Irish managers job

[Iano]

Ok lads , who's your money on ??

If Brian Kerr gets it , im supporting Scotland in future .
thats like asking Gary Glitter to look after your kids .

[Slicklink]

Well apparently that French guy is a safe bet Iano.

The smart money is down.... he was 20/1 last week gamble on to 2.5 - 1 last Friday..... an ex-Irish player apparently in the know...

[Peadar]

Eammonn Dunphy maybe? :D

[bestie]

What's wrong with Brian Kerr?He is the most successful underage manager this country ever had, he is Irish(not just having an Irish passpart like some former managers!!!) and he helped develop the careers of Robbie Keane,Damien Duff,etc.

The most obvious argument is he has no experience at Full international level well the French national coach who won Euro 2000 was their former under age coach as is the situation with the coach of Portugal. Another possible argument 'he never played at the top level'.....neither did Arsene Wenger....enough said..

As for his competition...

John Aldridge......messed up things at Tramere..nothing to stand out from his brief managerial career...

Peter Reid.....nice bloke but come on Sunderland!!!!Not exactly the most desirable club in the world!!

Bryan Robson.....did his p.r work over the weekend as he announced he would like Keane as his assistant.....

Kerr has a real chance and is one of the strongest of the candadiates.......the french bloke is a non-runner ...the fai still are not admitting if he was or wasn't interviewed..

[Alan Partridge]

Fair point about Troussier (French Guy). In December he was reported to say that he had been approached about the job, and also about some other, pretty pathetic, coaching jobs. He wanted time to think them all over. I say, if he's not 100% straight up dying to take on this job - f**k off. Would he swim accross the channel? I think not.

Neither is Brian Kerr suited. It is impossible to compare coaching underage sides and full senior internationals. For a start you need to have the credentials to have the respect of your players. Put simply - he does not. How could he? While I take my hat off to the man for what he achieved with the youngsters, comparing the levels is like comparing apples with angle grinders.

As for who should get the job? Who knows! Maybe Robbo did his PR work, but that aside, would it be such a bad combination? Personally I'd love to see it.

Either way, we are up the Kyber now for the Europeans. Anyone think we can make them?

[KJ]

When are the FAI making their announcment on this?


KJ

;)

[Alan Partridge]

Due to be at the end of this week.

[Katy Lied]

Congrats to Brian Kerr - go on ya good thing!

[bestie]

hate to say i told you so............

I'll be paying Paddy Power a visit in a day or two

[vinylpusher]

I'll give it until the weekend before the UK tabloids start the comparison between Kerr and the movie "Mike Basset - England Manager".

[Darren B]

Kerr deserves it. Weather he is sucessful or not is besides the point. hE HAS WORKED HARD AND ALL HIS WAY UP THE FOOTBALLING MANAGERIAL LADDER AND HIS PAST track record means he was most Irish peoples 1st choice.

Plus what he has mentioned so far is very encouraging not just for the irish national team but also for grass roots football in this country and thats what pleases me most.

[Alan Partridge]

'Whether he is successful or not is beside the point'?? What does that mean? It is exactly the point. I hope more than anyone that he is going to get the most out of this team, but his CV doesn't read too well. It's back to the apples and angle grinders!
Having said all that, hats off to him and he deserves all our support.

[Darren B]

What I mean is that due to his previous success with Irish youth teams he deserved a shot at the top job its called a promotion.

If you are good at your job you would also expect to get a promoton if a job vacancy came up rather than your company giving it to an outsider right. The same principles apply here.

Weather you can handle that promotion or not is not the point the point is you got what you worked hard for and deserved.

Dont get me wrong I hope he does well as Irish manager and I really think he will but if he doesnt Cest la vie.

