Staunton has more of a top-class footballing pedigree than Kerr ever had, but he has absolutely no managerial reputation to live off. If things don't go reasonably well in his first couple of years is he learning the trade or just not up to the job? He wouldn't be the first good player to make a crap manager (see: Barnes, John). On the other hand, he wouldn't be the first manager to initially struggle with his first job before coming good with time. Having someone more experienced beside him could help to smooth the transition, as long as it was on Staunton's terms (unless the FAI are looking at him as an assistant manager right now with a long-term view to putting him in the main job....that seems a bit forward-thinking of them, however. And I doubt that if things went wrong with whoever they appoint, Staunton would escape the bullets as his #2).
Jose Mourinho has gone from being Bobby Robson's interpreter at Barca to one of the best managers in the world and never played the game at any decent level so that's not needed. Obviously, playing at the top level will be a big advantage but its a huge risk appointing Stan.
I'm not a massive fan of Stan's but I was starting to think we'd never get a new manager. I can't see him do much better for a couple years, not cause he's a bad manager but because the players aren't good enough. Let's jus wait and see how he does....
another poor choice on the f.a.i.'s part,and just to make my mind up even more on how much of a bad choice it is,Niall Quinn is on sky sports news talking about how great they'll be
Robson is a bizarre figure these days. Can Steve Staunton do a job for us? Nobody knows. It was becoming clear that no one else was interested in taking over so I suppose it was time to act. I will give it time. Getting us into the Euros from Pot 4 would be a big enough job for anybody in the game never mind Our Stan. Best of luck to all of us I say. Cyprus had to be the bottom so we must be coming up. No?
I wouldn't have called it after Kerr was let go, but having thought about it I'm not really that unhappy. Of all the International players we've had over the last number of years, I can't think of anybody I would have higher hopes for from a managerial point of view. It is a risk yet, but I do think it can work. Staunton has been a model professional & worked under a number of decent managers. He is intelligent and knows all about footballing issues. Even Robson I'm not overly concerned about. I'd like to know what exactly his role will be, but he can't be a negative surely?
It doesn't surprise me in the slightest, but I got to say I amn't too happy about it!! In fairness if the papers are to be believed the shortlist for the job was Venables, Ranieri, Robson, Stan and George Burley (b4 he went to southamton). And to be honest I wouldnt have been compltelt happy with any of the above!! But Ill wish Staunton the best anyway and Ive no doubt that he'll reclaim the dressing room that many players have said that Kerr had lost. (Interesting that the FAI sacked McCarthy so quickly largely due to Keane, Kerr it is believed lost many in the dressing room due to pandering to him, and the FAI have brought Stan in for the way he rallied the lads and dealt with the Keane situation in Saipan- will we ever get rid of his influence???) Also I wonder why the salary was raised to €750,000?? Was this not in order to entice an experienced coach???
Stan's getting three-quarters of a million? That would make him our highest-paid manager ever - in addition to what Robson's getting, which must be hefty in itself (unless the €750,000 is a joint figure). And apparently John Carver's joining our coaching staff as well.
give them a chance anyway...cant be as bad as the last two for coaching exp...well Kerr had coaching certs coming out of his ass and look how that all ended up we lost the irish fighting spirit....im sure stan can get that back...thats what we need robson...im not so sure about.....what exactly is his role.....i mean he does look a little old and he never was the most astute manager...half the time he didnt know who he was playing but we have a manager(s?) now...relax....let them get on with it...give them a chance....and lets see what they can do
Eh? McCarthy did a very good job for a while up to getting fired, and has proven he is a good manager at Sunderland. Kerr was awful, though. Robson is a quality manager and is a nice little coup for the FAI, imo. He might be older than dirt, but the job he did at Newcastle is a testament to the fact that he is not past it; they have given Sounness a lot more cash than they did him, and look at where it has got them. If he can help do with us something similar to what he did with the Toon from 99-04, we should be very happy to have him as part of the management.
maccarthy didnt do a very good job....i would give him 50%..........took us a while to qualify under him......drawing with iceland at home (and lithuania)....irwin needs to prove himself......the belgium game........neg tactics against yogoslavia and macedonia.....and that game against spain...... and we wont mention sunderland...ok i dont rate robson at all....sorry but i will give them a chance...thats fair
I don't suppose you noitced the sheer lack of quality we had in the team for many of McCarthy's earlier years? And he has done an amazing job at at Sunderland, regardless of if they finish this season without one more point. Not sure how, you are aware of what he did at Newcastle as well as his previous managerial successes? Trust me, I do not rate maangers just because of their name - had Venables been in Robson's role I would have been screaming blue murder, but Robson is a quality manager, and his experience can only be a bonus.
