Greedy rugby bastards take heed

I’m just saying you cant say they are great results when they are against shit teams. I take your point on Montenegro but they’ve improved a lot from when we played them.
Also when you look at what they’ve acomplished since its very clear which team is moving forward. They don’t have anyone much better than what we have, just have a better system and coaching. Paul Green wouldn’t get on any of the teams you’ve mentioned for example. He just an example of Traps stupidity. I honestly believe if Paul Green was of the age he wouldn’t be on our U-21s.

You can make arguments one way or another for everything we’re saying apart from the one about watching his players playing for their clubs not being important. That’s just ridiculous and I can’t help thinking it’s based on your obvious disregard for the EPL.
Ah we’ll agree to disagree on Trap larry but I really hope you’re proved right on him. Only qualification can do that though.

Thought Montenegro were pretty unlucky not to pick up a few more points in the 2010 campaign. Quite a decent side imo.
Take your point on Green. He looks a terribly limited player. That said can’t think of any manager who hasn’t picked a player I don’t rate. Always going to be criticisms. Hopefully a central midfielder or two can emerge in coming months. Interesting to see him try Fahey in there against Norway.

The rugby lads run a far better show, and they never let the wages get too out of hand. They are mostly business men from the get-go in rugby, the FAI is just full of Amateur Administrators from around the country who are useless with money. The rugby people also took their hit (pay cut) over a year ago, so i have no idea why this thread got the title it did.

This is why soccer will always be a 3rd class citizen in Ireland.

Fahey is vastly superior but his willingness to play the ball around is probably a con in traps books. Would love to see him give Wes Hoolihan a go aswell.

Bit of a myth that Trap doesn’t pick players if they can pass the bass. He does place emphasis on pressing opposition but being able to pass the ball certainly doesn’t exclude you from his plans as S Reid, Brady and many others know. Sure he doesn’t give as much focus on it when selecting a side but I doubt he discounts it.
Have heard good things about Hoolahan all right. Perhaps he’ll get a look in during Carling Cup.

a bit of a myth is an understatement- he built his 85 team around platini FFS- cunts on here saying he doesnt like skillful players like hoolahan who plays for some championship diddies yet disregard that he built teams around platini :lol:

But he picks hackers who play for championship sides instead (not talking about Holohan here)

And what has a team in 1985 got to do with now, and Ireland, and the players we have available to us? Zip is what it has got to do with it, zip.

when the players who are available are skillful enough he picks them- thats the reality- when faced with a choice between a journeyman hacker & a journeyman ball player he picks the hacker as its easier to stop other teams playing when you have limited players than it is to beat teams by playing skillfull football

Good point well made. Not sure who all these fantastic skillful players are who he hasn’t picked in this campaign tbh. Green is terribly limited but Gibson has been very poor for us as much as it pains me to say it.
Hopefully few central midfielders can emerge anyway.

they aint there mate although its funny to see the people build up these journeymen players

I’d agree with that.

I think Julio said that Trap wouldn’t pick Fahey on the basis that he would play too much ball in midfield. Trap has not done that thus far with Ireland.

And Whelan isn’t a hacker. If he was he might be some use!

I’m just waiting for someone to mention Fatty Reid.

i assumed he has retired- is he still playing with sunderland?

I believe he’s ‘on their books’.

FFS. Montenegro have one of the top 5 players in the world in Mirko Vucinic of Roma.

having seen them play a few times this qualifying campaign, the likes of Vucinec, Vukcevic and a fully fit Jovetic are far far superior players to anything we have at the moment

Fact.

Rugby has stumbled across a successful model but it was much about developments in Europe as to anything they did themselves. They ran the AIL into the ground by sanctioning crazy payments for players that bankrupted plenty of clubs. They failed to increase playing numbers in any significant way and concentrated far too much on tag rugby and making the national team successful while ignoring the fact that nobody plays the game.

Agree that Trap took over an absolute shambles. Players like Duff and Keane talking about quitting, Dunne and O Shea were diabolical international players before he took over, confidence had collapsed. We were the equivalent of Wales effectively.

But Trap has only taken us back to where we were under Kerr imo. Larry, Bulgaria and Slovakia were pretty poor sides. Considering we are probably worse at home than away those draws were the minimum acceptable rather than anything else. I think we have benefitted from favorable draws under Trap too that Kerr for instance didn’t get. Sure we are more organized now and have a very limited pic. People arguing for Wesley Hoolahan to come in says it all. But I get the feeling the Trap approach has taken us as far as it’s going to. Russia thoroughly exposed
us in the most one sided international games that I have seen Ireland ever being involved in. If we don’t change the system and the personnel I can’t have any confidence in us
qualifying unfortunately.

With very little coming through our ranks I reckon this could be the last chance saloon for quite a while too.