- Arsene Wenger whining about Mick McCarthy, and the fixture list. Arsene-when you were successful in the past, the only reason I had to dislike you immensly was (a) your Germanic bearing; and (b) the fact that you refused to wear corrective lenses despite having such poor eyesight. Now, when you can't win a so much as a weekend in Doochary, you resort to bitching and moaning at very little thing. Get over yourself and spend some money.
- The shitstorm in Kerry. They've given us John O'Donoghue, Jackie Healy-Rae, Tadhg Kennelly and The Bull McCabe. And now this. What next? 'Hitler conceived in Kerry- seed of evil planted in the Kingdom'.
- Gombeenism and stupidity in Carlow/Kildare. Thankfully, people got off their soap box and harangued representatives until the decision was reversed.
- The truck driver who pulled onto the M50, and, despite the fact that there was no traffic in front of him, attempted to pull into the middle lane in front of me. I, of course, held my ground and continued on my way. After I had passed him, he pulled in behind me and proceeded to flash his lights. I, as is my want, rolled down my window and gave him the V. You sir, Mr. Esso Tanker Driver, are a ****. You heard me.
- Christmas. That is all.
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Many things annoyed me today
And here are just a sample
Monday, 14 December 2009
It's been a while
Staind-It's Been A While
Yessir, keeping this yoke up-to-date is tough going. Well, not really. If I spend less time reading what other people think and committed more of my own musings to the blogsphere, there would be more frequent updates.
How and ever......
Chelsea certainly have hit a rough patch. No win in 4 games (1 loss, 1 loss on penalty kicks, 2 draws), a lot of questions about their defence and goalkeeper, and the loss of Michael Essien for 4 weeks or longer have certainly made me less sure of things than I was up to a month ago. They got a huge break at the weekend, when, having failed to put away Everton when leading on 2 separate occasions, Sir Alex Ferguson went conservative at home to Villa and Chelsea actually gained a point in the Premier League race. To be fair, the latest setback to Everton had a element of fluke about it-the 1st and 3rd goals were certainly fortunate, and even the 2nd goal was a bit odd-how often would you expect to find Ricardo Carvalho lying prostate on the 6 yard line? In truth, other than the defeat to Man City, none of these results have made much of a difference-I'm not sorry to see them out of the Carling Cup, and the draw against Apoel Nicosia didn't deny them the top spot in their Champions League Group. So, I hope that this is the rocky patch that any team tends to encounter in the course of the season. Still, I would have been happier if it happened in January, when there would be good reasons to expect a dip in form.
One encouraging point in this average run of form is the potential I have seen in Gael Kakuta-he may have been worth the hassle after all. He certainly can pick a pass, and always looks like he can make something happen. Still a bit raw for sure, but a potentially dynamic and creative force at the apex of Carlo's diamond in the near future. With Mikel and Essien absent in January, we might get to see more of him, and the 'big' summer signing Yuri Zhirkov (who has featured in recent games), potentially in a FA Cup tie. I will be watching with interest.
Liverpool appear to be in bad shape-even with Torres and Gerrard back in the starting XI, they could not hold a half-time lead to Arsenal at the weekend and now find themselves 5 points off the final Champions League Qualifying spot (with no prospect of entering as winners this year....). Rafa Benitez certainly appears in no hurry to unleash Alberto Aquilani, but when you have Lucas Leiva, why would you? It's hard to believe that Liverpool will miss out on 4th spot (heck, I even fancied them for 3rd before Sunday), but then you see that Man City can't defend (it's amazing they have only lost once but have drawn over 50% of their games) and Spurs are, well Spurs. Villa look just ok-they were fortunate enough to beat Chelsea (well, maybe not, just about anyone can score from a dead ball situation against Chelsea this season), and have had some odd results (home loss to Wigan, away defeats to Blackburn and West Ham), and like Man City, draw too many games. For now, they are the front runners for 4th, but there is a long way to go.
