Next Senior Men's Team Manager - Runners and Riders

[seanfhear]

Chris Wilder set to return to Sheff U.

They were incredibly well coached in their first season back in the EPL a few years ago. They had a really clear way of playing, the way they hunted in packs without the ball in particulat stood out. He's a candidate I'd have considered. Not your typical north of England club manager.No flat cap ! (wink)

[CraftyToePoke]

Big Sam has bought himself a ticket I see on the Second Captains podcast with a promise to make a passing delusion of our temporary passing delusion affliction & he clearly knows ( some ) of his audience.


Whoever they choose is a big decision for them, of course. They have failed a bit recently in the last few seasons to say the least. I don't know whether that's the manager, or a combination of the manager and the team...

I've always been pragmatic in terms of how good are the players and we will suit a system or style for those players and play to their strengths, and try and cover their weaknesses when all is said and done.

If you're playing a team that is so much better than you, it will be about limited possession you've got and how good is the defending to try and get the ability to score a goal and win a game of football.

I play winning football, that's what I play.



https://www.balls.ie/football/sam-allardyce-interest-republic-of-ireland-job-580842

[John83]

The leopard isn't going to change his spots. If he's interested, I doubt we can afford not to consider him. I'm no fan of his, but he was good enough for England a few pints of wine ago, and we're not exactly offering Trapattoni money these days.

[Razors left peg]

The leopard isn't going to change his spots. If he's interested, I doubt we can afford not to consider him. I'm no fan of his, but he was good enough for England a few pints of wine ago, and we're not exactly offering Trapattoni money these days.

Hes now in a position where 500K a year for a retirement part time gig would be grand for him Im sure.... but please Jebus no!

[elatedscum]

don't think we can afford big Sam, even if we wanted him. he got paid more working 25 days last season (€23,280 per day) for leeds than Stephen Kenny got in a year (€1,479 per day). And had Big Sam been able to keep them up, he would have got an additional £3m on top.

He was getting £6m a year as Everton boss - and ended up being paid £9m for 6 months work.

Obviously the limit of about 50 days of work with players per year, as opposed to about 300 would suit him - he's mentioned in the past that he'd like an international job due to the lighter work load - but I imagine he's pretty content to be a well paid fire-fighter every second season. So I'd say he'd be looking for at least €2.5m a year across 2 campaigns, plus an additional €5m if he qualifies us.

[EalingGreen]

Big Sam: "I've always been pragmatic in terms of how good are the players and we will suit a system or style for those players and play to their strengths, and try and cover their weaknesses"

I'm not making any comment on his suitability or otherwise for the ROI job, but in respect of the above, it is often overlooked that when SA was flying high with Bolton, including finishing 6th in the PL and qualifying them for Europe etc, he signed players like Fredi Bobic, Youri Djorkaeff, Jay-Jay Okocha, El Hadji Diouf and Nicolas Anelka - hardly Route One cloggers they.

Of course, these were signed with money which Bolton probably couldn't afford and when Chairman Phil Gartside got cold feet over SA's spending demands (SA was talking about qualifying for the Champions League!), there was only going to be one outcome.

[Eirambler]

Tony Mowbray anyone? No idea if he'd be interested but he's a very decent manager and man in my view.

[CraftyToePoke]

So we have Lennon, Bruce & now Allardyce going public on the role, after nobody did early on. I think Kenny was dead man walking for so long, June in Athens at the very latest, there was an assumption this job was already filled maybe. Maybe after having a few ear to the ground chats they now don't think it is.

[tetsujin1979]

Big Sam: "I've always been pragmatic in terms of how good are the players and we will suit a system or style for those players and play to their strengths, and try and cover their weaknesses"

I'm not making any comment on his suitability or otherwise for the ROI job, but in respect of the above, it is often overlooked that when SA was flying high with Bolton, including finishing 6th in the PL and qualifying them for Europe etc, he signed players like Fredi Bobic, Youri Djorkaeff, Jay-Jay Okocha, El Hadji Diouf and Nicolas Anelka - hardly Route One cloggers they.

Of course, these were signed with money which Bolton probably couldn't afford and when Chairman Phil Gartside got cold feet over SA's spending demands (SA was talking about qualifying for the Champions League!), there was only going to be one outcome.
Quite a few of the players he brought in were on free transfers since they were out of contract, which meant the money saved from the transfer fee went on their wages.

