FAI...New Manager Hunt continues

[Captain Obvious]

Thewobbler overachieving and not underachieving.

[laoislad]

Can't understand this criticism of Ireland tonight. I'd go so far as to suggest that the detractors have a tenuous grip on the reality of Irish soccer at present.

Here's a few things that actually are facts:

- Apart from a couple of seasons under McCarthy (another manager reviled by many), Ireland have never played attractive football since qualifying their first major tournament. If you remember different, you probably remember your childhood days as always sunny.

- In terms of playing personnel, you would have to go back to the 1950s to find fewer Irish options playing regular top flight football in England. By virtue, this is the weakest squad Ireland has had in the modern era.

- In terms of individual talent, there is not one player available to Ireland who would have a market value of €10m. Or to put it another way, there is no single top class individual talent available. This is probably the first time this has happened since before Johnny Giles.

- Despite all this, Ireland managed to qualify for a major tournament just last summer, and have also gotten off to a winning start against opponents who were not so much weak, as completely unknown.

- No team in the history of football has ever had success playing four wingers.


Here's some conjecture:

- Trap's team is boring and is underachieving.

Exactly, everyone bitches about Irish soccer, wtf do you expect? Of the teams that finish in the top five places in the top 5 leagues in the world, how many Irish players will be on the squad?

Ireland's first choice eleven would probably only make a half decent Championship side.
Everyone wants us to play like Barca, I don't know how they think we can with the type of players available.

[From the Bunker]

Can't understand this criticism of Ireland tonight. I'd go so far as to suggest that the detractors have a tenuous grip on the reality of Irish soccer at present.

Here's a few things that actually are facts:

- Apart from a couple of seasons under McCarthy (another manager reviled by many), Ireland have never played attractive football since qualifying their first major tournament. If you remember different, you probably remember your childhood days as always sunny.

- In terms of playing personnel, you would have to go back to the 1950s to find fewer Irish options playing regular top flight football in England. By virtue, this is the weakest squad Ireland has had in the modern era.

- In terms of individual talent, there is not one player available to Ireland who would have a market value of €10m. Or to put it another way, there is no single top class individual talent available. This is probably the first time this has happened since before Johnny Giles.

- Despite all this, Ireland managed to qualify for a major tournament just last summer, and have also gotten off to a winning start against opponents who were not so much weak, as completely unknown.

- No team in the history of football has ever had success playing four wingers.


Here's some conjecture:

- Trap's team is boring and is underachieving.

Exactly, everyone bitches about Irish soccer, wtf do you expect? Of the teams that finish in the top five places in the top 5 leagues in the world, how many Irish players will be on the squad?

Ireland's first choice eleven would probably only make a half decent Championship side.
Everyone wants us to play like Barca, I don't know how they think we can with the type of players available.

The Acid test is Scotland and Wales who have a similar player pool to our own, play in the same leagues and look at the results their side churn out!

[Capt Pat]

Have to agree with LL. Result is all that matters (for the moment). We needed that and the way we got the result will lift moral. Remember the days of going to these countries and beating them for six are gone. Job done in a country the far side of Europe on a plastic pitch.

With one exception of the 4-0 in the euro playoff against Estonia we never went to these countries and won 6-0. For these road trips one or two goal wins are the norm with a few draws and defeats thrown in. Macedonia twice Cyprus Lietchenstein etc.

The key here was the three points and getting qualification. If we don't unearth some new talent or at least get our best players on the pitch we won't compete if we do qualify. As it stands the Swedes are beatable. We just need to contain Ibrahimovic who is inconsistent. The Bosch are out of our league.

[timmyot501]

Nobody is expecting Ireland to play like Barca as was quoted earlier.  But maybe playing players in their proper roles could help us out a bit.  Strikers on the wing, wingers on the bench and even strikers in central midfield before central midfielders. . . Why??
I agree that sometimes an experiment is needed and sometimes it works but why not do this sort of experimenting in meaningless friendlies?  Trap seems to be stubborn and also seems to make decisions so as to not be media led.
On the very few and isolated occasions that we did string some passes together we showed that we can do it.  But a straight ball from St Ledger, O'Dea or Westwood to the Kaz defenders was never going to yield anything.  I was bored with the repetitive nature of this tactic.

[Hardy]

I just caught the last five or six minutes of this. Timing, eh? I did thoroughly enjoy a bizarre piece of analysis afterwards from Liam Brady that would put Tony Davis in the shade. Liam leapt to the defence of the manager in the face of criticism from Giles and the other young lad (who actually seemed to know what he was talking about) by vehemently asserting that Trapattoni was the man for the job, was doing brilliantly, was a virtual genius and that all that was needed now was for the players to tell him how the game should be played!

Honestly. It didn't make sense to me either.

[Applesisapples]

I'll bet Wilson, Gibson and McLean are ruing leaving OWC for that.

[Minus15]

No I bet they are not!

[Capt Pat]

So how about Mick McCarthy to replace Trap. He has the experience and is unoccupied at the moment.

[laoislad]

So how about Mick McCarthy to replace Trap. He has the experience and is unoccupied at the moment.

With Roy Keane as his No.2

[dillinger]

I'll bet Wilson, Gibson and McLean are ruing leaving OWC for that.

We might have them! Maybe throw in Kevin Foley as well, even though he's English really.

[thewobbler]

I have to say, James McClean does come across as a self-centred p***k every time he talks.

I can see O'Neill moving him along soon, if he doesn't work out that he's been given an opportunity, and a reward.

[rodney trotter]

I think getting to the Euro's was an achievement in itself. Far too much hype before the tournament that Ireland would make it out of the group, as Italy were a poor team and Croatia were good but no world beaters. Load of bull that was - they were and are far better technical teams than Ireland ever wil be.

We got lucky in getting Estonia in the play offs. We avoided France and Portugal, and tbh we were never going to beat them. We have regressed since we almost knocked out the french 2 years ago, I think people are still living off that performance in Paris, wake up and smell the coffee.

Coleman should be a regular, Doyle should be starting as should Long. We are bad at the minute, but the selection of players in the team makes it worse.

[mylestheslasher]

I have to say, James McClean does come across as a self-centred p***k every time he talks.

I can see O'Neill moving him along soon, if he doesn't work out that he's been given an opportunity, and a reward.

He was just saying what 99% of supporters were thinking I imagine. As a member of the panel he probably should keep that to himself but it hardly makes him a self centred p***k.

[thewobbler]

I have to say, James McClean does come across as a self-centred p***k every time he talks.

I can see O'Neill moving him along soon, if he doesn't work out that he's been given an opportunity, and a reward.

He was just saying what 99% of supporters were thinking I imagine. As a member of the panel he probably should keep that to himself but it hardly makes him a self centred p***k.

His behaviour on Twitter with OWC stuff was embarrassing too.

All McClean has achieved in his career to date is become the latest in a long line of Irish soccer players who achieve more in their absence than in their presence.

When he changes that, then he can opine all he likes.