Boca

Steve staunton interview yesterday. He was asked about the relative inexperience of the squad and replied; "If they are old enough, they are good enough"

It is, and at least he was honest enough to say he didn't feel Irish and didn't want to use the Irish team as a career move. I admire him for it.

Nolan would be an excellent addition but he will probably wait until the summer to see if he gets the nod for England. Thats the problem with players like Nolan, England, understandably will always be his first choice. What Stan has to decide is if it's worth waiting for players to make up their mind or if he just wants people committed to playing for Ireland. It's a difficult one for the manager.

Let's face it, we will be struggling for quality all over the pitch. Given, Duff, Finnan and Keane are our only genuine players at this level. I am all in favour of the granny rule because we are so lacking, but only if the player is going to be a marked improvement on what we have got. Liam Lawrence is not.

Finnan and Dunne will be fine but the other two are liabilities. O'Brien was bombed out of Newcastle because they thought Boumsong and Bramble were a better option. O'Shea has got progressively worse each season.

We are so thin on the ground at the back it's frightening. Finnan is the only international class defender we have. Given Finnan Dunne O'Brien O'Shea Reid Kilbane Miller Duff Keane Doyle That's probably as good as it gets with a full strength squad. It could be an interesting few years.

How did I know that you would respond I suppose we should be thankful for small mercies, it could have been Alex Bruce

Yeah, I read somewhere that he hadn't played since September before he joined us. I suppose we have to get him fully fit, but I expected to have seen a bit more of him to be honest.

And the first of the new generation "granny rulers" is Liam Lawrence. The future is secure Sky Sports

I take it Agger won't be in the squad for the manc game then.

1. Sami 2. Momo 3. Riise

Gerrard : 4 from 4 with penalties this season up to last night. Of course he was going to take it.

Xabi won't be happy to hear that.

I can only imagine their outrage as they abuse me in their Louth/Scouse/Brummie accents

It's a farcical situation when we have the likes of Alex Bruce "choosing" the Republic of Ireland over the North because they are a better team at the moment. I know we are struggling a bit for quality players but Alex f***ing Bruce

1. Sami 2. Dudek 3. Fowler ( if he had lasted the ninety minutes would have been mom )

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Great stuff

I like it. Probably just a rip off of Spain's world cup strip though.

Surprise, surprise Sky are showing Kronkamps dive against Portsmouth to show that Liverpool players can play act as well.

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I was thinking about this yesterday after the match and the level of hatred I feel towards Chelsea grows everytime we play them. I f***ing hate the mancs but those c***s yesterday are closing the gap every day.

Warnock is certainly not up to it, as yesterday proved again. he was lucky to get away with a mistake that let Cole in in the first half as well as the error for their second. Bridge would have been ideal, but the chavs would probably block any move we made for him.

Why is everyone assuming Sami will get dropped?

Fair enough if that was his reason, but you have to admit that interviews like the one in the echo muddy the water when you look back at the decision. If he feels strongly enough about something, and obviously he does in this instance, then surely it's reasonable to assume that he would take that into consideration when making that decision.