The Football Thread

[Bogmetaller]

Jesus lads were ye watching the same game as me? Duffy way off the pace and at fault for the goal, hourihane looking like a league of ireland player, Mccarthy was absolutely goosed when he came off(to be expected I suppose), Hendrick an absolute disgrace in an Ireland jersey yet again, O dowda is soft as fuck. Connolly and Idah the only bright lights - Randolph was solid and dependable as always too actually. That being said it was our first game in a long time but we played Bulgaria in the Aviva about a year ago and destroyed them. They are fucking woeful.

[Caomhaoin]

The Bulgarians are mostly well into their season though, most of our lads are in pre-season mode, so we can't be too harsh on them. Whatever Duffy did or didn't do earlier on, he's a JCB in the box and he came up with the goods again when it mattered.

[Bogmetaller]

Oh I'm a huge Duffy fan and I'm absolutely ecstatic we have signed him for the year at Celtic but he was way off the pace - but then again there was videos going around of him swamping pints in Derry not too long ago so that might explain it. I'm willing to give them a pass with it being the first game under Kenny but you'd be hoping for a lot more ingenuity against Finland later on today.

[Caomhaoin]

As a Celt, I threw in the Celtic symphony when I heard he signed ( turn that shit down you Irish wanker from the bird)

[Cosmic_Equilibrium]

The hype is ridiculous. I was well up for Liverpool winning last year and was great to see them win the CL. That said, the hype around them is ridiculous. They're a very good side but far from 'great'. Maybe they will get there in the next few years. They would need to win more titles though. City have been an excellent side but I'd wonder at the level of competition they have had in the PL. Highly overrated, so many poor, poor teams in the league. I think the league was a tonne more competitive back when Chelsea and Utd were battling it out for CL finals. You look at how strong the top 3 or 4 teams were in Spain up until recently also, there's no comparison. Great to see the Gernans and French shut them up.

The league was also way more boring though in the 00s. Liverpool/Man Utd/Arsenal/Chelsea kept taking all the titles, cups and CL spots, no one else got a look in, and most promoted sides just ended up as cannon fodder. I know people complain about the current 'big six' but the situation is way more interesting and fluid than it was in the days of the Sky Four. Also some of the promoted teams seem willing to have a go at pushing the bigger clubs now (Wolves, Sheff Utd) and in the case of Leicester actually win the league a few seasons after being promoted.

I'd take a league lower on quality but higher on competition any day over one that's the other way round.

[Pedrito]

It's a good way to look at it and Leicester and Wolves for example have been great to watch. The only issue is, they're often 2 or 3 sales away from a relegation battle. If Vardy had left Leicester and Traore Wolves along with jimenez for example then things don't look nearly so rosey. Leicester have managed it very well in fainess, but they still have that warm afterglow from the league win keeping them going.

[Cosmic_Equilibrium]

Wolves have serious financial backing which should keep them competitive in relative terms, along with their Jorge Mendes links. Unsure about Leicester but holding on to CL qualification last season would have helped. They had injury issues but Rodgers really got found out IMO as well. His sides go on great winning runs but once they lose momentum it all falls apart.

[Bogmetaller]

As a Celt, I threw in the Celtic symphony when I heard he signed ( turn that shit down you Irish wanker from the bird)

Haha brilliant!! Duffy to Celtic is great news for Celtic but I'm not sure it's a great move from an Ireland perspective.

[Caomhaoin]

Brilliant signing for Celtic. It ticks all the boxes from both sides

[astfgyl]

That game wasn't the best yesterday...

[Grim Reality]

It was fucking shit and I'm still pissed off with it. Granted Finland have improved and we are in transition but to lose so meekly at home to them is galling. Just because we are going the in vogue passing/possession route doesn't mean we can forget about the other endeavours, the ones that actually win you football matches - tenacity, pressure on the ball/opponent, forcing mistakes, capitalising on those mistakes, not making mistakes yourself, prudent play, knowing when to press/foul /go long or in behind, or keep ball...... Etc etc etc.

These lads who think simple 'passing' is going to turn us in to Brazil do my head in. Football number one is about not giving up soft chances to the opposition and after that you graft a goal or two yourself. On an international level only the likes of Germany and Spain are sexy passing it into the net.

[Pedrito]

Expecting Ireland to do well as a passing team is the greatest delusion in world football.

[astfgyl]

Tony Pulis' Stoke team would have smashed us

[Mower Liberation Front]

Nice to see United helping their fans avoid the ever present possibility of U-Boat attacks with that new kit of theirs.

[Bogmetaller]

Nice to see United helping their fans avoid the ever present possibility of U-Boat attacks with that new kit of theirs.

Jesus it's the worst kit I have ever seen - and I think we all know there has been some absolutely putrid ones down though the years