FAI...New Manager Hunt continues

[Itchy]

O Neill is probably the best manager we could realistically hope to attract. Keane is the best player this island ever produced and was captain of Ireland and Man utd. I think it is a great pairing and if any player has a problem lining out for them they should feck off somewhere else.

[laoislad]

O Neill is probably the best manager we could realistically hope to attract. Keane is the best player this island ever produced and was captain of Ireland and Man utd. I think it is a great pairing and if any player has a problem lining out for them they should feck off somewhere else.

Steve Staunton was one of the best defenders Ireland ever produced.Bobby Robson was one of the best managers there has been..
That duo ended well...

[muppet]

What will be the collective term for this two?

Mar-oy?
Ro-tin?

Ne-ane?
Ke-ill?

[Sidney]

If the Walker's Leprechaun is involved I'll be withdrawing my support from the FAI-run franchise and transferring it to Michael O'Neill and Provo Pat's Fenian Army, who are the original Ireland team in any event.

[ballinaman]

If the Walker's Leprechaun is involved I'll be withdrawing my support from the FAI-run franchise and transferring it to Michael O'Neill and Provo Pat's Fenian Army, who are the original Ireland team in any event.

Truly devastating news, you'll be missed

[Itchy]

O Neill is probably the best manager we could realistically hope to attract. Keane is the best player this island ever produced and was captain of Ireland and Man utd. I think it is a great pairing and if any player has a problem lining out for them they should feck off somewhere else.

Steve Staunton was one of the best defenders Ireland ever produced.Bobby Robson was one of the best managers there has been..
That duo ended well...

Your point is what? That we should not get the best manager available to us?

[muppet]

If the Walker's Leprechaun is involved I'll be withdrawing my support from the FAI-run franchise and transferring it to Michael O'Neill and Provo Pat's Fenian Army, who are the original Ireland team in any event.

Very unexpected from a Kilkenny Protestant Canice!

[AQMP]

O Neill is probably the best manager we could realistically hope to attract. Keane is the best player this island ever produced and was captain of Ireland and Man utd. I think it is a great pairing and if any player has a problem lining out for them they should feck off somewhere else.

[Main Street]

Realistically, probably about the  best we could have expected.

International football does not hold the esteem it once did. Only the high profile countries (kinda) still hold clout.

The Champions League is where it is at for the top tier Managers. After that it is the Premiership.

O'Neill's stock has fallen since stints with Villa and Sunderland.

We are both stuck for choice at the moment, so hopefully we could do each other a big favour.

I don't see why you think his stock fell with Villa,  the club spent the 6th highest amount on transfers, less on wages and finish 6th 3 times in a row, is a reasonable return. Club recoup about 60% of money spent, with transfer sales of Milner, Young and Downing, i.e. if you don't count the Stephen Ireland sting. At worst you'd say he did a good job at Villa. Don't know about the football played.
Sunderland is another matter. it's a mark on his reputation, whether it's a mortal mark is another matter.

The Irish job has a good salary of  something > Eur 1m. I'd say you'd have a fair sized queue of managers who would take the job, but I'd say there was a reaction against appointing a coach from outside these islands. They want a coach who's familiar etc etc.

Yeah, his time at Villa was decent. It was just the way he left the club. He had different aspirations to the Board, which is not a negative to his character. The maddest part of his tenure was getting Villa to the last 16 (I think) of the Europa League and putting out a complete reserve team!

As a Villa fan I can say that there is quite a mixed view towards O'Neill. He achieved three 6 place finishes in a row, and was in the hunt for top 4 until the final few games on 2 occasions. He also brought the club to a league cup final where it could be claimed that the wrongful non-dismissal of Vidic cost him victory.

He spend quite a bit of money, some very well, some not so. That's not really the issue as all managers make poor buys. The issue was that he spent massive money (and crazy wages) on players who he hardly used. The starting 11 hardly changed week on week and by the time March came around the players were dead on their feet. He never won a game in the month of March in 4 seasons as Villa manager. He also seemed quite tactically small minded in that his team had one way of playing and one way only. That was, soak up pressure and counter with pace (young, agbonlahor) and power (Carew). Villa under his tenure were much better away from home than at Villa Park.  He is undoubtably a man who likes to have control. He had full control over spending and wages at Villa and when the chairman tried to end that arrangement O'Neill walked.

