Next Senior Men's Team Manager - Runners and Riders

[pineapple stu]

There was Fr Purcell as well. ("What's your favourite humming noise?")

[Razors left peg]

I will say, because everyone is thinking it

Glenn Roader

Considering he's dead he'd be interesting

[backstothewall]

Considering he's dead he'd be interesting

Maybe he's just been at the floor cleaner!

[ontheotherhand]

There was Fr Purcell as well. ("What's your favourite humming noise?")

The sound of a fridge humming.

The Robbie debate is fun. Loved him as a player but think he's made some pretty questionable decisions since. Comparing his financial moves to us mere mortals taking jobs in superpower countries or a wage from an employer full stop isn't really useful. We have mortgages to pay and families to feed. The lines become a bit more blurry for us out of necessity. Robbie is a multi millionaire. He doesn't need to chase the money. It's a simple moral decision for him. In fact, turning down the FAI or Tel Aviv money might have had positive knock-on effects for him such is the nature of celebrity and fame. Not sure he's always thinking things through to be honest but Robbie looks after Robbie. Served him well in his career but I wouldn't be a huge fan of the non-playing version.

Still interested to see if he can carry the managerial form through to another league. I'd be surprised if he does but ultimately, he's an Irish legend and a flawed human like all the other ones. There's a story to follow.

[seanfhear]

David O'Leary or Dreary O'Leary as became his nickname when people got fed up listening to him in England !

[pineapple stu]

The Robbie debate is fun. Loved him as a player but think he's made some pretty questionable decisions since. Comparing his financial moves to us mere mortals taking jobs in superpower countries or a wage from an employer full stop isn't really useful. We have mortgages to pay and families to feed. The lines become a bit more blurry for us out of necessity. Robbie is a multi millionaire. He doesn't need to chase the money. It's a simple moral decision for him.
I think rich people are more inclined the chase money bizarrely - look at how many jumped to play in the Saudi league for example.

[Razors left peg]

I think rich people are more inclined the chase money bizarrely - look at how many jumped to play in the Saudi league for example.

There's always a bigger yacht

[ontheotherhand]

I think rich people are more inclined the chase money bizarrely - look at how many jumped to play in the Saudi league for example.

A few of them are probably sociopaths to begin with?

There's been a fair few footballers who have rejected the Saudis. Not necessarily on moral grounds I suppose but it has happened.

Maybe we could also look at the golfers who said no to Liv? I didn't follow that too much though so maybe there were other layers.

[pineapple stu]

A few of them are probably sociopaths to begin with?
Probably so, yeah. I suspect more than a few footballers who rejected a Saudi offer did so on the basis of the league being crap, and concern about what it could do for their longer career.

I'm reading Michael Palin's Diaries at the moment; he has a bit in it where he met Bob Geldof in 1987 and quotes Geldof as saying to him "My morality is absolutely clear. I just want to make lots and lots of money"

Geldof in 87 - a year or two after the Rats broke up - probably wouldn't have been particularly wealthy; certainly not as well off as Keane today. But I think they could empathise with each other.

[SkStu]

Considering he's dead he'd be interesting

An interesting gamble by the FAI, for sure, but would definitely get a bit boring after a while.

[Eminence Grise]

Pre-match press conferences with a medium would be a twist on Trap's Manuela Spinelli years.

Mind you, is there anybody there? could be asked of our midfield far too often lately.

[Eirambler]

Somebody needs to start a rumour about the most boring possible manager ~ ~ To force the FAI's hand a bit, to get some info out of them.

Who could be the most boring manager possible ~ Any candidates ? !

Some-one like that boring priest in Father Ted ? !

https://www.speechcamp.ie/uploads/7/6/4/3/7643415/published/boring.jpg?1492325589

"Following the creditable performances in our recent 3-0 defeat to Belgium and, in particular, our excellent 2-0 defeat to Switzerland, a decision has been taken to reward interim manager John O'Shea with a new four year contract as Ireland Head Coach."

[Stuttgart88]

Somebody needs to start a rumour about the most boring possible manager ~ ~ To force the FAI's hand a bit, to get some info out of them.

