don't let the door hit your arse on the way out
Who cares?
Should be declared a national holiday
Ah the poor fella.
Anyhow, Irelands dismal form in Croke Park was all part of a grand plan to speed up the rebuild of Lansdowne Road. How's it going there boys?
How is Lansdown Road going along anyway? Would be a shame if they had to play in Donnybrook next year :P,
I wonder if his 'resignation' comes with a significant golden handshake? He gets to keep his dignity, such as it is, and the IRFU get to change their coach. If he resigned rather than was 'asked' to resign, he'll be free to tell all about what went on over the last while. Other coaches to leave that post have had payoffs in return for a vow of silence, a lá Steve Staunton with the soccer bucks.
Yesterday he firmly believed he was the man to take charge of irish rugby. What a difference a golden handshake day makes.
Quote from: AZOffaly on March 19, 2008, 11:28:13 PM
I wonder if his 'resignation' comes with a significant golden handshake?
Yes it does.
The announcement came late last night, after the compensation negotiations had concluded. Two amounts I've seen speculated are €350,000 and €750,000.
Lets not forget - he was very successful.
Yes times are right to freshen things up, but thank you for those 4 wins in a row v England! They were great, especially as I was in England for 2 of them! ;D
Who's the replacement Kidney? or an outsider?
Quote from: Goats Do Shave on March 20, 2008, 08:08:17 AM
Lets not forget - he was very successful.
Yes times are right to freshen things up, but thank you for those 4 wins in a row v England! They were great, especially as I was in England for 2 of them! ;D
Who's the replacement Kidney? or an outsider?
D kidney, m williams and maybe as Dinny Breen pines for - Jake White (who could do a good job).
Mike Ruddock reluctantly ruled himself out on the radio the other morning (when asked hypothetically).
As of 13/2. Bit of work to be done yet!
(http://www.lrsdc.ie/_fileupload/DSCF4395_(Small)_78212995.JPG)
Quote from: lynchbhoy on March 20, 2008, 08:12:57 AM
D kidney, m williams and maybe as Dinny Breen pines for - Jake White (who could do a good job).
Mike Ruddock reluctantly ruled himself out on the radio the other morning (when asked hypothetically).
I'd imagine Kidney is strong favourite. Though I believe there's some bad feeling between him and many of the senior Leinster lads.
Newstalk mentioned this morning that the London Irish coach is also a contender.
Quote from: Goats Do Shave on March 20, 2008, 08:08:17 AM
Lets not forget - he was very successful.
thats debatable given that we've had possibly our best squad ever. Also England have been in freefall since winning the World Cup 2003. And remember a not too spectacular welsh team have won 2 grand slams in this era. Granted we were unlucky to lose to a last minute french try last year but again I dont think it should have come down to that. We lost that game with our performance in the first half.
It's more a case of "missed opportunities" & "what might have been" if you ask me.
QuoteLets not forget - he was very successful
at winning games not trophies. In fairness, he has stepped down and done the honourable thing and deserves his pay-off, after all he had a 4-year contract in his back pocket. O'Sullivan will be remembered as the the coach that brought Ireland into the professional era but his need to control everythng was his downfall. He over-stayed by two years imho,. but good luck to him and I can see him doing a director of rugby role over in England.
Quote'd imagine Kidney is strong favourite. Though I believe there's some bad feeling between him and many of the senior Leinster lads.
Shouldn't matter one iota, professional sport and those senior players need a kick up the hole. Time for a new captain and let O'Driscoll get back to playing rugby.
QuoteD kidney, m williams and maybe as Dinny Breen pines for - Jake White (who could do a good job).
I don't pine for Jake White but I believe he would be a good appointment if he had say Kidney as his assistant to be groomed to take over in 3 years, I'd also have Williams aboard as defensive coach, Gaffney as backs coach, Galway as manager and I'd bring in a Martin Johnson/Neil Back as forwads coach.
QuoteNewstalk mentioned this morning that the London Irish coach is also a contender.
Brian Smith walked out on Ireland (mitigating circumstances) so he'll never be picked...
He had the best Irish team of a generation and never got the best out of them. Ireland should have had 2 Grand Slams. The world cup was a shambles and he should have walked then. It was clear he had lost the dressing room. He has done the honorable thing by resigning but remember after the match at Twickenham he stated he was staying because he "still had the hunger".
Is Kidney actually any good? I'm not sure that he is. I think we need a complete change with someone from the southern hemisphere.
Here's hoping they get some more drubbings in Croke Park so they start pining away for Lansdowne Road and are glad to leave CP in a year or two's time. Still somewhat fearful of the "Cuckoo's Nest" scenario though. By and large the rugby types I know have a fierce contempt for the GAA, "bogball", "stick fighting", "Grab All Association", etc etc .....yawn.
