Republic of Ireland

[Clyde1998]

Realised we didn't have a thread for Ireland similar to the Wales one.

Noticed how much of a mess they're in; making the SFA look competent in comparison. Most of their issues are related to John Delaney's leadership of the FAI:

• The FAI had to have a bail out from the Irish government in 2019 and are still in €40m of debt to them.
• Seem to be culling 20-30% of their staff to save on costs: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2025/08/27/fai-confirms-signigicant-job-losses-as-part-of-restructuring-process/
• Been almost no investment in the Irish game for a prolonged period, both in infrastructure and youth development (which has apparently been cut heavily in recent years).
• Financially seem to be dependant on the success of Euro 2028 and Ireland qualifying for this World Cup.
• The national team has massively declined over the past couple of decades to the point they're probably comparable to us in the early 2000s and, with the funding challenges, seem to be in no position to recover anytime soon.

They did manage to recover a 2-0 deficit last night against ten-man Hungary at the Aviva, but that's one of the games they had to realistically win to get into the play-offs.

On the flip side, they do have a number of good young players coming through and the League of Ireland has improved a lot in recent years. They seem to have a decent number of players who'd certainly end up in our squad were they Scottish.

What should we take from the situation in Ireland? Really seems like a opportunity for us to build up our game to mean Ireland won't be a problem to us for the foreseeable future.

[mccaughey85]

27 minutes ago, Clyde1998 said:

Realised we didn't have a thread for Ireland similar to the Wales one.

Noticed how much of a mess they're in; making the SFA look competent in comparison. Most of their issues are related to John Delaney's leadership of the FAI:

• The FAI had to have a bail out from the Irish government in 2019 and are still in €40m of debt to them.
• Seem to be culling 20-30% of their staff to save on costs: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2025/08/27/fai-confirms-signigicant-job-losses-as-part-of-restructuring-process/
• Been almost no investment in the Irish game for a prolonged period, both in infrastructure and youth development (which has apparently been cut heavily in recent years).
• Financially seem to be dependant on the success of Euro 2028 and Ireland qualifying for this World Cup.
• The national team has massively declined over the past couple of decades to the point they're probably comparable to us in the early 2000s and, with the funding challenges, seem to be in no position to recover anytime soon.

They did manage to recover a 2-0 deficit last night against ten-man Hungary at the Aviva, but that's one of the games they had to realistically win to get into the play-offs.

On the flip side, they do have a number of good young players coming through and the League of Ireland has improved a lot in recent years. They seem to have a decent number of players who'd certainly end up in our squad were they Scottish.

What should we take from the situation in Ireland? Really seems like a opportunity for us to build up our game to mean Ireland won't be a problem to us for the foreseeable future.

They are a shadow of what they were 15/20 years ago. 

Saying that I think they have some decent players and it would only take a couple of genuine star players to turn things around for them.

They have alot of really good championship level players who play for teams that always get promoted and then relegated straight away. They only have a few genuine epl level players and thats what they need to change.

I think they should still be looking at qualifying for the euros most years now that it's 24 teams.

Our first team is easily a level above them on paper.

Edited September 7, 2025 by mccaughey85

[Big Ramy 1314]

No disrespect to the thread author, but I could not give a flying fuck about Ireland, Northern Ireland, Engerland, or Wales... SCOTLAND FOREVER 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[vanderark14]

18 hours ago, Big Ramy 1314 said:

No disrespect to the thread author, but I could not give a flying fuck about Ireland, Northern Ireland, Engerland, or Wales... SCOTLAND FOREVER 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

If you meant no disrespect, you would've just stay out of the thread. People who genuinely don't give a fuck don't open the thread and post but then that wouldn't give you the attention you desperately want

[Big Ramy 1314]

1 hour ago, vanderark14 said:

If you meant no disrespect, you would've just stay out of the thread. People who genuinely don't give a fuck don't open the thread and post but then that wouldn't give you the attention you desperately want

Oh dear, did I touch a nerve? Typical it's YOU who commented !! Feel like a big man now !!!!

[vanderark14]

Just now, Big Ramy 1314 said:

Oh dear, did I touch a nerve? Typical it's YOU who commented !! Feel like a big man now !!!!

I am definitely bigger than you.

 

[Big Ramy 1314]

4 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:

I am definitely bigger than you.

 

Your mouth certainly is !!!

[weekevie04]

Ireland seem to have some decent talent coming through their age groups. 

LOI has two teams in the Conference League too, I think they'll have a good national side in the future too. 

 

[Clyde1998]

For the avoidance of doubt, the reason for creating a thread on Ireland is they're one of the most comparable nations to us in terms of size, resources, culture, potential challenges, etc. along with Wales (hence why there's already a Wales thread). They're a nation we should keep an eye on, as their successes and failures could very much be replicated by ourselves in a lot of cases.

