FAI...June 2024 Friendlies v Hungary and Portugal

[Billys Boots]

Keith Andrews is an awful footballer

That's way too harsh

I've seen him play in the recent past in Championship (Ipswich, WBA and Bolton) games and he's the class act on the pitch - usually the only one.  He doesn't have (and probably never had) the pace for the highest level, but he is not an awful footballer. 

[The Biff]

Team announced ... as on TheScore.ie

Republic of Ireland (v Faroe Islands): Westwood, Coleman, O'Shea, O'Dea, Wilson, Brady, Andrews, McCarthy, McGeady, Keane, Walters

http://www.thescore.ie/ireland-team-faroe-islands-636556-Oct2012/

[The Worker]

Great to see Wilson start.

[From the Bunker]

Great to see Wilson start.

....and Brady. A new begining?

[No1]

Westwood, Coleman, O'Shea, O'Dea, Wilson, Brady, Andrews, McCarthy, McGeady, Keane, Walters

Surely not?  I simply cannot understand that decision.  Shocking.

[From the Bunker]

Westwood, Coleman, O'Shea, O'Dea, Wilson, Brady, Andrews, McCarthy, McGeady, Keane, Walters

Surely not?  I simply cannot understand that decision.  Shocking.

Trap is old school, and know's two inexperienced changes in Wilson and Brady is the max he can make. O'Dea (for the moment) has a bit of experience. We are full of holes, but these can only be mended one at a time. Don't get me wrong O'Dea is not up to it, but we'll have to make do until Dunne and St. Ledger come back.

[Myles Na G.]

Ireland could do better  if McCarthy, Gibson and a few others were available but not an awful lot better.

See I don't even know if we would do any better.

Some people above are ranting about EPL players being left out. Except the players being left out are from lower half EPL teams. There's no CL players missing out, not even any Europa League players missing out. Just average players. And my experience of team sport is that average players with smaller egos are more effective than average players with big egos. This doesn't mean by the way the Houlahan and Wilson have problematic egos, but Gibson definitely has.

Until a handful of better players come along, what we've seen in the last 6 months is as good as it'll get. Trap really isn't that important in this equation.

Lower half of the EPL is better than the leagues below than in England or playing in flippin Canada. If the guys missing out are "just average players" how would you label the guys who play at lower levels than them? The ego argument is a red herring - a good manager will get the best out of the most egotistical of players. Are you really suggesting that all our players are crap so we should pick the ones who know they are crap rather than the guys who think they're not? Is the level they play at it purely random and not indicative of ability? C'mon Wobbler, that doesn't stack up.

Lads - international football is not that great, we're not talking Champions League here. England are 5th very limited but very high in the world rankings. The fact that (in general, Friday being and exception) our players really care about representing our country gives us an advantage that we need to capitalise on.

Seanie I get what you're saying and the lads playing football at EPL level should normally be te better ones. But things like Wolves getting relegated can change a player's worth all too quickly by using this method.

Where I'm coming from is maybe simpler. Keith Andrews is an awful footballer. But he wants to play at a higher level than what he does, so when he plays for Ireland, it's his shop window. He will do what he's told and will die trying. He doesn't regard his teammates or manager as a mill around his neck, he just plays ball. Gibson, on the other hand, plays football like a man who looks down on those around him, when he has done very little in his career to qualify such a thought. Personally I'd prefer to watch the former represent my country.


Let's not forget that Germany whalloped both England and Argentina in the most recent World Cup. People can complain about managers all they like (Maradona and Capello took some lampooning), but Germany can't just be lucky to come up against a series of badly managed teams. Nope. They're just better, and when they click, an awful lot better.

Unfair on Gibson. He spat the dummy out because he feels he wasn't being given a fair shake. Wrong to do so, but understandable too.

[Leo]

Ireland could do better  if McCarthy, Gibson and a few others were available but not an awful lot better.

