player and a pretty good captain. He might not have stopped us losing but i dont think some of those msitakes woulda been made.

I never said he didn't contribute favourably to the team on the pitch during matches. I was making the point that he alone isn't the team and just putting him on the pitch isn't going to insure that you will win or draw games that you deserve to lose.

Lennoxschips

Then your own argument is bollox, because you can't blame Keane for Ireland losses when it's a team game.

Pigman

Originally posted by Lennoxschips
Then your own argument is bollox, because you can't blame Keane for Ireland losses when it's a team game.

Wow! What an articulate retort by you!

If you had bothered to absorb what I wrote you would see that I am merely showing that Ireland have had disasterous results in the past (similar to todays match) even though Keane was present on those occasions. I'm not blaming him for those negative results. I am showing that his presence alone on the pitch still wasn't enough for us to avoid those defeats.

Therefore for the manure brigade to come out saying things would have been different had Keane been playing today is without much credence.

Lennoxschips

I don't like Man Utd, and have never supported them. In fact, I don't support any English team. I do follow the Premier league to see how the Irish lads are getting on. I frequently travel to Ireland matches, and can't help but notice the contribution Roy Keane makes towards the team. He got us out of jail in Cyprus. He contained Portugal and Holland away even though he was only half fit. (Hardly an example of somebody feigning injury) He took on these teams again in Dublin, producing arguably the two finest displays ever by a player wearing a green shirt. Roy Keane drove 10 man Ireland forward against Holland when other teams would have sat back and settled for the draw. The hard truth is, if it wasn't for Roy Keane we wouldn't have been at the World Cup. Many people find this hard to admit.

Sure, we've lost games with Roy Keane. Brazil have also lost matches with Pele in the team. Argentina have lost with Maradona on the pitch. What's your point?

Too many people read what's written in the papers and accept it as the truth. Mick McCarthy and Cathal Dervan could accuse Keane in the British papers of being a murderer and a rapist and half of Ireland would believe it. It's a sad state of affairs. To coin a McCarthy phrase, judge Keane "on results".

Pigman

Originally posted by Lennoxschips

Sure, we've lost games with Roy Keane. Brazil have also lost matches with Pele in the team. Argentina have lost with Maradona on the pitch. What's your point?

(sigh) :rolleyes: My POINT is that some people* are claiming that we might not have put in such an ineffective performance and lost today had Roy Keane been playing. I am saying the opposite to that, that even had Keane been playing today that we would most likely have still lost the match. I am backing this up with past incidents where Roy Keane was present and the TEAM (of which Roy was a part) put in inneffective performances.

I can't really make it any clearer for you without producing the sock puppets.



* http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63457

BKtje

Pigman you were probably the only one to see what could happen to ireland. Guess the rest of us didnt think Ireland would **** up this badly again.

Didn't expect to get an apology but thought i'd ask for one. Thought it mighta been a mistake on your part to call people you dont know scum etc but i shoulda known from other threads that that wasn't going to happen.
What do you actually have against Man U? is it cos they are succesful atm? cos they have Keane? cos they beat up ur girlfriend? or what? What have they done (or the supporters) to make you despise them so?
Ignore this i guess if you dont wanna answer it.

Roy Keane might have made a valuable contribution from an irish point of view but its really useless do discuss as he didn't play and won't ever play for this country. If he does feel free to point me back to this thread and ill eat my brand new runners.
There is no harm in people trying to find something to blame or find a reason why we lost after such a terrible performance from the (well what was) the 13th best team in the world. The bring Keane back calls will die out after a while, or at least until our next bad result.
(yes i'd still love it if he returned)

My POINT is that some people* are claiming that we might not have put in such an ineffective performance and lost today had Roy Keane been playing

Well what makes you believe that we wouldn't have gotten a better result with Keane in the squad. There is no evidence one way or the other.

I am saying the opposite to that, that even had Keane been playing today that we would most likely have still lost the match. I am backing this up with past incidents where Roy Keane was present and the TEAM (of which Roy was a part) put in inneffective performances.

Your listing some of the games where he wasnt effective enough.
People have listed games where we woulda lost without him. Both games against Portugal he was amazing. He helped us secure the points. Vs Holland and Lansdowne road he played a key role in ireland scoring and hanging onto the lead. Those are only some of them.

Your argument can go either way. You say we lost even tho hes in the squad. Portugal can lose with Figo. Doesn't mean that therefore Figo cant win them other games for them. There is no player in the world who can always be effective.
You can also say that we won because he was in the squad on those occasions can't you?

To be totally frank. This debate is pointless. We have all had it one hundred and 2 times and one more debate wont change any ones minds.
We should concentrate on discussing what we would like to see changed in the squad so this doesnt happen again. Keane (roy) is totally out of the equation now afai can see.