Micko, surely. Can't have a managerial position up for grabs without mentioning him anyway. Now that that's done, carry on.
Quote from: Canalman on March 20, 2008, 09:27:01 AM
Here's hoping they get some more drubbings in Croke Park so they start pining away for Lansdowne Road and are glad to leave CP in a year or two's time. Still somewhat fearful of the "Cuckoo's Nest" scenario though. By and large the rugby types I know have a fierce contempt for the GAA, "bogball", "stick fighting", "Grab All Association", etc etc .....yawn.
Not down here. Of course you'll have a few rugby snobs, like we have GAA snobs, but the vast majority of Munster fans I know would follow Munster until they get knocked out of the Heinekein Cup, and then straight into Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Waterford, ,Tipperary or whereever.
Quote from: Barney on March 20, 2008, 08:22:43 AM
As of 13/2. Bit of work to be done yet!
(http://www.lrsdc.ie/_fileupload/DSCF4395_(Small)_78212995.JPG)
Not much work getting done in that pic...
Is that big green thing one of our second rows. could be as it hasnt moved much
this will only be a good decision if they appoint the successor well, a la wales
this time next year we could be looking eddie back !!
Dinny, are we not too late for Jake White, is he not being touched up by the English? Presumably they would be able to pay bigger bucks than the IRFU could come up with.......where's Denis O'Brien's telephone number.............
Was he given money to walk?
Quote from: Gnevin on March 20, 2008, 11:08:20 AM
Was he given money to walk?
As mentioned earlier in the thread - Yes.
He had three years left in his contract, so only right that the IRFU had to pay some penance for their error.
White is nailed on for the English job. What about Eddie Jones or Clive Woodward?
As much as i felt it was time for EOS to move on i still think he did a good job. he developed the team well in his first 4 years in charge but it seems he lost the dressingroom. frequently a symptom of a coach who stays too long.
Glad to see O'Sullivan leave and fair play to him for bowing out with a bit of dignity intact anyway!
As for the new manager I would be very much in Dinny's corner about White... a man with a proven track record and no hang ups with regard to any particular province as I think the Munster dominance in the Heineken cup has maybe meant that selection policy for the future has been neglected!
I was at a talk with Willie Anderson there recently and he mooted that Michael Bradley was the man he wanted to be the next Irish Manager. I can't see it happening this early but he may be one for the future and could be brought into the setup with a view to taking the main job himself in a few years.
God i dont know about Bradley, i have been to quite a few Con. games this year and as a unit they weren't that organised. I do appreciate he has meager resources and that the IRFU dont really want a con. team, that is a debate for another day. But bottom of the Magners league and the manager of a terrible underage Irish team hardly inspires confidence.
I see on the BBC website that Martin Johnson is being lined up as team manager to work alongside Brian Ashton. I would assume then that Jake White isnt going to be getting the England job until probably after the Six Nations 2009. Think the IRFU should at least ask Jake White and sound him out about the job. Wouldnt be a big fan of Declan Kidney getting the job. Think he would be too familiar with the players and he would almost certainly have his favourites. I know Willie Anderson is a big fan of Michael Bradley and was talking him up on UTV last week. Wouldnt be a bad idea i suppose to take him in with whoever gets the job. Clive Woodward would be a good man as well but i think he has something to do with the Olympics in 2012. Whatever happens I think the IRFU have to make a high profile appointment to get the supporters back onside again after RWC 2007 and the 6Nations this year.
I thought the simple minded speculation was that Ashton saved his job for some time with beating Ireland emphatically.
Fair play to Eddie for not making any obvious fuss bar the contract details for his departure.
He had his mind made up or made up for him before the England game.
He deserved to have won the grand slam last season. That was cruel.
Does nobody think that it´s going to be a hard slog to get back up to challenging for the championship again?
Eddie Jones would be the best possible option, but I don't think he'd take it. Saw him interviewed on Oz Fox Sports rugby programme, and in a brief chat the panel had about the 6 Nations prior to the start of this years tournament he was fairly adamant that this Irish team were finished
There are alot of lads being a bit harsh on Eddie, yes the last year has turned into a shocker and was glad he went in the end but he was still a great coach and did a great deal for Irish Rugby and gave people who are interested in Rugby some of the best memories.
Also atleast he had the dignity to leave and not drag it out. Best Of Luck Eddie
Quote from: Tankie on March 20, 2008, 01:28:03 PM
There are alot of lads being a bit harsh on Eddie, yes the last year has turned into a shocker and was glad he went in the end but he was still a great coach and did a great deal for Irish Rugby and gave people who are interested in Rugby some of the best memories.
