Stephen Kenny

[tetsujin1979]

Much ado about nothing ~ ~ who ever leaked this should be sacked ~ ~ Is it just a ploy to undermine Kenny ?
Maybe. One thing did occur to me - these sort of stories don't come out from happy squads.

[pineapple stu]

The issue isn't necessarily that someone is going to be offended by it. It's more that it was a potentially naive and ultimately ineffective approach. Stephen Kenny lacks significant high level experience in management, he has looked out of his depth, the idea of showing a political video was risky (other members of the management team apparently tried to dissuade him). Doherty alluded to the players lacking motivation in a post match interview, so the video doesn't seem to have worked. The whole incident looks like it is re-enforcing the idea of an amateurish management approach, making bad decision after bad decision.
I think you're reading an awful lot into a 30-second video we don't know the contents of to be honest.

On Prime Time (https://twitter.com/RTE_PrimeTime/status/1329562816425193472), Aiden Fitzmaurice says only one senior member of FAI staff objected. (He kind of stutters when he talks about the players - I can't tell if he's saying there were any issues there)

If one person is offended (and if it was only staff and players at the meeting, and if players wouldn't have known what was on the video to object in advance, and if one English-born staff member left the set-up straight afterwards, it does look like you could add 2+2), does that mean it was offensive? Or could that one person be just a bit too highly-strung?


For me the tactical stuff, the strengths and weaknesses of our own team, the analysis of the style of play of opposition should come first. If that has all been done and the players are fully attuned to the tactical side, and then, and only then, the manager wants to show what sounds like a Mike Bassett-esque tub-thumping video then OK.
I agree. But I don't see that that isn't what happened?


Agree, as perhaps can be gleaned from my signature. I think a brief mention of this is ok
Again, I agree. 30 seconds sounds brief enough to me though?


I think that's a bit different to this England video. The UCD approach is essentially, "These people don't think you're good enough, prove them wrong". UCD weren't deconstructing Luxembourgish history to motivate the players.
But that's exactly my point. You ask what other videos you'd show for other games - Coleman's tackle, Henry's handball, etc. My point is there's lots of variations on the same theme, as per the UCD example. You pick and choose which one suits the case best. A bit of "800 years" for a game against England sounds perfectly harmless. For different games you have different approaches.

[Fixer82]

This would tie in with the new 'project player' bull$h1t the rugby team has now.
It's essentially wearing green that makes you 'Irish', nothing else.
Maybe the IRFU players could do with a history lesson too. Might make them appreciate the importance of the jersey.

The informer needs to be taken out of the group for sure. Would love to know who it was.

[Fixer82]

Kenny showing the video was unwise and counter-productive, but I reckon probably inoffensive.
What's more alarming is the jingoistic, old-school anti-Englishness which is evident on this thread, even from some posters who I thought would know better. I'd really thought we'd gone beyond that. Very depressing.

Where is the anti-English sentiment? There may be an acknowledgement of history alright (the Brits don't have a great track record) but I don't know if I've seen anyone here being Anti-English. Context is always important.

Only idiots are anti any race of people. But you can have a problem with a country's establishment without being racist.

The British establishment have consistently been very poor in dealing with Ireland.

[Nesta99]

A simple solution would be to release the video and let people assess for themselves. If its a non-story the Daily Mail will look (again) for what they are.

[geysir]

We don't know who snitched but one account is that it wasn't a player but one of the FAI staff,
who leaked it out to an English paper, who then go on to manufacture an outrage at an irish manager's understanding and expresssion of an aspect of anglo irish history.
The rest is click bait.

After the ceremony at Cannes when La Palme d'Or was awarded to Ken Loach for TWTSTB, a panel member Samuel Jackson (no less) was questioned by an english journo about was he aware of the innacurate content and anti english bias in the film. He replied to the effect that 'you english are all the same, your ancestors went around the world on a mission of rape, pillage, plunder and enslavement and now you're outraged by and want to control how that historical experience is given account to'.

