# Predictions for Play-offs



## ccbkd (12 Nov 2009)

I can see it a Nail biting 0-0 in Croker
Followed by a please God 1-1 in Paris...but thats my heart in reality I can see the French sneaking a goal in Croker 1-1 and a heart breaking late winner in Paris 0-1... Thierry Henry always Scores against Given.


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## huskerdu (12 Nov 2009)

You read my mind. My prediction exactly, right down to the fact that they will score late in Paris to clinch it.


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## dockingtrade (12 Nov 2009)

ireland 1-0 france
france 1-1 ireland


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## Chocks away (12 Nov 2009)

Mr Chocks is a bit of an eternal optimist. In Dublin 1 - 1 and in Paris 2 - 2. He is quite grounded normally but tends to get a trifle excited even at the mention of Ireland progressing. Gentle soul!


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## Teatime (12 Nov 2009)

I was fairly optimistic when I heard the draw first but not anymore. I think the turning point came when I heard on a champions league week Wednesday that France had 43 players playing in the CL on Tues&Wed whereas Ireland had 1 (John O'Shea).

Ireland 1 - France 1
France 2 - Ireland 0


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## VOR (13 Nov 2009)

Teatime said:


> I was fairly optimistic when I heard the draw first but not anymore. I think the turning point came when I heard on a champions league week Wednesday that France had 43 players playing in the CL on Tues&Wed whereas Ireland had 1 (John O'Shea)


 
But how many are capricorns born under a full moon on a tuesday.


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## TheBlock (13 Nov 2009)

We will score first but be beaten 1-2 in Croker

In France we will heroically draw 1-1 with us pushing all the way in the final 10 mins to try get extra time.

Don't suppose there was much chance of a Green Army in SA with the recession. Can't see the Credit Union giving Jockser 10 grand for a kitchen next June


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## One (13 Nov 2009)

TheBlock said:


> Can't see the Credit Union giving Jockser 10 grand for a kitchen next June


 
Ha Ha! 

I am going with……………..

Ireland v France 2-0

France v Ireland 1-1


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## bren1916 (13 Nov 2009)

Ireland 1-1 France
France 1-0 Ireland unfortunately..


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## RMCF (13 Nov 2009)

I'll go for 0-0 or 1-1 in Croke.

and 2-0 to France in Paris.


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## crabbybear (14 Nov 2009)

ireland 1-2 France tonite
France 3-0 Ireland Wed

Hope I'm wrong.


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## callybags (15 Nov 2009)

O/11 correct. Not a good return.

I predicted 0-1 in the home leg.... just didn't tell anyone.

We were very unlucky not to score at least one tonight.

It will make for a very interesting game in Paris.


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## RMCF (15 Nov 2009)

callybags said:


> O/11 correct. Not a good return.
> 
> I predicted 0-1 in the home leg.... just didn't tell anyone.
> 
> ...



Disagree. For me the tie is over. Don't think we will score in Paris, and can see France getting a couple.

Last night the 1st half was good, but we were spent by the end of it, allowing an average French side to control the game in the second. Andrews and Whelan covered a lot of ground in the 1st half, and with the extra man in midfield, and those 2 hammered, it was inevitable that Ireland would struggle. They needed an extra body to help them out in there.

The forward line was poor imho. Keane did nowt, other than run around mad, claim for throw-ins and do a lot of pointing. Doyle looked out of sorts but ran himself into the ground. Leon Best is not a footballer end of story. Truly awful at this level.

As much as the two Reids and Ireland are world beaters, they would make a big difference to that midfield if they were fit.

Don't think we have the players, tactics or ability to win the 2nd leg, unfortunately. Perhaps the Euro2012, eh.


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## sunrock (15 Nov 2009)

Just are not good enough.The players haven`t got the pace, stamina and athleticism to compete at this level.We desperately need a few strong athletic players to make trapps system work.Is  Kavanagh of tyrone available?


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## Lak (15 Nov 2009)

Hopefully caution will be thrown to the wind on wednesday, the negative tactics are stiffling the side, Have seen Leon Best play a coiple of times, he is not a world beater granted, but a good player with an eye for goal, if he starts Wednesday my prediction is he will play a blinder.


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## RMCF (15 Nov 2009)

legs-akimbo said:


> Hopefully caution will be thrown to the wind on wednesday, the negative tactics are stiffling the side, Have seen Leon Best play a coiple of times, he is not a world beater granted, but a good player with an eye for goal, if he starts Wednesday my prediction is he will play a blinder.



Caution to the wind? You must be joking.

The way tactics dominate football these days I would say Traps tactics will be to play it tight and try to keep France from scoring in the first hour. 

Then, and only then, will be maybe open up a little in the hope of scoring the away goal.

If he opens up from the start and they concede an early goal, its over, and thats the logic that EVERY manager in the world would employ.

Do you know any team/country/manager anywhere who would start Wed nights game going gung-ho ?

I can't think of one.


