Next Senior Men's Team Manager - Runners and Riders

[sbgawa]

Just that they don't just run all the rugby based adverts in isolation. They are listed on the websites of the IRFU, Leinster & Munster as official sponsors. If you are going to use a sport to flog your wares the decent and honourable thing to do is to provide some sponsorship for the people who organise it in your area. Walkers Crisps do something similar across the water with the Gary Lineker adverts and their sponsorship of Leicester City.

As a bookmaker who plays up their Irishness and pumps out football related content on a daily basis, I'd say it's poor form from them that they've provided sponsorship to teams in the English league, but not the FAI.

That applies at a more local area as much as it does at a national level as well. For example McDaid's have made a fortune flogging bottles of Football Special and make a lot of being a Donegal company. It feels to me like they should have been the shirt sponsors of Finn Harps for as long as they've had one.

The snowflakes would have a heart attack if we were sponsored by a bookie

[ontheotherhand]

Why are people so desperate to have a tacky sponsor on the jersey again?

International jerseys don't have sponsors and aren't allowed to wear them. We were the only country to ever do it because the FAI is greedy and wanted to milk every penny out possible. Soon as they bring back sponsors on the jerseys, I'll never buy one again.

Because we are flat broke and need the money man.

[seanfhear]

My local club Cabo were given 100+ tickets for some game where demand was low....i cant remember what game it was but i suspect thast how they will get rid of them.
Get the kids to go

I know of a relation that got a free ticket ( he and others ) for the last game in Dublin.

[backstothewall]

The rule of thumb is that a company needs to spend €3 for every €1 of a sponsorship to promote the fact it's a sponsor - that's a lot of bottles of Football Special to justify even a modest logo on a sleeve.

Is it really? What would the going rate be to be the shirt sponsor for a team like Finn Harps? I wasn't thinking it would be much more than a couple of grand. Their current shirt sponsor appears to be a small chain of convenience stores. McDaids are a giant corporation in comparison!

[Jolly Red Giant]

I'm bored in work so decided to have a look into Chris Hughtons record at Ghana since his name keeps coming up.

Took over in February and was in an African Nations group with Madagascar, Angola and Central African Republic. Ranked 108, 117 and 127 in the FIFA rankings, while Ghana at 60.... similar to us having a group of Kosovo, Estonia and Faroes.


Hes won 2 and drawn 2.
Took a 96 min winner to beat Angola at home.
88th min winner to beat Central African Republic.


Hes won 1 Friendly against Liberia, but this week has been beaten by Mexico 2-0 and yesterday 4-0 by USA.


I suppose the good news is that he'll probably be out of a job and available soon....

This does not really outline the issues that Hughton has faced as manager of Ghana - both the international team and Ghana's domestic leagues have been a basket case for some time. This gives a small flavour of the mess Hughton has been trying to deal with -

https://www.theguardian.com/football...ribery-scandal

There has been serious issues with players refusing to play, bureaucrats demanding that certain players not be picked etc. Hughton was initially brought in as technical director to 'steady the ship' after the scandals - it was only later he was put in charge of the team. It is not a surprise that Hughton decided to work with Ghana - he father is Ghanaian - but (from what I heard) I don't think even he knew what he was getting himself into.

Ghana, as a football team, have been in a major slide since the scandals erupted in 2019 - that year they were eliminated by Tunisia in the Round of 16 in the AFCON - in 2021 they failed to get out of their group after failing to win a match. In the 2022 WC qualifiers they were very lucky to qualify for the play-offs and managed to win the play-offs on away goals. They finished bottom of their group. The slide has continued since.

What Hughton has done is steady the ship - after an anxious start to the campaign, they ended up qualifying comfortably - winning their two home games and drawing their two away games under Hughton. Yes - Ghana (ranked 60th) lost in the past couple of weeks to Mexico (ranked 13th) and USA (ranked 15th). They will have a tough time in AFCON in January - there are ten African teams ranked higher than them.

Now - what has been Hughton's experience in managing the team? Well Ghana have had an aging squad for some time - Andre Ayew is 33, Wakaso is 33, Mensah is 33 - and he has been trying to bring youth into the team. He has been trying to build the squad around younger players like Mohammed Kudus - who is going to be a monster for West Ham - Tariq Lamptey of Brighton, Alidu Seidu of Clermont (who Newcastle are after), Salis Abdul Samed of Lens and Antoine Semenyo of Bournemouth. Hughton expected to be spending most of his time in Europe watching and getting to know the players - but the same argument exists in Ghana as in Ireland about the domestic league - with the Ghanaian FA demanding Hughton spend more time in Ghana and pick players from a domestic league (still riddled with corruption). Hughton has also talked about the passionate fans of the Black Stars - but the fans can turn on the team in an instant when things go wrong and can be very intimidating (this has led to some players not wanting to play). The pitches the team has to play on are rock hard and covered in bumps - making it impossible for good teams to play a passing game (which is a reason why some of the higher ranking teams have difficulty against weaker opponents).