On 9/7/2025 at 6:23 PM, mccaughey85 said:

They are a shadow of what they were 15/20 years ago. 

Saying that I think they have some decent players and it would only take a couple of genuine star players to turn things around for them.

They have alot of really good championship level players who play for teams that always get promoted and then relegated straight away. They only have a few genuine epl level players and thats what they need to change.

I think they should still be looking at qualifying for the euros most years now that it's 24 teams.

Our first team is easily a level above them on paper.

It's incredible the level of drop off they've had in the past twenty or so years. It could be argued though they had a luck with the level of talent that they had at the same time, as opposed to it being a result of any sort of actual strategy - having players the standard of Roy Keane; Robby Keane; Shay Given; Ian Harte; Damien Duff; Matt Holland; etc. all at the same time takes some element of luck.

Just looking at the players from their 2002 World Cup squad: seventeen of their twenty-three man squad were playing in the Premier League. Of those who weren't, they were all in what's now the Championship with the lowest finisher that season being 11th with Coventry (who'd only been relegated to the second tier the season before).

Their current squad features players at St Mirren and Shamrock Rovers and neither are particularly young (23 and 24 respectively). Even their players at better clubs often aren't regulars, like they were in 2002.

They certainly should be challenging to qualify for the Euros, but even with twenty-four teams (and the improvements a lot of other national sides have had over the past few decades) it's no longer the case of expecting Ireland to be at a twenty-four team tournament like you would've done in the 2000s.

You do think how many of their players get into our squad. Based on where we're weak, I'd take Caoimhín Kelleher (arguably all their keepers); Jake O'Brien; Nathan Collins and Dara O'Shea (centre-backs); Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah (strikers). Can't really think of much else you'd want to take at the moment, which just shows how much they've dropped off.

1 hour ago, weekevie04 said:

Ireland seem to have some decent talent coming through their age groups. 

LOI has two teams in the Conference League too, I think they'll have a good national side in the future too. 

Will be interesting to see who they've got coming through.

The improvement in the LOI could be a double edged sword if players stick around for longer than they otherwise would've done; playing in Europe could compensate for that though.

[Caledonian Craig]

I did have to laugh at one troll on social media. It was a John McGinn article and an Irishman said he should have chose Ireland as he'd have more chance playing in the World Cup. 

[Clyde1998]

Ireland losing 2-1 in Armenia now.

[Caledonian Craig]

5 minutes ago, Clyde1998 said:

Ireland losing 2-1 in Armenia now.

Yes I am watching.

[mccaughey85]

16 minutes ago, Clyde1998 said:

For the avoidance of doubt, the reason for creating a thread on Ireland is they're one of the most comparable nations to us in terms of size, resources, culture, potential challenges, etc. along with Wales (hence why there's already a Wales thread). They're a nation we should keep an eye on, as their successes and failures could very much be replicated by ourselves in a lot of cases.

It's incredible the level of drop off they've had in the past twenty or so years. It could be argued though they had a luck with the level of talent that they had at the same time, as opposed to it being a result of any sort of actual strategy - having players the standard of Roy Keane; Robby Keane; Shay Given; Ian Harte; Damien Duff; Matt Holland; etc. all at the same time takes some element of luck.

Just looking at the players from their 2002 World Cup squad: seventeen of their twenty-three man squad were playing in the Premier League. Of those who weren't, they were all in what's now the Championship with the lowest finisher that season being 11th with Coventry (who'd only been relegated to the second tier the season before).

Their current squad features players at St Mirren and Shamrock Rovers and neither are particularly young (23 and 24 respectively). Even their players at better clubs often aren't regulars, like they were in 2002.

They certainly should be challenging to qualify for the Euros, but even with twenty-four teams (and the improvements a lot of other national sides have had over the past few decades) it's no longer the case of expecting Ireland to be at a twenty-four team tournament like you would've done in the 2000s.

You do think how many of their players get into our squad. Based on where we're weak, I'd take Caoimhín Kelleher (arguably all their keepers); Jake O'Brien; Nathan Collins and Dara O'Shea (centre-backs); Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah (strikers). Can't really think of much else you'd want to take at the moment, which just shows how much they've dropped off.

Will be interesting to see who they've got coming through.

The improvement in the LOI could be a double edged sword if players stick around for longer than they otherwise would've done; playing in Europe could compensate for that though.

I think they underachieved during that period. They only qualified for 2 tournaments(2002 and 2012). From the late 90s to the early noughties they had fairly strong squads capable of going to tournaments.

I think thats a big reason why mcgeady picked Ireland. He probably saw the likes of Roy Keane, Robbie Keane, damian duff and Shay given and thought Ireland will definitely go to tournaments whereas the future for us was looking a bit bleak.