[pineapple stu]

A simple solution would be to release the video and let people assess for themselves. If its a non-story the Daily Mail will look (again) for what they are.

People would probably give out about the amateur production values or something.

People who want to give out will always find something to give out about.

[Nesta99]

People would probably give out about the amateur production values or something.

People who want to give out will always find something to give out about.

That is very true but it changes the story and angle of attack. Remove the faux outrage about the English, make the source look daft in the process. May not help the case for SK's reign but its a start. It wont stop people calling it out of depth, misguided, desperate, etc. It could could be spun as the coaching team wanting to grow the sense of value to wearing the shirt even if up against it and and may be defeated short term but there are long term possibilities - the idea at the centre of Irish history and hence representing Ireland today in honour blah blah. So well intended, not anti-English its just that that is who the old battles tended to be with. Or maybe the whole thing should just be starved and let die!! (to be resurrected after every negavtive result if SK continues or will be the 'Im the gaffer' moment if he doesnt).

[John83]

I think it wouldn't be a good idea. It just fuels the story.

[shakermaker1982]

I love how they only leaked it after the England game. If it bothered them that much, they’d have done it straight away.

It’s just petty **** stirring, trying to get the man sacked. Pathetic. Same as when Roy Keane said something mean to poor old Harry Arter, who couldn’t be arsed to train or turn up. Don’t run to the papers or your mates, if you’ve got a problem, deal with it direct.

[Closed Account 2]

On Prime Time (https://twitter.com/RTE_PrimeTime/status/1329562816425193472), Aiden Fitzmaurice says only one senior member of FAI staff objected. (He kind of stutters when he talks about the players - I can't tell if he's saying there were any issues there)

The Guardian story someone linked to earlier said

"Kenny left a number of his squad uncomfortable by the contents of the video...Indeed, it is believed some players objected to what they were shown."

So it seems to be a bit more than one member of the coaching team.




Again, I agree. 30 seconds sounds brief enough to me though?

30+ seconds on the Henry incident before we play France is ok; 30+ seconds on historical/political Anglo-Irish relations seems a bit less sensible it feels tangential.



But that's exactly my point. You ask what other videos you'd show for other games - Coleman's tackle, Henry's handball, etc. My point is there's lots of variations on the same theme, as per the UCD example.

These are ENTIRELY DIFFERENT themes. As I've said Henry/Coleman reference bad incidents in recent FOOTBALL MATCHES to motivate. The UCD example references using DISPARAGING COMMENTS about the football team from media/social media as motivation. The vs Slovan example was using THE TEAMS PAST GOOD PERFORMANCE to positively motivate the players.

[tetsujin1979]

We don't know who snitched but one account is that it wasn't a player but one of the FAI staff,
who leaked it out to an English paper, who then go on to manufacture an outrage at an irish manager's understanding and expresssion of an aspect of anglo irish history.
The rest is click bait.

After the ceremony at Cannes when La Palme d'Or was awarded to Ken Loach for TWTSTB, a panel member Samuel Jackson (no less) was questioned by an english journo about was he aware of the innacurate content and anti english bias in the film. He replied to the effect that 'you english are all the same, your ancestors went around the world on a mission of rape, pillage, plunder and enslavement and now you're outraged by and want to control how that historical experience is given account to'.

I hadn't head about that one, I knew he defended Colin Farrell after an English journalist tried to claim him as British. Can't find the original clip, but he mentions it here in an interview with Ryan Tubridy
Wm0GecqUr_o

[Closed Account 2]

Moving beyond the video incident, a question for all the advocates of Kenny. At what point would you begin to question the tenability of his position?

How bad would the results / performances need to get before you would consider him to be unviable as our manager? Or are you of the opinion that results and performances don't matter? If that is the case and its more about "building for 2024" (or even 2044) how do you measure if that long term project is succeeding?

