accordring to Wikipedia Irelands Population 4,339,000 (Republic alone) Scotlands Population 5,116,900 (Although ROI Population was about 3.5 million in early 90's) Fifa rankings Ireland 36th (NI is 32nd) Scotland 14th Scotland is superior in both counts
If Scotland is so much better why have they never made it to the knockout stages of any tournament? Sure the have made more tournaments than Ireland, yet, Ireland has made it to at least the Round of 16 in every World Cup, even making it to a quarter final in 1990
And 10 or 15 years ago Ireland was ranked 6th and Scotland in the 80s. As recently as 2003 ('04?) Ireland was ranked higher than Scotland. What do FIFA rankings prove? And Souness has nothing to do with Scotland's recent rise. The problem I have with Souness is that he's a crap manager who has won very little and been run out of town on a stick in his last few jobs. (Also, there is a his decidedly dodgy time at Blackburn where all Irish players were moved on after he came in. He had to address his supposed lack of anti-Irish bias on more than one occasion. It still persists in some circles.)
And so it goes on...... http://sport.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/01/24/International-McAteer-on-Houllier/
Its the standard that the World's governing bodies use to seed teams (One would have thought you would have known that!) Anyways, the point was, the earlier chap assumed that the ROI had more population (I proved it didn't) He also assumed that the ROI were a better team at present than Scotland, (proved wrong by the FIFA Rankings) Now thats over, why not a foriegner, it worked with Jackie Charlton
We wouldn't even be discussing it if you didn't call Ireland a "wee country." Ireland aren't exactly a "wee country" in the footballing world. You jock git.
Reads like a crazy rumour to me... "Having engaged in discussions with key figures within the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) hierarchy, Trapattoni is believed to be warming to the idea of becoming Steve Staunton's successor." What about the independent hiring committee?
If this is not a perfect synecdoche for the FAI, assuming Trapattoni's interest, I don't know what is..... However, the FAI are understood to be still considering a move for Davies with the former Preston man still available after leaving Derby in November.
i would take back a lot of the stuff iv said bout the fai if they appoint trappatoni as manager, it would be a fantastic decision in my opinion...loads of experience, commands respect, would have good knowledge to bring us forward, it seems to be in a load of news stories,this story seems to have substance..... hes fallen from 150-1 to 13-8 fav...im gettin goosebumps....trapatoni!! trappatoni!!
OMG! I really like Trap and respect him as one of the greatest Juve managers ... but his time is definitely over! I don't think he'd be the right choice for Ireland with his old-fashioned methods (he failed miserably during the last years).
well looks like it was a crazy rumour...Media reported today that Trap slammed the press reports, and has said he's spoke to no one about the position.
What's the difference who offers Trapattoni the job, as long as the person has the authority to do so?
Agreed, but so what. Assuming he's going to Austria, he's only going as a messenger boy. Where's the problem?
Staunton just signed on to be McAllister's assistant at Leeds. Get the feeling that even that job might be beyond him.