See I don't even know if we would do any better.

Some people above are ranting about EPL players being left out. Except the players being left out are from lower half EPL teams. There's no CL players missing out, not even any Europa League players missing out. Just average players. And my experience of team sport is that average players with smaller egos are more effective than average players with big egos. This doesn't mean by the way the Houlahan and Wilson have problematic egos, but Gibson definitely has.

Until a handful of better players come along, what we've seen in the last 6 months is as good as it'll get. Trap really isn't that important in this equation.

Hoolahan is not a regular at Norwich, yet he is our saviour!!
It wqas Coleman (not a regular at Evereton) until he was exposed the other night.
We want to bring back Stephen Reid (who retired himslf years ago!!), Stephen Ireland (who has no interest and is a limted player anyway), And Reid (lol!!!), Duff (wisely, retired)  - somewhere along the line we have to realise how limited our current players are - the worst Irish pick I hae seen in 50 years of following football.
The solution is to bring in all Irish players who are currently regulars with Man Utd., Man City, Chelsea & Arsenal    - and ignore the rest ..... what a team that would be.
Bring back Terry Mancini?

[magpie seanie]

Westwood, Coleman, O'Shea, O'Dea, Wilson, Brady, Andrews, McCarthy, McGeady, Keane, Walters

Surely not?  I simply cannot understand that decision.  Shocking.

Trap is old school, and know's two inexperienced changes in Wilson and Brady is the max he can make. O'Dea (for the moment) has a bit of experience. We are full of holes, but these can only be mended one at a time. Don't get me wrong O'Dea is not up to it, but we'll have to make do until Dunne and St. Ledger come back.

I don't accept that at all. Clarke clearly should be starting. How anyone could think otherwise baffles me. This indulging or understanding Trapp's methods has to stop. He is getting a kings ransom and is stunting the development of potentially decent young players by picking poor players ahead of them.

[From the Bunker]

Westwood, Coleman, O’Shea, O’Dea, Wilson, Brady, Andrews, McCarthy, McGeady, Keane, Walters

Surely not?  I simply cannot understand that decision.  Shocking.

Trap is old school, and know's two inexperienced changes in Wilson and Brady is the max he can make. O'Dea (for the moment) has a bit of experience. We are full of holes, but these can only be mended one at a time. Don't get me wrong O'Dea is not up to it, but we'll have to make do until Dunne and St. Ledger come back.

I don't accept that at all. Clarke clearly should be starting. How anyone could think otherwise baffles me. This indulging or understanding Trapp's methods has to stop. He is getting a kings ransom and is stunting the development of potentially decent young players by picking poor players ahead of them.

Not standing up for Trapp. Just putting logic behind the madness. There is only so much chopping a changing a manager can do, and i think he is trying to incrementally change things.

[Crete Boom]

Ireland could do better  if McCarthy, Gibson and a few others were available but not an awful lot better.

See I don't even know if we would do any better.

Some people above are ranting about EPL players being left out. Except the players being left out are from lower half EPL teams. There's no CL players missing out, not even any Europa League players missing out. Just average players. And my experience of team sport is that average players with smaller egos are more effective than average players with big egos. This doesn't mean by the way the Houlahan and Wilson have problematic egos, but Gibson definitely has.

Until a handful of better players come along, what we've seen in the last 6 months is as good as it'll get. Trap really isn't that important in this equation.

Yeah I agree with the general thrust of what you are saying but I don't hear a lot of Irish Fans saying we should be beating the likes of Germany/Spain/Portugal on a regular basis. Yeah most of the players are playing in teams outside of the champions league English clubs but you can't honestly argue that O'Dea playing for what is considered a weak MLS club is better than a Clark or Stephen Kelly,that Paul Green is better than Darren Gibson or Marc Wilson or that Paul McShane was ahead of Coleman for the Euros! Also it wasn't that we lost to Germany it was the manner of the loss. The Faroes managed to put up a stronger fight at home to Germany so can we not expect a manger of Traps ability to get our average players to compete to the level of the Faroes?

