How would you rate our players against Russia?

fisifan01

Mine are as follows:
(out of ten)
Given 7. The goals wern`t his fault
Finnan 4. Most disimproved player
Harte 7. Most Improved best of the defenders
Cunningham 3. appauling effort
Breen 6. poor first half, regained some honour.
Holland 5. not on the ball today.
Kinsella 3. barely heard his name mentioned
Kilbane 6. Good effort, bus messy in many areas
Mcateer 6. still the mediocre midfielder.
Keane 8. seemed like the only man who played whole heartedly
Duff 7. Good while he lasted.
Morrisson 6. I expected more
Doherty 7. exceeded expectations.
Babb 2. Stupid mistake but at least he tried

Yerac

I'd actually switch a couple of your ratings around, Breen was much worse than Cunningham and Kinsella was the better of him and Holland. I'd go along pretty well with the others but would love to just see BABB 0 or even -1, just because I think the guy is so bad.

Lennoxschips

Harte was crap. As usual the opposition could cross from the right at will. We were all surprised at Finnan being exposed like that, because we're used to him playing so well. Harte was just as bad, but nobody picked up on it because we have learned to put up with his second rate performances.

I can agree on one thing: Harte wouldn't have scored that own goal like Babb did - because Harte would have been 20 yards behind still tracking back, completely out of position. Babb did what he could, kept inside the Russian winger so that the winger only had one option - to shoot at the keeper. Babb was just unlucky that the rebound hit him like it did. Kinsella was at fault for the Russians fourth goal for giving the ball away so cheaply in midfield. I'd still rather have Phil Babb at left back over Ian Harte any day. Young Harte needs to get down to the gym and take some lessons in positioning from Denis Irwin while he's at it.

The Irish team yesterday lacked purpose. They had no clue what to do. Nobody to organise the team and tell them what the fcuk they're supposed to do. Normally that's the managers job, but in our case it was Roy Keane, and during the World Cup it was Steve Staunton.

England, Scotland or Wales would kill for a player like John O'Shea. England were playing Wes Brown when he was a sub at Man Utd, yet O'Shea isn't good enough for Ireland. What a load of bollox.

Promote Brian Kerr to manager. He knows what 2+2 is and knows how to win matches.

sidney

Correct. I'm not even a Man Utd fan.......... but..

O'Shea got the man of the match award in the Utd v Chelsea game earlier this season, ahead of Beckham, Giggs, Keane, Van Nistlerooy Scholes, Blanc, etc etc aswell as the whole Chelsea team. He marked Hasslebaink out of the game.

Yet still McCarthy prefers to play Breen, who can't even get into the West Ham team!?

I know he had a good world cup, and on the strength of that probably deserved to start yesterday, it being a competitive AWAY fixture, but McCarthy didn't even try O'Shea out against Finland. He should have played the whole match. His arguement being, " a full 90 minutes for the under 21's is better for him than 10 minutes with me"

It's a ****in disgrace.

We deserve better.

gandalf

Given 5 - He wasn't at fault for the goals but he still let 4 in
Finnan 2 - Pathetic given the way he has played previously, but he deserves another chance.
Harte 5 - Played a little better than he did in the WC but still needs to be replaced.
Cunningham 5 - The best of the Central Defenders but he has proved he is not captain material.
Breen 3 - Should be replaced by John O'Shea or Andy O'Brien immediately.
Holland 4 - Didn't seem to be playing. Maybe its time for Healy
Kinsella 6 - Good pass for Morrisons goal but again didn't seem to be on the ball alot.
Kilbane 4 - Again should not play for Ireland again. He seems to have lost his only asset his pace. He gives the ball away too much.
Mcateer 6 - Jayo actually made an effort and tried to play but Kelly should be in ahead of him.
Keane 10 - The only Irish player to make a real effort or impact. He deserved more from this game.
Duff NR - Wasn't on long enough to be rated.
Morrisson 5 - Got a goal but from point blank you expect that. Fell over too much.
Doherty 7 - A good prospective partner for Keane and is ahead of Morrison in my Irish lineup.
Babb NR - Wasn't on long enough to be rated. The OG wasn't his fault but personally I think bringing him back is a mistake.

Yerac

Just a note on O'Shea, the reason he didn't play at all against Finland was because he wasn't in the squad. He was withdrawn so he could play for United in that game against Chelsea.

BKtje

What we need is a better captain. Some one to urge the team on, give out moan, encourage where applicable. Cunnigham didn't really do it for me.
Who else do we have that can do it.
Some people said Breen, Kinsella, Holland and Given.

Outta them my choice after last night would be Given but i dont like goalies as captains as they cant get around the pitch much to do what i believe the captains should do.

cournioni

I hate to bring this up again but we played like headless chickens without Roy Keane in the team. We will never have a captain like him and the only player that even came close was Stan (but he comes no where near Keane in any aspect of his play with all respect given). We need him back in the team NOW not when the Qualifiers are over when it's possibly too late.

I've got a feeling that we will have to be settling for a playoff match after the qualifiers. Which we will probably lose because we will be playing a European team this time.