billy billy billy dont suppose you ever noticed that ireland was never particulalrly blessed with a team of superstars....2 or 3 yes but never a team of international household names..... i guess iceland, lithuania, belgium, yugoslavia, macedonia, etc had better players maccarthy had the dressing room buzzing and we played well..... up to a point...but he wasnt good at the old tactics...and some of his decisions left a lot to be desired i do know that robson won a league title with ipswich (right?) and a uefa cup wow...great....after that,...not much i just think he is waffler...and the FAI are using him to scout! bizarre. does he know where dublin is...i wonder! basically he will be getting money for doing diddly squat
Well, I disagree all round here... ...but I guess this is the kind of magnanimity we need. If you're prepared to judge them on their progress with us, fair enough. I don't see how you can say that Robson will be doing diddly squat though - Stan's going to need all the tips he can get, and they don't come more experienced than Robson. And not experienced in an 'I'm old' way, experienced in an 'I've seen and done it all with quality players and quality teams. My quality teams' kind of way. Bobby Robson's honours: Ipswich Town 1977-78 FA Cup Winners 1980-81 UEFA Cup Winners 1980-81 Division One runners-up 1981-82 Division One runners-up PSV Eindhoven 1990-91 Dutch League Champions 1991-92 Dutch League Champions FC Porto 1993-94 Portuguese Cup Winners 1994-95 Portuguese League Champions 1995-96 Portuguese League Champions Barcelona 1996-97 European Cup Winners Cup Winners 1996-97 Spanish League runners-up 1996-97 Spanish Cup winners Along with successfull spells at Newcastle and England (knocked out in WC '86 by Maradona in the quarters, and in WC '90 by West Germany on penalties in the semis), and more moulding of great players (and managers, if Mourinho is anything to go by) than you can shake a stick the length of Peter Crouch eek at. I'll take him.
PSV......i have lived in Holland...so i know what that league is like....its a joke....like the scottish league actually...2/3 teams and the rest are god damn awful (at least upto a few years ago) as far as i can remeber robson didnt really do much there...they were still champs before and after (if my memory serves me right...but im waiting for your email to correct me ) fc porto....once again a ******** league...wouldnt rate it at all...and fc porto have won before and after his little stint there as for Barcelona...well that did take the pits....nobody knew what exactly he was meant to be doing there (similar to the irish thing?)...he wasnt actually manager/coach but more like sporting director...and according to my barca friends he was rarly seen on the training pitch england...you see this was his make or break chance..... 86.....first round...he was lucky he wasnt lynched......and dont forget it took him a bloody long time to put beardsley into the team (and Barnes!!) england only really played football in the 2nd half against Argentina 88...nuff said 90.....belgium all over them......why didnt jan cuelmans put it into the net...one and one with shilts... im sorry...he had some good highs...but dont get over excited about him...remember the english love hyping their own up..... but anyway i sincerely hope he/you guys prove me wrong (i actually was wrong on the last two irish managers...i originally wanted mccarthey and kerr last time...funny how it works out) and he is another northern english guy to take over us......and the last one didnt do to badly
PM sent I think it's a bit harsh to dismiss the Dutch and Portuguese leagues like that - both have produced more European champions and more quality players (the Dutch league in particular) than Scotland, at least since Scotland stopped producing truly top-class players. He was manager at Barca the season that they won the trophies, being moved to 'General Manager' the season after when Louis van Gaal was hired. Regardless of quibbles over just how good the leagues are, plenty of people have managed in them without winning anything, let alone consistently winning in four different countries and in four different decades (well, winning in three decades; impressing - as far as I'm concerned - in four taking into account his Newcastle stint).
no not really...i really couldnt believe my eyes when i used to watch Dutch league games... laudrup once literally ran from the halfway line over the goalline...apart from the top 3 there aint much quality...... his trophy cabinet reads like this...dutch/port league...uefa cup and cup w cup.....not bad...but dont hype it up please can the man manage a sentence without uttering sh ite.... but anyway thats my 2 cents (will be home soon....all good!)
I forgot that Belgium beat England in that match and lost to West Germany in the semis on penalties........
if you watched that match you might have remembered that belgium were all over england.....i couldnt beleive how lucky england were in that game...last minute (great goal) by platt and we wont even go into the cameroon game....(they had england on the ropes for most of that game) but anyway thats that! and ireland was the 7 best team in the world at this time!!!!
