zizu Kilbane wrote: Well....what now?

Kenny tampers with the floodlights, gets the game abandoned and get awarded a draw

I’d be disappointed if there were just a few marginal changes made.

Why did you think we would beat a squad with lads like 

Robertson

McGinn

McTominay

Tierney (maybe out injured)

Cooper

Adams 

McGregor 

All who would walk into our team. 

Kelleher

Manning/McLean (we're struggling on the left side. I'd actually have the 2 boys in the 21s over these)

Duffy

Collins

O'Shea

Cullen

Knight 

Brown (more mobile than Hendrick/Hourihane/ Molumby..that's the only reason I'd start him. Again I'd probably have Smallbone, Kilkenny, Ronan,Jack Byrne all in here ahead of these 4)

Ogbene

Obafemi

Parrot

Baldrick wrote: Claret Murph wrote: Did think we would beat the Scots , now i am not sure we could beat anyone  Why did you think we would beat a squad with lads like  Robertson McGinn McTominay Tierney (maybe out injured) Cooper Adams  McGregor  All who would walk into our team.

They have some good players but they're a very unbalanced team.

They have got a manager that has got a lot out of them though to be fair.

Tierney plays lcb for Scotland.  Robertson plays lwb. 

McTominay can play RCB or CM for Scotland.  

Adams plays up front.

McGregor is a CM

McGinn plays AM and

Cooper plays CB. 

Not sure if your point as they play a similar formation to us and don’t play with wingers. 

The manager has a whole lot more to work with than Kenny has. 

You're kind of proving my point there to be honest. Which is that Clarke is having to play those players out of position because they're so short of natural options. McTominay has been a disaster for them at centre back incidentally but their alternatives are no better. Which is not too surprising as he's a midfielder. Tierney is not a natural centre back, he just plays there to fill a hole, does a better job of it than McTominay but it's still not his proper position. Hickey was played out of position on the right against Ukraine to fill another hole. They have no good goalkeepers under the age of 39 and even the 39 year old is at Hearts for a reason. 

Clarke is getting the best or close to it out if what he has. Kenny isn't managing anywhere near that. 

I think this is disingenuous to say the least. I think to any even semi-neutral observer it is abundantly clear that Clarke has significantly better footballers at his disposal. He also has the advantage of a semi-reasonable domestic league to draw further players from. Kenny has a squad of ageing pros who cant get first team football and young lads starting out on their careers- the ones in between 23-28 are largely simply not good enough. There is a very significant gap between the talent of the two playing pools. 

Likewise Ukraine last night and their so called 2nd team which largely featured players playing regularly at the likes of Shakhtar and Dinamo Kiev.

I have no problem with lads calling out Kenny, but to do so without acknowledging the limitations of the players available to him seems churlish.

He is not capable of improving us he has shown this already he has his chance and couldn’t find the business.

He refuses to select players on form instead insists they get a few camps under their belt first!!

What a load of thrash fair enough if we are winning all round us but it’s not and the advice is from himself and Andrew’s as Roy says “ do me a favour”

He is shooting him self in the foot 

                      Travers

League and for top 6 clubs.  We had one lad who

Was a premier league regular last night. 

Clarke has far more at his disposal including champions league winner and epl league winner and

Lads regularly playing at highest level. 

And thats one lad was a only a semi-regular in a team that got relegated and probably wasnt first choice at all if both of Mee and Tarkowski were available!

I want to see a lot of changes for Saturday, and a few callups.

                   Kelleher

         Lenihan Egan* Collins

Ebosele Molumby Kilkenny Manning

                   Browne

          Parrott        Obafemi

*If Egan is OK start him instead of Duffy. O'Shea was awful when he came on, Duffy still the better choice there.

Cullen can't start 3 games he's knackered, his performance will only dip further.

Robertson is tired after a long season, Eboseles youthful exuberance would hopefully give him a tough time.

Kilkenny & Smallbone callups. Though with Smallbones injury record I wouldn't start him, 15' off the bench.

Get McGrath in the squad, he's not fit to start, but he's surely good for 15'.

Knight put in a big shift last night, don't think he'd be ready to go again for Saturday.

John Nice wrote: I think this is disingenuous to say the least. I think to any even semi-neutral observer it is abundantly clear that Clarke has significantly better footballers at his disposal. He also has the advantage of a semi-reasonable domestic league to draw further players from. Kenny has a squad of ageing pros who cant get first team football and young lads starting out on their careers- the ones in between 23-28 are largely simply not good enough. There is a very significant gap between the talent of the two playing pools.  Likewise Ukraine last night and their so called 2nd team which largely featured players playing regularly at the likes of Shakhtar and Dinamo Kiev. I have no problem with lads calling out Kenny, but to do so without acknowledging the limitations of the players available to him seems churlish.