And what do you mean his CV doesnt read too well ? It reads better than any previous Irish Manager

Mcarthy was a mediocre manager with Millwall at best
Charlton didnt do anything at club management level before getting the irish job
Touhy wasnt a great manager
Giles was an absolute joke etc etc

[Alan Partridge]

Fair point about the previous Irish managers. But this time we had a good choice of managers. If you do well at a company the next step IS to get promoted, but not from Security Guard to Chief Exec. (No disrespect intended).
He does seem to have the right attitude though. He also has one hugely key advantage - the media are right behind him. big plus.
So here's to the European championships? Think for that one we'll need the heavens behind us too. FIngers crossed.

[Darren B]

Fingers crossed although its out of our hands. Heres to hoping we win all 6 games and that Russia, and Switzerland trip each other up.

[Iano]

Ok so maybe he deserves a bash at it but he's only ever coached kids and managed a few mickey mouse league of ireland teams , hardly qualifies him as international materia.
Personally id have appointed Ally McCloud .

[vinylpusher]

The same might be said about Alex Ferguson having only coached 'mickey mouse' Scottish League teams before taking on Man Utd......look at him now.

[Iano]

Alex Ferguson won the ''Cup winners cup '' with Aberdeen , A major Europena trophy, and also managed Scotland for the 1986 World cup .

[vinylpusher]

You got me there!
Apologies for not doing my homework.

OK, so we all know that Kerr hasn't got much managerial experience when it comes to top flight football.
But neither did McCarthy or Charlton. Come to think of it, neither did any of Irelands managers before that.

What I will say though, is look at the Irish squad now and you'll see that most of the players will have played under Kerr at underage level. They know him, he knows them. And that's not just confined to the period of 1996 to present day. Remember, he was an underage coach up until 1995 (I think) before Charlton done the dirty on him.
There's an argument that he's had no experience with professional players. What about the under 21s, most of which would have been established signings with professional outfits by then.
Kerr has had a hand in the signing of many of Irelands young talents to major clubs.
Kerr has ensured that not only do Ireland have the best underage international record since 1990, but he has ensured that Ireland are consistantly represented at every underage level.
The youth football policy since Kerr assumed responsibility can be compared to the youth policies adopted by the likes of Man Utd (Giggs, Scholes, Butt, Nevilles, Beckham). The players develop their skills together in the same team, creating a solid team unit. By the time they reach senior level, they've already gained massive experience as a unit and know how each other play.
I can see something similar happening in the Irish squad, and to be honest, I think it will work well.

[Iano]

Ok ill surrender on this one dude . I hope your right .
What was the dirt Charlton done on him ??.

[vinylpusher]

I hope he does well too. He seems to be the media favourite and "the peoples choice". I've overheard many a barstool football pundit debate in favour of him.
Another thing in his favour is that after the last two qualifying game disasters, nobody is expecting him to guide us to Portugal in 2004. If he does, bonus. If he doesn't, most people will attribute that to the calamity of a start by McCarthy.
The World Cup 2006 qualifiers will be his real test.

Allegedly, Charlton walked in to the dressing at half time during an underage match, and ripped into him, resulting in Kerr being dropped. I don't know if that's an accurate story, but I've read about it somewhere and heard it mentioned many times before.

[TonyL]

I hope he does well too Ian, God we all do. I wouldve chosen Joe Kinnear though.

[Liamo]

True, there are different skills required to encourage youngsters to their potential vs managing an experienced side (and their egos!) as Mick found out to his cost.

But hey! As was pointed out, Troussier was half-hearted about it, so it may as well go to someone with (a) a decent track record and (b) some passion!

He's also had the guts to approach the prodigal son - whether or not that was a good move remains to be seen, but maybe the spell in limbo will have taught him a lesson, and hopefully the FAI have learnt from the results, so they'll both meet each other halfway - and it was interesting the way Ferguson stuck his nose in again. Actually, since Keane ignored that and met Kerr, maybe there is some pride in him regarding playing for his country, and not just the MU PLC mentality (sorry John) and "what Ferguson says goes".

That said, I reckon Kerr and Roy will need to be VERY level-headed in the first match, and the result will be crucial; too many opposition players will be out to egg Roy on to lose it again, and some doubters (myself included) are still sceptical about the tradeoff between the positive and negative impacts that he'll bring on his return.