I have heard that Hughton intends to think about his options after AFCON - and whether he stays with Ghana appears to be an open question irrespective of anything else.

Last point - Hughton has never been too bothered about money - he was always one of the lowest, if not the lowest, paid manager in the PL. For him it has always been about coaching. This is not to say that he wouldn't expect to get paid - but he wouldn't be chasing money like, say, Robbie Keane - a guy who took €250K a year from the FAI for doing nothing - and is reputed to be on €350K a year in Israel.

[Fixer82]

Mark Kennedy (whose been mentioned here I believe) has walked away from his job at Lincoln along with his assistant manager.

He’s also previously stated he has no interest in Ireland and doesn’t even watch us play

[Jolly Red Giant]

He’s also previously stated he has no interest in Ireland and doesn’t even watch us play

Wouldn't touch him with a barge pole.

[nigel-harps1954]

Is it really? What would the going rate be to be the shirt sponsor for a team like Finn Harps? I wasn't thinking it would be much more than a couple of grand. Their current shirt sponsor appears to be a small chain of convenience stores. McDaids are a giant corporation in comparison!

McDaids could never afford to sponsor a jersey. A couple of grand wouldn't get you on the sleeve of a LOI club jersey.

[backstothewall]

McDaids could never afford to sponsor a jersey. A couple of grand wouldn't get you on the sleeve of a LOI club jersey.

So-Lo stores must be doing very well in every one of their 4 branches!

[Razors left peg]

This does not really outline the issues that Hughton has faced as manager of Ghana - both the international team and Ghana's domestic leagues have been a basket case for some time. This gives a small flavour of the mess Hughton has been trying to deal with -

https://www.theguardian.com/football...ribery-scandal

There has been serious issues with players refusing to play, bureaucrats demanding that certain players not be picked etc. Hughton was initially brought in as technical director to 'steady the ship' after the scandals - it was only later he was put in charge of the team. It is not a surprise that Hughton decided to work with Ghana - he father is Ghanaian - but (from what I heard) I don't think even he knew what he was getting himself into.

Ghana, as a football team, have been in a major slide since the scandals erupted in 2019 - that year they were eliminated by Tunisia in the Round of 16 in the AFCON - in 2021 they failed to get out of their group after failing to win a match. In the 2022 WC qualifiers they were very lucky to qualify for the play-offs and managed to win the play-offs on away goals. They finished bottom of their group. The slide has continued since.

What Hughton has done is steady the ship - after an anxious start to the campaign, they ended up qualifying comfortably - winning their two home games and drawing their two away games under Hughton. Yes - Ghana (ranked 60th) lost in the past couple of weeks to Mexico (ranked 13th) and USA (ranked 15th). They will have a tough time in AFCON in January - there are ten African teams ranked higher than them.

Now - what has been Hughton's experience in managing the team? Well Ghana have had an aging squad for some time - Andre Ayew is 33, Wakaso is 33, Mensah is 33 - and he has been trying to bring youth into the team. He has been trying to build the squad around younger players like Mohammed Kudus - who is going to be a monster for West Ham - Tariq Lamptey of Brighton, Alidu Seidu of Clermont (who Newcastle are after), Salis Abdul Samed of Lens and Antoine Semenyo of Bournemouth. Hughton expected to be spending most of his time in Europe watching and getting to know the players - but the same argument exists in Ghana as in Ireland about the domestic league - with the Ghanaian FA demanding Hughton spend more time in Ghana and pick players from a domestic league (still riddled with corruption). Hughton has also talked about the passionate fans of the Black Stars - but the fans can turn on the team in an instant when things go wrong and can be very intimidating (this has led to some players not wanting to play). The pitches the team has to play on are rock hard and covered in bumps - making it impossible for good teams to play a passing game (which is a reason why some of the higher ranking teams have difficulty against weaker opponents).

I have heard that Hughton intends to think about his options after AFCON - and whether he stays with Ghana appears to be an open question irrespective of anything else.

Last point - Hughton has never been too bothered about money - he was always one of the lowest, if not the lowest, paid manager in the PL. For him it has always been about coaching. This is not to say that he wouldn't expect to get paid - but he wouldn't be chasing money like, say, Robbie Keane - a guy who took €250K a year from the FAI for doing nothing - and is reputed to be on €350K a year in Israel.

Have you a similar article to justify his time with Forest? Got fired after getting 1 point from the first 7 games of the season, the same season they ended up getting promoted with his replacement.

[Fixer82]

Wouldn't touch him with a barge pole.