World Cup 2010 draw took place (with only 32 teams included), and yes, we have some interesting groups. The 2 current African powerhouses, Ivory Coast and Ghana, have good chances to take out waning (Portugal) and rising (Serbia) European powers, and make their mark against former winners (Brazil and Germany). England will have nothing to fear in their group, but isn't that when it all starts to go wrong? In defeating Russia, Slovenia should give them something to think about, and the USA will certainly give it a go. Their nightmare scenario? An unlikely series of results leading to a 2nd round clash against Germany. Spain have what appears to be a straightforward enough 1st round, but after that, may find Portugal and Italy on their path to the semi-final. Ireland or no Ireland, I'm looking forward to it-with many half-days planned.
Yessir, keeping this yoke up-to-date is tough going. Well, not really. If I spend less time reading what other people think and committed more of my own musings to the blogsphere, there would be more frequent updates.
How and ever......
Chelsea certainly have hit a rough patch. No win in 4 games (1 loss, 1 loss on penalty kicks, 2 draws), a lot of questions about their defence and goalkeeper, and the loss of Michael Essien for 4 weeks or longer have certainly made me less sure of things than I was up to a month ago. They got a huge break at the weekend, when, having failed to put away Everton when leading on 2 separate occasions, Sir Alex Ferguson went conservative at home to Villa and Chelsea actually gained a point in the Premier League race. To be fair, the latest setback to Everton had a element of fluke about it-the 1st and 3rd goals were certainly fortunate, and even the 2nd goal was a bit odd-how often would you expect to find Ricardo Carvalho lying prostate on the 6 yard line? In truth, other than the defeat to Man City, none of these results have made much of a difference-I'm not sorry to see them out of the Carling Cup, and the draw against Apoel Nicosia didn't deny them the top spot in their Champions League Group. So, I hope that this is the rocky patch that any team tends to encounter in the course of the season. Still, I would have been happier if it happened in January, when there would be good reasons to expect a dip in form.
One encouraging point in this average run of form is the potential I have seen in Gael Kakuta-he may have been worth the hassle after all. He certainly can pick a pass, and always looks like he can make something happen. Still a bit raw for sure, but a potentially dynamic and creative force at the apex of Carlo's diamond in the near future. With Mikel and Essien absent in January, we might get to see more of him, and the 'big' summer signing Yuri Zhirkov (who has featured in recent games), potentially in a FA Cup tie. I will be watching with interest.
Liverpool appear to be in bad shape-even with Torres and Gerrard back in the starting XI, they could not hold a half-time lead to Arsenal at the weekend and now find themselves 5 points off the final Champions League Qualifying spot (with no prospect of entering as winners this year....). Rafa Benitez certainly appears in no hurry to unleash Alberto Aquilani, but when you have Lucas Leiva, why would you? It's hard to believe that Liverpool will miss out on 4th spot (heck, I even fancied them for 3rd before Sunday), but then you see that Man City can't defend (it's amazing they have only lost once but have drawn over 50% of their games) and Spurs are, well Spurs. Villa look just ok-they were fortunate enough to beat Chelsea (well, maybe not, just about anyone can score from a dead ball situation against Chelsea this season), and have had some odd results (home loss to Wigan, away defeats to Blackburn and West Ham), and like Man City, draw too many games. For now, they are the front runners for 4th, but there is a long way to go.
World Cup 2010 draw took place (with only 32 teams included), and yes, we have some interesting groups. The 2 current African powerhouses, Ivory Coast and Ghana, have good chances to take out waning (Portugal) and rising (Serbia) European powers, and make their mark against former winners (Brazil and Germany). England will have nothing to fear in their group, but isn't that when it all starts to go wrong? In defeating Russia, Slovenia should give them something to think about, and the USA will certainly give it a go. Their nightmare scenario? An unlikely series of results leading to a 2nd round clash against Germany. Spain have what appears to be a straightforward enough 1st round, but after that, may find Portugal and Italy on their path to the semi-final. Ireland or no Ireland, I'm looking forward to it-with many half-days planned.
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Bonjourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr you cheese eating surrender monkeys!
From the Simpsons-Willie teaches French
Les Bleus visit a damp and windswept Croke Park this evening for the 1st leg of what looks to be the pick of the UEFA WC2010 play-off ties. Ireland of course finished as runners up to Italy ion Group 10, whereas the French were squeezed out of an automatic qualifying spot by Serbia-their 3-1 defeat to Austria in the opening game proving costly. Along the way, they could only manage a 1-0 win in the Faroes (managed by the never bitter Brian Kerr), but did actually manage to defeat Serbia at home and get a draw in the return leg. All of this on the back of a disastrous Euro 2008, where they didn't win a game (alebit they found themselves in a fairly tough group). They arrive in Dublin with a host of injuries (Ribery and Diaby absent, questions over Toulalan and Henry), questions surrounding their coach, and the prospect of playing in front of vocal Irish support, both at Croke Park, and indeed in Paris.