Who could be the most boring manager possible ~ Any candidates ? !

Some-one like that boring priest in Father Ted ? !This was on BBC Breakfast this morning (context - the bloke in the picture was a 65 y/o surfer waiting for a huge river wave (or bore) to arrive later this morning in Gloucester. I saw it in real time and thought it was gas!

https://x.com/jonkay01/status/1767453312356327696?s=20

[Eirambler]

I guess the mystery man was Rafa all along!

[Razors left peg]

I guess the mystery man was Rafa all along!
Unless they had inside info on when he was gonna be sacked it's not Rafa. Would make a lot of Irish Liverpool fans happy though

[Eirambler]

Not a hope it's Rafa unfortunately, there's a few million reasons why, would have been an interesting one though!

[Fixer82]

It's going to be Louis Van Gaal. I'm sure of it!

[Razors left peg]

It's going to be Louis Van Gaal. I'm sure of it!

If it is I'm giving up football forever

[Jolly Red Giant]

Not a hope it's Rafa unfortunately, there's a few million reasons why, would have been an interesting one though!
money, money, MONEY

[mark12345]

The nonplaying version of Robbie has really impressed me. What he has done with Maccabi Tel Aviv is pretty impressive. The football they played against Olyampiakos was breath taking at times. If Robbie has influenced them to do this then I'd have him as Irish boss tomorrow. But for some reason I don't think our lads have the technical ability to play that brand of football. And one other thing about his moral decisions - I don't remember anyone questioning his decision to go to Israel at the time.

[Colbert Report]

The nonplaying version of Robbie has really impressed me. What he has done with Maccabi Tel Aviv is pretty impressive. The football they played against Olyampiakos was breath taking at times. If Robbie has influenced them to do this then I'd have him as Irish boss tomorrow. But for some reason I don't think our lads have the technical ability to play that brand of football. And one other thing about his moral decisions - I don't remember anyone questioning his decision to go to Israel at the time.

I'm not interested in getting into a political debate, but the day he was named manager, there were several comments on this forum about it.

[Fixer82]

Yes I think lots of people had reservations about it at the time

[Jolly Red Giant]

Probably so, yeah. I suspect more than a few footballers who rejected a Saudi offer did so on the basis of the league being crap, and concern about what it could do for their longer career.

I'm reading Michael Palin's Diaries at the moment; he has a bit in it where he met Bob Geldof in 1987 and quotes Geldof as saying to him "My morality is absolutely clear. I just want to make lots and lots of money"

Geldof in 87 - a year or two after the Rats broke up - probably wouldn't have been particularly wealthy; certainly not as well off as Keane today. But I think they could empathise with each other.
I think the Saudis specifically targeted players that they felt would chase money.

As for Geldof - a chancer of the highest order who used Live-Aid to relaunch the flagging career of the Rats.

[Jolly Red Giant]

The nonplaying version of Robbie has really impressed me. What he has done with Maccabi Tel Aviv is pretty impressive. The football they played against Olyampiakos was breath taking at times. If Robbie has influenced them to do this then I'd have him as Irish boss tomorrow. But for some reason I don't think our lads have the technical ability to play that brand of football. And one other thing about his moral decisions - I don't remember anyone questioning his decision to go to Israel at the time.
Olympiakos are an absolute shambles at the moment - they are owned by the same guy who owns Forest and he has been using Olympiakos as a dumping ground for players they wanted out of Forest (Marinakis doesn't care about his Greek club anymore now that Forest are in the PL). This season there was a massive turnover of players - 36 out and 28 in - most of the ones that came in were free transfers (or on loan) - the club have had four separate managers since last June. The Greek Super League is so bad that they are going to finish third at worst no matter what they do.

[nigel-harps1954]

Going poorly for Robbie Keane tonight. Olympiakos 3-0 up in Tel Aviv at half time.

[2 Year Contract]

Going poorly for Robbie Keane tonight. Olympiakos 3-0 up in Tel Aviv at half time.

