The Irish Football Team Thread

Duffy getting a hammering already because he's no won this game today by bagging a hatrick and he's no even kicked a ball for us yet ffs!!!

He's just what we needed and as said above he's hardly kicked a ball since nineteen canteen!!

 

Ireland forward line is. * brutal.

Also remember when Brady could cross a ball.

 

To be honest, I'd rather get knocked out by Slovakia then the Northern Unionists..and at this moment in time, NI are a better team than us at the moment. I'm honest about that. I still remember the 1993 qualifier at * Park..man that was bad... I was 21 and I got so drunk after this.
If you were born after 1993, this was the feeling back then.

 

Please let Slovakia put us out our misery,losing to Orange Order FC would be unbearable

 

I am going to agree and disagree. Totally agree that this Ireland is utterly mince and that is being kind. This is the worst Ireland team since the 1970's. When you look at the senior players we have a few decent players at the top level but nobody that us truly top class. Doherty now at Tottenham is our highest profile player and while he is a decent player when he is your highest profile player easily you have issues. Then we do have a promising group of young players coming through but that is all they are promising. None of them have done anything at the top level club wise never mind internationally and how many will grow into top players or even decent players at the highest level remains to be seen. So for the here and now Kenny has inherited an Ireland squad that from a talent perspective is the worst in 50 odd years. In particular we do not have anybody up top that even resembles a legitimate goalscorer. In midfield we are arguably even worse as we have nobody that is a 10 nobody that is an 8 and no wide players of any real quality. We simply do not have the players right now to do any real damage to any teams with even a little bit of quality. That is not going to change in the immediate future either. Irish football needs to accept that today we are seeing in full bloom the effects of a corrupt FAI which for decades has abandoned any attempt to put the structures in place that would allow us to consistently produce quality players to allow us to at least be competitively internationally at the highest level and every now and then be good.

I disagree with you saying Kenny is out of his depth. Maybe he will fail but the current * show is not his making nor his fault. Further I would say his track record at under age level is very good and the promising crop we have coming through he played a very big role in developing. For me I will judge Kenny not just on the results but on how he engages with the putting in place from the bottom up a structure that can bring football in Ireland into the 21st century and set us up to produce high level players consistently. Given the lack of talent currently it is highly unlikely we will qualify for next summers European Finals while the next World Cup when you add in the format which restricts European teams it is close to zero chance we qualify. I feel Kenny needs to be given 3 campaigns and an acceptance from the Irish football public that the game needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. There is no quick fix here so we need to accept we will be very bad for probably the next decade in terms of the senior national team.

Where I will judge Kenny is does he engage with FAI underage teams to make sure the coaching is bringing through players who can play under pressure are comfortable on the ball have creativity and are technically sound. That is the absolute must haves for the modern top level professional footballer. The FAI probably cannot afford a full time residential academy so there needs to be a system of regular training camps at U15-17 not just when we have games. The new reality of brexit means no longer can our most talented 16 and 17 year olds leave for across the water. They now must be at least 18 before they can leave. We need all the League of Ireland clubs to develop legit academies. Bohemians, St Patricks Athletic and Shamrock Rovers have made a start in that regard but they need to be funded and that structure needs to become league wide. The new National leagues should be expanded and consolidated to be academy only and the top players should no longer play local schoolboy football only academy. Now you will have in time good young players getting into the first teams in the League of Ireland and staying there for a few years till 18-19. This improves the standards in the league and for the individual it means a much more mature on and off the field player leaving who have the foundations and skill sets to have a much better chance at making a successful career at the top or decently high level when they do leave. Which should then also lead to more consistent and decent development and transfer fees coming into the league and a consistent quality pool of players from which our national teams can be competitive to good consistently over time.

We have so much work to do as a footballing nation. Whether Kenny is the person from a coaching perspective to spearhead things forward for us only time will tell. But if he is to have a chance he needs time and a recognition at how much fundamentally needs to be done from the bottom up.

 

Don’t buy this idea that it’s the least talented side we’ve had in decades.

Egan, McGoldrick and Stevens were a big part of an impressive Blades side last season.

We all know about Duffy.

We have two of the best right backs in the EPL in Coleman and Doherty.

James McCarthy doesn’t do it in an Ireland shirt for whatever reason but has been an EPL staple for years.

Hendrick and Hourihane are both highly talented footballers capable of so much more than they are showing at the minute.

Aaron Connolly is showing good early signs and looks a talent.

Darren Randolph is a top goalkeeper who I rate very highly.

The talent is there. We lack for creativity from our wingers and goal scoring instinct with our strikers.. McGoldrick is a class player but he’s not prolific. These guys are capable of WAY more than they’re showing right now so I don’t like the default excuse of “oh we haven’t got the talent”. I’m not one of these guys calling for Kenny’s head after two games. He’s messing around to see what works. I liked him giving Idah two chances but it’s pretty clear now he’s not up to it yet. Talk of “I hope Slovakia put us out because NI are a better side than us” is pure bollocks.