But the point is that Robson team DID win and get to the Semis and almost made the final. Every team that does well needs a bit of luck. On another note, FAI Chief Executive John Delaney has said experience is not neccessary for the Irish Manager's job: http://www.elevenaside.com/boysingre...p?newsid=20669 Well in that case, I'd would like to put my name forward. Does being the coach of my 6 year old's rec team give me the neccessary experience and tactical knowledge required for the job?
Charlton at one stage had Bonner, McGrath, Whelan, Irwin, Staunton, a young Roy Keane, Houghton, Townsend, Quinn & Aldridge to ork with, along with a list of good squad players. Care to remember who we had in 1996? Can you honestly say we had anywhere near that quality from 96-99? Not a whole lot worse, to be honest. Some might say Belgium had a stronger team than us. Which is a shiteside more than Kerr coud say, or any Irish manager including Charlton (repeated long balls may have done the trick, but great tactically, he wasn't). Read Leto's post. Again, Leto's post.
Take a look at some of Ireland's games from then. Charlton was far from a long ball merchant. He had a very basic philosophy when it came ot the game. Move the ball quickly - usually down the wings, but not always - into the opposition half before they had time to settle the defense. Make sure you keep the ball in the opponent's half. If possible play it in behind the full backs, as that caused all types of problems with centerhalves being pulled all over the place, and then hit it in to a tall or capable center forward. If he couldn't score then his partner or on onrushing midfielder would be there to pop it in. Long ball is hit and hope, which is what you see when teams are losing with 5 minutes left - think Kerr with the Ginger Pele; Charlton's teams were far from that. There a distinct difference between direct football and Route 1 football.
yes you are right Charlton had a much better team...but we still had enough good players...good enough to be playing in the english prem.... to qualify how come maccarthy...when the going got tough (spain/belgium/croatia/macedonia) always went defensive for christ sake he played tony cascarino for nearly 90 mins against croatia instead of robbie....that beggars belief... took him a long long time to recognise the potential in Duff (and then he played him out of position!) and i still think robson was a lucky manager.....a good waffler (and before you talk about napoleon...he got his ass whipped at waterloo!!!!!!!)
Ireland made it to the playoffs in both '98 and 2000. That shows they were only inches away from qualifying. In both cases Ireland were well in charge for second place and but for a 92nd minute defensive error would have qualified for Euro 2000 directly. Ahhh......yes. Be as selective as possible and pick only the games where Ireland didn't play well; eschew all others. Ireland played defensively against Spain? I presume you're talking about WC '02. I remember precious little of Spain attacking in that game. What I do remember was the Spanish running for the hills and putting the team bus behind the ball when Irealnd had it. I remember them not knowing what to do with Duff or Keane or Quinn, when he came on, amongst others. Ireland defensive against Spain? Yer having a laugh. I notice you didn't pick the Germany game from the same WC or the Cameroon game or the Croatia game in Dublin in '98 or the Holland qualifier. Selective and disingenuous, huh? Belgium? Was that home or away? Because it doesn't make an awful lot of difference. In both games Ireland went out looking to score playing, as they say, within themselves. They lacked the abilities of mature Duff or a player who could run at defenses; Duff was still a Blackburn player at that time and still a teenager if I remember correctly. There's not doubt that McCarthy played defensively against Croatia AWAY - I notice you didn't have the honesty to include the home game - and you know what? He nearly pulled it off. Suker scored in the 96th minute of injury time for God's sake!!! And if he had nicked the point there, he would have been hailed for a great fighting result. Playing Cascarino instead of Keane? Well, there were more than a few people who understood the logic. Firstly Keane is not a target man, preferring to wander back to collect the ball - not what was needed with the game plan that day. Ireland needed someone to hold the ball, someone to be awkward and Robbie Keane was not that person. Furthermore, Keane had how many caps and was how old? Definitely a teenager and the job Cascarino was doing that day required an old head, a grafter who had been down that road before. Not a headstrong kid who'd pick up a yellow and then be suspended for the Malta game - where he was a lot more effective and did score the opener. Cascarino, having run his bollocks off in the Croatia game, didn't appear in the Malta game. What a load of bollocks. He knew about Duff and his potential - how could he not? The fact was that until Morrison established himself - and there's many who would say, myself included, that Morrison has yet to establish himself - Ireland had no other real option up front. There were journeymen forwards here and there, but playing Duff up front was a better option that playing him wide with a donkey up front. No idea what the Napoleon thing is about, but Robson lucky? The man has proved himself in 4 top European leagues and led England well in 1990 learning from his mistakes of '88. Lucky???? More bollocks. I'm reminded of Gary Player's quote, "the harder I practise, the luckier I get."