Stephen Kenny

[Bielsa´s irish]

I was born in 1983. This is by far the weakest group of players we've had to pick from in my time watching football. Qualifying for the World Cup in 2026 is not a realistic target, never mind 2022.

I dont agree with the mantra we dont have the players, this is international football, no prima donnas could be a key factor, to play the underdogs, we must frustrate Serbia away, the thing is Kenny plays it very openly, and the serbs as the balkans players most have that bit of flair and craft to see a killing pass. From Safet Susic and Dragan Stojkovic till this date.

Kenny's structure must be compact, concrete performance, a tactic performance, a 4-5-1 with quick players from the sides, mistakes will be there, distractions as usual from them, they are drifters when frustrated.
Just to make it work later on, we need a point in Belgrado at least, and a Portugal victory 3 days later, we need 5 wins a 2draws and we might get a chance.
17 points is what we need

Another situation is the attendance, no pressure can help the bigger nations, the fans they always lift the underdogs, as long as there is no attendance, Portugal will win it easily, we must get something from them, our first game is a 6 point match.

Then we could try an all out attack vs the 4th and 5th plus qatar.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Have you seen how our squad now compares to the squad for the last World Cup campaign?


This is absolute nonsense. Seriously. There's nothing more to be said. Serbia have a player who's scored almost as many international goals in the last 5 years as the entire Irish team have. We are odds against to finish second in the group. Something that's odds against cannot be the minimum expectation.

Yeah Mitrovic, but what if they cant bend it from crucial places from the sides or corner kicks into the box, then this" Cascarino type of player" is nullified, as long as he is outside the box we will be fine, of course Mitrovic will try to get near Coleman on the far post so if seamus plays he must be very prepared the height difference is huge. Tactic is super important to defend a big guy like Mitrovic, plus he doesnt track back, he isnt good as a teamwork player, so in a way Mitrovic is a luxury player, of course a guy who can score at international level at his prime is something to consider, but as I said we must be smart...avoid silly free kicks from the sides, and keep this fellow out of the box as much as Kenny can set his game plan

[Bielsa´s irish]

I would play it tight in Belgrado with a high line if Mitrovic plays from the start, a bit of width from the sides, good height from the back, I wouldnt play Dara yet.

I would go with

Randolph 33 1,88
Doherty 29 1,86
Egan 28 1,85
Clark 31 1,85
Stevens 30 1,83
Coleman 32 1,77
Cullen 24 1,75
McCarthy 30 1,79
Brady 29 1,76
Connolly 21 1,75
Robinson 26 1,78

[brine3]

Have you seen how our squad now compares to the squad for the last World Cup campaign?


This is absolute nonsense. Seriously. There's nothing more to be said. Serbia have a player who's scored almost as many international goals in the last 5 years as the entire Irish team have. We are odds against to finish second in the group. Something that's odds against cannot be the minimum expectation.

They also have Dusan Tadic

[tetsujin1979]

Alan Kelly to leave goalkeeping coach position: https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/alan-kelly-steps-away-from-ireland-role

[elatedscum]

I wonder will we ever know the reality of the situation

[Colbert Report]

Normally I'd be calling for Stephen Kenny to get the sack based on our absolutely awful performances under him, but I don't think it is fair to judge the guy when he's basically just putting together whatever players are eligible and don't have covid. Once this thing is all over, and I hope that will be soon, I think we should give him a full qualification campaign before judging him, as we would with any other manager.

[brine3]

A few pennos gone the other way against Slovakia and who knows

A few years from now, when people are talking about news and sporting events of 2020, the Nations League is not going to be high up on the list.

[Straightstory]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2021/0108/1188602-damien-duff-steps-down-from-ireland-coaching-position/

'No reason has been given for Duff's departure, although it is understood he was unhappy at an investigation launched into a video shown to the Ireland players before their friendly against England at Wembley in November last year.'

Most peculiar... what's going on here?

[NeverFeltBetter]

If I was to speculate, I'd say he was ****ed off there was an investigation at all. A lot of players probably think that.

[tetsujin1979]

would there have been an investigation without a leak?

[Diggs246]

If things were going ok in the camp, its hard to believe that video has prompted Duff and kelly to resign. You would have to wonder if they think kenny isnt up to it or the player arnt up to it or both. Deep down do they give a **** about a video

[seanfhear]

You’d like to think that both of them had the upfront-ness to contact Stephen Kenny directly to explain their points of view / position. Maybe they did.

