1. The goalkeeper debate
ONE MUST FEEL sorry for David Forde amidst all the talk of who will keep guard over the Irish goal on Saturday evening. The Galway man didn’t make his competitive debut until he was 33, and two years on, he looks to have been cast into the wilderness somewhat. Forde never let the Irish down, but Keiren Westwood and Shay Given are likely to be the two that will fight it out for the number one spot on Saturday.
Given has only played 10 games for Aston Villa this season and in his last three club matches, he conceded 11 goals. His form once he came back into Tim Sherwood’s side was good, but as the season drew to a close, his performances started to dip slightly. The half hour of football he played against England will have given Martin O’Neill little indication as to how his goalkeeper is performing either.
On paper at least, Westwood really should be the man to start on Saturday. The Sheffield Wednesday stopper was named in the Championship Team of the Year after his side conceded just 49 goals in 46 games. The 30-year-old was once the first choice under Giovanni Trapattoni, but following Simon Mingolet’s emergence at Sunderland, Westwood drifted back into obscurity. He offers a stable option between the posts for the next five years, and surely, Martin O’Neill will have to put him there eventually.
2. Will Ireland set out to attack?
The greatest Irish performances seem to come when the side has nothing to lose and just sets out to attack the opposition. While Saturday doesn’t represent a ‘nothing to lose’ situation, Ireland must get the win by whatever means necessary.
O’Neill is reluctant to approach games with too much of an attacking mentality, and prefers setting up the side with defensive solidity at the forefront of their thoughts. Not conceding would be a huge help on Saturday, but Ireland need goals, and O’Neill has plenty to ponder about who is the most likely to score for his side.
Wes Hoolahan is the subject of endless debate on whether or not he should be selected and what he brings to the team. Should he start, Ireland will more than likely play with only one out-and-out striker. Robbie Keane is not fully fit as of yet, but is still the team’s biggest scoring threat, while Jon Walters was the most successful Irish striker in the Premier League this season. Shane Long is banging on the door for a starting berth after his equaliser against Poland, but it seems unlikely that 28-goal Ipswich striker Daryl Murphy will get a chance up front on Saturday.
3. Can Aiden McGeady finally deliver?
It wouldn’t be unfair to say that McGeady has failed to live up to his potential over the course of his 76 international caps. Provided he is passed fit to play, it’s time he started to deliver regularly on the big stage. The 29-year-old’s display in Glasgow in the reverse fixture was poor, but he had the excuse that the atmosphere at Celtic Park hindered his performance.
McGeady is, without doubt, one of the most talented individuals that has worn a green jersey over the last 10 years. It would be nice if he levelled a bit of consistency with that talent, however. His fine performance against Georgia in September gives hope that the Scottish-born winger can step his game up on occasion, and there has never been a time where he’s been needed more than now.
A poor performance on Saturday will have the critics climbing all over him — many of them are already calling for him to be dropped — so it’s surely now or never for the Everton speedster.
4. How will Ireland deal with the Scottish left-wing threat?
It was an area in which Scotland enjoyed considerable success in the first tie. Left-back Andrew Robertson dovetailed with Ikechi Anya to great effect and this position will likely be their most potent threat again on Saturday.
Anya was surprisingly used as a right-back against Qatar last weekend, but there’s surely no hope of him playing there against Ireland. The Watford winger is a nightmare for defenders, as he is capable of turning onto either foot and boasts lightning acceleration.
Behind Anya will almost certainly be the excellent 21-year-old Hull left-back Robertson, who has proved a huge hit at both club and international level since his breakthrough last year, and his link-up play with the 27-year-old winger has become a potent feature of this Scottish side. When Anya cuts inside, you can be sure that Robertson will be overlapping on the outside. Seamus Coleman will need help from whoever starts in front of him on Saturday to curb the twin threat.
5. What will a win do for Ireland’s qualification hopes?
Ireland’s final two group games are at home to Germany and away in Poland, so the need for Ireland to get three wins from their next three games is crucial. Right now, the Boys in Green sit two points behind the Scots, so a win would tighten the group up even more.
Poland, who lead the way in Group D, are not un-catchable, so Ireland still have an outside chance of automatic qualification — and moving ahead of Scotland in the table would be a huge step in the right direction.
Scotland have to travel to Georgia still, and Tbilisi has proven to be a tough destination for teams to go to so far in qualifying. If Ireland win on Saturday and follow it up with another two victories, and Scotland fail to beat Georgia, Martin O’Neill’s men will be in a seriously strong position to guarantee at least a third-place finish.
Wow what a coincidence that Austin overrated Gleason announced earlier on today how he got his hunger back and was rejoining the panel next year.
@Ron Burgundy: Austin Gleeson over rated? Just wondering do you remember Austin in 2016? Young hurler of the year, hurler of the year, all Ireland under 21 winner, a stalwart at centre back in all the years up to 2016.
Unfortunately then a lad named Derek McGrath was manager of Waterford senior team, and utterly destroyed Austin Gleason and so many other fantastic hurlers in Waterford at that time. Austin Gleason hasn’t played centre back since then. It’s my belief his career was destroyed by over complicated tactics, being played out of position and his freedom to express his hurling on the field stymied.
And about the aforementioned manager, when Waterford won the u-21 in 2016, the senior manager never once congratulated the u-21 manager.
Another thing, the manager of that U-21 all Ireland also managed the same team 3 years earlier to win a minor all Ireland and yet that manager has never been contacted by Waterford GAA Co board to see if in the years from 2019-2023 would he be interested in managing the senior (there are still a good number of both all Ireland winning players on the senior panel. Politics eh. If Sean Power had become Waterford manager, I would definitely say, Waterford would have at least one senior sll Ireland title under his guidance.
@WqM9AAv3: if he’s as good as you say he is he should be able to play anywhere they put him and complicated tactics.. whatever they are… should be no issue to a hurler of his talent.
@anthony davoren: Austin Gleason is a natural hurler, with natural talent and natural flair. All this was coached out of him. Austin was a fearless hurler all the way up to 2016 when he won the above.
Unfortunately after that year, his fearlessness was coached out of him. Certain managers are dictators and if you don’t do as they dictate, it’s bye bye for you
@WqM9AAv3: So in a nutshell, he had a good 2016, that’s 8 years ago btw. He sulked (because of davy fitz) and came up with an excuse that he fell out of love with the game this lsst year. 10 intercounty seasons now and nothing to show for it. But its everyones fault bar Austin’s according to you.
@WqM9AAv3: IF my aunt had balls she would be my uncle.
@WqM9AAv3: I never heard so much nonsense in my life…no such thing as natural talent…the reason he was so good was from the coaching he got over the years and the time he put into practising his craft. The reason he fell away is because mentally and physically he couldn’t sustain the level required. That’s on him, not the manager’s he has had.
@WqM9AAv3: stop talking lad, you’re doing the opposite to what you think you’re doing
Perhaps Brian Logan has decided to call it a day with Clare and there will be a second coming for Davy in Clare.
As a Deise man, I won’t be shedding any tears with him gone. Give the position to a waterford man like Darragh O Sullivan or Sean Power, forget about looking outside the county for a manager. How many outside managers have won all Ireland hurling titles?
@WqM9AAv3: I fear that no matter who is in charge in Waterford there’ll always be excuses.
Just out of curiosity which All Ireland since 2017 would Waterford have “definetly” won?