Everton trio involved as Ireland and Scotland draw

Seamus was the best player on the pitch and, according to the BBC website, I’m not wrong.

A truly rotten performance up front. Never had a sniff at goal. Couldn’t trap a bag of sand. Balls into his feet bounced more than his wage cheques when he was at Rangers. No impact at all. Fucking shite. Just fuck off and take your useless countryman winger with you.

Oh sorry... this is the Naismith thread and not the Lukaku thread?

Thought Coleman’s crossing was pretty poor. He needs to forget last season and start again. Don’t they/we all...

The last two days will not be remembered for the top class performances of our International players. Coleman and McCarthy were very poor for Ireland, Naismith did more talking than playing for Scotland and Rom did nothing when introduced as a second half sub for Belgium.

The panel on the Irish TV Network basically said that McCarthy was not up to it.

Christopher,

The panel on Irish tv (ie Eamon Dunphy) has never taken to McCarthy and claims he has never performed well for Everton. This is the same guy who for years told us Cristiano Ronaldo was not up to it and believes Stephen Quinn should be in the team ahead of McCarthy. Dunphy watches very little football and spouts the same desperate rubbish every game to gain publicity and attention.

I want to stay positive But!!! you have got to say Everton players so far this week have been abysmal. Macca – slow, sluggish, dirty; Coleman – wasteful, not going past players; Naismith – energetic, argumentative petulant.

Then go back to the Belgian game: Lukaku – well, I just despair watching this clown run around a pitch. I did not see Stones or Garbutt but read they played well and, having watched Barkley’s appearance against Ireland, I hope he does not get near the pitch today. Sorry to be so negative but I am embarrassed watching these professional players from the club I love.

I thought Coleman was best player on the pitch in the first half, but when Anya came on he had a lot more to do and seemed to fade. McCarthy was poor with his familiar lack of creativity in the final third. As for Naismith, again his familiar self – intelligent movement, uneven end product.

I agree with most of the comments on here – the Ireland v Scotland match was a pretty poor standard and our players did not rise above that level.

The Irish pundits are obsessed with McCarthy becoming a playmaker type and running the game, which is not what we have seen him do in the last two years. Dunphy complains he doesn’t see him do anything which is exactly what his best role is, going about his business quietly and breaking up play. Its obvious he hasn’t got the eye for a killer forward pass and the only bursting forward he has done in the last two years was in the home Man U game this season. Basically Ireland are crap and haven’t produced a stand out performance in nearly two years under Martin O’Neill who seems to be well past his sell by date.

Agree with Jim (#5), Durphy is a Muppet who never liked McCarthy and Brady the same. James was a lot more prominent when O’Neill replaced Whelan. Not being biased but Naismith was a disgrace, diving and trying to get Whelan sent off and constantly waving an imaginary card.

Not wanting to defend Dunphy & Co but hard to disagree with their point that McCarthy is not living up to the hype. Will never fault his work ethic but this was another opportunity to dominate a poor midfield (on both sides) but he didn’t. Frustrating as you sense he has it in him to do just that at Inernational & club level. Hard to believe these rumours that Arsenal & City are considering £25m bids. Just another one of our players that splits opinion. Seems this is prerequisite to being a first teamer: Lukaku, Barkley, Barry, etc.

Michael Foley in the Sunday Times writes
"When the final whistle went, James McCarthy finally stopped running and dropped his head. There was no more to give. No more to do. All evening he had sprayed passes and hunted Scotland down, outlined the limits that penned Scotland into their own half for long stretches and kept Ireland moving. He was the one in midfield loading the bullets into the chambers for everyone up ahead."

John Aizlewood in Sunday Times writes of McCarthy 7/10
"Ireland’s midfield fulcrum was their most stylish player"

Douglas Alexander in report on game in Sunday Times, a lengthy enough three column piece gives McCarthy two mentions.
1. "James McCarthy asserted his Irishness by clattering through Scott Brown"
2. "McCarthy was hyped up and was booked when he caught Russell Martin with an elbow"

I have to wonder what match Foley and Aizlewood were watching. Certainly not the same as me or the others on the Live Forum yesterday, some of whom were asking if Macca was still on the pitch.

I see a quote on Guardian in lead up to England/Slovenia game asking if Naismith was refereeing this one as well. Nuff said.

A less than stellar day for the Blues at the Aviva.