[NeverFeltBetter]

I would say if we were winless (and goalless) at the end of March that I would probably think he is the wrong choice for the project, while maintaining that the project is worth pursuing. And that's conditional on us not having another COVID disaster in terms of squad selection.

[Real ale Madrid]

Moving beyond the video incident, a question for all the advocates of Kenny. At what point would you begin to question the tenability of his position?

How bad would the results / performances need to get before you would consider him to be unviable as our manager? Or are you of the opinion that results and performances don't matter? If that is the case and its more about "building for 2024" (or even 2044) how do you measure if that long term project is succeeding?

After the next campaign he should be judged like every other manager - any talk before that is premature. He is going to get 8-10 qualifiers and 3 or 4 friendlies in the summer. After that the FAI should take a look and assess. Not before. I suspect if we finish 2nd or 3rd in a group he will get the 2024 campaign any lower than that and he will get the heave.

[Diggs246]

What sacres me, is we have only played one good team and lets be honest we were easily beaten. What happens if we meet a spain or a Croatia? My view is he still entitled to the WC campaign. He needs to learn very fast that international football is unforgiving

[wonder88]

I see many journalists are stating that using a motivational video before a game is amateurish and smacks of desperation, and is a sign that a manager is out of his depth. For them and other commentators I have seen on twitter, a proper manager would have a video that concentrated on a tactical analysis on the opposition; system of play, strengths, weakness etc. The proper top level manager would have his players so prepared and focused, that there would be no need for a motivational ploy that would created a little bit of resentment towards the opposition.

I make two points on this. Have the people with these views ever been involved in a significant game even at a low level, so that they can dismiss past history/event with the other side as irrelevant in motivating players.
The fact that Kenny has not managed in England seems to be an undercurrent in this story as well. Perhaps those who feel strongly that this fact disqualifies him should be more upfront. (btw I am talking about Irish journalists and commentators here, have not really looked at what the offended English have had to saw)

There is great story about Jack Charlton showing the players a video of Bulgaria playing before a fixture against them at the team hotel. After a while some of those in the room started pointing out there very few people at the game. It turns out that the tape the FAI sourced was of the Bulgarian u-21 team. Jack once this was pointed out to him, said that the senior team will have the same style of play anyway, and ordered to switch off the video and ended the team meeting. Tony Cascarino's book has that story, I think.

[John83]

...For them and other commentators I have seen on twitter, a proper manager would have a video that concentrated on a tactical analysis on the opposition; system of play, strengths, weakness etc...
We have absolutely no reason to think that Kenny hadn't done just that in the coaching in the days before. A 3 minute motivational video in the moments before a game is not the time for tactical prep.

[pineapple stu]

The Guardian story someone linked to earlier said

"Kenny left a number of his squad uncomfortable by the contents of the video...Indeed, it is believed some players objected to what they were shown."

So it seems to be a bit more than one member of the coaching team.
One member of the coaching team objected in advance (source - the Indo/Prime Time).

If the Guardian is going off the leak, I wouldn't be entirely comfortable taking it as 100% truth. How many is some and how objectionable did they find it? If 24 of the 26 players found it great and two objected, does that not say more about the 2 objectors than the video?


30+ seconds on the Henry incident before we play France is ok; 30+ seconds on historical/political Anglo-Irish relations seems a bit less sensible it feels tangential.
Both are factual historical incidents. Both could help motivate a squad. Nobody's asking the Irish players to go out and shoot the Sasanaigh to gain revenge for the Famine FFS. It's a 30-second slot to get a bit of a derby feel going.


These are ENTIRELY DIFFERENT themes. As I've said Henry/Coleman reference bad incidents in recent FOOTBALL MATCHES to motivate. The UCD example references using DISPARAGING COMMENTS about the football team from media/social media as motivation. The vs Slovan example was using THE TEAMS PAST GOOD PERFORMANCE to positively motivate the players.
First off, STOP ****ING SHOUTING! You're not Donald Trump.

