In a way Roy's right, he just doesn't have the gravitas to say it the right way. When you get in a major tournament, even in a killer group, it's no accomplishment to get whipped 7-1 in 2 games. The fans will always be great. The team has to show the same dedication.
These are Ireland's 5th finals and this is by far the weakest squad. I thought they could play above themselves and get 4 points and maybe squeeze through on goal difference, but that was obviously not to be. Truth is, the weaknesses of the squad and the tactics were minimized, but there's no hiding on the field. The team has done as best it can, but you can't open a bottle of wine with a hammer. They just don't have what it takes. Trappatoni is not the first, nor will he be the last to think you can stifle the Spanish by flooding midfield. Germany and Holland tried and failed in the last WC with vastly superior teams and players, and Holland had to resort to bullying tactics in the final. That Ireland had to qualify via the playoffs (and against a poor Estonian side) only shows that they didn't have the quality to top the group. Interestingly however, Russia seem to have picked up a notch and Ireland diminished equally since the group stages. But this is just one of those times when qualifying was the zenith of the campaign. I was much bemused by his Royness' pronunciations. If ever there's a man NOT qualified to opine on who and what Irish fans are and want, it's Roy Keane. Here's what he said: "It's a reality check for a lot of the Irish players. I think a lot of them think they're top players, and it goes to show that they're so far behind a lot of these players. I think the players and even the supporters, they all have to change their mentality, it’s just nonsense from players speaking after the games about how great the supporters are. Listen, the supporters want to see the team doing a lot better and not giving daft goals away like that. I’m not too happy with all that nonsense.To praise the supporters for sake of it … Let’s change that attitude towards Irish supporters. They want to see the team winning – let’s not kid ourselves, we’re a small country, we’re up against it, but let's not just go along for the sing-song every now and again.” See, I 'm nor sure any of the Irish players have ever put it about that they're world class and given that well over half the sporting population plays other sports, it's a phenomenal thing that Ireland even qualify. But when they do, I'm not sure that they go there thinking, 'oh, 3 games and out'. Like most other countries that aren't in the top tier, I think Ireland go there figuring they should/might get out of the group, and maybe win one of the knock-outs or two; I think they're realistic in their expectations, thinking the quarters or the semis are just about in reach - and the semis only when there's exceptional talent, like say 2002 when one of the exceptional talents pissed off home. But those expectations are in line with other countries such as Belgium, Switzerland, Serbia, Croatia, Czechs etc. If you're German, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish then you can set your sights a bit higher - i.e anything less than the semis is a failure - but for Roy Keane to be telling Irish supporters how to think and players how to react is a bit rich coming from a man who left the side in the lurch when there was genuinely a shot at the semis in '02. And yes, those Irish fans were superb last night. That team and that squad is as weak as there has been in a long time; weakest ever Irish squad to go to a finals. In previous incarnations, the country secretly feared that the team would disgrace themselves, 3 and out. And they didn't. But this time it was the word made flesh. But again, the fans were superb last night in the face of adversity and I don't think they need to be looking for guidance on how and who to be to someone who walked out on his country when the training football weren't inflated properly. Great club player, good international player, lousy manager, so-so pundit. Yesterday's man.
He was more critical of the players than the fans IMO. Saying how great your supporters were in a way is a deflection on how piss-poor you just played on the pitch. Constant giveaways, no build-up whatsoever, blind passes right to the Spanish players, caught flat-footed on nearly every goal. You're right, I've never seen an Irish team this bad in a major competition. So maybe praising the great fan support is all you can takeaway. But that's not good enough if you want to be taken seriously.
The thing about Roy is that he's a winner and feels that such poor play should be criticised and feels that the team and management have been let off the hook. But he could have gone about it in a different way. I agree with what the fans did the other night. It was amazing. But. There's a danger that it has translated into the players and more so the manager not feeling as bad as they should about their own performance and decisions. http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/euro-2012/2012/0615/325216-trap/ "That is our right to stay. I have more enthusiasm to stay than you and your colleagues. The Irish people can decide "The people yesterday at 3-0 were still applauding, our people, and we must be proud. I repeated today to the players, we must be proud of this country and four our supporters." So to me it seems that Traps has translated our fans support for our country into support for him and his decisions which is wrong. I watched his press conference yesterday and I have to say I was annoyed with the fact that he didn't accept responsibility for anything. At the end of the day the only foregone conclusion going into this group was that Spain would beat us but not that our own performance would be so bad.