That's the major difference between our squad & Scotlands. They have a lot of players in that 24-30  range (physical prime years) where we have missing generations.

In 5 years we could have a similar looking squad to what theirs looks like now. Maybe.

Seems a bit unfair to retain Duffy and Ogeben when they both had shockers last night. Why not go the whole hog - O'Shea for Duffy, Molumby for Cullen and CJ Hamilton for Ogbene :)

PM if interested 

Oh yeah and call up Jamie McGrath and give Hourihane a spin out also!

O’Shea Lenihan Collins Manning

Molumby Cullen

Hamilton Knight Parrott

Obafemi. Just go with this can’t be any worse than last night.

Aye, it's sadistic alright. Still, I cant wait!

We don't have a squad suited to a back 4. We don't have fullbacks other than Coleman, everyone else is much better as a wingback (Manning, Stevens, McClean, Christie, Festy), we don't really have wingers other than Ogbene, Hamilton & Festy (2 of them untested at this level).

The entire system doesn't need to be changed around, just tweaked & much fresher legs added to the XI.

I'd agree - we need to stick with the 3 at the back system for this window at least. The problem we have is that when you start looking for fresh legs, you begin to really see the lack of depth in the squad. Hard to see Hendrick manage a 3rd 90 in 7 days, but the potential replacements really are an uninspiring bunch. Egan is likely out opening the door for Lenihan or O'Shea perhaps. Maybe Mc Clean or Manning start ahead of Stevens etc etc. You can say what you like about Kenny, but I dont think there are many obvious positions where he has been leaving better players on the bench tahn the ones he has put on the pitch. Obafemi deserves a start ahead of one of Ogbene/Robinson, maybe play a 3-4-1-2 with Knight in behind Keane and Obafemi, but otherwise its all a bit meh. Hourihane or Molumby for Hendrick just weakens the first XI imo. Lenihan is grand, Manning is grand but neither are likely to  improve the first XI.

Kelleher

Christie

Mc Clean

Collins

Duffy

Lenihan

Cullen

Hendrick

Knight

Obafemi 

Keane

The only thing that will be achieved by starting Cullen & Hendrick again is further decline in their performances. Keeping in mind there's another game on Tuesday, what do you do then start them for the 4th game in 10 days? No.

Whatever you think of the difference in quality between Molumby/Browne & Cullen/Hendrick, tired legs make the latter the worse option on the day.

McClean shouldn't be anywhere near the starting lineup, he's been brutal, by far the worst of our wingbacks. Manning is a much better option, if for no other reason then he's younger & fitter. He can actually run and pass the ball.

Adobolo wrote: While I agree with your formation I can't see Kenny dropping Ogbena, so play him as the right wing back, Oshea is ahead of Lenihan and personally I'd have parrot as the number 10 as I think he can create more and also I'm not the biggest Will K fan no matter how many he scored this year.

Ogbene is clearly tired & should be given a break, wearing him down even more won't help.

O'Shea was terrible when he came on, very obviously nowhere near his best & shouldn't be ahead of Lenihan. Lenihan had a great full season & has absolutely earned a shot.

I could live with any/all of those changes - my rationale was that Ogbene looked shagged - maybe he can provide a spark off the bench. O'Shea looks well short of his best - doesnt seem to have recovered well from his injury. The idea with Keane is that he would hold his position centrally, hold the ball up and allow Obafemi buzz around him and run the channels. If Parrott can do that job and compete in the air with the Scottish cb's then give him a go for sure.

This is a must win for Kenny I think, so he has to put his best team (or close to it) out regardless of legs. I really do think the drop off from Cullen/Hendrick to 2 of Molumby/Browne/Hourihane is just too big to countenance. At least one of them has to play imo. I'm not sold on Manning at all, nor it seems are the current management setup and I thought Mc Clean put in a number of decent deliveries after coming on last night - he's also fresh enough having not started either of the previous 2 and Stevens has been abysmal.

Good line up and i would have no hesitation in sticking Smallbone in at AM

Seems unlikely that there will be any call ups from the U21s for Saturday. If Italy win tonight and the possibility of a top ranked 2nd place is also off the cards then it might happen for the game on Tuesday - if so, I'd certainly like to see Smallbone given game time and you could make a good argument for any of Bagan, Kilkenny or Coventry also. Asides from freshening things up, all are entitled to be there on merit given the paucity of our options in midfield and at left back plus capping Coventry and/or Smallbone would have the added benefit of tieing them down (not sure re Bagan? is he 21 yet?).