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## Lak (15 Nov 2009)

A fella you may have heard of called Brian Clough insisted that attack was the best form of defence.
I dont expect an Ossie Ardiles type five man front line, But Italian managers do employ the tactic of scoring early and defending a lead, its the fundementals of Italian soccer there is even a term for it "Catenachio" Door bolt.
Taking the game to the opposition is not insane...at the end of the day we need two goals you do not need to be an international coach to appreciate the enormoty of the task. 
I have seen hundreds of first class football games over the years and followed Cloughs best team around Europe with one particular game where Forest trailed to Anderlecht and went for the jugular in the return only to be denied by a bribed referee for a place in the final.
But hey what did Brian Clough know ?


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## Lex Foutish (15 Nov 2009)

legs-akimbo said:


> A fella you may have heard of called Brian Clough insisted that attack was the best form of defence.
> I dont expect an Ossie Ardiles type five man front line, But Italian managers do employ the tactic of scoring early and defending a lead, its the fundementals of Italian soccer there is even a term for it "Catenachio" Door bolt.
> Taking the game to the opposition is not insane...at the end of the day we need two goals you do not need to be an international coach to appreciate the enormoty of the task.
> I have seen hundreds of first class football games over the years and followed Cloughs best team around Europe with one particular game where Forest trailed to Anderlecht and went for the jugular in the return only to be denied by a bribed referee for a place in the final.
> ...


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## MrMan (16 Nov 2009)

We only need one goal, the same as before our home match. We are definitely still in with a shout and as was shown on Saturday we definitely have a chance of getting a goal.
I thought the players worked well and deserve credit for the performance. Somebody said France are an average side, but that really doesn't add up when you look at the players at their disposal.
Our best performance was against Italy in Italy and 1-0 down so fingers crossed. (I know they only had 10 men).


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## RMCF (16 Nov 2009)

MrMan said:


> We only need one goal, the same as before our home match. We are definitely still in with a shout and as was shown on Saturday we definitely have a chance of getting a goal.
> I thought the players worked well and deserve credit for the performance. *Somebody said France are an average side*, but that really doesn't add up when you look at the players at their disposal.
> Our best performance was against Italy in Italy and 1-0 down so fingers crossed. (I know they only had 10 men).



That may have been me.

I stand by that comment as well. Its no good looking at individuals in a team, its all about *the team* and the tactics of that team. Of course you look at them on paper and think they are great, but there has been loads of great teams 'on paper' but that doesn't account for form of players or bad managers. Take Thierry Henry as the prime example. Now you see his name on the team sheet and think "aw naw, Henry's playing", but he was finished about 2 seasons ago, and is now a pale imitation of the one who scored for fun at Arsenal. He has been carrying major injuries for a couple of seasons, and I watch a lot of La Liga and see this all the time. 

And watching Real Madrid and Barca a lot, the likes of Benzema, Lass Diarra and Abidal should not be filling any team with fear. Personally I think they are over-rated.

I have been watching football from the late 70s, and I can safely say that this is the worst French team since then. Some will of course argue but I'm sticking with it. Of course you have to play that off against the fact that this Ireland team is far from the best we have had over the last couple of decades.


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## dockingtrade (16 Nov 2009)

Unbeaten in the qualifiers sounds good until i heard the breakdown 
4 wins 6 draws... anywho is trap finished of we dont qualify? Or  has he a longer contract?


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## MrMan (16 Nov 2009)

The coach is a hard one to figure because he has gotten France to 1 of only 2 world cup finals in the countries history and away from home at that. Something like 6 champions league players didn't make the French squad so they do have an abundance of talent and like alot og the major teams they seem to make hard work of the qualifiers but always manage to do just enough. Hopefully they will fall short this time and we are arguing about how far we can go in the Summer on thursday.


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## RMCF (16 Nov 2009)

dockingtrade said:


> Unbeaten in the qualifiers sounds good until i heard the breakdown
> 4 wins 6 draws... anywho is trap finished of we dont qualify? Or  has he a longer contract?



Didn't the Trap recently sign a 2yr extension.


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## levelpar (16 Nov 2009)

> The way tactics dominate football these days I would say Traps tactics will be to play it tight and try to keep France from scoring in the first hour


 
Did he not do this in the first half ?.  It seemed to me that they backed off right from the second half which gave the ball to the French to play around it.

However, I could be completely wrong.


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## VOR (16 Nov 2009)

levelpar said:


> Did he not do this in the first half ?. It seemed to me that they backed off right from the second half which gave the ball to the French to play around it.
> 
> However, I could be completely wrong.


 
I felt that the legs tired and the French stepped up a gear. The French fullbacks got forward more which meant that Duff and Lawrence could not tuck in and cover.

The fact that Whelan and Andrews were not replaced shows that Trap does not trust Gibson or Miller. Our centre mid ran their legs off and should have been changed after 70 minutes. In fact, I would have left Doyle on and brought on Gibson for either one of them.  Doyle is always a threat.


