Also, according to the times, Dalglish, Kinnear, Kerr, Troussier, Reid and Robson are the names currently on the shortlist, which will be announced later in the week after it has been cut down to roughly four people. I think the last two names will be the ones who get the chop, and no mention of Burley or Stapleton which can only be good. Certinally, any from the first four would be alright with me. I'm not to sure on Troussier though. He talks alot of sense in that article, he's even put up a decent argument for three at the back, and I'd agree with most of it though I'd favour a 4-4-2 with wingers, apart from that I agree with alot of what he says. That article has helped put him back up in my estimation a bit, but the report on that Japanese rebellion thing during the world cup would put me off a bit. Dalglish would be my favourite. He has a proven track record with top flight titles for Liverpool and Blackburn, he also is a very stern person who, unlike Mick, wouldn't be too afraid to tell underpreforming players to get it together or get out, no matter what they'd done in the past. Also, he's Scottish, and Scotland have produced some fine managers in the past, in fact they've probably been the best producers of managers in Europe when you look at what some have achieved, I guess it's something to do with the mentality which hopefully Dalglish has. Reid and Robson I wouldn't like at all, Kerr's got the track record but can he make the step up? And Kinnear has proved all he needs to prove, he'd be more then capable of it, but will the FAI put their grudge behind them?
troussier would be a very bold choice but i can't see the fai having the b@lls (or money) to appoint him. ireland needs a kick up the backside, a complete overhaul and i'm thinking he could be the man. my preference would be troussier/dalglish kerr ....telling the rest to sod-off not too sure about using 3 defenders. don't think we have have the players for it. but at least he recognises ireland's strengths and is willing to adapt to them, unlike mmc who played his style in spite of them. according to yesterday's 'ireland on sunday' it appears to be a two horse race between kerr and moran. it is just me or does anybody else think that appointing kevin moran would be astronomically stupid? ok, he has brian kidd as coach but come on! his managerial experience is laughable. i can't believe he's being seriously considered. my life-long-cetlic-supporting uncle baulked at my approval for dalglish. he still hasn't forgiven him for his time at celtic and his penchant for law suits when he thinks he's been hard done by.
not at all to my knowledge, and that's why it's laughable. I think he had a player/coaching role while at blackburn "Kevin Moran Kevin Moran won 71 International caps for the Republic of Ireland between 1980 and 1994. Moran played his Club football at Dublin club Bohemians, moving onwards to Manchester United, Blackburn and then Sporting Gijon in Spain, where he saw out the last 2 years of his career. " for the last few years he's been involved with the 'proactive sports group" - a player management company but i see that he stepped down from it's board last august, although is still involved with it's executive committee. perhaps he knew that his position within the company might hinder any application for the ireland job. also worth knowing that he finished third for the post back in 1996, well behind kinnear and mccarthy.
I'm sure it'd be quite a coup in terms of publicity for this Proactive Sports Group to have the new manager of the Republic of Ireland in their stable. Could well help raise their profile and get a few more money spinning signings under their wing. Our Kev is after all one of the few professionals, past or present with a third level degree, and one in business to boot. A wily operator by all accounts.
shortlist Bryan Hamilton is supposed to be handing in a six man shortlist to the FAI today, which may be made public during the week. The new man is also supposed to be in place by next week.
Re: shortlist Don't believe a word of it. Okay, maybe Hamilton will hand in his list shortly, but the FAI are nowhere near ready to name a new manager. They have far too many other more imporant matters to be dealing with to be bothered with such a menial decision!!!!! I will be very surprised if we have someone in place before the Scotland game.
And don't forget what a shambles Dalglish created at Newcastle. He took over a team that was in the Champions' League, playing superb attacking football and challenging Man. Utd for the Premiership. Within a few months he had changed them into a defensive, boring mid-table outfit.
Err, in fact Newcastle weren't in the CL at that time but did qualify for it at the end of the season in which KD took over. Once he started to bring in his own players - as opposed to using Keegan's - the rot really set in, so I stick by my main point.
From today's Irish Times: The timing of Kerr's departure to the UAE is a little unfortunate given the ongoing search to find a replacement for Mick McCarthy. Bryan Hamilton is expected to bring a proposed shortlist of names to the FAI this week, after which the officers will discuss his recommendations and work will start on setting up meetings with the candidates. Kerr remains one of the frontrunners for the job, with even McCarthy, with whom he had some significant run-ins over the past few years, apparently tipping him in private to get the post. As yet there have been no attempts to set up a meeting with him before he departs for the UAE, although FAI treasurer John Delaney made it clear last week that he felt the trip could be worked around if it needed to be. In reality, it seems there will not be an opportunity to talk to Kerr until after the 10-day trip. Frank Stapleton, meanwhile, has confirmed he held talks with Hamilton regarding his interest in the post. "I'm very passionate about the Irish team," said the former Manchester United and Arsenal striker, "but maybe the one thing against me is probably that I haven't managed in the Premiership." Frankie Stapleton? Jeez, with Moran why is Hamilton talking with people with poor/no record in management?
