That's what we want!

Hiya,Mark here.
Well, that's what we were all looking for, wasn't it?
A much improved performance from our players, helped largely by the Reading players, Dunne, Duff and S. Ireland.
My opinion of Stan, well, the pressure is off now, maybe he is learning from his mistakes and I really hope he can drive the team forward. He made mistakes in tactics and selection again last night but he must have had some effect on the performance and attitude of the players, which was like a completely different team than last Saturday.
We'll be talking about this and more on tonight's podcast (get the feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/OkeyDokeFootball)

Player ratings:
Given 7 - couple of decent saves, made a good impression as captain
O'Bese 6 - I can't bring myself to give him a good rating but he did well
Dunne 7 - Strong at the back with only 1 mistake all match
McShane 7 - Worked well with Dunne
Finnan 7 - Again didn't offer much going forward as he was on the left, but strong defensively
McGeady 6 - Young Scot looked comfortable the whole game without excelling
Kilbane 6.5 - Much improved from Saturday but we all know his limitations
Carsley 7 - Another solid performance, even managed to get forward on occasion!
Ireland 8 - Some intelligent link up play, will be very important creatively for the team for years to come
Duff 8 - Duffer on the left again, best performance in ages for Ireland, all the good things we remember from 3-4 years ago and the reasons Chelscum signed him
Doyle 8 - Took his goal well, can play up front on his own, unlike Keane.

Subs:
Long 7 - Lively but missed a golden chance from Hunt's cross, did well with a header that was cleared off the line
Hunt 7.5 - Like Saturday, created chances when he came on and relieved pressure
Quinn 6 - Needlessly gave away possession, gifting Slovakia a good chance, but not on long enough to atone

Leave a comment below or email comments@okeydokefootball.com,
Cheers
Mark