Secondly, that they are different themes is my exact point. There's more than one way to skin a cat here. You choose which is the most suitable. A bit of "800 years" for a match against England - why not? The Irish team going to Stuttgart were listening to rebel songs. No outrage then.

[wexfordned]

What sacres me, is we have only played one good team and lets be honest we were easily beaten. What happens if we meet a spain or a Croatia? My view is he still entitled to the WC campaign. He needs to learn very fast that international football is unforgiving

What scares is me is that Ireland are s**t and a large minority of fans don't seem to realise this and think it's all the managers fault we are not getting results and not their unrealistic expectations. The current squad is the weakest squad we've had since the Charlton era. Our two best plyers are arguably Doherty & Coleman who play in the same position. There may be some promise in the U21s coming through, but it'll take time for alot of them to come through and there's no guarantee they'll be good enough

I really don't see what a change of manager would achieve and who exactly do people think would want the job? The days of the FAI/Denis O'Brien paying stupid money for a big name manager are over

[pineapple stu]

I see many journalists are stating that using a motivational video before a game is amateurish and smacks of desperation, and is a sign that a manager is out of his depth.
It's behind a paywall, but here's a story (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/5429585/Barcelonas-Gladiators-Watch-Pep-Guardiolas-motivational-video.html) about Pep Guardiola using a motivational video when manager of Barcelona in the dressing room ahead of the 2009 Champions League final against Manchester United.

Do you think Pep is amateurish and out of his depth?

There's plenty of other examples I'm sure.

[Stuttgart88]

I hear the video was shown in the hotel so it wasn't the moments before a game. We don't know if there were also tactical or other videos in the preparation phase. Miguel Delaney saying his sources are saying the video was pretty standard. None of us knows really so none of us can comment. My own view was that if it was a real tub-thumping dark green republican video I'd say it was not just ill-advised but actually just a bit naff. We all know there's history between us. While of course there's nothing wrong with a bit of "800 years" I just don't think it's really needed in context of a meaningless friendly in front of no fans. But Kenny is entitled to motivate his players any way he wants.

Anyway, Kenny is meeting Gary Owens today apparently.

When do I start to stop supporting him on grounds of results? When he has a few games with a settled team we'll know more. I'm already a bit concerned that he persists with things that haven't worked even despite the chaos and the withdrawals. I am totally exempting him from the England game. England's last 4 home games have been Iceland 4-0, Ireland 3-0, Wales 3-0 and Belgium 2-1. each of the other teams is objectively better than us. Yeah it lacked intensity but it was a friendly in an empty Wembley. I listened to it without the piped crowd noise on Sky's highlights and it just sounded and felt like a useful training game.

I tend to support managers until I can't. Kerr lost me with his substitutions against Israel and Switzerland. I never really believed in Stan, but I thought initially Bobby Robson's input might have added something. But even allowing for Cyprus (if that's possible) what really annoyed me with Stan was him grinning smugly on 90 mins when 2-1 up in Slovakia. Trap lost me when we just started looking like a tired old dog of a team. O'Neill lost me during the NL games and the year of God awful friendlies where you really knew he hadn't any idea what to do next, and his cocky *****ly attitude became too much. I've got concerns over Kenny but really only after Bulgaria tbh. Most of what went before was excusable.

[Bielsa´s irish]

It's behind a paywall, but here's a story (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/5429585/Barcelonas-Gladiators-Watch-Pep-Guardiolas-motivational-video.html) about Pep Guardiola using a motivational video when manager of Barcelona in the dressing room ahead of the 2009 Champions League final against Manchester United.

Do you think Pep is amateurish and out of his depth?

There's plenty of other examples I'm sure.
You are correct but the English F.A could go to FIFA to get Kenny the sack.

[Closed Account 2]

First off, STOP ****ING SHOUTING! You're not Donald Trump.



Judging by this response seems you're a fan of bringing politics into everything, even when it isn't there.

If your response entails personal insults, then I'm not going to engage in conversation with you anymore.

[pineapple stu]

What personal insult?

