jdckelly

Mark Lawrensons existence

Todays logical insanity Russia -1 Arshavin to score any time €1 around 10-1 Poland to win 2-1 €1 8-1 odds

HA I had my first correct bet! (it only took 10 bets to get it right) Had France -1 and England to win, roughly 7-1 overall. Giving me a grand profit of €7!

what a fun 2nd half, nicely taken by Welbeck

why didn't hart do anything there?

oh dear

textbook definition of a scrappy goal

looks more like a training kit if i'm honest :shrug:

not bad, not overly bothered by the spikes but that sponsors block is unpleasant though it might be almost acceptable with the actual logo there

its a big increase on the domestic market though which considering the general state of the economy is surprising. I do wonder if the reason ESPN lost out on the smaller package is because they tried to grab the main ones off sky though thats random thoughts more than any actual knowledge of how this works

also on Gaelic games in the north, The Gaelic football is the big one up there with only Antrim showing any competency in Hurling, must be a big enough interest in it since bbc northern ireland shows games on a semi regular basis

lovely idea in theory however the main problem will remain the hoover that is the english clubs taking the majority of the young talents, its hard to plan a youth system when suddenly you have premier league clubs offering these young guys the possibility of playing professionally which the Irish clubs for the most part cannot offer. The first step the only thing that should be focused on atm is finding some way to generate more interest in the League of Ireland to get crowds up. Its not that theres a lack of football fans over here but most wouldn't dare darken the grounds of one of the clubs. Hell even down here in cork, plenty of football fans yet only around 2500 would turn up at Turners Cross on average for a match out of a city that has around 200k people never mind the surrounding towns. If the domestic clubs can be improved then theres a chance to implement an organised youth system but until then they really are wasting their time.

I don't think so. There's nobody playing for anybody any good. We always had a few at the like or Man U, Liverpool etc. but we haven't got a player capable of getting within an ass's roar of those teams or similar teams (i.e. us). Maybe the likes of Long, McCarthy, McClean etc. might come good if they start at the expense of Duff, Keane etc. Well that doesn't sound too good... To my mind, there's definitely one thing which should happen, Aiden McGeady needs to really step it up. Every time I've seen him, he's been so underwhelming. I don't think so. There's nobody playing for anybody any good. We always had a few at the like or Man U, Liverpool etc. but we haven't got a player capable of getting within an ass's roar of those teams or similar teams (i.e. us). Maybe the likes of Long, McCarthy, McClean etc. might come good if they start at the expense of Duff, Keane etc. Thought that while seeing them against Croatia. Some years back, there was Given, Carr, Duff, O'Brien (all NUFC), O'Shea (Man Utd), Keane (Spurs).... Irish players faded away somehow and there weren't any new players following them. A lot has to do with the fact that its (at best) the third most followed sport in Ireland. Its a long way behind both hurling and Gaelic football and I wouldn't be surprised if there were now more people playing rugby. Where I went to school there was no school football team. It was all GAA which is understandable. In a country this small its not a good sign to be that far down the pecking order. Maybe its just me but I'm just happy getting the finals. Even if we lose all our games just being involved and seeing our team compete against the likes of Spain and Italy is brilliant. Got a point there on the Gaelic and Hurling hoovering up young talent and agree entirely on just being there, its been a decade since we were last at one we should just appreciate that we even got to one and not lambasting a side for getting hammered by the best side in the world. As for future players, James McCarthy is the big hope plus theres Coleman, Duffy, Ciaran Clark, Mark Wilson and whomever we find has an Irish granny. We just don't have the structures over here in Ireland to really build a side or even a coherent policy on how to play our football. The League of Ireland clubs produce the occasional reasonably good player but really our youth policy is what the English clubs come up with. It is time to move on Given, Dunne, O'Shea, Duff and Keane but some are easier to replace than others, Keane could probably be retired at this stage since we have Long Walters Cox and Best which isn't a bad set of options up front, Given we have Westwood who's reasonably good however we really don't have anyone to replace Dunne at the moment which is a major problem.

so they should just be grim faced? christ they're just making some fun for themselves its not like the team was helping any

nice little diversion tactic if they don't spend any big cash this summer

ah well it was sort of fun while it lasted, lets just knock out Italy

some sanity at last SunSport Now ‏@SunSportNow Paris St Germain announced they have ended discussions with AC Milan over a move for defender Thiago Silva. #psg #acmilan

he didn't play for more or less the 2nd half of the season and has missed more or less all ireland games through injury for past 2 years

For Cox, odd he did alright

apparently Walters is coming on for the 2nd half, must be for Keane

Aye. I understand the arguments about Spain playing "beautiful football" and all that but it's boring as f*** for the majority. What exactly do you want them to do? Play with a purpose, have a shot, be less boring. They are winning. If the other team wants the ball it should take it. Why give it to them for free with silly, wasteful shots and hollywood pass. Exactly. If they have the ball the other team aren't going to score. They know they're good at keeping it, so why not do so Precisely. "Boring", well, that's an opinion and each to their own and all that. But "play with a purpose"? Err, they're winning and look in no danger of not doing so. That's a decent purpose. The 2008 and 2010 trophy winning squads; I'd say they were pretty purposeful with a similar style of play. 2008 made it seem interesting, 2010 made it boring Again, fair enough, but like Spain care if a few people think it's boring. They've developed a brilliant passing game which makes it very difficult to beat them. I think it's class what they've done tbh. it was class when they ripped sides apart and scored loads of goals, now its just a defensive tactic, technically impressive better than fat sams kind of thing but dull to watch, they have enough quality in that side to rip anyone in this tournament apart if they just try

Aye. I understand the arguments about Spain playing "beautiful football" and all that but it's boring as f*** for the majority. What exactly do you want them to do? Play with a purpose, have a shot, be less boring. They are winning. If the other team wants the ball it should take it. Why give it to them for free with silly, wasteful shots and hollywood pass. Exactly. If they have the ball the other team aren't going to score. They know they're good at keeping it, so why not do so Precisely. "Boring", well, that's an opinion and each to their own and all that. But "play with a purpose"? Err, they're winning and look in no danger of not doing so. That's a decent purpose. The 2008 and 2010 trophy winning squads; I'd say they were pretty purposeful with a similar style of play. 2008 made it seem interesting, 2010 made it boring

well on the bright side we're only 1 down

WE HAD A SHOT!

COME ON YOU BOYS IN GREEN! Éire Abú!