Even with their injuries, France still should enough talent to take care of Ireland. Their midfield looks like being a bit of an unknown quantity, but their attacking full backs and pace upfront suggests that can cause Ireland plenty of problems (I'm looking at you Sean St Leger and Kevin Kilbane!) The reality, for me, is that France will have to play poorly and Ireland will have to play as well as they can to win through. The prevailing opinions in the 'meeja' here in Ireland is that Ireland have a good chance of going through because:
(a) France have such a hated coach;
(b) if they were any good they would have qualified automatically;
(c) Ireland are so strong at set pieces; and
(d) we 'nearly' beat the World Cup Champions.
We shall see. My prediction? France by the odd goal-no penalties required.
Les Bleus visit a damp and windswept Croke Park this evening for the 1st leg of what looks to be the pick of the UEFA WC2010 play-off ties. Ireland of course finished as runners up to Italy ion Group 10, whereas the French were squeezed out of an automatic qualifying spot by Serbia-their 3-1 defeat to Austria in the opening game proving costly. Along the way, they could only manage a 1-0 win in the Faroes (managed by the never bitter Brian Kerr), but did actually manage to defeat Serbia at home and get a draw in the return leg. All of this on the back of a disastrous Euro 2008, where they didn't win a game (alebit they found themselves in a fairly tough group). They arrive in Dublin with a host of injuries (Ribery and Diaby absent, questions over Toulalan and Henry), questions surrounding their coach, and the prospect of playing in front of vocal Irish support, both at Croke Park, and indeed in Paris.
Even with their injuries, France still should enough talent to take care of Ireland. Their midfield looks like being a bit of an unknown quantity, but their attacking full backs and pace upfront suggests that can cause Ireland plenty of problems (I'm looking at you Sean St Leger and Kevin Kilbane!) The reality, for me, is that France will have to play poorly and Ireland will have to play as well as they can to win through. The prevailing opinions in the 'meeja' here in Ireland is that Ireland have a good chance of going through because:
(a) France have such a hated coach;
(b) if they were any good they would have qualified automatically;
(c) Ireland are so strong at set pieces; and
(d) we 'nearly' beat the World Cup Champions.
We shall see. My prediction? France by the odd goal-no penalties required.
Sunday, 8 November 2009
A small victory
As goes the Faith No More song, this was my take on Chelsea's win over Man Utd. on Sunday. All that matters is that Chelsea got 3 points? Not so fast....
Man Utd sure frustrated Chelsea on Sunday-5 across the middle generally has that effect on Chelsea-even at Stamford Bridge. It should have been obvious what tactics Man Utd were going to employ-so I would question why Deco started the game-and was left on for so long when he was virtually anonymous throughout-and so there may have been a case for starting (gulp) Mikel in the middle to try and match up physically with Fletcher and Anderson. What was also obvious was that the diamond formation favoured by Ancelotti is not going to find it easy to break down teams that arrive at Stamford Bridge with a 'what we have we hold' mentality (anyone else remember Chelsea's difficulties in beating Hull City in the opening game of the season?). And I am still bemused by the amount of time Nicolas Anelka spends outside the box and in deep positions. He is a talented footballer for sure, but is at his most dangerous when in the box-the fact that his either encouraged to drop back or else feels the need to do so does not sit well with me.
With Deco ineffectual, where was the creative supply going to come from within the Chelsea midfield? Joe Cole might have been introduced sooner, but in my view, what is really requiored to break teams down is more width. An orthodox 4-4-2 would be nice-maybe not when playing Man Utd lining up as they did, but certainly against lesser teams. Joe Cole on the right and Malouda or indeed Zhirkov on the left with some combination of Essien/Lampard/Ballack/Mikel in the middle please!
