November 11th and 15th. Euro 2012 Qualification Playoff: Ireland v Estonia. Dream draw? Or potential banana skin? Or both? Discuss here. Personally I dont want to say too much until I've read more about this Estonian team, but I think it's a far easier draw than Turkey or Bosnia would have been.
It's the draw we want but now we have to go out and finish the job. Estonia's not going to rollover and make it easy, especially with the first leg at home. We need an away goal in the first match.
It´s exactly the draw that Trap wanted Estonia with the second leg at home. Much easier than going to Turkey for a second leg showdown. Ireland have the players it is just a question of belief and Trap letting them play. I don´t think Keane is a big loss at the moment but Doyle will be.
Let's not forget that Estonia are also happy with this draw, considering they could have had Portugal or Croatia.
After the tough luck from the last relegation qualifiers (France), you guys deserve to be rather fortunate this time. I've got no doubt you'll make it to Poland/Ukraine!
Dream draw for both teams. Estonia is playing above their heads, make no mistake about it. It seems to me that they have had the luck of the Irish on their side.
First big piece of injury news. Shane Long will almost certainly miss both legs - he is out for six weeks with knee damage from Alan Hutton's savage tackle this weekend. Keane, though, looks like he will just about make it if reports from Los Angeles are to be believed, though. So who should start up front? Keane and Cox will be the favourites, but I thought Jon Walters' cameo against Armenia was excellent, and he has been in top form for Stoke City.
I can't understand why Best is not around the team full-time. He is a regular for a team in the top six in the PL, which lifts him to a level above everyone else.
Trappatoni claims his doesn't drop back and defend when necessary, will only play in the final third.
But he is playing at a high level and has scored goals. Stokes scored again yesterday but is ignored for similar reasons.
I agree, Trappatoni seems to hold his grudges in formaldehyde, much like Charlton. Andy Reid was never such a bad player that he should not have been able to make an Irish squad. Stokes, Best and there are one or two others whom I know I'm forgetting. Stephen Ireland was self-inflicted, but dear old Trap does seem to have a penchant for falling out with players - but not his stars like Keane, Duff, Given and Dunne, you'll notice. Bit of the bully there - pick the players you think are good-ish and make an example, but not the stars because that would alienate the public.
He has got a system that he plays against everyone whether they are Andorra or Brazil. Two midfield destroyers, two wide me who work back and two strikers who work across the opposition back four when the opposition has the ball. It has made Ireland hard to beat, and you could argue that the system works for the players at his disposal, but he needs a plan B against teams that they need to break down and he just does'nt put his faith in players that won't run around at a million miles an hour.
An obviously injured Shane Long who may not even be fit, a perhaps dodgy Robbie Keane and a suspended for the 1st leg Kevin Doyle are preferred to Stokes, Best et al. Hmmmmmm............... Goalkeepers: Given (Villa), Westwood (Sunderland), Forde (Milwall). Defenders: O'Shea (Sunderland), Kelly (Fulham), Ward (Wolves), Dunne (Villa), St Ledger (Leicester), O'Dea (Leeds), McShane (Hull). Midfielders: Whelan (Stoke), McCarthy (Wigan), Coleman (Everton), Andrews (Ipswich), Fahey (Birmingham), Gibson (Man Utd), Keogh (Leeds), Duff (Fulham), McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Hunt (Wolves), Lawrence (Portsmouth). Forwards: Keane (LA Galaxy), Doyle (Wolves), Long (West Brom), Cox (West Brom), Walters (Stoke).
Yes subject to any injuries and call ups over the weekend. O'Shea is now a doubt because of a hamstring injury but Keane came through 80 minutes for LA Galaxy.
WBA saying Long extraordinarily unlikely to be available. Cue Trappatoni to name another keeper to replace him rather than Best or Stokes. Because the keeper is better at tracking back.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Pilkington ^Has 4 epl goals, more than any other irish-eligible player to my knowledge. Wouldnt mind seeing Wes Hoolahan get a call either.
Original squad was: Given, Westwood, Forde, O'Shea, Kelly, Ward, Dunne, St. Ledger, O'Dea, McShane, Whelan, McCarthy, Coleman, Andrews, Fahey, Gibson, Keogh, Duff, McGeady, Hunt, Lawrence, Keane, Doyle, Long, Walters, Cox Shane Long is out, probably for both legs. Liam Lawrence too. John O'Shea and Leon Best are out for Friday, but it is hoped that they will be back for the Dublin leg on Tuesday. David Forde has gone back to Millwall, Darren Randolph has been called up as third goalkeeper. I believe Darren O'Dea is out, too, but I haven't seen confirmation of this. Today - Shay Given, Richard Dunne, Keith Andrews and Keith Fahey sat out training. But all are expected to be fit come kickoff on Friday night. Who's nevous?
Estonian squad: I believe Zenjov has since been withdrawn with an injury. G Artur Kotenko (Ravan Baku) AZE G Pavel Londak (Bodo Glimt) NOR G Sergei Pareiko (Wisla Krakow POL D Tihhon Sisov (Khazar Lankaran) AZE D Andrei Stepanov (Gomel) BLR D Taavi Rahn (T Songjiang) CHN D Alo Barengrub (Nomme JK Kalju) EST D Ragnar Klavan (Alkmaar ) NED D Raio Piiroja (Vitesse Arnhem) NED D Taigo Teniste (Sogndal ) NOR D Enar Jaager (Aalesunds) NOR M Martin Vunk (Famagusta) CYP M Ats Purje (Ethnikos Achna) CYP M A Sidorenkov (Viborg ) DEN M Sander Puri (Lombard-Papa) HUN M A Dmitijev (Ural) RUS M Dmitri Kruglov (Rostov) RUS M K Vassiljev (Amkar Perm) RUS F Kaimar Saag (Silkeborg) DEN F Tarmo Kink (Middlesbrough) ENG F Jarmo Ahjupera (Gyor) HUN F V Voskoboinikov RUS F Sergei Zenjov (Karpaty Lviv) UKR