FAI...New Manager Hunt continues

[Hound]

A big mistake by Cullen for the goal, but I thought O'Shea was worse. I'm sure either Egan or Coleman would have blocked that had they been in O'Shea's position, rather than turn away from it.

A pity it's so long until the next game. And we've been done solid re playing in Greece in the heat of June (France and Holland visit Greece in Oct/Nov).

We seem to play better against the better opposition. I think Mikey Johnston could be an important player for us, he has a trick in him to get past players, can see him setting up chances.

Ogbene was super!

[seafoid]

The noise from the crowd was fabulous. I hope this match was a turning point for Stephen Kenny. It is really important to back up this game with a performance against Greece the next day.

[Applesisapples]

A big mistake by Cullen for the goal, but I thought O'Shea was worse. I'm sure either Egan or Coleman would have blocked that had they been in O'Shea's position, rather than turn away from it.

A pity it's so long until the next game. And we've been done solid re playing in Greece in the heat of June (France and Holland visit Greece in Oct/Nov).

We seem to play better against the better opposition. I think Mikey Johnston could be an important player for us, he has a trick in him to get past players, can see him setting up chances.

Ogbene was super!

When you play out from the back you can expect mistakes like Cullen's, sometimes you get away with it.

[Captain Scarlet]

The noise from the crowd was fabulous. I hope this match was a turning point for Stephen Kenny. It is really important to back up this game with a performance against Greece the next day.

The issue is we have had a glorious defeat against Portugal and then we never follow it up. We never have an issue with good teams. That being said I think Ferguson is going to get more games now and will be even better.

[seafoid]

The noise from the crowd was fabulous. I hope this match was a turning point for Stephen Kenny. It is really important to back up this game with a performance against Greece the next day.

The issue is we have had a glorious defeat against Portugal and then we never follow it up. We never have an issue with good teams. That being said I think Ferguson is going to get more games now and will be even better.

The team is more settled after 2 years plus the recent additions add more depth. I think we are in a better position than before.

2020
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Randolph (West Ham); Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Duffy (Celtic), Egan (Sheffield United), Stevens (Sheffield United); Hendrick (Newcastle United), McCarthy (Crystal Palace), Hourihane (Aston Villa); O'Dowda (Bristol City), Idah (Norwich City), Connolly (Brighton and Hove Albion). Subs: Brady for McCarthy (70 mins), Robinson (Sheffield United) for O'Dowda (74 mins), Long (Southampton) for Idah (77 mins).

2021 REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Travers (Bournemouth); Coleman (Everton), O'Shea (West Brom), Clark (Newcastle United); Doherty (Tottenham), Molumby (Preston)m Browne (Preston), Cullen (Anderlecht), Stevens (Sheffield United); Connolly (Brighton), Robinson (West Brom).
Subs: Hendrick (Newcastle United) for Molumby, Long (Bournemouth) for Connolly (67 mins), Brady (Burnley) for Clark, McClean (Stoke City) for Browne and Collins (Luton) for Robinson (79 mins).

2023 Republic of Ireland: Bazunu, Collins, Egan, O'Shea, Coleman, Molumby, Cullen, Doherty, Knight, Ogbene, Ferguson. Subs: Kelleher, Travers, Omobamidele, Browne, Obafemi, Idah, McClean, Hendrick, Sykes, McGrath, Smallbone, Johnson.

[straightred]

A big mistake by Cullen for the goal, but I thought O'Shea was worse. I'm sure either Egan or Coleman would have blocked that had they been in O'Shea's position, rather than turn away from it.

A pity it's so long until the next game. And we've been done solid re playing in Greece in the heat of June (France and Holland visit Greece in Oct/Nov).

We seem to play better against the better opposition. I think Mikey Johnston could be an important player for us, he has a trick in him to get past players, can see him setting up chances.

Ogbene was super!

Can be a very frustrating player. Has tons of skill but over plays it or takes the wrong option far too often. He had loads of chances at Celtic but couldn't quite nail down a spot and is now out on loan and unlikely to get back in at Celtic. Maybe the change of scenery in Portugal will do him good. Wasnt getting a look in with Scotland either - that's why he came to us. 

[jcpen]

An excellent performance but a defeat all the same which seems to be a common enough theme for Irish football.
Ogbene was indeed superb and it's hard to believe he plays at the level of Rotherham. I actually though thought Jason Molumby was Man of the match, thought he was super last night .