I have to agree with Keane. I say get Trappatoni out and give Keane a chance, he may be a mouth piece, but at least he will pick the best team available to him. It's ridiculous that Trappatoni hasn't made any changes to the team that has been awful for the first two matches. He's just named the same starting eleven for the match against Italy. Bringing Doyle back in and dropping Cox. Westwood should be replacing Given, Kelly should be replacing Ward, Gibson should be replacing Whelan, McClean should be replacing McGeady and Long should be replacing Keane. What else do we have to lose? Here's what Roy had to say in the papers today.. http://www.teamtalk.com/republic-of-ireland/7820998/Keane-back-on-the-warpath
Keane to manage Ireland ??? Based on what? It would be a worse appointment than Staunton, if that's possible.
What manager in the world would name the same exact team that had lost 2 previous matches by a combined score of 7-1?
Part of what made the WC 2010 (advancing to the playoffs) and this Euro cycle (achieving qualification) successful was the comradery and consistency within the squad. I find it hard to fault Trap for sticking with those principles and giving the XI that got the nation to the tournament (and into the playoffs of the WC 2010) another chance to play, and for many of them go out together. Ultimately, this game should mean very little other than a chance to (hopefully) send over half of the XI out on a winning note. Trapattoni knew this squad was getting a little long in the tooth and when qualification started there frankly wasn't a lot of young talent competing at the highest level to integrate / challenge the mainstays from the 2010 cycle. Trap did manage to replace (necessarily) Kilbane from the 2010 cycle with Ward but otherwise the first choice XI was the same throughout. People complain about the likes of Paul Green, but Paul Green knows the Trapattoni system and understands the expectations and responsibilities of the role he fills. His sub wasn't to spark a comeback against Spain, it was to provide a loyal servant a taste of an international tournament and try to limit the damage. Trapattoni's plan B was evident in the Croatia game which was to flood the field with target men and resort to long balls forward with the hopes of getting a knock down. What were people expecting? An incisive short passing game with Andrews and Whelan in CM? What other plan B would people realistically expect with the squad available? What fans often forget is that qualifying is as much grinding out results against the likes of Armenia and Slovakia on the road where a strong team understanding is crucial. You can't just call-up the likes of Wes Hoolihan or Marc Wilson and throw them into the squad in a match like that where it would be the first time playing competitively with the men around them. However, the focus on loyalty and team unity is also what is concerning about Trappatoni recurring for the 2014 cycle. Realistically this should be the end of the road for a number of the current Irish squad (Given, Duff, Keane, Hunt, Andrews, Dunn, O'Shea, and Green) and the beginning of a refreshed squad reinforcedwith new emerging talent (McClean, Clarke, Hoolahan, Pilkington, Coleman, McCarthy, Best, and Wilson) integrated. This is the end for a fantastic generation; however, if Trappatoni allows their end to play out into the 2014 cycle it will slow the emergence of the next one and negatively impact the nation's qualification potential. If the FAI had any power in the relationship, they should have sounded Trap out before issuing the extension to confirm he wasn't too emotionally invested in this generation to clearly and somewhat ruthlessly end their international careers for them. Also -- to whoever mentioned the name Stephen Ireland -- you must be mad. The player has consistently proven himself completely unreliable for both club and country and shouldn't ever get near the squad. He's exactly the type of personality who would posion the Trappatoni ethos.
Hard luck Ireland. Even though your team were piss-poor and humiliated you kept singing to the end like true fans, proud that your little country managed to qualify. Just being there is enough for some I guess.
Yeah. That's it precisely. When Ireland qualified, Trappatoni, the players, backroom staff, journalists and every single Irish fan worldwide had a secret meeting where it was decided that qualifying was enough and that there was no need to try anymore. Trappatoni told everyone that he would have the players forget everything he had taught them and guaranteed 3 losses because just being there is enough for some I guess. Now I just gotta find who leaked those minutes from the secret meeting of 5 million people. I'm guessing Roy Keane, but I could be wrong.
No need to be tetchy Samarkand, I was just congratulating your great fans. I know if England had played as terribly as Ireland did, that they'd get booed off. But things like standards are unimportant to the Irish who just like a nice sing song and some beer and I think that's sort of cute and admirable in its own way.
Would you like to provide a disertation on the differentiation between the League of Ireland and the Premiership as well? Heavens you're intolerably smug. Probably haven't enjoyed a single day of your life.
A strategy that has only ever served to make the England fans look like arseholes and done the team no good whatsoever. Thanks for the advice baby (in an Eamon Dunphy accent) but it's not needed. Now scram.