Vera Pauw

[Colbert Report]

Surely the FAI won't reward Vera Pauw with a new contract. I will be shocked if they do. Have we learned nothing from her refusal to defender herself in the face of some of the worst bullying allegations ever made?

[Colbert Report]

Vera Pauw's contract not renewed. Finally the FAI get one right.

[Fixer82]

Vera Pauw's contract not renewed. Finally the FAI get one right.

Harsh. She’s our most successful women’s manager ever

[Jolly Red Giant]

Harsh. She’s our most successful women’s manager ever
True - but she also had, by far and away, the most talented squad of players ever - a squad of players that didn't like her ultra-conservative approach.

[Colbert Report]

Is she though? She qualified us for the World Cup, take nothing away from that achievement. Important to note that this was the first 32 team tournament, however.

[seanfhear]

Let's see how the next manager gets on ?

[gastric]

Pauw reminds me of Trap in many ways. I don't think she respected the team's skills or trusted the team to score, so she always had them play in a very conservative manner. The players didn't like this, hence McCabe's behaviour against Nigeria. She wanted a more offensive approach, Pauw was reluctant. It will be interesting to see what approach the next manager takes, I think the players will demand a more positive approach, the question is will it work?

[Strongbow10]

Pauw's tenure will be looked on as the good times of Irish womens football. The fact we didn't ship any hidings is an achievement. The fact we were competitive is a huge positive.

"Player power" is never really a good thing, especially when its coming from a group with very little experience of being in any way successful. Call me sexist aswell, but I think "personality clashes" and not responding to a particular managers "style" will be a staple of the womens game going forward too. McCabe obviously sees herself as the female Roy Keane.

The whole Roy Keane/Saipan episode where we were all told that Ireland should never accept 2nd best, whilst it was aspirational, I think people have used it to the extreme now where we are told we should be trying to go toe to toe with nations with vastly superior talent and resources than we actually have. And not only going toe to toe, we should be playing attractive expansive football. And its bit us on the arse because this approach is as reckless in the other direction.

[Fixer82]

We’re one of the richest nations in Europe. We should have the resources to give our footballers ans good a chance as possible as other nations have.

The Genesis Report was not really implemented after Saipan.
Didn’t Delaney himself say something like ‘no CEO should be more than 6 years in charge’?

[EalingGreen]

Let's see how the next manager gets on ?On which point, Aidan Fitzmaurice had an article in the Indo the other day, where he asked: "Should FAI follow the Northern Irish model to appoint Vera Pauw’s successor?"

We (NI) have finally appointed a successor to Kenny Shiels as Womens' manager, the Australian Tanya Oxtoby. I haven't seen much (any?) coverage about her appoitment beyond the minimum in the NI media, but Fitzmaurice may have some background info when he points out that: "[The] IFA needed to double their salary offer":
https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/aidan-fitzmaurice-should-fai-follow-the-northern-irish-model-to-appoint-vera-pauws-successor/a206625658.html

I can't read the article since it's behind a paywall, but could someone on here who subscribes help me out if there was much more in his piece? (Cheeky request, I know, you could pm me if preferred)

[CraftyToePoke]

"I think the results, performances that we got, were in spite of Vera being coach."

ETC : https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/0918/1405986-caldwell-republic-of-ireland-success-in-spite-of-pauw/

[Stuttgart88]

Jeez, God help any manager that gets us to a World Cup!

[seanfhear]

The Women players are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to perform ~ If they don't deliver the performances ~ What then ?

[CraftyToePoke]

The Women players are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to perform ~ If they don't deliver the performances ~ What then ?

You'd have to question the tactics here alright seanie.

[ontheotherhand]

People seem to be criticizing the players here quite a bit. Might be a bit early for that as it feels there is more to this story to me. We know there are a few stories about Pauw already.

I'd hold judgement for now. Never know what's going on behind the scenes. The Spanish team seem to have performed despite their manager so it's not out of the question that something similar was going on with Ireland.

[Eirambler]

The Women players are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to perform ~ If they don't deliver the performances ~ What then ?


