@Rocko alluded to it earlier but tonight had remnants of Celtic beating Barcelona. An injury ravaged home side, an Ulster manager and a starting lineup which had more than a hint of being makeshift taking on a champion and lauded side. It came to mind before the game (though I canât prove it) and the Turk also noted that Long scoring emphatically from a goalkeeper punt forward was akin to Tony Wattâs goal that night too. Combined with the stadium rocking and the Irish side putting in an heroic effort while riding our luck at times and it was uncanny.
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Guys, Iâm so spent emotionally. Youâll have seen above that I canât add anymore. I was bricking it so much in the last 10 minutes that I wanted Poland to equalise just so that a German goal wouldnât complete destroy me/us. But it turns out we didnât want/need them to score. Is that right @Steven_Naimsith?
Mate, I know this must have been a hugely disappointing night for you, but donât start thrashing around taking it out on the rest of us.
Can you add numbers mate?
I thought thatâs what accountantâs got paid to do. but apparently not
I had one bottle of Heineken after the game, mate. Iâm too giddy to go to bed.
Iâm a qualified chartered accountant but I donât actually work in an industry where an ability to add or be accurate with numbers is required. I work in banking, pal.
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Ok, that makes sense. I could see where the ability to add could be a hindrance to oneâs creativity as a banker, esp one of international importance.
Had the Scotch won today, we would have gone to Warsaw 4pts ahead of the Scotch (so they couldnât catch us) and 1pt ahead of the Polacks, meaning all we needed was a draw to auto qualify.
That Lewandowski goal in the 94th minute gives the square heads an advantage in the auto qualify stakes.
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I love Ireland.
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I think the point Bando was making was that Lewandowskiâs goal effectively eliminated the Jockos. Had results stayed as they were at that stage with the Jockos winning then the Jockos were still in with a shout if we beat the square heads.
Iâlla take that. My Gibraltar v Scotland - Official Build Up Thread has the jockos seething over on the huddleboard.
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a friendly between two colonies.
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Low really got that all wrong last night. Too conservative with his full backs. He had Hummels pushing forward in the second half to force things but that just crowded Gundogan and it was more dynamism out wide they needed because we were very narrow.
Our gameplan worked superbly. Brady being central was really helpful, meant Hoolahan had help with hassling them in deeper areas. Significant how we improved as it went on too. Christie was ragged early on and composed (but still a live wire) when it finished. Walters was too quiet in the first half I thought but was magnificent after the break.
Low always picks centre backs to play at full back. Whatâs up with that? Itâs one of my pet hates in football, they have plenty of decent natural full backs there and it doesnât actually help them defend better.
They also had zero presence in the centre of the pitch, no way would Brady and Hoolahan have won the ball back and set in motion countless breaks had Sami Khedira been there.
Lads, as great as this victory was, we were poxxed beyond believe. They played us off the park and any other night their finishing would have meant 3 or 4 goals.
Yeah, the lads did well, but letâs not be getting carried away.
Weâre gonna win the European Championships, now fall the fuck in.
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Howâs all the heads this morning boys, I hope everyone celebrated it hard
At the time I was delighted the Polaks equalised. That game was about five minutes ahead - the tension was almost unbearable at Lansdowne as it was. A non Poland equaliser to make it 2-2 would have meant we were a German leveler away from going out.
Could see out the last few minutes against the Germans safe in the knowledge that even if they bagged an equaliser we still had the playoff.
Tin hat on but if went to Poland needing only a point for automatic qualification weâd have gone ultra cautious. Would have sat back asking for trouble. Macedonia away again. Even that time under McCarthy when we played Croatia away and made no effort to attack before Suker done us late on with the winner. Now weâve a one off game to play freely and not âloseâ an automatic spot.
Iâd take being 0-0 with half an hour left as the Poles would get edgy. Personally the whole campaign for me has been about getting the playoff - fucking brilliant to have it secured with a game to go and the added bonus of a free shot at automatic qualification from one of the hardest groups.
Adrenaline still coursing through me after that. The football team are probably the only Ireland team in international sport Iâve an emotional attachment or investment in. Would be great for the country if we get to France.
Norn Iron, Wales and England in a group with us 
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Khedira would have added a lot alright.
Theyâve been short on full backs for years. Schweizer had a horrible season last year but he and Durm have been in decent form this year. But youâre right, he has always defaulted to Badstuber or Mustafi or Boateng or Howedes as a full back instead of just going with a competent, more naturally attacking player. Lamps excellence and versatility masked some of this conservatism I think.
Super post. Too much is being made of the eventual implications of that Polish goal. Ultimately, getting to a guaranteed play off with a game to spare is a very good achievement, and particularly good when you consider where we were a fee months ago.
Weâve only had 1 poor result in rge campaign. A few dodgy performances and a couple of questions name we might have left behind us but more than compensated for by the spirit shown against Germany twice and when we were behind to the Poles.
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