Mick and the team brought us along well - here's hoping that the team can get back to the heights of the last few years, and if the lessons learned mean we have some self-belief that we could actually win a major tournament, then so be it!

Best of luck to Brian & the squad!

[John Fleming]

I don't need to tell many here which side my bread is buttered...i'm red first - and only. I wish BK and Ireland well, but when watching Ireland play my only concern is that any United players come out of it unscathed.

Liamo, it may interest you to know that the biggest critic of Manchester United's PLC is Alex Ferguson, followed closely by the club's genuine support. ;)
And Leeds United's support could tell you a thing or two about PLCs, although i'd move out of spitting distance at that point. Every club is now basically run by PLCs, that is the way of the football world. Interesting that Manchester United get stick because they do that side of things more successfully than others - no matter how cringeworthy it may be.
You may also not be aware that there is a growing fan base who are slowly buying up shares, and one day...well, who knows. Knock Manchester United, and the support, which so many driven mainly by tabloid headlines do, but - biased as i am - i rarely witness the same passion from fans of other clubs.
Sorry.
I do see the same passion from fans of other clubs, but it is usually in the form of venom aimed in the direction of Manchester United Football Club. Transfer those feelings towards your own club and positive things might start to happen to such an extent that you don't need to worry about us anymore!

Roy Keane. I've listened to the usual irrational rantings in the past few days - why is it that people discussing United tend to become a raving bag of irrationality and contradictions, and blind themselves to the facts? To be honest, i ignore it now. :o

I'm going to shock one or two of you at this point. Read this slowly...Alex Ferguson is the manager of Manchester United FC (i'll always add that part). That's who pays his wages and that's where his loyalties do - and should - lie. Alex Ferguson has more right than the whole of this country put together to 'stick his nose in again' as Liamo puts it. Manchester United pay Roy Keane's wages.
The truth of the matter is probably that journalists stuck their nose into Ferguson's affairs, asked him the question knowing exactly what the answer would be, and are delighting in splashing it all over the back - and front - pages to be served up to a public who crave the next excuse to attack the club.

For your next trick i'd be delighted if you could name me one club manager that wouldn't want his star players to 'retire' from the international scene. And if you name any, they should be fired immediately. :)

Another thing that appears to have been forgotten, so conveniently when there's a chance to have a go at my club, is that Roy Keane had already retired from Irish international football. The idea is not new.

And in amongst all those headlines you may have spotted the reports that tell you that NO player, that's zero, zilch, not one, player has ever lasted more than two years after the injury Roy Keane has just come back from. I think it is natural that Alex Ferguson wants those two years spent playing his heart and lungs out for United - where the support week in week out appreciate the efforts. As for the Irish support...well...

I'm now listening to a lot of crap from a lot of people who've done the biggest u-turn i've ever witnessed - apart from yourself Liamo from what you're saying. Manchester United fans (incl most Irish-based ones) stuck by Roy Keane throughout all the events of last year. Virtually no Irish fan did, in fact they were venomous and OTT...given those set of circumstances replicated in your life where would your loyalties lie?

[Iano]

I think it's time the Irish public apoligised to Roy Keane .

[Liamo]

There's passion there yet (and fair play to ya!) and yes, the acknowledgement "Sorry John" was in recognition that there are real MU fans around.

Let me explain: I'm unsure if approaching Keane was the right move for a lot of reasons, so there's no dig intended there; he's a great player when he keeps his head, he's definitely gives his all, but he does lose the cool and over-react.

So having pressure on as "the saviour" for half the support, with the other half waiting for a chance to say "told ya he wasn't God", and players probably testing his self-control, while Ferguson (up to now his confidante and mentor) against the idea may not be the best idea.

In fact, maybe that's partly why Ferguson intervened, I don't know.

There's generally an agreement between national bodies and teams that players are released - maybe this one stings when one of our best players is being advised not to play by a team that some of us have no allegiance to.