I'm asking you to STOP SHOUTING, that's all.

[sbgawa]

With the complete lack of penetration and decent chances being created by the team against Bulgaria i couldnt understand why he left Byrne on the bench for so long (if not then ...when ? )and im hoping its not a sign of things to come , not just with Byrne but with any player of his type we produce.
Not withstanding that concern when would i stop supporting Kenny........not until he gets a run of games with an Ireland A squad and we see where we are.
The problem with a possession based game plan is you have to be technically good and thus the A team will find it easier to carry this game plan out.
LEt him have a go for the next campaign , keep in mind how mind-numbingly awful we were under O Neill and less so but kind of with Mick.

I would be a bit concerned about McGoldrick retiring as its a bad sign that he reckons playing for Ireland is a waste of his time.
I know the official line is to prolong his career but rats and sinking ships springs to mind.
Need to change that peception fast.

[Olé Olé]

Moving beyond the video incident, a question for all the advocates of Kenny. At what point would you begin to question the tenability of his position?

How bad would the results / performances need to get before you would consider him to be unviable as our manager? Or are you of the opinion that results and performances don't matter? If that is the case and its more about "building for 2024" (or even 2044) how do you measure if that long term project is succeeding?

Fair play engaging in a little probing questioning with Kenny advocates and all but the line of questioning is a little tilted here. I don't think any Kenny advocate would say results and performances don't matter and don't think that any Kenny advocate would accept a re-build to be completed by 2044 (hawr hawr).

I am a Kenny advocate and I accept that the performances have been spread across the bad to average to good spectrum- with a weighting on the bad and average side. I am pleased he's trying to implement a more progressive style of play, though a little flexibility in that would be no harm. I am also pleased that he's trusted youth and between his blooding and hopefully some club success, then we could have a few really bright young players in our team in the coming year (O'Shea, Knight, Connolly, Molumby, Idah, Parrott- club exposure a huge factor for the latter three).

I don't think he's the second coming of Christ. I think he can succeed and want him to do so. I don't want to call for his head any time soon because the McCarthy tenure and back end of MON's spell demonstrated how bad things can get. Further, the pandemic has presented any manager with a trying set of circumstances, not to mind how bad things got recently in terms of positive tests and other withdrawals.

[Bielsa´s irish]

If Kenny is on his way out after this fiasco, and this Hill is pulling the strings from behind, the top guy will try to hire Eddie Howe, who is more less the same profile as Stephen. There is always money for these things in football, to hire a new guy

[Closed Account 2]

I would be a bit concerned about McGoldrick retiring as its a bad sign that he reckons playing for Ireland is a waste of his time.
I know the official line is to prolong his career but rats and sinking ships springs to mind.
Need to change that peception fast.

Agree with this, it doesn't bode well, especially as McGoldrick is a very good player in a position where we are struggling at the moment. We haven't had premature retirements like this (where the player is near enough an automatic starter and there aren't massively prevalent injury concerns). If you look at some of our strikers in the past Walters, Keane, Aldridge they perhaps went above and beyond what you would expect in terms of retirement. Walters body gave up in the last few years but he didn't retire early. Robbie Keane was still turning out for us when playing at La Galaxy and having to fly for 20+ hours each international break. Aldridge once said he would never retire from the Irish team and as long as he could kick a ball he'd play if for us if the manager wanted him.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Agree with this, it doesn't bode well, especially as McGoldrick is a very good player in a position where we are struggling at the moment. We haven't had premature retirements like this (where the player is near enough an automatic starter and there aren't massively prevalent injury concerns). If you look at some of our strikers in the past Walters, Keane, Aldridge they perhaps went above and beyond what you would expect in terms of retirement. Walters body gave up in the last few years but he didn't retire early. Robbie Keane was still turning out for us when playing at La Galaxy and having to fly for 20+ hours each international break. Aldridge once said he would never retire from the Irish team and as long as he could kick a ball he'd play if for us if the manager wanted him.