The way the game played out on Sunday will put some spring in Man Utd's step. Their sense of injustice at the manner of the defeat as well as the fact that their second string centre back pairing managed to render both Drogba and Anelka relatively ineffective will serve as tremendous motivators for the next few games (home to Everton, away to Portsmouth and West Ham and home to Villa) which should see them get back on track pretty quickly. There was plenty of bad blood stirred up during the Stamford Bridge game-the April clash at Old Trafford should be interesting for that reason alone, but it also comes at a point in the season where it could have a significant bearing on the destination of this year's Premier League title.
Chelsea now face Wolves at Stamford Bridge-a game which will hopefully see them regain their recent scoring form-and then travel to Arsenal, where I hope to see a better Chelsea performance than the Man Utd game, and indeed a better game. Nothing about Sunday's game really would entice you to watch Premier League football. The news that Jose Bosingwa faces 3 months on the sidelines and the ongoing concern around Ashley Cole's fitness won't help Chelsea-aside from their defensive abilities both full backs play a key attacking role in the diamond formation favoured by Ancelotti. Chelsea have adequate, if not ideal, cover for the right, the left is more of a concern, unless Zhirkov manages to return from his latest injury setback.
- Chelsea were the home team and were at virtually full strength
- Man Utd on the other hand were the away team and were short both first choice centre backs and Dimitar Berbatov (whether he would have started or not is a moot point)
- Chelsea had scored 20 goals in their 5 games leading up to the clash with Man Utd.
- Man Utd have won the last two Premier League titles and this was a chance for Chelsea to make a statement that they are the are ready to reclaim the title
Man Utd sure frustrated Chelsea on Sunday-5 across the middle generally has that effect on Chelsea-even at Stamford Bridge. It should have been obvious what tactics Man Utd were going to employ-so I would question why Deco started the game-and was left on for so long when he was virtually anonymous throughout-and so there may have been a case for starting (gulp) Mikel in the middle to try and match up physically with Fletcher and Anderson. What was also obvious was that the diamond formation favoured by Ancelotti is not going to find it easy to break down teams that arrive at Stamford Bridge with a 'what we have we hold' mentality (anyone else remember Chelsea's difficulties in beating Hull City in the opening game of the season?). And I am still bemused by the amount of time Nicolas Anelka spends outside the box and in deep positions. He is a talented footballer for sure, but is at his most dangerous when in the box-the fact that his either encouraged to drop back or else feels the need to do so does not sit well with me.
With Deco ineffectual, where was the creative supply going to come from within the Chelsea midfield? Joe Cole might have been introduced sooner, but in my view, what is really requiored to break teams down is more width. An orthodox 4-4-2 would be nice-maybe not when playing Man Utd lining up as they did, but certainly against lesser teams. Joe Cole on the right and Malouda or indeed Zhirkov on the left with some combination of Essien/Lampard/Ballack/Mikel in the middle please!
The way the game played out on Sunday will put some spring in Man Utd's step. Their sense of injustice at the manner of the defeat as well as the fact that their second string centre back pairing managed to render both Drogba and Anelka relatively ineffective will serve as tremendous motivators for the next few games (home to Everton, away to Portsmouth and West Ham and home to Villa) which should see them get back on track pretty quickly. There was plenty of bad blood stirred up during the Stamford Bridge game-the April clash at Old Trafford should be interesting for that reason alone, but it also comes at a point in the season where it could have a significant bearing on the destination of this year's Premier League title.
Chelsea now face Wolves at Stamford Bridge-a game which will hopefully see them regain their recent scoring form-and then travel to Arsenal, where I hope to see a better Chelsea performance than the Man Utd game, and indeed a better game. Nothing about Sunday's game really would entice you to watch Premier League football. The news that Jose Bosingwa faces 3 months on the sidelines and the ongoing concern around Ashley Cole's fitness won't help Chelsea-aside from their defensive abilities both full backs play a key attacking role in the diamond formation favoured by Ancelotti. Chelsea have adequate, if not ideal, cover for the right, the left is more of a concern, unless Zhirkov manages to return from his latest injury setback.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Right back where we started
Chelsea beat Liverpool
Man Utd beat Arsenal
Liverpool beat Man Utd
Chelsea have lost 2 games already
Man Utd have lost 2 games already
Arsenal have lost 2 games already
Liverpool have lost 3 games already
Just who is the best team in the current edition of the Premier League?
