posted Sep 8, 2008

if we manage a win against montenegro we'd be laughing. bulgaria slipping up early will give us a lot of confidence. they are our main threat for that second place spot. i think that is our realistic aim.

having said that, italy are a beatable team too so why not hope. trap is breeding confidence in the lads, u can sense it. even if we lost on wednesday it wouldnt be the end of the world as we've started brightly and professionally, but im confident we can at least manage 1 point and a good performance.

the one gripe i have with gio is andy reid. i get why he's playing whelan, the whole gattuso comparison and all, but he cant get his game for stoke and i think steven reid can do a defensive job for us, letting andy pull the strings which he is more than capable of doing.

if anything, its good that we have a few options now. one thing i've been delighted about recently is the prominence of steven reid's ability to control the team. he's a big strong lad, great on the ball and has an eye for a pass. central midfield was our worst area under Stan with joey o'brien filling in at times etc.

the back four looks good and i for one was really impressed with killer kilbane on saturday. he has the heart of a lion! him, dicky dunne, john o'shea and steve finnan with given behind them is a fairly impressive back four.

mcgeady, who is getting better and more dangerous every time i see him, and hunt/duff on the other wing. then keane and doyler up front. thats a team more than capable of competing with the likes of bulgaria.

with trapattoni overseeing that team, i am, for the first time since before brian kerr, truly confident we can do the job!!

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posted Sep 8, 2008

Yeah have to agree with what most people are saying here, thought we did well against Georgia. A good performance and a good result against Montenegro will do us wonders both confidence wise and position in the group.

I think Trapp likes Whelan and S.Reid to play the holding midfield role and see's A.Reid as a luxury that we cant afford to use, i also think its best to leave hunt on the wing as it gives the team a better balance. I would say he will wait till the home games before using A.Reid.
Finally i know its only one game in but i have a bit of optimism about Irelands chances, makes a nice change from the disaster that was our attempt at qualification under Stan!!!

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posted Sep 8, 2008

I think Dunphy is right though... S.Hunt is better as an impact sub.. to change the pace of the game

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posted Sep 8, 2008

if we get 3pts on Wednesday night then there is no reason why we can't pick up 9pts from our 3 home games.
How and ever, Montenegro will be a tough match, they look a a decent side, Vicnic( of Roma) and Jovetic(of Fiorentina) are the dangermen.

I like Traps attitude saying that he would be disappointed to have 4pts from the first two games,only 6pts will do.

It looks like this group will go all the way to the final round of matches.
Would love to head to Italy in April for the away game.

M'on the boys in green

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posted Sep 8, 2008

We should be on 15 points after the first 5 games then I think we'll beat Italy and Montenegro at home in the last 2 games which would put us on 21 points, if we could get a draw somewhere along the line then its South Africa here we come, I think trapps has the motivation to do it and get the best out of our squad.

C'MON YOU BOYS IN GREEN

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posted Sep 8, 2008

IF we win on Wednesday, we stand a very good chance of being on 15 points after 5 games. This match looks like the toughest of the first 5 games. For those who think the Georgia result was a great one, it was, but we had a huge advantage of not letting them play at the 50,000 seater stadium (I think it is, anyway) in Tbilisi.

Again, IF we're on 15 points after 5 games, what misterg says is fairly true. We'd stand a decent chance all right. But it all depends on getting 6 points against Montenegro and at least 4 points against Cyprus. That's a lot harder than it looks.

And, for those who say that Bulgaria dropped points on Saturday, and Italy looked weak, maybe those two matches are a sign that it's gonna be really tough to get any points in this group, and all the teams stand a chance of qualification. The best comparison I can make is the 2006 World Cup qualifying group, when the decisive result was the defeat to France.

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posted Sep 8, 2008

shut your "TRAP" stan... Staunton was a joke, Trap is the man to get us there. I think England got the wrong Italian.

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posted Sep 8, 2008

I love the optimism guys. I think the last 10 mins told me what I wanted to know. We are woeful defensively, any other team would have torn us to shreds, we were fortunate to win because their goalie was crap. 15 points my rear end, Both Reids should be playing and Mcgeady should be on the other side. When Duffer comes back it's going to be a really good midfield. We will qualify but make it difficult as usual. Trapp doesn't know his best team and Brady doesn't like Andy Reid.

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posted Sep 8, 2008

Ah... if Brady doesn't like Andy Reid, then that probably explains it all. As far as I knew, he was the one sent to scout the Sunderland players against Spurs, and Andy gave a MOTM display. Trapp doesn't scout them at all, according to what he said in an interview today, so he just trusts whatever his assistants say. If Brady doesn't like Andy, then he'll say he was rubbish and Trapp doesn't know any better. Good to see personality problems are still there in the Irish set-up...

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posted Sep 10, 2008

Let's get back to reality. Dodgy defence and no depth, we were lucky on Saturday against a poor team. Late goals have cost us over the years,and until we have some decent defenders we will struggle.

Look beyond the team on Saturday if we get an injuries we are in serious trouble. I am hopeful we can do it but don't ask me to put money on it!

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