Mick McCarthy

It is blatant that we have nobody in midfield capable of getting on the ball knocking it out in front of themselves lifting  their heads and looking to create something . I think in a team like ours we are always going to need workhorses but even with workhorses you still need someone in their that can relieve a bit of pressure and pick out a pass . Jack Byrne is a player that can do that . He is a player that can do that job with his eyes closed . The likes of a Georgia are no better than europa league teams and Byrne can play at that level . Stick him in the Ireland team he has even better players around him and he should be better again .

Could Jack Byrne not do what Hourihane and Hendrick already do ? I think he could and actually offer more on top . It is kind of like dejavu with the Wes situation but I remember arguing with people at the time when Wes was at Shels . I said he should be in the Ireland team and a few people agreed but most people s*****red .

When you are a good player you are a good player and if you put Hourihane or Hendrick into the Rovers team Jack would still be the best player at Rovers .

We have Hourihane (Browne in the Swiss game) alongside him, but neither of them have any pace either, and both are also ponderous on the ball, even more so than Whelan is. Again, they don't have to be closely marked by the opposition, the opposition merely has to cut down their already limited passing options.

Hendrick is the one fella that can run, so he is usually the closest marked one of the midfielders. His passing isn't good enough to get him out of trouble in the midfield areas most of the time, so after all 3 of them have had a go at passing the ball sideways & backwards, the ball goes out wide, eventually. 

This is where the whole thing falls down. McClean rarely keeps any kind of possession. Balls bounce off him, he takes on men he can't beat, or he stops, checks, and passes backwards, back to square one. On the other wing, absolutely nobody has made the place their own, despite all of Robinson, Brady, O'Dowda, Doherty, even Hendrick on occasion, playing there over the last 2 years. 

With the wingers so careless/useless in possession, the full backs behind them don't have the confidence to go forward, because they know if the winger loses the ball with them in an advanced position, they are defensively exposed. McGoldrick, who genuinely is good at holding the ball up and bringing others into play, provided the only other alternative attacking option. When he wasn't there, Collins lack of mobility was also ruthlessly exposed. Both Connolly and even Hogan were far more mobile when they were playing CF, though made redundant by the inability of the midfielders to find them with accurate passes. 

We have undroppable players there on merit, well, 2 of them anyway, Randolph and Duffy. We also have undroppable players who prevent us from playing another system that might not rely so much on poor wingers, McClean and Coleman, neither of whose form has been good in a long time, not just the past 2 games. 

If McCarthy was brave enough, he would go 3-5-2 for Denmark, Duffy, Egan, Long at CB with Doc & Stevens as wing backs. Whelan, Hendrick (I know he didn't have good games, but his physicality will ensure he plays anyway) and one of Cullen or Byrne, both of whom can control a ball and move it on quickly, something that is badly lacking in the current team. Connolly playing off McGoldrick up top. 

Even in the current system, there are options there if Mick would only use them. Doc, Egan, Duffy, Stevens back 4, Whelan, Hendrick, Cullen/Byrne as middle 3, Connolly on left, McGoldrick middle, Shane Long on right. I know Long hasn't scored a goal in ages, but even if he was never to score another goal for us, he annoys defenders and has pace that would worry defenders trying to play a high line. 

Either of those teams in either formation would at least in theory have a greater chance of retaining possession and also contain a little bit of pace that provides even a counter attacking threat. Because at the moment, we play like a rugby team. Launch long ball at a winger, try get a throw in, then try get a corner, then send up Duffy & Egan and hope for the best. 

If we keep relying on this, and keep picking wingers who repeatedly give the ball away, it will take a fluke or a very poor Denmark performance for them not to win it. I see absolutely no sign Mick would be prepared to take any of those options, he would see them as too risky, and his idea of risk would be to throw Duffy up front for the last ten minutes (something I fully expect to see V Denmark).

Reading it it dawned on me that we may miss McGeady

I think we’ll see James McCarthy (if he plays enough at club level) or Josh Cullen in midfield. 

No matter who the manager is the fact that we're in and around challenging for qualification is as much as we can realistically expect. McCarthy has us in the mix going into the last game. 

I think given his management career he's done reasonably well on limited resources. To think he's a poor manager overall is very harsh imo. 

''I would have taken this position if you had offered it to me before the group started''

John Giles comes out in a rash.

''You have to take each game on its merits there Bill.''

I completely disagree with you there tbh, 

Our players constantly under perform in the national team set up and are often made out to be worse players than they are especially on here. 

Get a competent manager in and I have no doubt performances would improve (not saying by miles, but they would definitely improve)

We have a manager in place who's mentality is not to lose and never to go for the win from the off, thus leading to the sh*te being served up.

Ignore it all you want, it's fairly obvious he's out of his depth.