The Football Thread.

[i_like_cake]

wtf are you doing on this thread when the game is on.... yes yes... irony be damned... i was refreshing....

[fitzy73]

wtf are you doing on this thread when the game is on.... yes yes... irony be damned... i was refreshing....

Wireless in the Jacks ... Best invention ever ...,

[DONC]

Shane Long finally makes an appearance. The fact that Walters stayed on this long without so much as a shot at goal (or, for that matter a decent knockdown or layoff) is ****!ng unbelievable. Regardless of the result, this performance has to go down as one of the worst Irish football performances in the history of the sport in this country.

Trappatoni should walk after this, regardless of the final result. If we're going to be gash, we should at least be paying a young Irish manager to turn it around with the decent players we have left instead of paying Trap a fortune to churn out this garbage. Thank the ****ing stars the "OLEOLEOLEOLEEEEE" bandwagoners have ****ed off because if I heard the Fields of Athenry right now, I'd nearly ****ing puke.

You have to wonder how did he get another contract, did the FAI think that we were going to do so well at the Euro's there would be a queue for his services. The FAI and Trap deserve each other though I feel sorry for the supporters.

Look at the bright side we are so bad that it will save Irish soccer fans a fortune in not having to go to Brazil for the finals.

[joeriddick]

You have to wonder how did he get another contract, did the FAI think that we were going to do so well at the Euro's there would be a queue for his services. The FAI and Trap deserve each other though I feel sorry for the supporters.

Look at the bright side we are so bad that it will save Irish soccer fans a fortune in not having to go to Brazil for the finals.

That's the only brightside I can visualize at the moment.

[padders]

traps luck knows no bounds . his major stroke of fortune is delaney being so clueless that he keeps giving him contracts . dont be surprised if mclean keeps pulling out of squads on the weekends before games now

[fullback15]

James McClean agrees. Probably taken down now but here is what he had to say after the game ...

Attachment 3836

Yep taken down now but I wonder will that mean Trap gives him the flick from the squad now.
Did Cox play on the left wing last night? I notice they are trying to get Duff to reverse his retirement. I think he will stick to his decision and I reckon he should.

It will be interesting to see if Gibson comes back. I think some time ago Trap may have just said F you to him but he seems to be handling this a little more gently, leaving the door open. Thing is Trap is the problem and caused it himself IMO.

Id say a few of the more promising younger players are fairly cheesed off.

[Dowlinz]

Something people should note is that the Kazakhs when on the ball were better and more skilled than our players. They had better movement, better passing stats, more fluid exchanges etc. You can complain about the long ball strategy or team selection all day but the reality is pretty clear and is sadly something we can't do anything about.
The EPL is a kick and rush league, it's technically weak and its coaches and academies are dominated even by sub-top 10 leagues in the skills and technique department. We send almost all of our players to that place and so thats the hand we have to work with, a hand where even the kazaks and armenians are better skilled than us. What the EPL is strongly trained in is mentality, discipline and physicality. Ugly attributes but effective, if we want to win we play to those strengths, if we want to play an attractive game we send our young players to learn from better coaches or keep them at home. There's precious little Trap or any manager can do, something the public probably won't appreciate until his successor runs into the same problems in 2014.

People are annoyed by it because it looks like crap, but so are the Scots, so are the Northern Irish. The welsh are doing so poorly these days they're actually seeded below the Faroes islands for these qualifiers. The English are humiliated every time they come up against a top tier team and have been for some time. The European game has advanced hugely in the past 20 years, the English game has not. It's not a coincidence that this problem is cropping up with the only teams who solely rely on English based training and absolutely nobody else. Even the lesser nations try to play the ground game these days.

[joeriddick]

Something people should note is that the Kazakhs when on the ball were better and more skilled than our players. They had better movement, better passing stats, more fluid exchanges etc. You can complain about the long ball strategy or team selection all day but the reality is pretty clear and is sadly something we can't do anything about.
The EPL is a kick and rush league, it's technically weak and its coaches and academies are dominated even by sub-top 10 leagues in the skills and technique department. We send almost all of our players to that place and so thats the hand we have to work with, a hand where even the kazaks and armenians are better skilled than us. What the EPL is strongly trained in is mentality, discipline and physicality. Ugly attributes but effective, if we want to win we play to those strengths, if we want to play an attractive game we send our young players to learn from better coaches or keep them at home. There's precious little Trap or any manager can do, something the public probably won't appreciate until his successor runs into the same problems in 2014.

People are annoyed by it because it looks like crap, but so are the Scots, so are the Northern Irish. The welsh are doing so poorly these days they're actually seeded below the Faroes islands for these qualifiers. The English are humiliated every time they come up against a top tier team and have been for some time. The European game has advanced hugely in the past 20 years, the English game has not. It's not a coincidence that this problem is cropping up with the only teams who solely rely on English based training and absolutely nobody else. Even the lesser nations try to play the ground game these days.

I'd agree with this. The UK & Ireland have always favored the "put 'em under pressure" approach to the game and this goes down to the very grassroots of the game. There are (some) coaches on the ground in West Cork that I know are trying to get the kids to play but often times the kids are just culturally engrained to kick and rush. It's 4-4-2, kick it to the channels, put a cross in for the big man, same old, same old and because it works locally, the kids stick with it and only get a serious education by the time it's too late to change.