Also atleast he had the dignity to leave and not drag it out. Best Of Luck Eddie
I think that is fair enough, remember that a bit of luck could of won the grand slam or 6 nations last year and the maybe the year before .
Quote from: Gnevin on March 20, 2008, 01:29:46 PM
Quote from: Tankie on March 20, 2008, 01:28:03 PM
There are alot of lads being a bit harsh on Eddie, yes the last year has turned into a shocker and was glad he went in the end but he was still a great coach and did a great deal for Irish Rugby and gave people who are interested in Rugby some of the best memories.
Also atleast he had the dignity to leave and not drag it out. Best Of Luck Eddie
I think that is fair enough, remember that a bit of luck could of won the grand slam or 6 nations last year and the maybe the year before .
Agreed. Certainly you could argue that there was at least one year, perhaps two, when we played better than the Welsh played in the two years they won the grand slam. On the other side of the coin, given the players we had, I don't know if any other manager would have done any less - and some would surely have achieved more. There is also no doubt in my mind that his management of team affaris over the last 12 months has been downright awful.
And I don't buy this dignity stuff. He was fired. He got compensation. He was allowed by the IRFU to say it was a resignation. In my opinion there's not a chance he would have resigned had the IRFU signalled their intention to keep him.
Yeah,
I'm undecided as to whether Ireland were a good team because of Eddie, or despite him. I certainly think he was lucky to have the likes of Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Paul O'Connell, Donnacha O'Callaghan, Ronan O'Gara, Stringer etc etc at a time when they were coming good with their province.
The biggest gripe I would have with him is his treatment of players not on his first XV. They were obviously there to make up the numbers, and if you had the misfortune to decide to pursue a career in England or France, you were a virtual write off, apart from periodic games for Geordan Murphy and more recently Eoin Reddan. Lads like Bob Casey must have been very frustrated by that position.
Dunno, I think a change from an Irish manager may be no harm. I think Pat Howard would be a good choice after his time in the Premiership....the southern hemisphere lads have a bloody mindedness and arrogance that would rub off on the team and might get them playing with a bit of a swagger again. They were a joy to watch when they were in full flow for example against England and Italy last year and I think someone like Howard can get that type of confidence back. Get Gaillimh in as manager to keep the Irish link.
Let England have White if hes so keen on them.......we dont want to be the runners up prize, especially to them!
And Eddie was ready to be declared Saint Eddie 13 months ago when we were on brink of the championship.....while he had to go after the performances of the last year, I think the turn against him is a bit rich seen as alot of people couldnt say a bad word about him. If only we were as quick to turn on that bollix Bertie.....
Quote from: stephenite on March 20, 2008, 12:41:09 PM
Eddie Jones would be the best possible option, but I don't think he'd take it. Saw him interviewed on Oz Fox Sports rugby programme, and in a brief chat the panel had about the 6 Nations prior to the start of this years tournament he was fairly adamant that this Irish team were finished
He was spot on in his judgment of the Irish team if he said that. The so called "Golden Generation" have been living on their reputations for too long and several of them have lost their focus on the game.
Which is why you need a coach who will give other lads a run to give them competition.
Paul O'Connell has to be injured to be not picked. Same for ROG, same for B'OD, same for D'Arcy, Leamy, Dempsey etc. etc. That's not healthy. Stringer must have wondered what in the name of jaysus he had done wrong to be dropped, having been similarly exempt, but it was the right call. Unfortunately for Eddie, it was too little too late to save the World Cup, and he didn't build on it in the 6 Nations.
But the damage was done by essentially not having a backup fly half, scrum half, full back, centres or second row for practically his entire reign, David Humphreys aside, and by not trying to change that by giving lads like Redden, Wallace, Casey, Cullen, Jennings etc. etc a fair crack of the whip.
I don't think that's a new criticism of Eddie, it's simply that people didn't care once the team was winning, at least apart from the people looking at 2008/2009/2010 and beyond.
Quote from: Hound on March 20, 2008, 02:12:46 PM
And I don't buy this dignity stuff. He was fired. He got compensation. He was allowed by the IRFU to say it was a resignation. In my opinion there's not a chance he would have resigned had the IRFU signalled their intention to keep him.
We don´t know do we, but all the signs are that it was mutual.
Considering his choice of words immediately after the England game, he knew it was over.
There was no "I´m not resigning" talk.
Either he was given this 6 nations campaign to improve things / he gave himself this campaign or it was mutually agreed between them that this was the case..
just got another mail from yuku and look what i found on the old board from 2005
http://gaa96383.yuku.com/topic/855/t/Eddie-O-Sullivan-even-worse-than-Brian-Kerr.html
the wobbler a man before his time