We need to tighten up at the back again. It was a problem for us during the World Cup and with the loss of Staunton it seems to have gotten worse. I suggest trying O'Shea in for Breen or Cunigham. Sticking Duff (if hes fit) on the left instead of Kilbane, with Doherty up front (or morrisson . he didnt impress me tho).
Gary Kelly on the right side instead of MacAteer.
Some people have suggested Healy in the mid? ive never seen this guy play but Holland was dreadful today.

Sand

Pigman said....

A lot of people here are incorrectly moaning that that the defence was ‘****e’ but in actuality it was the midfield (Holland in particular) that was to blame for todays debacle. This was evidenced by the amount of time Robbie Keane (Irelands best player today) had to spend dropping back to support when he should have been the furthest man forward at all times.

Fair enough. the midfield was ****e and Holland had a crap game. No ones going to disagree with you there.

But you then go on to say .....

In fact Captain Loudmouth was right there yet again when Ireland threw away a two-goal lead against the Dutch in September 1999! So please spare me this crap about him being some kind of one-man winning machine because whilst he might have been the best player we had he certainly didn’t give us the divine right not to concede goals or lose matches.

You then dismiss one of the best midfielders in Europe, who conveniently happens to be Irish, as a loudmouth and imply the result wouldve been no different if Keane had been playing, dominating the midfield and saving our less-than-confidence-inspiring defence from itself like he has always done.

This makes **** all sense.

Our midfield was crap, but we wouldnt have missed Roy Keane. Right.

Dunphy was right in condemning Holland. He is an inneffective player who offers little to the side other than the occasional goal that (luckily for him) usually come at crucial times in important games.

Well leasts hes not a loudmouth eh? Makes all the difference in the selection policy.

I was making the point that he alone isn't the team and just putting him on the pitch isn't going to insure that you will win or draw games that you deserve to lose.

Who said it would? By your own analysis (midifield was ****e), wed logically have been a lot better off having Roy Keane instead of Matt Holland - as far as I know thats the most anyone can actually say, much as wed be better off having Nesta instead of Gary Breen. This seems to press your buttons though - Roy Keane run off with your wife or something?

Therefore for the manure brigade to come out saying things would have been different had Keane been playing today is without much credence.

See above.

(sigh) My POINT is that some people* are claiming that we might not have put in such an ineffective performance and lost today had Roy Keane been playing. I am saying the opposite to that, that even had Keane been playing today that we would most likely have still lost the match.

Youve identified midfield as the problem. We were missing on of the midfielders in the world. Why are we wrong to belive that the midfield would not have been as ineffective with Keane instead of Holland? Who inspires more confidence in their ability and their winners medals?

We might still have lost the match, but midifield which you identified as the problem would not have been as bad in all probability - hence we would have had a better chance of winning the game. Thats all people are saying.

Some people have suggested Healy in the mid? ive never seen this guy play but Holland was dreadful today.

Colin Healy is very encouraging- too early to say one way or the other buts hes always done whats required in midfield - a better option as a replacement for Keano than holland.

Dustaz

I agree with pigman (jesus, i cant believe i said that ).

Roy keane is one of the best midfielders in the premiership. His presence does not guarentee you wont lose though.

Thats all pigman is saying.

BKtje

i dont think many with any footie knowledge will claim that roy keane woulda won us that game. What we are saying is that we mighta looked more like a team who's 13th in the world.

He might have made us look decent and to have the ability to have some pride in the performance of our team. Outta that performance the only pride i can take is that Keane (robbie) ran rings around the russians and put in 130%.

Pigman

Originally posted by Dustaz
I agree with pigman (jesus, i cant believe i said that ).

Don't worry, I have that effect on people usually just once per lifetime.



Let me set people straight about where I stand so I don't have to enter endless debates about Roy Keane etc.
1. I don't want Keane back playing for Ireland any more than I would want a employee working for me whos talent was outweighed by the disruption he caused amoungst his fellow workmates.
2. Whilst I stated that the problem was in the midfield I still don't believe that if Keane was playing that even his exceptional talent would have made us avoid yesterdays defeat.
3. I believe Colin Healy (who is available) would do a better job than Matt Holland and therefore should be picked ahead of him.

That is all.

Greenbean

"Roy keane is one of the best midfielders in the premiership. His presence does not guarentee you wont lose though.

Thats all pigman is saying."

Lets state the obvious why don't we. No player or manager can guarantee you won't loose. In fact I didn't even see anyone suggest anything like that until Pigman almost killed himself in the rush to pre-emptively say so with such unveiled contempt for Keane (and somehow dragging the club he plays for into the equation). I wouldn't say Keane would have guarantee'd a win against Russia, pretty much an unkown entity, but I'd always argue that his pressence on the pitch is always worth alot more than not having him there.

Oh and if anyone thinks that just because I'm replying to this thread that I must be a man utd fan I'd like to point out that even though I am a utd fan it doesn't mean I wasn't a fan of Ireland when they were doing poorly, even though I'm not a fan now.








(yes, I am taking the piss)