It’s being played in Serbia. They’ve just got a goal back through a penalty which was their second shot of the game. Seem to be getting dominated but they now lead by a goal on aggregate

[Colbert Report]

Stevan Jovetic just scored in the 98th minute to knock Maccabi Tel Aviv out.

[2 Year Contract]

Stevan Jovetic just scored in the 98th minute to knock Maccabi Tel Aviv out.

The game finished 4-1 in normal time and went to extra time. Jovetic scored in the 3rd minute of extra time. It’s currently half time in extra time and 6-1 to Olympiakos. A sheer and utter embarrassment from Robbie Keane and his boys

[NeverFeltBetter]

Pretty shocking capitulation. From the admittedly very small sample size that Robbie Keane's managerial career constitutes right now, it doesn't paint a good picture. It's especially poor given the state of Olympiakos this season, as outlined above. He needs a few years before he can be seriously considered for a job like Ireland's.

[pineapple stu]

Olympiakos have won eight of their last ten league games and beat West Ham in the Europa League (not a dead rubber); they were unlucky not to do better in the groups actually. They can't be doing that badly, even if they're not as strong as usual (given they usually win the league)

Against that Maccabi had to play their home leg in Serbia - that's a big factor too, and one outside of Keane's hands.

It was a bad defeat for sure, but I think it's a bit excessive to use it to judge a record-breaking campaign (the furthest they'd ever gone in Europe)

[Razors left peg]

Awful defeat for Robbie, but hes done well to get them this far and is still top of table in League. Hopefully enough to get him a move to a better situation next season.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Olympiakos have won eight of their last ten league games and beat West Ham in the Europa League (not a dead rubber); they were unlucky not to do better in the groups actually. They can't be doing that badly, even if they're not as strong as usual (given they usually win the league)


As I pointed out - Olympiakos are a mess this season. Four different managers since last June (Diego Martínez from June to December - Carlos Carvalhal lasted 11 games - Sotiris Silaidopoulos - and now José Luis Mendilibar) - 36 players out and 28 in during the off season. Given the poor quality of the Greek Super League, it is difficult for Olympiakos to do any worse than third. The only real competition are AEK, PAOK and Panathinaikos (and PAOK are punching above their weight at the moment) - and Olympiakos have lost twice to Panathinaikos in the last few weeks (0-2 away and 1-3 at home). The Greek Super League is now in the play-off phase and Olympiakos are likely to be very badly exposed over the next few weeks.

As for Maccabi Tel Aviv - well they were not the only Israeli team to have progressed in Euro competition. Maccabi Haifa were also in the last 16 of the Conference League - they lost 3-4 to Fiorentina in the first leg (conceding 6 minutes into injury time) and then drew 1-1 in Italy last night - and Fiorentina are a much better team than Olympiakos.

Now all of this isn't worth a hill of beans - Maccabi Tel Aviv are a big fish in a small pond with a bucket load of money behind them - a team that, since Goldhar has bought the club, has systematically been removing any association with Palestinian or Arabic players and that has refused to take action against the racist antics of its Ultras. Keane knew what he was doing taking the job - he gets to pad his bank balance and his CV - irrespective of the political message that it sends.

[Razors left peg]

Seems that Lukaku is out of the Belgium squad now, De Bryune also gone. Got me thinking about what happens if we get 2 good results in these 2 games. I think the FAI may have a PR own goal on their hands by dragging the new manager process out so long and in such secrecy. If O'Shea does well in these 2 games a lot of people will want him to stay on, and the new manager will be battling that from the start.

Usually when a new manager comes in there is a bounce in the mood of the general fanbase. Theres always renewed optimism in the air, especially if previous results have been poor. To me there seems to be a big of a feel good factor around this squad. It may be the sorting out of the Szmodics situation, or even the nice story of Brian Kerr being brought back. Whatever it is, the mood amongst the keyboard warrior brigade seems to be fairly positive towards O'Shea, and I think a lot of people are just p1ssed off with the dragged out manager hunt and are happy to let O'Shea just get on with it.