[JR89]

Does Big Sam know that John Delaney isn't the head of the FAI anymore. Was probably hoping to have a chinwag with JD about their fondness for brown envelopes.

[zero]

I wouldn't be totally opposed to sam. It could work.

[Exgrad]

Allarydce has worked 30 days in the last 2 years...I'm sure he's aware his days of multi million pound gigs are behind him. I can't believe im coming round to the idea of big sam. WTF is going on.

[irishfan86]

It's not a romantic idea, but I think we have the personnel to really suit a pragmatic big sam system. Build to be solid at the back, counter-attack -- bypass our weak midfield, aim to get plenty of direct balls in to Ferguson. Essentially, play to the strengths we have.

[Stuttgart88]

Gary Rowett?

1732023609021862070

[Olé Olé]

Gary Rowett?

1732023609021862070

Don't know what I make of a name like that. Plenty Championship experience. Not sure of the style of play but can't remember anything remarkable from any of his club stints. Would I be wrong to conclude that he's a solid Championship manager that might do okay at international level and make us hard to beat, all the while having no Irish connection? I'm sure we could end up making a hire like that but it would be fairly underwhelming and the ticket office would be underwhelmed too.

[irishfan86]

Not too familiar with Rowett's work, but he's won more games than he's lost at every club he's managed, and been almost constantly employed over the last decade. Clearly some competence there.

[Jd2793]

Mowbray?

[Eirambler]

Rowett's a capable manager, though not a big name. Would probably do a decent job. His only real managerial failure to date was at Stoke, every other team he's managed has performed well under him. I wouldn't worry about the ticket office, if we start winning games the doubters would come crawling back quickly enough.

[CraftyToePoke]

I can't believe im coming round to the idea of big sam. WTF is going on.

He knew exactly how to pitch it didn't he, the snake oil salesman three card trickster that he is :D

[seanfhear]

He knew exactly how to pitch it didn't he, the snake oil salesman three card trickster that he is
Maybe that's what we need :hypnotized::hypnotized::hypnotized:

[CraftyToePoke]

aim to get plenty of direct balls in to Ferguson. Essentially, play to the strengths we have.

They aren't his strengths though. Here's a highlights reel to September.

fWuFeSXPeD8

[seanfhear]

I think Big Sam has enough to work with there, to turn Evan in to a Big Man up front ! !

[Razors left peg]

They aren't his strengths though. Here's a highlights reel to September.

https://youtu.be/fWuFeSXPeD8?si=bneC8FlhfHZlBEcx

Jesus I couldnt imagine anything worse than just hoofing the ball constantly to Ferguson. Ferguson is a good enough footballer that Brighton play him as a 10 sometimes, and we are suggesting a "just get it up to the big man" policy.... We have a Rolls Royce in Evan and Allardyce would treat him like Massey Ferguson

[Jolly Red Giant]

Allardyce, Mowbray and Rowlett are all in the same mould as Chris Hughton - solid defensively and play to your strengths. Mowbray and Rowlett are effectively a poor man's version of Chris Hughton - good managerial careers without the experience in the PL or at international level. Allardyce is a different kettle of fish - he has vast experience in the PL - knows how to get the best out of a team. He is the one name that has come up that has a better track record than Chris Hughton - and he would have managed bigger clubs if it weren't for his alleged association with dodgy money stuff. The only question over Allardyce is whether he still has the stomach for management and would make the effort, rather than just collecting a pay cheque (and it would still be a question about how much he would expect to be paid).

[CraftyToePoke]

The only question over Allardyce is whether he still has the stomach for management and would make the effort, rather than just collecting a pay cheque (and it would still be a question about how much he would expect to be paid).

He's going to know this isn't a payer, everyone knows the FAI are skint, yet he put his hat in the ring anyway. I think for him it might be about wanting to do well in an international job right under England's nose & that would be the motivation here, he was linked before too. For us it would effectively be an abandonment of the post MON / Mick II principles entirely, because one appointment did not work. So it's going to be interesting to see where the decision makers heads are at on this as he as good as said it'd be a rudimentary approach.

[SkStu]

What became increasingly obvious to me during Kenny's reign was the fact that there needs to be a level of practicality when it comes to a team with the quality of ours. A manager who can be flexible in his approach to squad management and game management based on the opposition. We never saw that from Kenny. He became welded to his well intended and preferred ideology at times when it simply was not practical. Rather than looking for the person who can take the next natural step in a shifted game philosophy, I would be looking for it to be someone who can take the best of what Kenny introduced, but not stick on it, instead bring some additional ideas and approaches to be implemented for various games - and then manage the game itself. The same issues we saw in Bulgaria on day 1, we were still seeing against Greece. Quick switch of side of play leaves us massively exposed. The long goal issue never really got addressed.

