Irish Football

Irish Football in a Poor Place

 

Ireland last night beat Georgia 1-0 at the Aviva Stadium. This win has set Ireland on course for a place at Euro 2016. Heading into the final two qualifiers against Germany and Poland , Ireland find themselves 4 points clear of Scotland. Some might say that is a great position to be in but I feel it is a false position for Ireland.

After a poor performance last night, Ireland just about managed to squeeze past Georgia. Ireland lined up with a goalkeeper that retired after Euro 2012 , when you have the first choice West Ham goalkeeper , Darren Randolph sitting on the bench to me this sort of decision doesn’t make sense. Why is Roy Keane part of Martin O Neill’s back room staff , he offers very little on the side line.

Even with Ireland’s 2 wins from the last 2 games Ireland may still not make Euro 2016 because they now face the two top sides in the final two games needing at least 4 points to stand any hope of retaining 3rd spot. Have Ireland got the game plan and the players to execute and make certain of a play off spot.

This was supposed to be the campaign where Ireland re established themselves at the top table of European Football. The team of O Neill and Keane was signed up to see could they turn the fortunes of an ailing Irish team around. From the first competitive fixture Georgia where Aiden Mc Geady found the net to give them the perfect start to the group. Since then Ireland have stuttered to wins and draws that has seen them garner 15 points.

This is great but the future is bleak , Ireland have yet to play for 90 minutes in this campaign and have not settled on an 11 that suits the system that O Neill wants to play. Ireland need something out of the Germany game to stand any hope of keeping the dream of a play off spot alive.

All in all the performance last night was very poor and the performances throughout qualifying have been up and down. Here’s hoping that Ireland can put in two consistent performances against Germany and Poland to claim 3rd spot.

 

By

 

Cian Mc Gibney

 

08-09-2015

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