Hoolahan is not a regular at Norwich, yet he is our saviour!!
It wqas Coleman (not a regular at Evereton) until he was exposed the other night.
We want to bring back Stephen Reid (who retired himslf years ago!!), Stephen Ireland (who has no interest and is a limted player anyway), And Reid (lol!!!), Duff (wisely, retired)  - somewhere along the line we have to realise how limited our current players are - the worst Irish pick I hae seen in 50 years of following football.
The solution is to bring in all Irish players who are currently regulars with Man Utd., Man City, Chelsea & Arsenal    - and ignore the rest ..... what a team that would be.
Bring back Terry Mancini?

Actually Holahan is a regular at Norwich and starts most games they go out with their attacking 4-3-3 formation but some away games they revert to a 4-5-1 for which he is left out but he is a regular and I think might even have been fans player of the year last year! Coleman was a definite starter on the right side of midfield two years ago when he first broke into the Everton team. The following season was saw him in and out of the team due to injuries but this season since regaining full fitness he has been a fixture a right back and the whole Irish team was exposed last night so to pick him out is harsh. Actually I think Giles said he thought he played decent. I haven't heard too many people clammering for Stephen Ireland to be honest and Andy Reid , most people I know agree with Trap on his expulsion.
  What I'm trying to get at is most of the ardent Trap supporters are saying that all our players are crap and he's doing his best but this is inaccurate and untrue. Even in the last piece I quoted above you can see this and while we will have a tough time trying to beat the top teams with our current crop of players we should be able to compete better than losing 6-1 at home and in our current group we should make a run at second place. I by the way was a Trap man at the start and I do acknowledge the great feet of getting us to the euros but he has fallen out with way too many players over a seemingly total lack of communication and it's obvious he lost the dressing room during the euros so it 's time for a change.

P.S Trap supporters please try and get your facts right about the players and don't trot out the old worst team in 50 years stuff it's fairly childish

[rodney trotter]

Westwood, Coleman, O'Shea, O'Dea, Wilson, Brady, Andrews, McCarthy, McGeady, Keane, Walters

Surely not?  I simply cannot understand that decision.  Shocking.

Trap is old school, and know's two inexperienced changes in Wilson and Brady is the max he can make. O'Dea (for the moment) has a bit of experience. We are full of holes, but these can only be mended one at a time. Don't get me wrong O'Dea is not up to it, but we'll have to make do until Dunne and St. Ledger come back.

Sean St Ledger won't make drastic improvements either, He was starting evey game in the Euro's and was out of his depth. He has always played his football in the Championship, as that is his level, not a Premier League player like Dunne. Ciaran Clarke is the future

[thewobbler]

Crete Boom, I don't think there's such a thing as a Trap supporter in the whole of Ireland - and I'm certainly not one.

But Ireland's current malaise is not even a malaise; Germany are on a different level to us these days and when they come together, we have no chance, even with 11 men behind the ball.

But after tonight we will be in joint second place again, and second place is the best we would ever achieve in this group.  The only games that actually matter in qualifying are those against Sweden and Austria, and I'd rather we played those with a settled team and formation than with something plucked out of the sky Championship manager style.

[thewobbler]

Ciaran Clarke is the future

Based on playing a dozen games for a rubbish Aston Villa side?

I really hope I'm wrong, but at this stage he is no more the future than Gary Doherty was 10 years ago, or Paul McShane was 5 years ago.

[rodney trotter]

Ciaran Clarke is the future

Based on playing a dozen games for a rubbish Aston Villa side?

I really hope I'm wrong, but at this stage he is no more the future than Gary Doherty was 10 years ago, or Paul McShane was 5 years ago.

No Wobbler, based on Clarke having some talent. Doherty was a shocking player, and as for Paul McShane.....