Although Chelsea sit at the top of the table, Arsenal could move ahead of them on goal difference if they win their game in hand, and, were the better team for long stretches of their visit to Old Trafford. But, they shipped 4 goals to Man City and just blew a 2 goal lead at West Ham. Man Utd have been beaten by Burnley, needed an injury time equaliser to get a draw at home to Sunderland and beat Man City in similar fashion. Chelsea looked disinterested when losing 3-1 at Wigan and defensively naive when losing to Aston Villa. Liverpool have lost to Sunderland.
So, we might just be looking at one of the more competitive Premier League season in some time now. Note that 'competitive' does not imply that we are going to see a lot of quality-look at last Sunday's clash of Liverpool and Man Utd-the standard of play-flashes of brilliance from Fernando Torres and the odd cameo from Yossi Benayoun aside-was poor. Liverpool won despite the fact that they had surely the worst Brazilian ever to kick a ball in the middle of the field, and were helped by a largely anonymous display from Man Utd's midfield and an ineffectual display from their front 2. It's worth noting however that Man Utd still looked like a more natural attacking force when they got forward in the 1st half, and Liverpool's first instinct appeared to play the ball sqaure or backwards. How they miss the drive of Steven Gerrard.
Sure Man Utd might have benefited from the industry and strength of Darren Flethcher, and maybe even the likes of Park and Andersen would have made an impact, but Carrick and Valencia are first choice and hardly looked the part on Sunday. Fernando Torres seems to be Nemanja Vidic's kryptonite. It is debatable as to whether Liverpool really played well enough to win the game, but equally, it is a stetch to say that Man Utd deserved anything other than a defeat. Makes sense? Good.
November could make the picture a little clearer with Chelsea playing host to Man Utd and facing Arsenal at The Emirates. Clashes between the 'Big 4' don't always tend to matter greatly in determining the Premier League winner, but in a year where parity appears to have returned, points taken from your closest challengers could be more important than in recent years.
Man Utd beat Arsenal
Liverpool beat Man Utd
Chelsea have lost 2 games already
Man Utd have lost 2 games already
Arsenal have lost 2 games already
Liverpool have lost 3 games already
Just who is the best team in the current edition of the Premier League?
Although Chelsea sit at the top of the table, Arsenal could move ahead of them on goal difference if they win their game in hand, and, were the better team for long stretches of their visit to Old Trafford. But, they shipped 4 goals to Man City and just blew a 2 goal lead at West Ham. Man Utd have been beaten by Burnley, needed an injury time equaliser to get a draw at home to Sunderland and beat Man City in similar fashion. Chelsea looked disinterested when losing 3-1 at Wigan and defensively naive when losing to Aston Villa. Liverpool have lost to Sunderland.
So, we might just be looking at one of the more competitive Premier League season in some time now. Note that 'competitive' does not imply that we are going to see a lot of quality-look at last Sunday's clash of Liverpool and Man Utd-the standard of play-flashes of brilliance from Fernando Torres and the odd cameo from Yossi Benayoun aside-was poor. Liverpool won despite the fact that they had surely the worst Brazilian ever to kick a ball in the middle of the field, and were helped by a largely anonymous display from Man Utd's midfield and an ineffectual display from their front 2. It's worth noting however that Man Utd still looked like a more natural attacking force when they got forward in the 1st half, and Liverpool's first instinct appeared to play the ball sqaure or backwards. How they miss the drive of Steven Gerrard.
Sure Man Utd might have benefited from the industry and strength of Darren Flethcher, and maybe even the likes of Park and Andersen would have made an impact, but Carrick and Valencia are first choice and hardly looked the part on Sunday. Fernando Torres seems to be Nemanja Vidic's kryptonite. It is debatable as to whether Liverpool really played well enough to win the game, but equally, it is a stetch to say that Man Utd deserved anything other than a defeat. Makes sense? Good.
November could make the picture a little clearer with Chelsea playing host to Man Utd and facing Arsenal at The Emirates. Clashes between the 'Big 4' don't always tend to matter greatly in determining the Premier League winner, but in a year where parity appears to have returned, points taken from your closest challengers could be more important than in recent years.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
I think I smell a rat......