The problems will then be:

- The new manager
- The association
- The media
- Unrealistic expectations among the public
- The training facilities
- Lack of investment, supplements, travel arrangements etc.

Never the players though.

This has already been done to death with the rugby team, now the footballers are at the same thing.

[seanfhear]

Certainly the players are making a rod for their own back. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Some managers get undeserved praise but also, some managers get undeserved blame. The spectators decide for themselves over the long term and what happens on the field long term.

Why did the players just not move on from the Vera Paw era, when she was finished as Ireland manager ?

[Jolly Red Giant]

The problems will then be:

- The new manager
- The association
- The media
- Unrealistic expectations among the public
- The training facilities
- Lack of investment, supplements, travel arrangements etc.

Never the players though.

This has already been done to death with the rugby team, now the footballers are at the same thing.

1. there isn't a new manager yet - and the FAI have to pick a good one
2. Everyone knows that the FAI area f*ck-up
3. The media will latch onto anything that is click-bait
4. The team has over-performed - we are years behind most other countries in the development of women's soccer
5. What training facilities ?
6. There has been little or no investment in women's football - and throughout the entire soccer structure in Ireland in general (compared to the favoured sports)

The players are making their concerns known - and they should be supported - then maybe we will see an uptick in performance. Constantly hammering them because Pauw's contract wasn't renewed is counter-productive - it is clear that there were issues with how Pauw was running the squad.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Why did the players just not move on from the Vera Paw era, when she was finished as Ireland manager ?
Because Pauw went on national television to paint herself as the victim - the players were always going to react to that.

[seanfhear]

Because Pauw went on national television to paint herself as the victim - the players were always going to react to that.

Sometimes ~ Least said, soonest mended.

[nigel-harps1954]

I don't think anyone comes out of this too great. Pauw should have just said "good luck, I enjoyed my time" and move on.

Likewise, the players shouldn't have risen to any questions, wished her well, and said "we're focused on the future now and thank Vera for her contribution".

This schoolyard nonsense doesn't help anyone. There's absolutely no doubt, no smoke without fire, and there are people who'll have been properly p!ssed off with Pauw, but at the end of the day, she's a coach, not out to make friends. She probably could have handled some things better herself during her tenure too, the Tyler Toland situation is one obvious one, but neither side came out of that too well either, to be honest.

Dragging the arse out of it now, however, is of no help to anyone, and not least Gleeson and her coaching staff trying to prepare for the game this week.

[seanfhear]

I don't think anyone comes out of this too great. Pauw should have just said "good luck, I enjoyed my time" and move on.

Likewise, the players shouldn't have risen to any questions, wished her well, and said "we're focused on the future now and thank Vera for her contribution".

This schoolyard nonsense doesn't help anyone.
I couldn't have said it better ~ ~ In sport the future is always there in front of you.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Sometimes ~ Least said, soonest mended.
Ideally yes - but the reality is that when Pauw's contract wasn't renewed the players came in for massive flack for not backing her. There were clearly serious problems behind the scenes - and once Pauw went on TV (and given free reign to say what she wanted by the interviewer) the players needed to get their frustrations out.

I think it is noteworthy that it was Caldwell who made these comments - she is a senior figure in the squad and will probably retire from international football in the near future. I think that she was the one making the comments to protect the younger players from criticism.

[Thewhitepele]

The woman's team seem to get a lot of coverage these days most of it negative. Do they get any media training? If I was coming in as manager I would look to manage that as one of my first priorities.

[ontheotherhand]

Well.....maybe Pauw was holding them back more than anything?

[seanfhear]

Me-owww ~ ~ Where are Northern Ireland in the rankings ?

[ontheotherhand]

Not as low as our men's team but low enough. Still good to see the team convincingly win.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Well.....maybe Pauw was holding them back more than anything?
They certainly look more comfortable on the pitch and seem to have a rapport with Eileen Gleeson - also Tyler Toland showed that Pauw was being petty by ostracising her from the squad.