[Diggs246]

They probably did to be fair, the more I think about it, the video is a red herring Damien Duff is a national hero, he hasn't quit over a video or the FAI's poor handling of it
Alan Kelly had asthma and covid was here for quite sometime before he quit

[jbyrne]

They probably did to be fair, the more I think about it, the video is a red herring Damien Duff is a national hero, he hasn't quit over a video or the FAI's poor handling of it
Alan Kelly had asthma and covid was here for quite sometime before he quit

if duff left over the video then i would be very disappointed in him. yes, the FAI pay his wages but he is working for the betterment of the team on behalf of the fans

[pineapple stu]

Alan Kelly had asthma and covid was here for quite sometime before he quit
It's hard to tell with Kelly - there's a lot more games being postponed now because of covid and he may well have wanted to give it a couple of months to see how things panned out before deciding that it wasn't really safe to return to that environment with an underlying health condition. Or it may just be a convenient excuse. We'll probably never know really. At least there's time there to sort a replacement.

[irishfan86]

If anyone has ever been involved with a B.S. workplace investigation you know how toxic that can be. For guys like Kelly and Duff, the Ireland job is a labour of love. Kelly has a full time gig already with Everton and Duff sounds like he was dragged into the setup to start with.

Neither were doing it for the money and in that situation if you or your boss is accused of something stupid I can understand walking away.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Just for your knowledge, Charlie Queiroz was fired by Colombia a month ago after a fall out with players in the dressing rooms, and popular fans favourite former player and taxi driver Joe Pekerman is also available, and he is the more famous neighbor of the whole Hurlingham City area and zip code.

[Trequartista20]

It starting to feel a bit like we're wasting our time with an obviously out-of-his depth Kenny, used to dealing with semi-pro players. But I'd love to be proved wrong.

After recent events (player/coaching defections, the video scandal and our lack of credible results and performance in previous matches under his stewardship) in the possible event of Kenny falling on his sword/being relieved of his duties who would be best placed to take over from the hapless management currently in place?

Any views?

[Eirambler]

I have been far from impressed with what I have seen so far, both on and off the field, but he does deserve a run at the world cup qualifiers all the same. Things could get very messy if we slipped up against Luxembourg or were heavily beaten against Serbia though.

As for replacements, it's hard to know. I have a feeling Hughton will get the job at some stage, whether he's next in line it's hard to know, possibly it will depend if he's out of work when the job comes up again. Maybe the one thing in Kenny's favour is a lack of alternative options.

[Trequartista20]

Hughton would be a great option. He's 62 now, a pragmatic type of coach, and if things don't work out with a rather basket-case Forest, it's hardly an entirely outlandish suggestion to think he might take the Ireland job.

[NeverFeltBetter]

He was also earning nearly four times as much as Kenny is being paid right now at Brighton, as far as I am aware. I don't know what he is on at Forest, but I would imagine it's beyond what we could offer, even with the tight finances over COVID. The days of the FAI attracting that level of manager are over for the foreseeable.

[kennedmc]

If anyone has ever been involved with a B.S. workplace investigation you know how toxic that can be. For guys like Kelly and Duff, the Ireland job is a labour of love. Kelly has a full time gig already with Everton and Duff sounds like he was dragged into the setup to start with.

Neither were doing it for the money and in that situation if you or your boss is accused of something stupid I can understand walking away.

A labor of love for Duff and he f**ks off for no proper reason. He lett down Kenny big time who gave him the chance in the first place. Don't take the job if you leave the first time someone ruffles you feathers! Good riddance to Duff.

Dion Fannng say he was leaving Celtic anyway before he got the Irelsnd job. I can't see a assistant coach being massively missed by the players anyway.

Alsn Kelly was due to leave and this had been flagged. He suffers from asthma and didn't feel comfortable traveling etc with Covid which is fair enough.

