So how did you react to Ireland's loss to Cyprus?

[Lone Shark]

I thought I'd raise this topic just to see how the soccer team's loss has affected people and if they really matter to the average Irish person any more outside of the pale and the garrison towns.

I got to grow up at a time when Irish soccer was beginning to hit the big time, and as a kid it was obviously a great laugh while it was going on. I won't lie in that as a teenager my interest in GAA was fairly limited. Ferbane/Belmont was not a good club to be in if you were utterly utterly useless since you never got a game, and while going to the county championship matches were always a great day out, that's all it really was to me, at least until I was old enough to make my own way to games and could get to see more of it. Once I was in a position to follow GAA and take part again at a suitable level, from then on I was happy to nail my colours to that mast, and so it has been ever since.

However the guts of a decade living in Dublin means that I have also become completely disillusioned with Irish soccer and all it entails. One significant milestone was the World cup match with Spain in 2002, where I was delighted with the scheduling as it took a load of cars off the road and lightened the traffic for my trip to Nowlan park from Tallaght for the Leinster semi with Kildare, while the actual result in Korea was utterly immaterial to me.

In recent years, this has reached the point where I'm actively wishing the whole thing would just go away - and I couldn't help but be delighted when I heard the result on Sunday morning. I'm not particularly proud of this, because I am aware that amidst all the olé olé brigade and buried underneath a sea of plastic shamrocks and inflatable green hammers there are a few genuine supporters lurking who will have been gutted by that result, and for them I'm genuinely sorry, but for the rest.....

I know I'm an extreme viewpoint, and as an actual game I've nothing against soccer. I'm playing five a side tonight, and have played organised OWL when I was at home - however the professional game really does nothing for me, and as for that team that supposedly represents me? Well to the best of my knowledge, out of Ireland's population of 4 million or so, roughly 1.5 million live in small towns of 5,000 or smaller (a lot more would say they come from there), and that's not counting areas like North County Dublin which can be rural enough in places too. And out of that 40% of the population, we've had two token goalkeepers from Donegal that have ever played for our "national" team, no-one else that I'm aware of. They don't represent Ireland, they represent urban Ireland, which is not me.

But what's the general feeling? Am I turning into one of those bitter and twisted "backwoodsmen", or do a lot of you feel this way, but like me you don't say it out loud because of the inevitable offence that some people would take?

[Rynaghs Biffo]

I was gutted alright, but only for about a half an hour after the match, it didn't take me long to get over it!!

Comparing that to the Leinster final this year, I'm still gutted!!!!

I don't know what it is, but us Irish are very easy to accept defeat with our national soccer team. What other country would be delighted with a 0-0 draw!! When we lost a 2-0 lead against Holland in Holland to end up with a 2-2 draw...... we were over the moon!!!!

With GAA its different, its more sensitive and personal because it goes right down from all-ireland to provincial to county to club to parish. You feel part of it at every game.

Was watching the Charlton Years after the match on saturday night, did anyone see it? I was thinking, thats it, its over. The glory years of the 90's and the beginning of this decade are over, bye bye. We are now going to be the 4th seeded teams which gives us feck all chance of qualifing for anything.

Are only chance is if they introduce a Christy Ring or Nicky Rackard Cup thing.

[Hocker]

I was mad with the way things panned out on saturday evening... So mad in fact i actually found myself wanting Cyprus to punish us even more so.
Stan is obviously not the man for the job, but we must now realise that the glory years are indeed behind us, and we need to start again from the very bottom if we are to achieve anything again.
Dave O'leary would be my tip to be the new manager.
I've got tickets to the Czech republic match on wednesday nite, I feel I could find myself booing along with 30000 others come the final whistle!!!

[TheManFromFerbane]

As a proud Irish man I take joy in fellow Irish men doing great things on the world stage, be it in sport, inventions, politics, finance, anything really.

But being a proud Ferbane man I obviously take more pride with anything good that comes from Ferbane.

So that is why I would care more about Ferbane or Offaly doing well, but at the same time seeing lads going out and representing my country and doing that badly was pretty gutting.

[Rynaghs Biffo]

But being a proud Ferbane man I obviously take more pride with anything good that comes from Ferbane.

So that is why I would care more about Ferbane or Offaly doing well, but at the same time seeing lads going out and representing my country and doing that badly was pretty gutting.

Bang on, you're always going to take more pride when its closer to home, you feel that you played a part in it.

[The Biff]

I felt disappointed but also felt a touch of consolation in knowing that Professional Soccer does not rank highly in my estimation stakes. I feel sorry for the genuine Soccer fans who spend their hard-earned cash on travelling to fixtures like this; the type of expense that GAA fans are rarely tempted to match. But I feel no compassion for the Irish players, manager or the FAI because these folks are overpaid for the effort they collectively put in to represent our country.

Back in 2002, I was firmly in the Mick McCarthy in thinking that he should not be undermined so publicly by one of his players, no matter who that is. Over time, I have come to respect Roy Keane more and more, because he seems to be one of the few who can look beyond his fat salary and actually seem to play the game with a passion that justifies that salary. That's a passion that is plentiful in the GAA at large and for that I am thankful. For the current crop of "Boys in Green", could Roy give them a touch of the old Alex Ferguson "hairdryer" before Wednesday?

Actually, I dont really care.

[Bogman]

I have to confess that I wasn't very disappointed. After the brilliant Birr-Coolderry decider with the football county finals to come - it didn't seem to matter very much and in fact I quite enjoyed the last few Cyprus goals.

Having said that I'd like us to go out and win every other game in the Group. It gives the country a great lift when we qualify for a major final and the kids get a great kick out of it. Do it for the children, why don't you!!

And I'm looking forward to going to a few soccer internationals in Croker!!!

Confused and Contradictory!! Sure!!!

[ballymanabroad]

I was still delighted after Leinster's win over Munster and when I heard the result on saturday evening my reaction was almost like I expected that to happen. To be honest I don't invest a lot of time in the fortunes of Irish soccer players so when our Irish team win I'm happy for them but it is hard watching them at the best of times.

I feel sorry for Stan. He was one of our greatest ever players who was convinced he could do a job that he was nowhere near qualified for. The FAI dropped the ball by not pursuing O'Neill further.

[Biff O'Mahon]

buried underneath a sea of plastic shamrocks and inflatable green hammers there are a few genuine supporters lurking

The typical international soccer supporter may not have cottonned on to the myriad of possibilities offerred by inflatables... how about a plastic fish??? a red-snapper perhaps, a mullet might be appropriate, or how about a tuna...

Howya all, long time no post. Lurked a few times just.

Yeah would've liked to have sent that team out onto a gaa pitch. Preferably against Camross or Loughrea...
Was gutted by the result against the Czech's - means Staunton keeps the job for a while longer - don't rate O'Leary either but. Anyone propose KK for the job?