It leads to an interesting scenario if we get 2 good results here. Instead of the new manager being the hero coming into replace Kenny who got bad results, he becomes the guy taking over from the guy who did well. There could be an O'Shea shadow hanging over the new guy immediately if he doesnt hit the ground running with good results in June and September. There will always be those wondering if O'Shea should have been left on.

From a PR perspective they will probably have to say when the new guy takes over that O'Shea had been working in consultation with him, just so there is a continuity and the new man can take some credit starting out..... might be interesting times ahead!

[SkStu]

Seems that Lukaku is out of the Belgium squad now, De Bryune also gone. Got me thinking about what happens if we get 2 good results in these 2 games. I think the FAI may have a PR own goal on their hands by dragging the new manager process out so long and in such secrecy. If O'Shea does well in these 2 games a lot of people will want him to stay on, and the new manager will be battling that from the start.

Don't worry. Its a Belgium B team now. Wont count.

[Razors left peg]

Don't worry. Its a Belgium B team now. Wont count.

Ah but it will now, thats the benefit of being the new man :)

[seanfhear]

If we get two good results ~ ~ The FAI will pull back the curtain and it will be John O'Shea !

The FAI would probably say the other deal fell through !

[Snapshot]

If we get two good results ~ ~ The FAI will pull back the curtain and it will be John O'Shea !

The FAI would probably say the other deal fell through !
I think John O'Shea's situation is future-proofed. It's unlikely he would compromise his future on results from two difficult friendlies. He'll be Carsley's assistant with Whelan alongside (IMO, of course!).

[Olé Olé]

Having reported Carsley was out of the race, will Sky now fund his deal for the Ireland job?

[JR89]

Having reported Carsley was out of the race, will Sky now fund his deal for the Ireland job?

1770405958461673763

Don't think that's gonna work. Has officially ruled himself out of the job.

[Eirambler]

So, not Carsley. That will upset a few people anyway!

A lot of journos left looking like idiots as well. In fact, nearly all of them reported Carsley as the most likely candidate at some point.

[Snapshot]

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/arid-41357128.html

Not me, says Carsley.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Well now. Does this mean the FAI have someone else lined up, or were they waffling about an appointment next month?

Are they praying O'Shea does a halfway decent job to cover for asking him to take it?

Or are the rumours true, and is Leo Varadkar taking the job?

[pineapple stu]

Well now. Does this mean the FAI have someone else lined up, or were they waffling about an appointment next month?
That's a fairly big thing to bull**** about, isn't it?!

[SkStu]

Can we spare a thought for Razor who will shortly wake up to this news!

I think it might actually point to Gus Poyet now to be honest.

[SkStu]

Also... i wonder why it took Carsley until now to say something if it was dead in November (though he has chosen his words fairly carefully I'm sure). No matter what way I look at it, he doesn't come out of this looking particularly good. But then again, why didnt the FAI also rule him out? Its a weird one.

[Jd2793]

give it sheasy!!!!

[MylesNotMiley]

I think it might actually point to Gus Poyet now to be honest.

I've been thinking it's Poyet since they started talking about the new guy has contractual agreements to fulfill.

Poyet will leave Greece when their campaign ends - either next week or after the Euros.

[JR89]

Also... i wonder why it took Carsley until now to say something if it was dead in November (though he has chosen his words fairly carefully I'm sure). No matter what way I look at it, he doesn't come out of this looking particularly good. But then again, why didnt the FAI also rule him out? Its a weird one.

Only reason he's went public now is because he's in front of the media because they've matches. If they had no matches I doubt he'd ever have went public.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Willy Sagnol the current favourite on PP.

[Razors left peg]

Can we spare a thought for Razor who will shortly wake up to this news!

I think it might actually point to Gus Poyet now to be honest.

Absolutely sick Stu. If they roll out Poyet at this point I might puke.

Carsely saying he only had 1 informal meeting in november and it went no futher, why not rule yourself out properly then. His mate Kilbane was still writing that negotiations were happening until recently. Someone is lying.

The whole secrecy surrounding the appointment has become a joke. If they dont have a rabbit made of solid gold to pull out of a hat at this point heads need to roll.

What a way to start the day, in bad form before I even got out of fcuking bed!