[Eirambler]

Hughton would only be an option if he's unemployed. He'd be earning a lot less than Kenny is then. There's no way we would be affording anyone already in a decent club job. It will either be an untested up and comer, like Staunton was, or someone who has been around a while and is unemployed. I'd be surprised if we went for a domestic based manager twice in a row so less likely to go down the road of a League of Ireland or national underage manager next time around.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Hughton has managed to garner a reputation of being the man who can drag teams up to the top tier, and that will always be attractive. He's never going to be unemployed for long. I don't see why he would want the Ireland job from a career perspective, but I suppose there is always patriotism...

[geysir]

if duff left over the video then i would be very disappointed in him. yes, the FAI pay his wages but he is working for the betterment of the team on behalf of the fans

Duff was involved in the making of the video. There is no reason offered for Duff's exit, we wil just have to wait for one.
I read some speculation about Lee Carsley coming in, one of the most ill treated Irish footballers ever. I wonder would he gamble away a safe position in England with prospects, for an unsafe position in the Ireland set up with a manager already with his backside in the bacon slicer.

[kennedmc]

It starting to feel a bit like we're wasting our time with an obviously out-of-his depth Kenny, used to dealing with semi-pro players. But I'd love to be proved wrong.

After recent events (player/coaching defections, the video scandal and our lack of credible results and performance in previous matches under his stewardship) in the possible event of Kenny falling on his sword/being relieved of his duties who would be best placed to take over from the hapless management currently in place?

Any views?
I disagree with you. Re Duff and Kenny see post above. I do actually think Kenny made a mistake appointing Duff by not doing enough research on him - Duff seems to be a bit flaky

In our one competitive match so far we played well and should have won. especially wit the whole Connolly and Idah stuff. yes other results are disappointing but covid has had a huge impact on squads etc

mcgoldrick retiring was disappointing but thats not necessarily Kenny fault. Other factors like covid, his age and trying to focus on club come in to play.
I'd like to see zkenny get two full campaigns.

[Eirambler]

Hughton has managed to garner a reputation of being the man who can drag teams up to the top tier, and that will always be attractive. He's never going to be unemployed for long. I don't see why he would want the Ireland job from a career perspective, but I suppose there is always patriotism...



International football is also a handy enough gig for someone who has made their money, is into their later years but still wants to be in management. Lower wages but far fewer working hours. Throw in a smattering of young talent emerging and an achievable qualification standard for the Euros (assuming that this hypothetical scenario follows a failed World Cup campaign under Kenny) and we might be a more enticing prospect to some managers than you might think.

[Charlie Darwin]

Hughton would be a great option. He's 62 now, a pragmatic type of coach, and if things don't work out with a rather basket-case Forest, it's hardly an entirely outlandish suggestion to think he might take the Ireland job.
We'd be relying on him to take the spectacularly bad decision to leave a good Championship job with a rich club eyeing promotion and take a massive pay cut to manage a team who've scored about three goals in as many years.

[seanfhear]

We'd be relying on him to take the spectacularly bad decision to leave a good Championship job with a rich club eyeing promotion and take a massive pay cut to manage a team who've scored about three goals in as many years.
Hopefully he likes a challenge when / if the time comes !

[geysir]

Considering Forest go through about 3 managers a year, Chris' time should be coming soon.

[Charlie Darwin]

He has two wins on the bounce now so in decent form but, yeah, you're taking a leap of faith at that club if you think you'll see out the first year of your contract.

[Snapshot]

A friend who has been close to the Ireland squad for many years. He speaks very highly of several of the players like Egan, Randolph Duffy and Coleman. He wasn't even going out of his way to be critical of some of them like Brady because my friend is a nice fella but little comments tell a lot with someone like him. Said what I thought from watching him - basically fancies himself as a superstar. Said McClean considers himself as the voice of the team and is quite a dominamt presence. Said that MON could be very spiky but that Keane was generally sound to staff especially if he knew them years (a bit of a dick to the players though!). Had a lot of time for Richie Dunne, Duffer and Robbie.

Hearsay.

[geysir]

Hearsay.
Bungle's post is admitted into evidence as hearsay, he /she makes that very clear.

[ontheotherhand]

Hearsay.

Do you need any more evidence than Brady's performances to back up the claim? He waltzes around for 85 minutes avoiding responsibility and occasionally has a ping from distance or a little spurt of activity. It could be over confidence (doesn't think he has to work hard) or under confidence (imposter syndrome) but it doesn't matter as the end result is the same.