I agree ,players should retire from international football once they end their football carrers, at the same time. As Walters and Aldridge did, Also Stapleton , Brady and Galvin.

Old School

[Nesta99]

Not directly comparable but i always felt he delayed subs too long at Dundalk, difference being that he usually had a result in the bag at Dundalk. V Bulgaria he showed that the run without goals (and probably wins) were getting to him and treated the game with a lot more importance on that than squad development type stuff. Byrne could have been the difference in unlocking the Bulgarian defence but Kenny seemed to be erring on the side of caution and not create another stick with relegation - which wouldnt have been the worst thing at this time when pot 2 was gone.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Maybe. One thing did occur to me - these sort of stories don't come out from happy squads.

Yes i thought the same, he may be in the worst nightmare for a football manager, losing the dressing room.

[Closed Account 2]

Fair play engaging in a little probing questioning with Kenny advocates and all but the line of questioning is a little tilted here. I don't think any Kenny advocate would say results and performances don't matter and don't think that any Kenny advocate would accept a re-build to be completed by 2044 (hawr hawr).


Yes the questions are a little tilted, I'm pretty open about not being convinced by Kenny and think we have made a mistake. That aside, if people genuinely want a large scale rebuild of the national team, then the assumption would be there is an acceptance that results and perhaps performances will tend to tail off as this happens.

We will likely slip down the rankings which might make WC qualification (already tricky) harder, and it may see us regularly struggling to qualify for the expanded Euros. We could have a barren spell (in terms of qualifications) of 12+ years, which hasn't been the case for a generation. This may demotivate our players (ideally it shouldn't but we have to be realistic), players hitting 30+ might decide to retire internationally early, as the prospect of them reaching a tournament, or even winning big qualification games will diminish. There are also financial implications for an already cash strapped FAI. We will miss out on prize money and sponsorship from qualification for WCs and Euros, but also the structure of the Nation's league could see us playing more 'C' rank teams and less glamour ties (i.e. the 'A' or upper 'B' teams), this will mean less matchday revenue for the FAI. It also means we won't be challenged by playing more technically / tactically adept teams, but that cuts both ways.

That outlines some of the costs of a Kenny-based rebuild project. The benefits are a bit less tangible, but theoretically if he can pull it off, we could be playing better football in future years. The point about 2024 v 2044 is we need some sense of a timeline on when this project will be successful. Because 4 years in the doldrums might be acceptable for some fans (and possibly the majority of fans) but 10 or more years would probably be less acceptable.

The other questions are, if we are going for a big rebuild, how will it's success incrementally? And is Kenny the right man to do it personally? Should it be done by a separate director of performance (which we tentatively tried doing with Ruud Dockteur years ago)? Should we have dual roles like Sweden did with Lars Largerbeck and Svoderburg years ago? Should we bring in an external "football strategist" like what the Swiss did with Roy Hodgson?

[tetsujin1979]

Think it all you want, but if you post it here, you will need to provide some evidence

[BonnieShels]

Kenny showing the video was unwise and counter-productive, but I reckon probably inoffensive.
What's more alarming is the jingoistic, old-school anti-Englishness which is evident on this thread, even from some posters who I thought would know better. I'd really thought we'd gone beyond that. Very depressing.

Where's the anti-English sentiment?

[Bielsa´s irish]

Think it all you want, but if you post it here, you will need to provide some evidence

i will look for it. They are trying a coup d'etat, with all this charade

[tetsujin1979]

i will look for it. They are trying a coup d'etat, with all this charade
good. you have one day

[Real ale Madrid]

i will look for it. They are trying a coup d'etat, with all this charade

You should have posted it in the same post. Then you wouldn't have to look for it after.

[wexfordned]

<MOD EDIT - removed quote of deleted post>

Who cares what the English FA think? As for worrying or even caring what english fans on twitter are saying, that's just stupid.

If the FAI make any decision based on what the English FA think they're more incompetent than anyone could have believed.