I would definitely take their keepers.

You left out Doherty who would make our squad and probably be a starter for us.

Not sure idah would make our squad. We have guys around his level. He might make the squad if we have injuries. Apart from that I would agree on the players you have listed. 

[RanelaghScot]

Getting right royally humped away at Armenia now, 3-1.

[RanelaghScot]

Looks like the goal was ruled out, still 2-1. 

Losing there and a draw at home to Hungary makes qualification very difficult for them now.

[Caledonian Craig]

5 minutes ago, RanelaghScot said:

Looks like the goal was ruled out, still 2-1. 

Losing there and a draw at home to Hungary makes qualification very difficult for them now.

Let's face it they are out. We would have been saying the same had we lost to Belarus. This was a must win and they have lost it. Portugal (home and away) and Hungary (away) to come.

[GHfaeGTA]

2 hours ago, weekevie04 said:

Ireland seem to have some decent talent coming through their age groups. 

LOI has two teams in the Conference League too, I think they'll have a good national side in the future too. 

 

Wouldn’t read too much into that. One of these 2 teams is Shelbourne who did have a relatively easy draw (certainly compared to DUFC and Hibs) but their team includes 2 lads who were released by Dundee United as youngsters (not deemed good enough) and have both been journeymen since. Also includes Scotsman Kerr McInroy who is a Scottish championship player at best. Can’t comment on the rest of the team but presumably they are mainly Irish and possibly youngsters. 

[Clyde1998]

1 hour ago, mccaughey85 said:

I think they underachieved during that period. They only qualified for 2 tournaments(2002 and 2012). From the late 90s to the early noughties they had fairly strong squads capable of going to tournaments.

I think thats a big reason why mcgeady picked Ireland. He probably saw the likes of Roy Keane, Robbie Keane, damian duff and Shay given and thought Ireland will definitely go to tournaments whereas the future for us was looking a bit bleak.

I would definitely take their keepers.

You left out Doherty who would make our squad and probably be a starter for us.

Not sure idah would make our squad. We have guys around his level. He might make the squad if we have injuries. Apart from that I would agree on the players you have listed. 

They were very unlucky at most of the tournaments in that time not to qualify:

• 2004 - third behind Switzerland and Russia.
• 2006 - ended up fourth, only three points behind France; one behind Switzerland for the play-offs. Only lost once: to France.
• 2008 - finish third in a group with an impressive Czech Republic, who won the group, and Germany. 
• 2010 - reached the play-offs. Henry handball in the play-offs took them out.

Certainly would've qualified for a twenty-four team Euros in that period. Do think we performed better relative to the talent we had, despite how poor it was for us. Ironically McGeady may have qualified more had he played for us given we made the play-offs in 2004 and came closer to qualifying for Euro 2008.

Agree with Doherty being in the squad, although he's now at the end of his career (at least internationally). Would take a fully fit Hickey starting.

Whether or not Idah is in the squad ahead of our current batch is a maybe, but he'd be the next one to come in if he wasn't. We'll see how he does at Swansea though before being too definitive on that.

[mccaughey85]

11 minutes ago, Clyde1998 said:

They were very unlucky at most of the tournaments in that time not to qualify:

• 2004 - third behind Switzerland and Russia.
• 2006 - ended up fourth, only three points behind France; one behind Switzerland for the play-offs. Only lost once: to France.
• 2008 - finish third in a group with an impressive Czech Republic, who won the group, and Germany. 
• 2010 - reached the play-offs. Henry handball in the play-offs took them out.

Certainly would've qualified for a twenty-four team Euros in that period. Do think we performed better relative to the talent we had, despite how poor it was for us. Ironically McGeady may have qualified more had he played for us given we made the play-offs in 2004 and came closer to qualifying for Euro 2008.

Agree with Doherty being in the squad, although he's now at the end of his career (at least internationally). Would take a fully fit Hickey starting.

Whether or not Idah is in the squad ahead of our current batch is a maybe, but he'd be the next one to come in if he wasn't. We'll see how he does at Swansea though before being too definitive on that.

The 2000 euro qualifying they got to the play offs and went out narrowly to turkey on away goals. 

That squad had, Irwin, Roy keane, Robbie keane, duff and a pile of good epl players.

[JECK]

Interesting and good thread. For me I’ve always seen ROI, along with wales, NI as our more realistic main rivals. You could then lump in Denmark, Norway, Finland Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia as the next category of rivals (similar populations). 
 

I actually didn’t mind the whole big jack late 80s/90s era but after the whole McGeady/Mccarthy episodes I started to really dislike them in a footballing sense  and that win at hampden a couple of years back on the Saturday night was one of my favourite victory’s in recent times. Feeling quite smug to see them struggle this evening again. 
 