[seafoid]

Ireland's qualifying fixtures:

16/6 - Greece v Republic of Ireland
19/6 - Republic of Ireland v Gibraltar
07/9 - France v Republic of Ireland
10/9 - Republic of Ireland v Netherlands
13/10 - Republic of Ireland v Greece
16/10 - Gibraltar v Republic of Ireland
18/11 - Netherlands v Republic of Ireland

[seafoid]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/0328/1366808-collins-devastated-by-super-save-that-denied-ireland/
"But I'm proud of the lads' performance, there is so much to build on.
"It should give us a lot of belief. We have gone toe to toe with one of the best in the world. It doesn't matter who we come against, if we play as a team, tactically right with the fans behind us, we can beat anyone."

[shark]

An excellent performance but a defeat all the same which seems to be a common enough theme for Irish football.
Ogbene was indeed superb and it's hard to believe he plays at the level of Rotherham. I actually though thought Jason Molumby was Man of the match, thought he was super last night .

I met a gang of Rotherham fans a couple of weeks ago, and they are absolutely certain they will lose him this summer.

[seafoid]

An excellent performance but a defeat all the same which seems to be a common enough theme for Irish football.
Ogbene was indeed superb and it's hard to believe he plays at the level of Rotherham. I actually though thought Jason Molumby was Man of the match, thought he was super last night .

I met a gang of Rotherham fans a couple of weeks ago, and they are absolutely certain they will lose him this summer.

He belongs on a different level . Rotherham are close to the Championship relegation spots.

[Capt Pat]

A big mistake by Cullen for the goal, but I thought O'Shea was worse. I'm sure either Egan or Coleman would have blocked that had they been in O'Shea's position, rather than turn away from it.

A pity it's so long until the next game. And we've been done solid re playing in Greece in the heat of June (France and Holland visit Greece in Oct/Nov).

We seem to play better against the better opposition. I think Mikey Johnston could be an important player for us, he has a trick in him to get past players, can see him setting up chances.

Ogbene was super!

We will be playing Greece at 9.45 at night by my reckoning so hopefully the heat won't be that bad.

[From the Bunker]

[An Watcher]

McClean has been a fantastic servant and will be well deserving if his hundred caps

[seafoid]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/0328/1366853-massive-problem-stems-from-ireland-number-six-issue/

Since Kenny took charge two-and-a-half years ago, 10 of the 24 goals Ireland have conceded have come from outside the box, including Latvia's opening goal in last Wednesday's friendly, a match which Cullen was rested for.

Perth, who was Kenny's assistant at Dundalk between 2013 and 2018 before taking on the managerial reins, offered his view on the long-range goals issue on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast and highlighted the impact of Cullen's interpretation of his role as a number six.
"We are expansive and one of the arguments people made over the weekend - I pointed this out last week about the goals from distance - (some people said), 'Oh, well Josh Cullen comes in (to the team)'. But we've conceded a lot of those goals with Josh Cullen in there," said Perth.
"My challenge with Josh Cullen is, yes he's done really well at Championship level, but his next level for me, or a player playing in that position, has to make you tick and make forward passes between the lines.

"We were under a little bit of pressure and your number six in modern day football needs to break the lines with his passes, whether that was firing them into (Jason) Knight or Evan (Ferguson)."
Perth said he would be surprised if the statistics showed Cullen playing more than two or three of those more penetrative forward passes.
"That's a big problem in how we play," he continued.
"It's sideways, backwards, sideways and that's fine at times. That's where you need to be careful with stats. Sometimes a backwards pass is a good pass. But when we lose that ball, we are so open."
Perth outlined that with a back three, the right and left centre-backs' wider positioning leaves space for the opposition to exploit from range when Ireland are exposed in transition after concession of the ball high up the pitch, as occured on Monday night.
He also explained that given Cullen was in "comfortable possession" of the ball before misplacing his pass, wing-backs and players further forward would have felt confident in moving up the pitch in anticipation of a pass that ultimately went straight into Pavard behind them, leaving the Irish side "on the back foot".
"That has to be a major concern for the staff," he said.
"You've got to remember, take last night in isolation, brilliant goal from Pavard and the manager will chalk that down as 'just one of them things, it's how we play'.
"But statistically, and the trend is coming, that we're conceding too many goals from distance because we're too light in that number six position and it's a massive problem and it's costing us goals and it's costing us points and performances and it doesn't reflect well on the set-up of the team."