[irishfan86]

Do you need any more evidence than Brady's performances to back up the claim? He waltzes around for 85 minutes avoiding responsibility and occasionally has a ping from distance or a little spurt of activity. It could be over confidence (doesn't think he has to work hard) or under confidence (imposter syndrome) but it doesn't matter as the end result is the same.

I disagree with this assessment. Brady regularly shows for the ball, and when he has it, often looks to hit dangerous balls into the box. He does get involved in the defensive side of the game, but often lacks the pace to properly close opponents down. He's got a bit of swagger, but I don't mind that. I'll take that over Hourihane who often looks literally invisible on the pitch apart from set pieces. If Brady is fit and playing regularly at Premier League level (he is this season), I'd be inclined to find a place for him in the team.

[ontheotherhand]

I disagree with this assessment. Brady regularly shows for the ball, and when he has it, often looks to hit dangerous balls into the box. He does get involved in the defensive side of the game, but often lacks the pace to properly close opponents down. He's got a bit of swagger, but I don't mind that. I'll take that over Hourihane who often looks literally invisible on the pitch apart from set pieces. If Brady is fit and playing regularly at Premier League level (he is this season), I'd be inclined to find a place for him in the team.

We'd have to agree to disagree there. He has games where he looks up for it and games where he does nothing outside of the odd hollywood ball or shot from distance although I'd agree that even that is more than Hourihane typically contributes. Both have suffered from not playing regularly at club level so maybe we will see more from Brady now that he is. He certainly has the ability to be that creative force and focal point. It's a worrying trend with our best players that they don't play enough. They perhaps go up a level too far and end up on the bench when they could be playing regularly slightly lower down. It hurts us.

[irishfan86]

Brady is a starter for Burnley these days and I would say he looks to be in good (not great) form.

If we had been having this same conversation a year ago I’d agree with your points but he is looking good these days in my opinion.

[ontheotherhand]

Brady is a starter for Burnley these days and I would say he looks to be in good (not great) form.

If we had been having this same conversation a year ago I’d agree with your points but he is looking good these days in my opinion.

I don't watch a lot of english football so I'm talking specifically about how he has been playing for Ireland lately. If he's getting game time at Burnley and doing well then hopefully he can translate that to his games for us.

[irishfan86]

I don't watch a lot of english football so I'm talking specifically about how he has been playing for Ireland lately. If he's getting game time at Burnley and doing well then hopefully he can translate that to his games for us.

Fair enough—I’m referencing games in the past few weeks. I’d agree with your assessment of Brady’s 2020 Ireland performances, which were pretty pedestrian.

[Charlie Darwin]

His 2020 performance have been his best probably since 2016. He's showing signs he's getting back to where he was. He does look a bit carefree at times but the major part of his game is he can put the ball on a guy's head from 30 yards, and he's been doing more of that.

[tetsujin1979]

Case study of the 4-3-3 formation from Zonal Pressing: https://zonalpressing.wordpress.com/2021/02/09/case-study-4-3-3-formation-analysis/

[Trequartista20]

Kenny's Kids is back up and running FWIW.

Seems he has a new sponsor.

[elatedscum]

Apparently it’s being run by someone different who is “a journalist”. So far, much less of the grunt work, which was pretty much the only good thing about KK

[tetsujin1979]

He's handed it over to Pundit Arena

[geysir]

An ouch from Duff (https://www.the42.ie/damien-duff-5-5356577-Feb2021/), when asked about his decision to leave, words can be swords.

"it’s not ideal for the manager, but at the same time it’s a chance to bring in a better coach than me.

“He has done it already on the goalkeeping side with Dean Kiely, a great guy who will bring a lot of energy to the side and a coach who is at the top level in the Premier League every week"

[Diggs246]

Yep. I'm of the view that he quit because of kenny. It's all to smoke and mirrors

[Trequartista20]

He's handed it over to Pundit Arena

Hardly a ringing endorsement!

[seanfhear]

Is Duff just another ex-player finding it all too much trouble considering the wealth he has accumulated while playing. He wouldn’t be the first in modern times !

[Diggs246]

Is Duff just another ex-player finding it all too much trouble considering the wealth he has accumulated while playing. He wouldn’t be the first in modern times !
I dont think so to be fair. Didnt he break his ****** at 6am training sessions with shamrock rovers u16 at first.