[munsterforever]

intersesting chat last night last night with my "irish" liverpool of england soccer obsessed friend"

me: have you heard of stephen gerrard?
her: of course i have
me: ok what team does he play for?
her; liverpool of course
me: ok. have you heard of john terry frank lampard AND stephen gerrard
her: you're being silly now. everyone has
me: who do they all play for together then
her: england of course!
me: who does kieren westwood and james McCarthy play for then?
her: Sunderland and Wigan

[taz]

Ireland v Oman ,any point even writing this?

[munstershane]

They made a right cock up of the anthems.

[taz]

Brutal.....

[taz]

Craven cottage is empty..

[lactose intolerant]

Ireland v Oman ,any point even writing this?

Woohoo...we're winning!! This feels nice

[MrsMcGahan]

Ali Baba, Lawrence of Arabia, Wilfred Thesiger, your boys are taking one hell of a beating.........

[MrsMcGahan]

Northern Ireland 1 Luxemburg (All Star Galacticos) 1

[DONC]

Still could be worse ..... could be Welsh

[taz]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...yside-19543964

Previously unseen government papers about the Hillsborough disaster will be released to the public later.
Ninety-six Liverpool fans died after a crush on the terraces of Sheffield Wednesday's ground on 15 April 1989.
Many relatives believe more lives could have been saved and hope the papers will shed new light on events.
A report has been compiled by the Hillsborough Independent Panel, which has been scrutinising 400,000 pages of documents for the past 18 months.

Victims' families will be among the first to view the report at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral.
A number have been campaigning for more than 20 years for the papers to be released.
Cabinet papers are not usually published in the UK until 30 years after they have been written, but MPs agreed to their full, uncensored disclosure last year.

'Take ownership' Approval came after 140,000 people signed a government e-petition, set up by Liverpool fan Brian Irvine, to trigger a House of Commons debate on the issue.


The panel, chaired by the Bishop of Liverpool, said it had analysed more than 400,000 pages of documents relating to the disaster from more than 80 organisations.
It will release its findings to relatives of the victims on Wednesday morning before the papers are disclosed to the wider public in the afternoon.
Ninety-five fans were crushed to death and hundreds more injured on the overcrowded terraces of the Hillsborough stadium, which was hosting an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
The 96th victim, Tony Bland, was left in a coma after the disaster and died in 1993.
An independent inquiry led by Lord Chief Justice Taylor found the main cause of the disaster was a failure in crowd control by South Yorkshire Police.
But the victims' families hope the papers released on Wednesday will shed more light as to exactly what caused the tragedy and what happened in the aftermath.
They want to know how the cabinet and then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher responded in the days and months that followed.
Jenni Hicks lost both her daughters at Hillsborough - Victoria, who was 15 and 19-year-old Sarah.
Talking about the way the disaster was handled by police, she said: "They lied and tried to pass on the blame to the Liverpool supporters, to whom they owe a huge apology.
"They should take ownership of their actions that day, there needs to be some kind of accountability for their actions."
She added: "I am pleased that at last all the documents are there for everybody to see and I am hoping there will be enough evidence there to overturn the verdict of accidental death, but on a personal level I think it's going to open up a number of old wounds."

[Piquet]

Just a word about Peter Jones, the BBC Soccer commentator who was on duty that day, along with Alan Greene. Alan Greene went down to the tunnel that day and Peter Jones continued the commentary from the stand. The following January, he caught a cold while commentating on the Boat Race. His condition deteriorated and he died of Pneumonia a few days later.

His widow said that it affected him so much that, in the eight months or so between Hillsborough and his death, he didn't have a full night's sleep.

At the inquest, the Coroner decided that everyone was dead at a quarter past three, so no evidence of anything that happened after that was allowed.

[taz]

When asked whether he was hopeful Duff would return for the qualifying double-header against Germany and the Faroe Islands, Trapattoni said: "I don't know. I don't know what I am doing on October 12. Maybe I eat fish or drink milk. I can't discuss this now."

[munsterforever]

forget the fish and milk.whats that hallucinagenic drug that people took in the 60's that helped create great creative pieces from pink floyd en all?

[Waterfordlad]

forget the fish and milk.whats that hallucinagenic drug that people took in the 60's that helped create great creative pieces from pink floyd en all?

lysergic acid diethylamide

[99_oK?]

........
At the inquest, the Coroner decided that everyone was dead at a quarter past three, so no evidence of anything that happened after that was allowed.

Looks like the coroner didn't decide, was way higher up the food chain. The admittance of fabrication, omission and of trying to nail anything possible on the victims has now come out. Will the apology from the PM be enough though? The scouser campaign against the Sun continues too.

At least Bishop Jones has (at last...) done a decent and thorough job. Puts in perspective what various others (up to and including Thatcher) have done to ordinary people who were guilty of just going to a football game. Can you imagine something similar in Tp or LR?

[rua13]

I stand to be corrected but didnt a second string leinster team draw more to Tallaght Stadium last summer than attended Craven Cottage on Tuesday night. A sorry state of affairs for the FAI .

[taz]

Anyone watching the Champions league tonight? I am banished to the kitchen while the rest some new installment of Twilight?

[lactose intolerant]

Good aul City, dominated for 67 minutes and 1-0 up

[taz]

Poor oul Jose is disgusted.

[taz]

Joe Hart...jaysus Madrid 3 Man City 2 ,cracking 2nd half.

[Dumptruck]

Joe Hart...jaysus Madrid 3 Man City 2 ,cracking 2nd half.

Centre back ducked

[Waterfordlad]

Not a huge football fan, but I have to say the second half was incredible