I just can't agree with any of that really. Putting an exhausted XI out will not win the game. Mobility is such a huge part of International football.

Browne over the last 3 years has been a better performer for us than Hendrick (when he's played in his best position - AM). Molumby has put in MoTM performances in his early games for us. They are easily the better options to start rather than flogging the sh*t out of Cullen & Hendrick.

We already saw the 3 game window last September, Cullen started all 3 games and was absolutely knackered by the 3rd game, got hooked after 60'. And that was early in the season when he was fresh! He can't start the game on Saturday.

I'm not arguing for Hourihane at all, in fact I don't think he should even be in the squad. Can't run, can't tackle, doesn't want to get on the ball but when he is he's far too slow in moving it. He literally hasn't started a competitive game for us since November 2020.

Kilkenny is very mobile and a quick thinker, he should be in ahead of Hourihane.

At least we agree on Hourihane  

More nonsense from you.

Have one spare in 109 row X for this game. Looking for €40. PM if interested 

There’s no stopping what can’t be stopped 

Get it postponed and hastily arrange a friendly with Andorra.

Be thankful we didn’t get England, Holland or f**king Belgium; we’d be in danger of losing by 6 or 8 goals. 

+1

Total bollocks from the look-at-me daddy attention seeker on here.

What do you mean be thankful? It was impossible because that's not how the the NL works. 

Don’t be pedantic, you know what I was saying. *Had we been in a position to be playing teams of that calibre* we would be embarrassed. 

Why is it mad. They've a chance to top their group and qualify automatically if they win on Tuesday against Italy

Portugal were appalling on the night, but still a good result.

Because it's a competitive game for the senior team - obviously.  And the one thing we are clearly short of is creativity.  

Using your logic, if we were to prioritise an underage game, we should send Knight, Parrott, Collins, Ebosele, Obafemi and Bazunu (if recovered) over to Italy with the U21s. 

In fact - maybe we should!  Give up on the senior team and go all out for the U21s!

(Actually, I'd like to see us field our strongest possible "under 21" XI if we qualify for the "U21" Euros).

That wouldn't be very fair on the lads who actually helped us qualify.

The cupboard is bare for us in creative midfield positions in this window - surely he should be with the seniors on merit now and actually get some game-time.  If not starting, to come on when the game opens up a bit.  

Can't be any worse creatively than what we've had so far in the last 20 min of games when we needed a goal (and probably be a big improvement).

Stevens was awful. Christie was mediocre. Little threat going forward. But again, what world beaters do we have in reserve?

                        Kelleher

Festy  Collins   Duffy   O'Shea    McClean

                  Browne  Cullen

        Ogbene   Knight    Robinson

                        Obafemi

Hendrick Parrott Manning  Molumby Keane a mix to come on early if things go to pot.

Browne shouldn't even be in the squad, the definition of sh*tE.

It's a good lineup but we'd probably get booted out of the competition if we started twelve players.

Might be a better option

It's a young lad who's started sporadically for Southampton and struggled in his limited appearances this season. I don't think he's the answer right now on short notice.

Hahah im getting mixed up!! I miss counted. 

                      Kelleher

Festy  Collins   Duffy   O'Shea    McClean

                        Cullen

        Ogbene   Knight    Robinson

                        Obafemi

No harm done 👍🏼

You could also argue that without Doherty, whose absence during this window has been under-emphasised in terms of how we attack through the middle of the pitch, we don't have the squad to play 3-5-2.

I don't see us getting a result against Scotland. I can't remember the last good performance we put in a "derby" game. Even the 1-0 win against Cardiff was a backs to the wall job. 

Jesus Cullen would be fetching water from a Leaky boat there.  Far too much pressure out on Cullen and would be destroyed by Scotland's midfield.  I think he needs an extra midfielder in there with Knight and drop Robinson who looks unfit/wrecked. 

Collins and Ogbene the only two that didn’t look gassed after 60 mins in both games. Can see Duffy starting tomorrow but the others could be replaced 

I'll have to remember that turn of phrase.

C Gordon

S McTominay

G Hanley

L Cooper

A Hickey

B Gilmour

C McGregor

A Robertson (c)

J McGinn

C Adams

L Dykes

Hendry

S. Armstrong

Christie

That was Scotland's starting XI vs Ukraine for the WC Qualifier 2 weeks ago, so I'd imagine it will pretty similar to the side they field tomorrow. Anybody want to opine as to how many of the Irish players available for tomorrow would get in to that team? My own view is 2 max and that's a stretch!

