Zatman Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 not a chance Martin O'Neill will put a team like that out even if its a friendly, Hourihane might start but not a chance he would play all them 3 behind Long. I be shocked if Long even starts as think he was a doubt for Friday game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG_Villa_Fan Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 This current Ireland team is shockingly bereft of any real quality. They'd struggle to get to mid table in the championship. Love rooting for them but if they get to another big competition with this team it would be a miracle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 28, 2017 Moderator Share Posted March 28, 2017 3 hours ago, BG_Villa_Fan said: This current Ireland team is shockingly bereft of any real quality. They'd struggle to get to mid table in the championship. Love rooting for them but if they get to another big competition with this team it would be a miracle. Objectively that's not true. Most of the first choicers play in the Premier League and then the likes of Hourihane, Horgan, McGeady, Christie etc are some of the better players in the Championship. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG_Villa_Fan Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 22 minutes ago, BOF said: Objectively that's not true. Most of the first choicers play in the Premier League and then the likes of Hourihane, Horgan, McGeady, Christie etc are some of the better players in the Championship. Eh it's an exaggeration obviously about the championship. Most of their premier league players, bar Coleman, are squad players for lower table teams. It's subjective but there are many higher profile and more expensive championship players than the likes of Meyler, O'Shea, etc. What's not subjective is that Serbia, Austria and Wales all have much higher profile players, that play in better teams and cost much more. Still, big fan of this Ireland team. Hope they qualify again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 28, 2017 Moderator Share Posted March 28, 2017 3 minutes ago, BG_Villa_Fan said: What's not subjective is that Serbia, Austria and Wales all have much higher profile players, that play in better teams and cost much more. Agreed. I was just responding to the Championship claim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 1 hour ago, BOF said: Objectively that's not true. Most of the first choicers play in the Premier League and then the likes of Hourihane, Horgan, McGeady, Christie etc are some of the better players in the Championship. Subjectively surely? This Ireland squad is nowhere near the same sort of quality as 15/20 years back, obviously. Probably not even 5 years ago. They don't even have a player the quality of Richard Dunne, never mind O'Leary. That they're doing as well as they are is down to Martin O'Neill. I hope they qualify. I've gone from one extreme to the other with Martin over the years, I'm back to forgiving him and generally liking the silly auld sausage quite a bit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 28, 2017 Moderator Share Posted March 28, 2017 1 minute ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: Subjectively surely? This Ireland squad is nowhere near the same sort of quality as 15/20 years back, obviously. Probably not even 5 years ago. They don't even have a player the quality of Richard Dunne, never mind O'Leary. That they're doing as well as they are is down to Martin O'Neill. I hope they qualify. I've gone from one extreme to the other with Martin over the years, I'm back to forgiving him and generally liking the silly auld sausage quite a bit. It's objective because rather than using my opinion of the players, I'm solely using a quantifiable yardstick i.e. the league that they play in. Arguing that a side made up mostly of Premier League players would struggle to be midtable in the Championship is subjective, and IMHO cobblers. But we've cleared up the exaggeration now 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 28, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 28, 2017 1 hour ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: Subjectively surely? This Ireland squad is nowhere near the same sort of quality as 15/20 years back, obviously. Probably not even 5 years ago. They don't even have a player the quality of Richard Dunne, never mind O'Leary. That they're doing as well as they are is down to Martin O'Neill. I hope they qualify. I've gone from one extreme to the other with Martin over the years, I'm back to forgiving him and generally liking the silly auld sausage quite a bit. I think BOF was referring to the claim that they'd struggle to be mid table in the Championship as opposed to the lack of quality claim. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 This generation is nowhere near the last one which was probably our best ever generation of players. The game Friday was like a lower level Championship game and bereft of quality. I think this squad does have a very good team spirit and decent talent. Hourihane, Brady, Hendrick, Hoolahan are actual footballers which is something an Ireland team rarely have as a midfield option Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 1 hour ago, Zatman said: This generation is nowhere near the last one which was probably our best ever generation of players. The game Friday was like a lower level Championship game and bereft of quality. Better than the early-mid 90's? Absolutely no chance. Come on. Look at the 94 squad - Irwin, McGrath, Townsend, Staunton, Houghton, Aldridge, Keane, etc etc... they actually underperformed IMO. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 dont know a lot of the 94 team were over the hill at that tournament most of he squad were in 30s at that time. Recently we had Duff, Keane, O'Shea, Dunne, Given, Finnan all at top 6 teams when Premier League was probably at its strongest but were hamstrung by poor management after 2002 and lacked maybe a quality centre midfielder after Roy Keane retired 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 17 minutes ago, Zatman said: dont know a lot of the 94 team were over the hill at that tournament most of he squad were in 30s at that time. Recently we had Duff, Keane, O'Shea, Dunne, Given, Finnan all at top 6 teams when Premier League was probably at its strongest but were hamstrung by poor management after 2002 and lacked maybe a quality centre midfielder after Roy Keane retired When you're naming O'Shea and Finnan in comparison to McGrath and Staunton you know you're struggling You raised a valid point though about the 94 squad which I concede. Regardless the quality of player Ireland produced from the late 80's through to the mid 2000's far exceeds what they have right now. O'Neill will have done an excellent job if he gets them there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Steve Finnan was a quality player. One of most underrated full-backs in Premier League at the time, and I rarely ever openly praise a Liverpool player I give you O'Shea though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 typical MON 60 minutes into a friendly and no subs yet. Horgan crying out for a debut cap and MON still ignoring him what a clown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 its only a friendly but 2 shots in 88 minutes is pathetic. Not like we have anything to lose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Pretty rubbish alright, caveat being its only a friendly. Hourihane anonymous, Horgan looked lively when he came on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 ROI will be back on it when it matters, I don't think their friendly record over the years is anything to write home about but they're incredibly tough to beat home and away in qualifiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 28, 2017 Moderator Share Posted March 28, 2017 Subdued debut for Hourihane. Couldn't get near to taking any set pieces with the more senior Brady & McGeady on the pitch, and Hendrick playing as the more forward of the centre mids. So a less than ideal scenario in which to shine I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TrentVilla Posted March 30, 2017 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted March 30, 2017 I think the main problem for the ROI these days compared to in the 90's is there seems to be a shortage of English players with Irish grandparents. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Bit like Scotland they are not producing the gems they used to, like Giles, McGrath, both Keanes and Liam Brady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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