OUT
-Kilbane
-McAteer
-Holland
-Kinsella
-Breen
-McCarthy

IN
-Clinton Morrison (for Kilbane and Duffer will move out to the wing)
-Steven Reid (for McAteer)
-Roy Keane (I don't care what anyone thinks of this man, he's the best all around midfielder in the world and thats what Ireland need.)
-Colin Healy (better than our current midfielders)
-John O'Shea (potential to be one of the best defenders in the world and is better than our whole defence put together.)
-O'Leary or Brian Kerr (both of them would make a show of McCarthy.)

sidney

We've got the best captain in the world sitting on his hole watchin on TV every time there's an international game, because the manager didn't do his job properly.

McCarthy needs to go.

HE chose Saipan as a training base
He was confrontational with Keane in the 'meeting'
He plays Damien Duff out of position
He didn't realise there were only 10 Spanish players in the 2nd half of extra time
He didn't practice penos before that game (when England practiced penalties before the Brazil match, all players gathered in the centre circle, as they would in a match, and each player took his turn at walking down to the spot, alone, to take his kick, it might not pre-empt the situation perfectly but if I was a player I'd feel a little bit more comfortable having practiced like that than not at all, which might be the difference between scoring & missing)
He's not playing John O'Shea or Colin Healy
He is playing Kevin Kilbane

I'd rather an Irish team under a different manager with Keane IN than an Irish team under McCarthy WITHOUT Roy Keane

Games are won by the players on the pitch, not by a manager who's not even picking the team properly. It's as simple as that.

He did a good job in blooding in new players, but it's time to go.

BKtje

even if McCarthy goes Keane wont return, unless the players in the squad that dont like him forgive him for 'deserting' them etc.

mike65

I could be wrong here but I think Cunningham said something to the effect that the result was'nt a disaster.
It was and methinks R.K. would say so.

Mike.

BKtje

if he said that he should be flogged.

Did anyone stay around to listen to Micks talk after the game?
i was too disgusted in the 89th minute and sturned it off.

if he did can some one sum up what he said for me plz?

lmao@cunnigham. The result might not have been, but the bloody performance was.

Tellox

Offence: Keane played a great game as usual, Morrison wasnt bad, but if it was duff that got most of his balls, he would've pounded them into the back of the net instead of falling down. 7/10

Midfield: Here it began to all fall apart. If duff wasnt sent off for injury, I think he should've been here, on the wing. 5/10

Defence: What defence? 2/10

Goal: Given didnt play so bad, if he had a proper defence, then I doubt more then one of those goals would've went in. 6/10

Total: 20/40 - 50% - Only played half as good as what I've seen in the world cup, if even.

Stinkah

Did anyone stay around to listen to Micks talk after the game?

It's funny you should say that.

I too, like many was discussed by the result and performances and lef the boozer early - at half time, to retreat to the comfort of the sofa at home.

I did this in a deliberate ploy to see the post match analysis and interviews.

Amazingly, there was _no_ players _or_ officials interviewed after the game.

I also watch each of the news programs on rte 1 and network 2, bbc's match of the day, bbc's world news service, sky sports news, sky news and eurosport and there wasn't one interview on any of same with either an Irish player or Mick McCarthy or his backroom staff, or FAI for that matter.

To be totally honest, I think that this is exact way it should be, because there was absolutely _nothing_ that could be said by any party to have made me feel any more confidence in our changes of getting to the Euro 2004 finals and learning from our mistakes, short of a reconciliation between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy.

I can safely say that this has softened the blow a little better than a full scale war on the team and manager ala our friends from across the water.

Jake

Couldnt believe how much time Morrison spent sitting on his arse!
Still, he got a goal and thats what strikers are payed to do!
Ye gotta remember hes had only one start this season as he had an injury.
IF he gets a few games under his belt I think its an absolute that he plays up front with Robbie Keane (god forbid that hes injured!) against Switzerland allowing Duff to go on the left wing.
This really need to happen IMHO
The problem with Healy is that every week he spends on the Bench at Parkhead the more his match fitness deteriates.
Which is a real pity as the game against Finland was the final decider for me, the lad has what it takes if he could get some first team action.........
Didnt O Shea come on for Man u and play at left back last week and have a solid game?
Even if he doesnt want to break up the centre back combination surely McCarthy muct think about using O Shea instead of Harte?

Bateman

They were all poor.
This match should teach a few lessons, but I fear that as far as McCarthy goes, it won't. We need to call on more youth, O Shea, and not Babb, is one example.

Sposs

Given 4 - wasnt his fault for the goals but made very shaky start which didnt help the defence

Finnian 3 - His worst Ireland Match By a Mile

Cunningham 5- The best of a bad bunch

Breen 4 - Shown his world cup was a fluke

Harte 5 - abit better but still looks out of his depth

Mc Aterr 3 - was he even playing? Hard to tell

Holland 4 - should have keep his mouth shut about Keane because he's not a patch on him

Kinsella 5 - Worked hard

Kilbane 2 - Do him and Us a favour Mick Drop him and do it now

Duff - no on long enough

Keane 7 - Big game player,seems to be getting better and better if only everyone else played with his enthusiam

Morrision 5 - I rated him before the game,he's a big strong lad yet spent the nite on his arse.

suppafly

I thought they all played pretty bad! The defence was seriously s****!! The midfield was none exsistent! The just played really s****!!!

Bateman

Ratings? Well the defence was poor, the midfield was poor, and the attack was poor, relating to the poor quality of the midfield line. A poor performance, with some poor players being exposed for their poor quality and poor dedication.