He also took a nothing club and won the title, and if you say that's because they had money then why can't Jean Tigana do the same? Hell even O'Leary with Leeds couldn't do it.
Merriongate II I understand that the knives are out (again) at Merrion Square and that there may be casualties before the weekend. Selecting a new manager is the last thing on anybody's mind behind the big green door. Apparently whoever is left after the anticipated bloodbath will ask Don Givens to take the team again for the Scotland game, and this could be extended to include Georgia and Albania. In a worst case scenario, it could be April or May before a new boss is appointed.
Am I alone in thinking that Givens is a shite manager? He was given the U21s because Evans was doing a crap job (which he was, to be fair) and since he took over, the results have been essentially more of the same. I know he had a reasonably successful stretch at Neuchatal Xamax (sp?) a couple of years ago. A strict disclipinarian, he is supposedly as humourless as Stapleton. (Andy Gray says Stapleton smiles the first thing every morning, just to get it over with!) And I'm still more inclined to believe Connolly's side of things from the Greek game. I find it difficult to believe that he was excluded from the initial squad as he had some crazy sort of stats at that point, something like 9 goals in the previous 5 games or something like that.
from the examiner... FAI 'extremely pleased' with Hamilton recruitment 15/01/2003 - 9:47:16 am The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) said today that the Association was extremely pleased with the outcome of the first phase of the recruitment process for the vacant Republic of Ireland Manager’s job. The former Northern Ireland Manager Bryan Hamilton met with the Association’s selection committee yesterday and presented the results of his deliberations following an extensive number of contacts with a wide range of applicants over the past month. FAI president Milo Corcoran said the process to date has been extremely comprehensive and brought to this stage in a professional fashion by Bryan Hamilton whose work is proving to be very valuable. Mr Corcoran said the sub-committee would now commence final interviews with a shortlist of candidates with Bryan Hamilton continuing his involvement in the process through to its completion. He added that the process was on schedule and expected the new manager to be appointed by the end of January. “The quality of the field is very impressive”, said Bryan Hamilton, adding that he was impressed with candidates’ professionalism and preparation but particularly the “level of desire shown for the position”.
I am not decrying what he did with Blackburn. After then, however, he screwed up horribly at Newcastle and Celtic. If I was in the FAI's shoes, I would take more notice of the recent form.
He hardly screwed up at Celtic, Barnes was the manager, basically he sat in the backround, did nothing and picked up his cheque. It's the Celtic directors fault for giving him such a job in the first place.
Of course he screwed up at Celtic. He was hired to do a job and he failed to get it done, stunningly. He picked Barnes a mate of his with ZERO previous managerial experience. When things were going hugely wrong, he refused to step into the breech and rectify things, allowing Barnes to dig himself deeper into a bigger hole. The Celtic directors hired an adult, not a teenager who required constant supervision. He convinced them he could get the job done, otherwise they would not have hired him. And he was too happy to go AWOL when the going got tough. (Mind you, it was AWOL to the golf courses of Spain.)
I don't really see what that has to do with his ability as a manager, Barnes was the manager at the time.
Re: Re: shortlist When I posted this I thought things would have come to a head a lot quicker, but this morning's news confirms to me that another shake up at FAI headquarters is imminent. Pat Mustard had obviously heard what I heard last week when he added this : "I understand that the knives are out (again) at Merrion Square and that there may be casualties before the weekend. Selecting a new manager is the last thing on anybody's mind behind the big green door. Apparently whoever is left after the anticipated bloodbath will ask Don Givens to take the team again for the Scotland game, and this could be extended to include Georgia and Albania. In a worst case scenario, it could be April or May before a new boss is appointed." I'm not so sure that the managerial appointment will be delayed that long, but certainly we are about to witness the shafting of one of the most high profile members of the FAI executive. It is interesting that certain "irregularities" are the only issues up for discussion at tomorrow's meeting. Considering that the appointment of the new manager is being touted for this weekend, one might have suspected that such a topic might deserve a cursory mention at the very least!
Listening to the Radio this morning, The RTE correspondent (can't remember his name) had spoken with an FAI representativwe who confirmed that the Managerial decision had been made but would not be announced until Tues/Wed of next week due to contract issues that had to be finalised. The 'Bonus' issue is also delaying matters. The latest thinking is 'Kerr' as he seems to be the publics/medias favourite (not in all cases obviously)and the FAI could do with some positive headlines at the moment.