Hmmm. The svelte Eamon Dunphy must be around. It was a bit much to listen to Eamo ranting and raving after Ireland had secured a place in the World Cup play-offs by virtue of a 2-2 draw with Italy (World Champions Italy as King George kept reminding us over the course of the evening)-we have had worse results recently, but Stephen Hunt couldn't avoid coming down to Eamo's level to hit back at Dunphy's 'shameful' comments. Dunphy came out and apologised (fair play to him for that I guess), but it wasn't as if he was goaded into making the comments in the first place, so you would wonder what he was smoking when he lashed out last Saturday. At least Trap didn't seem to let it bother him, but no surprise there I guess.
Eamo is right enough in one respect-it is 'shameful' that Andy Reid can't get in the Ireland squad, but at this stage, it's time to build a bridge. Ireland are where we expected/hoped to be at the start of this qualifying campaign, and for that, the current manager and squad should be congratulated. But, it doesn't take from that we led twice against Italy and failed to win. Indeed, the truth of it was that Italy looked like they score whenever they wanted or needed to do so-the point gained in Dublin was enough for them to win the group and qualify automatically. We also failed to beat Bulgaria, despite having led both home and away (and Bulgaria looked very average on both occasions) and Montenegro on 2 occasions (albeit the Croke Park game was a dead rubber). So Ireland were unbeaten, but their 4 wins during the campaign were single goal victories over Cyprus and Georgia (more than other Ireland managers could manage, which is a sign of progress I suppose). That doesn't look likely to get us through a play-off when our potential opponents will be one from France, Portugal, Russia or Greece.
Of that lot, it's hard to know who we should be hoping to draw next Monday. On paper, Greece appear to be the weakest of the 4, Russia the least desirable place to go at this time of the year, while Portugal and France have the star names and big reputations, but appear to lack form. Some of the match-ups are pretty daunting-Ronaldo v Kilbane; Arshavin v. St Leger; Ribery v. O'Shea; anyone in Greece v. the Irish midfield.
Whoever Ireland end up playing, not everyone will be welcome at the game. The FAI were offering an incentive to buy tickets for last night's game against Montenegro-post your ticket stub to them and you would have first preference for buying tickets to the play-off game in Croke Park. A few (un)lucky fans may not be there-because of displaying this banner-the FAI took umbrage to the banner, confiscated it and the fan's ticket stub, and asked the Gardai to get involved. It turns out that the guys got there tickets back, but only after the FAI had scanned/photographed them. What next? RTE actually showed footage of the banner at the end-will they be stripped of their rights to broadcast future Ireland games? Godwin's Law decrees I should say nothing further about the FAI.
Eamo is right enough in one respect-it is 'shameful' that Andy Reid can't get in the Ireland squad, but at this stage, it's time to build a bridge. Ireland are where we expected/hoped to be at the start of this qualifying campaign, and for that, the current manager and squad should be congratulated. But, it doesn't take from that we led twice against Italy and failed to win. Indeed, the truth of it was that Italy looked like they score whenever they wanted or needed to do so-the point gained in Dublin was enough for them to win the group and qualify automatically. We also failed to beat Bulgaria, despite having led both home and away (and Bulgaria looked very average on both occasions) and Montenegro on 2 occasions (albeit the Croke Park game was a dead rubber). So Ireland were unbeaten, but their 4 wins during the campaign were single goal victories over Cyprus and Georgia (more than other Ireland managers could manage, which is a sign of progress I suppose). That doesn't look likely to get us through a play-off when our potential opponents will be one from France, Portugal, Russia or Greece.
Of that lot, it's hard to know who we should be hoping to draw next Monday. On paper, Greece appear to be the weakest of the 4, Russia the least desirable place to go at this time of the year, while Portugal and France have the star names and big reputations, but appear to lack form. Some of the match-ups are pretty daunting-Ronaldo v Kilbane; Arshavin v. St Leger; Ribery v. O'Shea; anyone in Greece v. the Irish midfield.
