The Football Thread

[StoutAndAle]

Anyone got a code for FPL league this year?

https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/dudfms MW League 23/24

[Caomhaoin]

Heading to the balkans on holidays there next week, Red Star Belgrade at home to Partizan is some atmosphere. I've been to a lot of stadiums but the best laugh I ever had was at Easter Road, Hibs. Amazing when they can get close to filling the gaff.

Any stadium stories?

[Mower Liberation Front]

Crazy seeing all these people losing their shit about the "satanic" United third kit. 

[ldj]

This Ferguson lad is looking seriously elite, hat trick against a Champions League team at 18, mad stuff.

[CorkonianHunger]

This Ferguson lad is looking seriously elite, hat trick against a Champions League team at 18, mad stuff.

Yep, we should be excited. Only problem is Mitoma isn't Irish..

[astfgyl]

Pity Chelsea didn't offer the 110 mill for him instead of fucking Caicedo.

They were pathetic again yesterday for want of a striker.  Also why did pochettino play 4-2-3-1 in pre season and look good doing it,  only to revert to essentially 7 defenders vs Forest and look exactly like last season again. I feel it's going to be a long season flitting between the middle and lower half of the league.  For all that money,  they haven't really bought well at all.

Of course none of it matters too much outside of cl qualification anyway because city are going to walk the league once more

[astfgyl]

Great to see the moral victory in full swing.  Staying plucky at 2 nil down

[astfgyl]

Had hoped for a goal for morale but didn't deserve it due to being inferior in general. Keeper was chronic for the second as well. No real positive to take from any of it tbh and will probably be similar vs Netherlands. Ah well, there's always World Cup 26 to look forward to not qualifying for if I'm lucky enough to be alive to witness it

[astfgyl]

Anyone putting themselves through this craic this evening

[Pagan Saviour]

Ah yeah, I'll tune in later. Realistically Kenny's last outing, can't see them beating the Dutch. There were some encouraging performances in Kenny's other campaigns but France home aside this one has been dreadful.

If they put in a shift they might scrounge a draw

[astfgyl]

If they put in a shift they might scrounge a draw

That's the realistic take for sure and yet somehow I always manage to convince myself that they might do something. Well until the first goal goes against them that is, because I can never see them scoring more than once.

Would it be worse to win this evening in terms of the future if it continues kennys run at things? Tbf he's probably gone regardless but there's a lot of things going against him from the start and it's mostly the quality of player available.  Very hard for any manager to do much with that

[astfgyl]

Well no real surprises there. Maybe next time lads

[CorkonianHunger]

The hope kills you. We got the gift of the penalty and played well, but they're just better. At the end of the day, we have never played for a good draw or beaten teams we should be beating. So cementing third would have been a success for most people I'd imagine.

Also, I wouldn't say he's the best manager, but Kenny gets a lot of unfair stick. I think he's done decent with what he's got, hasn't had much easy games either. Some of these young fellas play much better football than the shite pre-Kenny.

[astfgyl]

I think that's fair enough. Kenny probably isn't as bad as the results would suggest and he has been a bit unlucky at times but the quality just isn't there. Not many managers have had to make do with the lack of quality players as he has and it's not like they look like they've downed tools or anything, they're just not up to the standard to be competing with the likes of the Dutch and the French. The Greece game was the one that killed it really. I'm torn about Kenny really because I dunno what manager would have done much better with what he has. They are passing better than they were under the likes of Trappatoni and O'Neill but I guess it's results that matter and we never really look like we'll score at all either.  As you say, the gift of the early penalty gave us a little hope to be dashed and dashed it was, as usual.

[Pagan Saviour]

I think Ireland's best hope is a style somewhere between Trap's and Kenny's. It's about knowing when to use which, Kenny has tried the same thing for 3 years and the result is always the same, a narrow defeat.

I don't think Kenny is a bad guy or manager and he's tried to change a style which we've been entrenched in for decades, no easy task. But it's probably time to see if there's someone else out there that might be able to get a bit more out of an admittedly average set of players.