Am I having a swipe ? No. I'd rather see Stephen Carr play for Ireland than Spurs. Yes, Spurs pay his wages and deserve to comment on their "investment" in probably the best right-back in the Premiership, but I'm an Irish fan first and foremost (although by no means a fan of the FAI)

Last year, Keane's message was right but his timing was shite; hopefully the lessons learned will stand to everyone involved and future campaigns will be better organised and communicated, from all sides. The last time Keane was out for a while he came back a much better player - still as focussed, but less of a loose cannon.

On an aside, I know I object strongly to blanket MU coverage and commentators reporting as if they were an Irish team, but I'd hope that I don't offend any real supporters - disagree maybe, offend no; everyone has their day (even though us Spurs supporters haven't had one in quite a while!)

[John Fleming]

Nice to see some 'rationale' in your post Liamo. To be honest, it makes a refreshing change.

One thing i will correct. Although i know the terms in which you meant it...

maybe this one stings when one of our best players is being advised not to play by a team that some of us have no allegiance to

He is 'our' player rather than yours. We pay his wages, and - as stated above - supported him through the bad times. I laugh at the Irish claims to Roy Keane, considering the Irish reaction to him last summer.

Whether you have allegiance to Manchester United, or not, these are the facts.

Roy Keane went out to Japan/Korea to win the World Cup. It seems that nobody else believed that was possible, and the preparation reflected that. I can fully understand the reasons behind his outburst.

BTW many people called him a traitor and other more forceful - and hurtful - names. At the point that he left, Roy Keane was ordered to go home.
The real traitors were his teammates who publicly stated that they would leave if he were to return. Another fact that has been conveniently forgotten.
But the biggest traitors of all? The Irish 'fans' who turned their back on the man who sweated blood to get them there...and whilst it's a matter of opinion, my considered opinion is that anyone who believes Ireland would have made the finals without him are as barking as Mick McCarthy for sending his best player home, and persisting in playing Ian Harte through the tournament. Considering the way things went - Ireland could have got a lot further, and with Roy Keane on board, almost certainly would have. In my eyes, the Irish campaign was far from a success. In fact, it was a failure and a backward step.

[Liamo]

Hope the "refreshing change" comment was a general one, and not just regarding my posts ;)

I will admit to last year being tempted to climb a 40ft Vodafone poster of David Beckham to tippex out the apostrophe from the "We're winning" slogan, though!

I can understand Keane's frustration too, and I hope (as per my earlier post) that Brian can impose the self-belief required. The ordering is a little bit of a moot point, as he'd earlier said he wanted to go, but that's (hopefully) history.

I still think that both Mick & Roy came out badly off - both partially wrong, but both scarred, and with a lot of the real blame coming from elsewhere, too. If Keane had stayed and Ireland had played the way they did, then there's no question that and Ireland v Brazil final was on the cards. The "success" was that the team showed they could play; the failure was the circumstances surrounding that - why weren't they motivated to lift their game like that anyway ?

So (in order to return this thread to its track) I hope Brian gives this country the success it craves (and is capable of with Carr, Duff & maybe both Keanos), that we beat England in a major final (shown live on $ky $ports through their exclusive deal with the FAI) and that football is the overall winner......

[John Fleming]

Refreshing change referred to reasoned debate surrounding Manchester United FC, which is rare.

Whilst we probably are splitting hairs, it is not a moot point that he was ordered home, it is simply a fact. Yes, earlier he had a childish hissy fit and wanted to leave, but he decided to stay. What is also a fact is that at least half the team said they would leave if he were to return, yet they didn't get the 'traitor' tag hanging around their necks like the metaphorical noose that the Irish public put around Roy's.

Thanks for doing the job i should be doing as moderator and returning the thread to its subject matter...

Finally, i do wish the Irish team success even though i am bitter about the fan's treatment of Roy. BK is a nice guy, although i'm not sure he's the right choice - yet.