I think he will be well suited to international management. Motivation of players and building of team spirit is his biggest strength. His shortcomings at Villa were largely in areas that won't come in to the equation as Ireland manager.

March was tough month for many leaders.
MON had 4 seasons i at Villa, in the last third of each season, Villa performed better than average in 2 seasons,
performed on average in one and below average in the other.
It's an old chestnut, about MON flogging the same 11 to death and they fade out in the run in.
Leicester under MON consistently finished stronger in the last 1/3 of the season.
The only team able to finish higher than Villa and spend less were Everton.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

6 years ago, Keane won the whatever-they-call-the-second-division-now.  Since then he's been an utter failure as a manager.  On what basis does anyone think putting him in the frame is a good move?

[muppet]

6 years ago, Keane won the whatever-they-call-the-second-division-now.  Since then he's been an utter failure as a manager.  On what basis does anyone think putting him in the frame is a good move?

Of those 6 years it is 2 years and 10 months since he was a manager.

The facts are he brought up a yoyo club and brought them back down again. McCarthy has done the same with the same club but without the blind vilification.

Then he was pretty ordinary with Ipswich and was sacked. This has also happened many managers without villification.

[mylestheslasher]

6 years ago, Keane won the whatever-they-call-the-second-division-now.  Since then he's been an utter failure as a manager.  On what basis does anyone think putting him in the frame is a good move?

Of those 6 years it is 2 years and 10 months since he was a manager.

The facts are he brought up a yoyo club and brought them back down again. McCarthy has done the same with the same club but without the blind vilification.

Then he was pretty ordinary with Ipswich and was sacked. This has also happened many managers without villification.

Was Keane manager when Sunderland went down? I thought he kept them up in his 2nd season. In his first season he brought them from 4th or 5th bottom to win the league. Ipswich was poor though. I think he has something to offer and not too many people can speak to his experience. The biggest problem he has is that the modern player is having less and less of the attributes that Keane would expect.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

6 years ago, Keane won the whatever-they-call-the-second-division-now.  Since then he's been an utter failure as a manager.  On what basis does anyone think putting him in the frame is a good move?

Of those 6 years it is 2 years and 10 months since he was a manager.

The facts are he brought up a yoyo club and brought them back down again. McCarthy has done the same with the same club but without the blind vilification.

Then he was pretty ordinary with Ipswich and was sacked. This has also happened many managers without villification.

The fact that he's been out of work for the past 2 years and 10 months hardly makes his record better.   
If anyone else with that managerial record was being considered people would wonder what the FAI were at.  I genuinely don't get why people think this is a good move.

[Jonah]

Will end in disaster.

[GalwayBayBoy]

O'Neill takes up Republic of Ireland reins despite delay in inking the deal

Saturday, November 02, 2013 - 08:50 PM

By Tony Leen, Irish Examiner Sports Editor

The contract isn't formally signed but Martin O'Neill is the new Republic of Ireland manager.

With Roy Keane already onside as his No 2, O Neill committed verbally to the position late Friday and should formally ink the deal within the next few days.

Interestingly O'Neill has already intimated to close associates that he sees this as a long term project. He has already identified a number of promising youngsters whom he hopes will declare for the Republic over Northern Ireland. Liverpool's Ryan McLoughlin is one such talent.

O'Neill will be the coach to the Republic's players. With Keane his assistant. Of course the dynamic between the pair will be informative but O'Neill may also draft in an additional coach to help out.

However that won't be John Robertson who has had some health issues.

Interestingly, I understand that O'Neills terms and conditions are every bit as lucrative as those afforded to his predecessor Giovanni Trapattoni and may even better them. But O Neill is more driven by legacy than money at this stage. He thinks he could spend the next decade as Irish manager.

He may travel to Dublin in next 24 hours to finalise contracts with the FAI, facilitating a formal announcement early next week.

The Keane connection is fascinating: he came as part of the O'Neill package and was not headhunted by the FAI. But together they are box office and initial reaction from the public indicates they'll spin the turnstiles in a way few others could for Ireland.

The meeting in London with FAI chief John Delaney was productive for O'Neill and convinced him this was a good fit.

It is presumed Mick McCarthy has been told at this stage that the position is no longer up for grabs.

He was the only realistic alternative once Guus Hiddink - who the FAI were prepared to splash extra cash for - let it be known he was not interested in the job.