I hope Kenny switches to a back 3 with Stevens and Doherty on the flanks and Connolly and McGoldrick up top. Our wingers are */non-existent and we have two talented and highly consistent premier league wing backs being shoe horned in to a back 4 which clearly doesn’t suit Doherty at all. Two up top would help ease the load on McGoldrick’s shoulders.

Randolph
Egan Duffy Clark
McCarthy
Doherty Hendrick Hourihane Stevens
McGoldrick Connolly

Are you telling me that is the least talented Ireland team in half a century? Bollocks. 11 premier league players.

 

I wish I could agree but I cannot the best players you mention are at best average top level players or promising but unproven youngsters other then our highest profile player Doherty maybe. It is not an excuse either it is simply the natural consequence of decades of the FAI abdicating on its obligation to put the structures in place in Ireland to consistently develop players with the ability to succeed at the top level of the game and the money that flowed into the English game taking away the spots that used to be filled with the best young Irish talent. Given how much work we need on the development structurers within Ireland this is going to be a long process.


As for the lineup you put there, all average top level players and a very promising youngster in Connolly. Until the last decade we have always had genuinely top players that were world class we no longer have a single world class player with Doherty our highest profile player. Again not an excuse just the harsh realities of not having the proper structures in place to consistently produce top players within Ireland. That is just beginning to change and with 16 and 17 year olds no longer allowed to sign in England from next year if we do things right with building up academies and proper academy leagues and modern coaching that can encourage and bring through confident technical players who can play under pressure we can do well in time but it will take time and I hope that Kenny makes sure the underage national structures do fit in with the new approach and structures.

 

I agree a lot more could have been done in the past few decades to have us in a better position now but I refuse to believe a team of 11 premier league players is our worst side in half a century. This site would go into meltdown if we signed Hourihane, Hendrick, McCarthy, Stevens...

 

A lot more... literally the FAI did nothing and when the big money pushed the Irish kids down the pecking order in England this was always going to be the inevitable result. Every Irish team from the 1980's through the early 2000's has had genuine world class players in it this current generation has none. Not since the 1970's have we seen such a lack of talent. Especially up front and creatively in midfield. The only quality of any note we have at the moment is all at the back.

 

Great piece from Mick McCarthy on Big Jack. Comments still open.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ck-charlton-illuminated-ireland-changed-lives

 

Welcome to being a Scotland fan, but with better banter and more passion.

 

Sadly for us both that is a very accurate analogy.

 

Guess I'll be here tonighty watching my beloved Ireland team probably lose lol...This must be one of the suckiest Ireland teams I've ever seen since I started watching them in 1988. (That's the spirit!) Anyhoo, I hope we win and then face Bosnia in el final and not the 'other mob'. COYBIG!
P.S. Come on you Scots!

P.P.S This looks like a cracking book for all Ireland fans!
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...aneys-fai-bubble-deserves-champagne-treatment

 

Hoping for a good performance and an Irish win but got a feeling it may be a boring draw and go to penos.Anyway stuck fiver on Hendrik anytime goal scorer for the added interest.

 

'Brawls to handballs: The complete guide to Ireland’s playoff history'
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/so...-guide-to-ireland-s-playoff-history-1.4374617

 

Not sure about the Brexit comment old bean. Ireland and England have a special historical law between both countries with regards to travel, employment and voting. Citizens of both nations can vote in either election. After Brexit, the UK government firmed up this law so I think with regards to Irish and English travel it will be the same.

Special status of Irish nationals in UK law: October 2019
Irish nationals have a special status in UK law which is separate to and pre-dates the rights they have as EU citizens.

In short, the Republic of Ireland is not considered to be a ‘foreign country’ for the purpose of UK laws, and Irish citizens are not considered to be ‘aliens’. Furthermore, Irish citizens are treated as if they have permanent immigration permission to remain in the UK from the date they take up ‘ordinary residence’ here.

This special status affects Irish nationals’ rights across a number of areas, including eligibility for British citizenship, eligibility to vote and stand for election, and eligibility for certain welfare benefits. It is thought that, as a result, Irish nationals have more rights than other EU/ EEA nationals resident in the UK.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7661/

 

I get what your saying about the status of Irish nationals in the UK and that is all correct but does not apply to football. In this instance this is coming from FIFA's own laws. Right now the UK has an exemption from the FIFA rule that bans international transfers for players under the age of 18. So once the transition period ends for the UK on December 31 they no longer have that FIFA exemption and there is no reason for FIFA to just grant them a special dispensation just for Irish kids.

 

Ok. I reckon it'll be the same..but what do I know!