Anyway the Scots have always been our sporting friends in my view, there when we needed them in 1987, and again with their balls up against Georgia opening the door for us in 2015. They've usually been good at rolling over for us in the rugby when needed as well.

Tomorrow they could honestly do us another favour by giving us a good beating, the last thing we need is to scrape a draw that people here start trying to paint as some kind of moral victory. We're a shambles at the moment and it's probably for the best now if they show us up as what we are.

2?? A p*sstake.

Bazunu or Travers over Craig Gordon.

Collins over McTominay.

Duffy over Liam Cooper.

Doherty (not in squad over Aaron Hickey)

Cullen over Gilmour (utterly atrocious at Norwich this season).

Obafemi over Dykes.

Name the 4 or 5 Irish players that are available for tomorrow that get in to that Scottish team please Bob!

I asked how many of the Irish players available for tomorrow would get in to that team,so Doherty doesnt count. I'll give you Kelleher over Gordon  , Collins has clearly shown heaps of promise and I'm no Man United fan, but I reckon we could do with a United (or any Top 6 team) squad player in our team, Duffy atm ha - Obafemi vs Dykes hmmm close - Obafemi has a lot to prove. I'll also give you Cullen over Gilmour, but Gilmour has a much higher ceiling imo.

As far as I can see there is one player being played oop in the team I listed and that's Mc Tominay who has over 100 PL appearances for a Top 6 club.

He might be a midfielder for a top 6 club but that doesn't make him a good centre back. Hickey was out of position on the right side of defence as well and played poorly.

Basically Kelleher or Travers over Gordon, pretty much any of our centre backs over any of their centre backs (you could argue the toss with Cooper maybe but Hanley is a terrible centre back and McTominay looks lost back there) and Obafemi over Dykes, who is a very limited player. I'd find a spot for Jason Knight too. Normally we'd have a better right back also, but an out of position Hickey v Christie is probably about a draw. A real shame McNamara was left out.

Obviously they're miles ahead of us at left back and in central midfield and, while I'm not a huge fan of Adams, we have nobody better up front at this point in time.

I didnt see the game and my understanding is that Hickey began his career as a RB, but I'll take your word for it. I am awre that hey alos often play Robertson as a LCB to accomodate Tierney at LWB (2 more Top 6 players). I'm not sure of Tierney's current state of health, he seems to be perpetually injured, good player though on his day.

Given the form of our CBs over the last couple of games i.e. Duffy and Egan, I'm not sure on that at all. Any of our keepers over Gordon is a fair shout and Dykes is probably on a par with Obafemi, although as someone else pointed out, he is unlikely to start tomorrow with Ryan Christie getting the nod instead in a 3-4-2-1. Dont see where Knight gets in to be honest (he should do in time). In any case, the 3 or 4 best players on the pitch will be Scottish. We will need to play well above ourselves to get a result of any description.

Absolutely agree with this 

Ross Stewart may start tomorrow?

You won't see Lyndon Dykes tomorrow, he is out injured. Liam Cooper has also been allowed to leave the squad to go and get married !

Aaron Hickey will not be starting at rwb, that will be Tony Ralston. Although I wouldn't be surprised to see Hickey come on as a sub for Robertson in the second half.

You've got the Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney situation the wrong way round. Tierney plays as an (attacking !) central defender, and Robertson stays at his usual position on the left. I'd certainly be more confident if KT was playing tomorrow, as we missed him terribly against Ukraine.

I wouldn't be too sure about seeing Grant Hanley and Scott McTominay at the back tomorrow. John Souttar, Jack Hendry and Scott McKenna played well together in defence against Armenia, and when McTominay was brought off the bench he went to play as an attacking midfielder.

Cheers for the heads up, none of that makes me any more confident, your lads are in a much better place than ours just now. Hopefully home advantage and the "derby" atmosphere will even things up a bit.

Obafemi can’t even get a start for us!!!

And Dykes often cannot get a start for QPR, who I've gone to see in person multiple times over the season just gone. Obafemi is better, theres no doubt about it.

If it's any consolation, many of us view this game as a potential banana skin (I certainly do) and 1-1 is the most common predicted score over on the TAMB.

I do think this is a better Scotland squad than the one that visited Dublin back in June 2015 but I would not underestimate Ireland for one second.

If Tierney was there and Nathan Patterson was fully fit (he is in the squad and made a sub appearance against Armenia, but he is only 50% fit at best) then I would be more confident.