I think any of the managers on the current list, Sam Allardyce included, would be an improvement in results (which we now know matters most to a large section of fans) and will likely also tick a few of the other boxes above. None will be perfect.

[Olé Olé]

He's going to know this isn't a payer, everyone knows the FAI are skint, yet he put his hat in the ring anyway. I think for him it might be about wanting to do well in an international job right under England's nose & that would be the motivation here, he was linked before too. For us it would effectively be an abandonment of the post MON / Mick II principles entirely, because one appointment did not work. So it's going to be interesting to see where the decision makers heads are at on this as he as good as said it'd be a rudimentary approach.

Saying he's interested doesn't really pose any downside for him. He lets the market know he's open to work and maybe a benefactor comes forward willing to stump up his wages - that isn't beyond the realms of possibility given that he is a former England manager with a plethora of Premiership clubs on his CV.

[third policeman]

What exactly did Kenny introduce into our play? Was it the ambition to play a more progressive passing game that was wrong, or was it his inability to actually implement that ambition? I think he lacked the coaching and tactical ability to match his so-called philosophy. There are teams with similar playing resources to ourselves who pass more progressively, retain possession more efficiently and create more chances. Organisation doesn't mean reverting exclusively to a long ball approach. The biggest issue when watching Ireland is not the lack of technical ability, its the lack of movement, the slow ponderous tempo, the absence of passing options - the complete lack of a tactical plan and structure. This was only occasionally resolved when we had more experienced and competent coaches working with Kenny.

[osarusan]

Allardyce strikes me as a manager who needs to work day in and day out with his players to get the best out of them in a system he devises.

[seanfhear]

Eileen Gleeson should be considered ~ ~ Considering her recent results.

[texidub]

If you're playing a team that is so much better than you,
it will be about limited possession you've got
and how good is the defending
to try and get the ability to
score a goal and
win a game of football.

^Uninspiring waffle. Thanks, but no thanks, Sambo. Next!

[Fixer82]

The thing is no matter who the manager is, what is our best XI and what formation. Most of the XI who played France or Holland will be in the next managers XI no matter who is chosen as the manager.

If we revert to being hard to beat, solid at the back and more direct but qualify no one will care who the manager is in reality.

Well we might get a manager that knows our best X1. Kenny didn't

[SkStu]

What exactly did Kenny introduce into our play? Was it the ambition to play a more progressive passing game that was wrong, or was it his inability to actually implement that ambition? I think he lacked the coaching and tactical ability to match his so-called philosophy. There are teams with similar playing resources to ourselves who pass more progressively, retain possession more efficiently and create more chances.

I agree. I’ll add another observation in there - as a person, it seemed like the job was way too big for him. While the passion was there, it seemed more of a stressor than something he was able to take in his stride. I don’t know how that would have translated pre game, half time, post game, in front of the squad.

Back to your main points, it has to be about his in-game ability, where any manager actually earns his/her money. I’ll give Doherty and others the benefit of the doubt that preparation and training were of high quality in terms of his game “philosophy” and oppo analysis but it counts for nothing when it’s 1 v 1 as a manager and your plan is failing on the pitch and you cannot adjust. Reminds me of the Mike Tyson quote - “everyone’s got a plan till they get punched in the face” - Kenny lost every bout (campaign), only landing a couple of jabs.

Maybe it’s true that there aren’t really (m)any gimmes in international football anymore and, if so, it proved to be a pretty unforgiving environment for a manager of Kenny’s ability.

[punkrocket]

It shouldn't be overlooked that Sam also played and managed in the LOI, he even manned the collection buckets. Could he maybe harbour a soft spot for Irish football, it did start him off on his long managerial career.
Or, maybe it was the bucket.

[seanfhear]

It shouldn't be overlooked that Sam also played and managed in the LOI, he even manned the collection buckets. Could he maybe harbour a soft spot for Irish football, it did start him off on his long managerial career.
Or, maybe it was the bucket.At least Sam will be endeavouring to, Not kick the bucket !

[EalingGreen]

Or, maybe it was the bucket.

https://media.tenor.com/lzwviX3JiAEAAAAM/funny-true.gif

[punkrocket]

Hang on a minute...What's Marcelo Bielsa up to these days?