I heard him on a podcast and he was b!tching and moaning about McCarthy dropping him after the car incident with Babb.
I don't think he mentioned getting back into and being named in the final WC 2002 squad before breaking down in tears and withdrawing with an injury (despite scoring V Sunderland in Quinn's testimonial)

[Diggs246]

Chris Coleman is one that shouldn't be ignored
Perfect he isn't, but I wouldn't be upset with him

[Razors left peg]

Chris Coleman is one that shouldn't be ignored
Perfect he isn't, but I wouldn't be upset with him

Didnt realize he has a Dublin born father until I looked at his Wiki page to see what hes doing now.

If we were going to go the route of the known British manager I think I would prefer him to the likes of Allardyce or Bruce, what he did with Wales to bring them to Euros has to be respected... but it would still feel very underwhelming!

[EalingGreen]

Chris Coleman is one that shouldn't be ignored
Perfect he isn't, but I wouldn't be upset with him

Take Gareth Bale away from his Wales team, then his managerial CV is just average enough. I'd say he certainly talks a good game, without necessarily having all the substance to back it up.

And some of you might be advised to keep your wives well away from him, too. Allegedly.

[elatedscum]

Take Gareth Bale away from his Wales team, then his managerial CV is just average enough. I'd say he certainly talks a good game, without necessarily having all the substance to back it up.

And some of you might be advised to keep your wives well away from him, too. Allegedly.

McGeady certainly wasn't a fan

[Demesne Lad]

Coleman? Win percentages: Wales, Jan 2012 - Nov 2017, (50 games) - 38%;
Sunderland, Nov 2017 - April 2018, (29) - 17.2%;
Hebei China Fortune, June 2018 to May 2019, (21)- 33.3%;
Atromitos, Jan 2022 - Oct 2023, (60) - 26.7%
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

[Jolly Red Giant]

Coleman? Win percentages: Wales, Jan 2012 - Nov 2017, (50 games) - 38%;
Sunderland, Nov 2017 - April 2018, (29) - 17.2%;
Hebei China Fortune, June 2018 to May 2019, (21)- 33.3%;
Atromitos, Jan 2022 - Oct 2023, (60) - 26.7%
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Yea - Coleman is pretty useless and has been on a major slide since leaving the Wales job.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Have you a similar article to justify his time with Forest? Got fired after getting 1 point from the first 7 games of the season, the same season they ended up getting promoted with his replacement.

Things didn't go well for Hughton at Forest - he was sold a pig-in-a-poke by the ownership. He inherited a bloated squad with overpaid useless players. He then had to undergo a rebuild after saving them from relegation - except the owners went off and bought players he didn't want (who played a total of 11 games for Forest between them) - and at the start of the season he had a stack of injuries to deal with. Now the first seven games were a disaster - but Copper took over just as players were coming back from injury. The first game of the season to Cooper's first game saw five first team players return to the starting line up. Despite the sacking of Hughton - three months later Forest were still in 16th spot (and hadn't won in 7 games) - it was only when they went out and got several more players for Cooper in January that Forest kicked on. The last game of the season only had two players who played in the first game for Hughton. I do think if he had been give another 2/3 games at Forest Hughton would have turned things around.

Hughton turned down at least three other jobs to take over at Forest - and my biggest criticism would be that he took the wrong job - anyone going into the club when he did was on a loser until that squad was gutted and replaced - and the owners were always likely to sack the manager that was doing the gutting because results were always going to be impacted. Hughton should have taken the WBA job - a much better squad and a much better run club at the time - but Hughton knew how big a club Forest were and that is what attracted him.

[seanfhear]

Things didn't go well for Hughton at Forest - he was sold a pig-in-a-poke by the ownership. He inherited a bloated squad with overpaid useless players. He then had to undergo a rebuild after saving them from relegation - except the owners went off and bought players he didn't want (who played a total of 11 games for Forest between them) - and at the start of the season he had a stack of injuries to deal with. Now the first seven games were a disaster - but Copper took over just as players were coming back from injury. The first game of the season to Cooper's first game saw five first team players return to the starting line up. Despite the sacking of Hughton - three months later Forest were still in 16th spot (and hadn't won in 7 games) - it was only when they went out and got several more players for Cooper in January that Forest kicked on. The last game of the season only had two players who played in the first game for Hughton. I do think if he had been give another 2/3 games at Forest Hughton would have turned things around.

Hughton turned down at least three other jobs to take over at Forest - and my biggest criticism would be that he took the wrong job - anyone going into the club when he did was on a loser until that squad was gutted and replaced - and the owners were always likely to sack the manager that was doing the gutting because results were always going to be impacted. Hughton should have taken the WBA job - a much better squad and a much better run club at the time - but Hughton knew how big a club Forest were and that is what attracted him.

So ~ What you are saying is ~ Chris Hughton's judgment is a bit off ( wink )

[John83]

So ~ What you are saying is ~ Chris Hughton's judgment is a bit off ( wink )

So you're saying he might take the Ireland job?