Since our relative resurgence since euro 2020 I’ve been hoping for a while that we could lay down a marker and really pull away from ROI but we’ve probably just went a wee a bit above them for a number of years but still require that final third top level difference maker to really stretch away (a Robbie Keane, essentially). 

Never forget their record in major tournaments dwarfs us (several last 16s, quarter final Italia 90). Not to mention Wales semi final euro 16, a last 16 euro 2020, and NI have also qualified out of 2 groups - a really galling statistic for us. 
 

Ps off to read a ROI forum after tonight’s defeat. 

Edited September 9, 2025 by JECK

[Dave78]

2 hours ago, Clyde1998 said:

 

Just looking at the players from their 2002 World Cup squad: seventeen of their twenty-three man squad were playing in the Premier League. Of those who weren't, they were all in what's now the Championship with the lowest finisher that season being 11th with Coventry (who'd only been relegated to the second tier the season before).

 

One big caveat to that point is that the EPL in 2002 was nowhere near the standard of what it is today.

 

My Irish brother in law texted me tonight saying now he knows what it must have been like to be a Scotland fan over the past couple of decades, with the odd embarrassing result mixed in with campaigns that end in glorious failure. He's not wrong.

Ireland went through their Berti Vogts period (or the 'banter years' as we call them in the Dublin TA) during the last few campaigns, but they were hoping they'd turned a corner. Tonight proves there's a long way to go. They badly need to find some decent midfielders

[JECK]

7 minutes ago, Dave78 said:

One big caveat to that point is that the EPL in 2002 was nowhere near the standard of what it is today.

 

My Irish brother in law texted me tonight saying now he knows what it must have been like to be a Scotland fan over the past couple of decades, with the odd embarrassing result mixed in with campaigns that end in glorious failure. He's not wrong.

Ireland went through their Berti Vogts period (or the 'banter years' as we call them in the Dublin TA) during the last few campaigns, but they were hoping they'd turned a corner. Tonight proves there's a long way to go. They badly need to find some decent midfielders

Tbh I think it’s our highly functional midfielders that keep us going and ahead of them. Altho we don’t have the top top level strikers or central defenders, it’s the midfield that keeps us afloat - we’ve never tired of quality midfielders since the early 90s. 

[King Of Paisley]

14 minutes ago, Dave78 said:

One big caveat to that point is that the EPL in 2002 was nowhere near the standard of what it is today.

 

My Irish brother in law texted me tonight saying now he knows what it must have been like to be a Scotland fan over the past couple of decades, with the odd embarrassing result mixed in with campaigns that end in glorious failure. He's not wrong.

Ireland went through their Berti Vogts period (or the 'banter years' as we call them in the Dublin TA) during the last few campaigns, but they were hoping they'd turned a corner. Tonight proves there's a long way to go. They badly need to find some decent midfielders

Thats exactly what I was thinking. For ROI tonight read us in Moldova in 2004 in Berti's last game in charge. Sunk to 88th in the world. Probably the lowest I ever felt as a Scotland fan

[JECK]

2 minutes ago, King Of Paisley said:

Thats exactly what I was thinking. For ROI tonight read us in Moldova in 2004 in Berti's last game in charge. Sunk to 88th in the world. Probably the lowest I ever felt as a Scotland fan

Granted we had Ferguson and a very young Darren Fletcher at that time (lambert had retired by then) the rest of that team were truly worse than bang average.  

[mccaughey85]

31 minutes ago, Dave78 said:

One big caveat to that point is that the EPL in 2002 was nowhere near the standard of what it is today.

 

My Irish brother in law texted me tonight saying now he knows what it must have been like to be a Scotland fan over the past couple of decades, with the odd embarrassing result mixed in with campaigns that end in glorious failure. He's not wrong.

Ireland went through their Berti Vogts period (or the 'banter years' as we call them in the Dublin TA) during the last few campaigns, but they were hoping they'd turned a corner. Tonight proves there's a long way to go. They badly need to find some decent midfielders

I dont think the epl has gone up that much in standard since 2002. The money had been rolling into the epl for a decade by then and the top talent of the world was playing there and serie A/la liga.

I believe that football went through the biggest change from the early 90s to the early noughties. The fitness, speed, diet, weight training all went up several levels and the big money in the top leagues resulted in talent from all over the world playing in the epl, la liga etc

I would say theres been an increase in standard since 2002 but I wouldnt say it's massive and I would say there isnt that big a difference between the mid noughties and now. I would fancy the Chelsea side of 2005 to challenge for the league today or the man utd of 2007/8. I also would fancy arsenals invincibles to also challenge for the league today and they had loads of strong powerful athletes from different races and nationalities.

I think Ireland just had a good batch of players around that period who were capable at a high level.