FAI...June 2024 Friendlies v Hungary and Portugal

[seafoid]

They have to do something radical.

BIG were 19/55 in 2017 on the national coefficient
LoI is 37/55 on the club coefficient.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficient#Country_coefficient

The difference between 19 and 37 is England
But it's very fuzzy in terms of player development especially after underage.

In terms of expanding the pool, Wales (48) and NI (52) are lower than Ireland in the league coefficient.
The logical thing to do to improve standards would be to get the 3 countries to set up one league as in the rugby .
But soccer is awful parochial so mediocrity is the usual default. 

[Maroon Manc]

No one on here believes Ireland have great players but do we have players good enough, for example, to threaten the defence of N Ireland. N Ireland should have scored 3 and their two forwards are playing in League 1. We have as poor a squad as we ever had but for god sake we still have player to be a relatively solid 3rd tier team at the moment.

Who are these players? Granted this last while I've watched very little of the ROI but Shane Long, O'Dowda, O'Brien are not these players.
MON & Keane did a wonderful job. They constantly over achieved. They will be very hard acts to follow. FAI should consider a statue in honour.

Here are some premier league players,  not saying they are top class but they are with premier league clubs none the less...

Coleman
Duffy
K Long
S Long
Hendrick
Arter
Obafemi
Christie
Brady
Ward
Cunningham
Clarke
Doherty

Mcclean, Randolph were recently also in premier league.

I also think o dowda and Stevens are capable of being premier league too. Now no doubt there are no world beaters there but is it unreasonable to expect us to be able to string a few passes together and make some chances? I don't think so.

Come of it Itchy, most of those lads are very average and of their clubs got relegated this season there wouldn't be a Premier League side beating down their door to sign them. Only Coleman, Hendrick & Brady are genuine Premier League players and perhaps Duffy is on his way to be being one too. Shane Long is nearly 32 and this is probably his last year in the PL. Its the worst squad Ireland have ever had.

[magpie seanie]

Seems we're getting Mick McCarthy back.

[seafoid]

Seems we're getting Mick McCarthy back.

https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/mick-mccarthy-roy-keanes-the-only-assistant-manager-who-gets-this-much-publicity-its-bonkers-37342647.html


There was some suggestion, that Roy made, that I couldn't manage the team or players," said McCarthy.
"I'd managed him for five years, I f**king spun his plate, I kept him going. 'Roy, don't come in on Monday. We played Saturday, you come in Tuesday', so he'd come in on the Tuesday and then just go home
When it happened, 16 years ago, I said at the time, one day I'll be walking down the street in Barnsley, a flat cap on, ferret in my pocket, Jack Russel dog by the side of me, and someone will say 'There's that bollocks who sent Roy Keane home'. And it's pretty much turning out to be true, that, 16 years on.
All the people who paid their money and wanted to go to the World Cup and wanted to see Roy there, as one of the best players – and, by the way, I wanted him there as much as anyone else did – but that relationship got broken."

[Bord na Mona man]

Great memories from the previous McCarthy era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU4_5zV2pco

[clarshack]

Beggars belief that folk are still touting Mick McCarthy for Manager.

[seafoid]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2018/1122/1012595-fai-to-blame-for-state-of-irish-soccer-says-brady/

Brady has a degree of sympathy for O'Neill and believes that the problems in Irish soccer go deeper than just the manager, blaming the FAI for a lack of foresight and investment in the future of the game in the country.

peaking to RTÉ Sport, Brady questioned the work of the FAI's high performance director Ruud Dokter and his predecessor Wim Koevermans, while criticising their lack of desire to involve former Irish players.
"What worries me above anything else is the lack of players we have coming through," he said. "I'm no expert in that regard with the FAI but I know whatever has gone on hasn't worked.
"We're simply not seeing the talent that we once had in the years gone past. The likes of Damien Duff, Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne and Shay Given – all top class players. We haven't replaced them with anybody of the same quality.

[Milltown Row2]

No, it was just he managers fault, the players are there apparently!

[Applesisapples]

Martin O'Neill proved over the years that he was a good manager. His reign had as many highs as it had lows. The problems endemic in Irish soccer are not unique to Ireland. Wales, Scotland and OWC face similar issues. On the plus side for Scotland they have a relatively strong domestic league, albeit like the premier league they have too many foreign players, but it is still an outlet for scottish players. In fact in Celtic's last game in Europe the stand out players on the night, McGregor, Tierney and Christie are all Scots. The strength of the premier league dominated by foreign players has led to a lack of opportunity and development for players from these Islands. Michael O'Neill's article in the IT articulted this better than I could. He also cited the growth of GAA and Rugby as alternative sports in Ireland. The answer for both parts of this Island is a strong All Island domestic league to begin with. I would not suggest an all island team as that would be virtually impossible to sell to OWC's knuckle dragging support. It also will need greater investment. Rugby's success has come on the back of attracting sponsorship and teams that attract support from a wider base, look at the numbers of diehard GAA people support the provinces who haven't laid a hand on the oval ball. The question is, is it too late?

[mouview]

Seems we're getting Mick McCarthy back.

If he signs today, does he come with a Black Friday discount?

[AZOffaly]

Seems we're getting Mick McCarthy back.

If he signs today, does he come with a Black Friday discount?

You get a free Bacon Slicer.

[BennyCake]

Seems we're getting Mick McCarthy back.

If he signs today, does he come with a Black Friday discount?

The squad will get a free set of training bibs. Probably the same ones that got lost in 2002.

[Capt Pat]

It looks like it is confirmed, McCarthy is back according to the RTE web site. It looks like he was lined up before O'Neill was out the door. I would have preferred if they had taken their time with the selection process and interviewed some high profile candidates before selecting whoever they wanted. But it looks like money was a key consideration in selecting McCarthy.

I like him and I wish him the best but heading into the qualifying for the last successful world cup qualifying he had Roy Keane, Damien Duff, Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne, Shay Given, Steve Staunton, and other premier league players. He will have nothing like that in his next qualifying campaign.

[BennyCake]

Oh dear. I thought you had some sense, Mick.

[Captain Obvious]

Oh dear. I thought you had some sense, Mick.

He has plenty of sense, the money he will get off the Irish FA will be far greater than what he got from Wolverhampton Wanderers,Ipswich Town,Sunderland. A nice retirement package you can call it.