I'd be more concerned about the rat in the FAI who sold Kenny down the river when he/she leaked the story to the press. That would be what I'd investigate.

[jbyrne]

if people genuinely want a large scale rebuild of the national team


if the FAI were interested in a re-build then they would have left SK with the 21s for a full campaign at that level before moving him to the seniors.
moving him from the 21s to the seniors little over halfway through a campaign was plain daft and has done a lot of harm, i believe, in successfully integrating our better 21s with the seniors

[pineapple stu]

Judging by this response seems you're a fan of bringing politics into everything, even when it isn't there.

If your response entails personal insults, then I'm not going to engage in conversation with you anymore.
Edmundo - I'm going to have to call you up on this.

Where did I engage in personal insults?

All I asked you to do was stop SHOUTING at me.

If you think that was a personal insult, then I can suddenly understand why a 30-second video would offend you too tbh.

[osarusan]

The thing about giving up on a campaign so that at the end of it, you will have a new team or a new set of players bedded in, is that you need to believe the manager is the right man to do that, and that the players are there to do that.

I am not convinced we have either the manager or young players to do that.

There's something admirable about what Kenny is trying to instil, but I am not sure it will work with these players, or with those to come in.

[Closed Account 2]

Edmundo - I'm going to have to call you up on this.

Where did I engage in personal insults?

All I asked you to do was stop SHOUTING at me.

If you think that was a personal insult, then I can suddenly understand why a 30-second video would offend you too tbh.

You implied I was "f**king Donald Trump", and I don't think you meant that as a compliment. Anyway that will be the last time I engage in conversation with you.

[Charlie Darwin]

You implied I was "f**king Donald Trump", and I don't think you meant that as a compliment. Anyway that will be the last time I engage in conversation with you.
Fairly sure he just meant you were SHOUTING IN ALL CAPS like he does.

[pineapple stu]

Donald SHOUTS a lot lately. You were SHOUTING at me.

So not a personal insult - rather an indication as to how irritating it is TO BE SHOUTED AT during an online discussion, and a tacit request that you post more civilly.

[tetsujin1979]

stu, no personal insults.

First off, STOP ****ING SHOUTING! You're not Donald Trump.

cfdh_edmundo, the policy on all caps is in the forum rules - https://foot.ie/faq.php?faq=rules#faq_txtcaps

Foot.ie is a website, not a mobile phone, you have a full keyboard and all your fingers available. Use them please. Oh and typing in ALL CAPS is the Internet equivalent of shouting. Shut up.

Ordinarily, I would move any political discussion to the Politics forum, but given that the video contained a political message, I'll allow it.

[Closed Account 2]

Nice. Ok. Thank you and goodbye.

[BonnieShels]

if the FAI were interested in a re-build then they would have left SK with the 21s for a full campaign at that level before moving him to the seniors.
moving him from the 21s to the seniors little over halfway through a campaign was plain daft and has done a lot of harm, i believe, in successfully integrating our better 21s with the seniors

I do agree that SK should have stayed with the U21s for precisely this reason, however, we weren't to know that this campaign would be hobbled at almost every turn as well.

[Razors left peg]

This has to be the most ridiculous non story Ive seen in years. Motivational videos have been around forever. I seem to remember a GAA manager a few years ago being praised because he played Al Pacinos speech from Any Given Sunday before an All Ireland.

I wouldnt care if it was an hour long video about 1916, its our history. Robbie Keane was always a great man for a Rebel song on the team bus or team night out and there are plenty more like him over the years. Jack is the one I believe who started playing the Wolfe Tones on the team bus and that continued on for years.

People get offended by the most stupid things these days. If this leads to Kenny getting sacked I swear Im done with football.

[pineapple stu]

I played against an English team in the European Cup (of chess...) a couple of years ago.

In the hotel before going to the game, one of our players downloaded and played "Come Out Ye Black And Tans" on his phone. He didn't actually want to fight his English opponent; he just wanted to get into the spirit of the game.

He was German btw.