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## ccbkd (16 Nov 2009)

The mentality of both teams in first 45 minutes will be interesting. I think we'll have a go and just might sneak one in first half then its back to all square with our goals counting double therefter, the first leg centre back partnership for france is broken up with Abidals injury which is a small bonus. I would assume that the Irish lads will be up for it, wouldn't you if one of the french midfielder told you to "**** off you Irish Prick you are Finished"


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## RMCF (17 Nov 2009)

VOR said:


> I felt that the legs tired and the French stepped up a gear. The French fullbacks got forward more which meant that Duff and Lawrence could not tuck in and cover.
> 
> The fact that Whelan and Andrews were not replaced shows that *Trap does not trust Gibson or Miller*. Our centre mid ran their legs off and should have been changed after 70 minutes. In fact, I would have left Doyle on and brought on Gibson for either one of them.  Doyle is always a threat.



Miller was injured and pulled out of squad about 4 days before the game.


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## Locke (17 Nov 2009)

Gibson just isn't ready for a game like that. He's not getting in at United.


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## VOR (17 Nov 2009)

RMCF said:


> Miller was injured and pulled out of squad about 4 days before the game.


 
My bad. I forgot that. 

Still feel Gibson will get a run though. The centre mid just don't have the legs for 90 minutes. They give it their all and nobody could expect them to keep going for 90 at that pace.


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## sunrock (18 Nov 2009)

The tactics are paramount.
Trapp and Tardelli will be aware that if they concede a goal,then Ireland will need to score twice.If that were to happen and caution was thrown to the wind in trying to score,we could get a hiding.That is the last thing Trapp and co. want with their big contracts.I feel they might settle for an honourable draw or narrow defeat.
I believe that Ireland will be very defensive and won`t make headway beyond midfield...France will be the same...so that even though we will have plenty of possesion we`ll never really threaten.Our only hope is from corners with Dunne and O Shea.If it is 0-0 going into the last 10 minutes I hope caution is thrown to the wind...only problem is the legs will have gone by then.


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## Locke (18 Nov 2009)

Duff to earn a questionable free in the 11th Minute. Lawrence to thump it in, after a bit of pinball, Doyle to get a leg on it. (1-1 Agg)

Mcgeady on in second half and to dazzle the French with a run that sees him beat 3 players (although 2 of them are Lassana Diarra - He enjoyed beating him so much the first time, he went back and beat him again) before threading a ball that at first seems like a hospital pass, but Whelan cracks it into the bottom corner. (1-2 Agg)

Be Positive People! Come on the Boys!


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## RMCF (18 Nov 2009)

I am praying that we do it, but if I had to put my own money on it, I'd go for a 1-0 or 2-0 to France.

We will have to do a lot of chasing as France will have most of the possession since they don't really have to attack and may be content to just hold on to it.

As a result, I think that some of our players will tire earlier than they did at Croker, and that was between 50min and 60min

But if we get the early goal then hopefully the Incredible Sulks will start to panic and fall apart. Read that Ireland have a massive amount of fans heading over - lets hope many can get in a create a great atmosphere for the boys.


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## Sconhome (18 Nov 2009)

I think stick on McGeady and Hunt. Let them run the knackers out of the French wings and defence. Then bring Duff and Laurence on around the 60 minute mark to win and score from edge of the box frees.

As for the fans, France think there is only 5000 going to be there from Ireland, that may be so but they forget about all the Irish in Europe, stadium will be jammed. 

Come on Ireland!!


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## elefantfresh (18 Nov 2009)

We certainly have a chance - theres only 1 goal in it - its going to be a nightmare to watch tonight!!!!!


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## csirl (18 Nov 2009)

Lets hope the team are prepared for a penalty shootout. I hope we've learned a lesson from Japan 2002 - you have to prepare for penalties i.e. the coach should know who the 5 penalty takers are in advance rather than looking for volunteers AND the goalkeeper should have viewed footage of all the French players taking penalties so he knows their tendacies. I'd hate to see us caught out again due to a lack of preparation.


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## S.L.F (18 Nov 2009)

Cheating sod


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## S.L.F (18 Nov 2009)

dockingtrade said:


> ireland 1-0 france
> france 1-1 ireland


 
You scored the prize you get to pay for taxis for everyone to get home on Saturday morning.


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## sunrock (19 Nov 2009)

TheBlock said:


> We will score first but be beaten 1-2 in Croker
> 
> In France we will heroically draw 1-1 with us pushing all the way in the final 10 mins to try get extra time.
> 
> Don't suppose there was much chance of a Green Army in SA with the recession. Can't see the Credit Union giving Jockser 10 grand for a kitchen next June


 
Congrats....You had the best predicton...only thing wrong is we got beaten 0-1 in croker.Also got the  "heroically" part right.


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## Lak (19 Nov 2009)

RMCF said:


> Caution to the wind? You must be joking.
> 
> The way tactics dominate football these days I would say Traps tactics will be to play it tight and try to keep France from scoring in the first hour.
> 
> ...


 


well isnt it odd that of all the managers on Gods Green earth ours didnt employ that philosophy as I correctly predicted.
The team were allowed to play, and what a spectacle it produced, for a man that talks alot about the game you clearly know very little about it.


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