Whoever Ireland end up playing, not everyone will be welcome at the game. The FAI were offering an incentive to buy tickets for last night's game against Montenegro-post your ticket stub to them and you would have first preference for buying tickets to the play-off game in Croke Park. A few (un)lucky fans may not be there-because of displaying this banner-the FAI took umbrage to the banner, confiscated it and the fan's ticket stub, and asked the Gardai to get involved. It turns out that the guys got there tickets back, but only after the FAI had scanned/photographed them. What next? RTE actually showed footage of the banner at the end-will they be stripped of their rights to broadcast future Ireland games? Godwin's Law decrees I should say nothing further about the FAI.
Friday, 9 October 2009
A Machiavellian Outcome?
The Greek playwright Sophocles wrote in Electra (c 409 B.C.), "The end excuses any evil". I've never read it, I probably never will. Heck, I've never even seen the film Elektra.
No, this blog has not 'got culture' all of a sudden. The above represents Geovanni Trappatoni's modus operandi it would seem, based on what we saw in the 2-1 victory in Cyprus where the performance wasn't really much better than that which saw us beaten 3-0 by Australia-the main differences being the result (better) and the quality of the opposition (worse), and indeed what we have seen from the septuagenarian Italian's Ireland XI's to date. Indeed, it was not surprising to stumble across this piece, which may give some insight into his seemingly ultra-conservative nature.
Ireland will take the field on Saturday without one of the most in-form Irish midfield players in the Premier League at the moment, one who actually wants to play for his country. Andy Reid's absence has become more baffling as his fitness and form has improved considerably since the last round of games, and it beggared belief when Martin Rowlands (who I have to admit I have not seen play, but given that he is now 30 years of age and has never played Premier League football, I have to believe is not a better player than Andy Reid) was called up as cover for the injured Damien Duff during the week. Ireland just don't have the luxury of leaving out players like Andy Reid-he's no world beater, and may not neatly fit in the manager's preferred system, but he has the ability to create-something that is severely lacking among the rest of the fit midfielders in the squad.
Il Trap appears to have brought some defensive stability to the Irish team, and you cannot argue that results have not improved, but I get the impression that this team is not set up to win the games that will really matter-if Italy come to the Northside to play, we will not be able to stand toe to toe with them. Ireland have trundled along with the attitude that its is the result rather than the performance that matters (or the end justifies the means), which is well and good, but sooner or later, mediocre performances catch up with you. I am waiting for a last minute sucker punch to do for us at some stage in this campaign-the knock out may not come on Saturday, but given the recently announced seeding system, I fear it will come via the play-offs.
In other news, Steve Staunton appears to have found his level-amazing that he managed Ireland before he was given the job at the team lying at the foot of League 2.
No, this blog has not 'got culture' all of a sudden. The above represents Geovanni Trappatoni's modus operandi it would seem, based on what we saw in the 2-1 victory in Cyprus where the performance wasn't really much better than that which saw us beaten 3-0 by Australia-the main differences being the result (better) and the quality of the opposition (worse), and indeed what we have seen from the septuagenarian Italian's Ireland XI's to date. Indeed, it was not surprising to stumble across this piece, which may give some insight into his seemingly ultra-conservative nature.
Ireland will take the field on Saturday without one of the most in-form Irish midfield players in the Premier League at the moment, one who actually wants to play for his country. Andy Reid's absence has become more baffling as his fitness and form has improved considerably since the last round of games, and it beggared belief when Martin Rowlands (who I have to admit I have not seen play, but given that he is now 30 years of age and has never played Premier League football, I have to believe is not a better player than Andy Reid) was called up as cover for the injured Damien Duff during the week. Ireland just don't have the luxury of leaving out players like Andy Reid-he's no world beater, and may not neatly fit in the manager's preferred system, but he has the ability to create-something that is severely lacking among the rest of the fit midfielders in the squad.
Il Trap appears to have brought some defensive stability to the Irish team, and you cannot argue that results have not improved, but I get the impression that this team is not set up to win the games that will really matter-if Italy come to the Northside to play, we will not be able to stand toe to toe with them. Ireland have trundled along with the attitude that its is the result rather than the performance that matters (or the end justifies the means), which is well and good, but sooner or later, mediocre performances catch up with you. I am waiting for a last minute sucker punch to do for us at some stage in this campaign-the knock out may not come on Saturday, but given the recently announced seeding system, I fear it will come via the play-offs.
In other news, Steve Staunton appears to have found his level-amazing that he managed Ireland before he was given the job at the team lying at the foot of League 2.
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