[JR89]

Hang on a minute...What's Marcelo Bielsa up to these days?


It shouldn't be overlooked that Sam also played and managed in the LOI, he even manned the collection buckets. Could he maybe harbour a soft spot for Irish football, it did start him off on his long managerial career.
Or, maybe it was the bucket.

He's the Uruguay manager.

Can bet that Big Sam was dipping his hand into the bucket for a few quid.

[Buckett]

I'm deeply offended...

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, there's an image we could have done without!!

[CraftyToePoke]

The FAI say they are at an advanced stage of the process of finding Stephen Kenny's replacement as manager of the senior Ireland men's team while the new boss of the women's side will be in place before Christmas, CEO Jonathan Hill today said.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/fai-in-advanced-stage-in-hunt-for-new-manager-while-womens-boss-to-be-named-before-christmas/a1898481879.html

Meanwhile Brady wants Kerr back.


“You know who I would like to see if things were difficult, and you are going to be amazed at this, I’d like to see Brian Kerr brought back,” said Brady, as he accepted the Soccer Writers Ireland International Achievement Award at their annual banquet in Dublin on Friday.

“He has got an amazing track record with young players and we have a young team. I remember going to watch his teams win the U-16 and U-18 Euros.

“I just think he’s a safe pair of hands, bring a couple of people in, maybe Stephen Bradley or Damien Duff alongside him and see what can evolve from there. That would be my thinking, if we can’t get somebody like (Lee) Carsley.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/football-legend-liam-brady-admits-hed-like-to-see-brian-kerr-given-second-chance-as-ireland-manager/a479478077.html

[Jolly Red Giant]

Seriously doubt that Kerr would be interested at this stage - he's 70 years old - and he hasn't managed a team since he left the Faroes 12 years ago.

[elatedscum]

Half a million a year is hard to turn down

[ontheotherhand]

at least he'd be off punditry. don't think Brian has the patience for mgmt anymore though. he's gone awful sour the past few years.

[texidub]

I know a fella that stopped watching and supporting Ireland after the 'treatment' (his words) Kerr got in the job. I agree that Kerr wasn't treated all that well, but I'll support Ireland regardless. Anyway, if Kerr gets the job, that's the fan base up by at least one so maybe worth considering.

[Jolly Red Giant]

I know a fella that stopped watching and supporting Ireland after the 'treatment' (his words) Kerr got in the job. I agree that Kerr wasn't treated all that well, but I'll support Ireland regardless. Anyway, if Kerr gets the job, that's the fan base up by at least one so maybe worth considering.
What I could see happening is that Kerr being part of Chris Hughton's backroom team if Hughton got the job - reversing their roles from when Kerr was manager. Hughton regularly hired Colin Calderwood to be his assistant - but Calderwood is assistant at Southampton now (part of the reason the Southampton defence is playing a lot better - he joined them in October).

[texidub]

I'd like to see him involved somwehere, but would he want it? His pride was hurt, I think, and he didn't get the same levels of understanding Kenny got. It's all a bit weird, but he has a lot of knowledge and experience to bring especially w/ young players.

[tetsujin1979]

Kerr had an far more talented squad than Kenny - prime Robbie Keane, Duff, Given, Andy O'Brien playing Champions League football with Newcastle - and with greater depth - remember Richard Dunne couldn't get into the team! - and he couldn't win a competitive game against any team in the top eighty in the world, never scored more than three in a game - and only managed that twice - and I don't think I will ever understand taking off Robbie Keane at home when we needed a goal at home against Switzerland in what turned out to be his final game in charge.
Did he really do anything to show he deserved a new contract?

[Diggs246]

Kerr had an far more talented squad than Kenny - prime Robbie Keane, Duff, Given, Andy O'Brien playing Champions League football with Newcastle - and with greater depth - remember Richard Dunne couldn't get into the team! - and he couldn't win a competitive game against any team in the top eighty in the world, never scored more than three in a game - and only managed that twice - and I don't think I will ever understand taking off Robbie Keane at home when we needed a goal at home against Switzerland ok what turned out to be his final game in charge.
Did he really do anything to show he deserved a new contract?


No he didn't and doesn't deserve to be considered now.

As you say he had very good players and an easy group and he blow it

This is lunacy tbh, he hasn't been in management for years and that was with the Faroes an amateur team.

[Eirambler]

Given who was brought in to replace him I think Kerr could justifiably argue he deserved another two years at the time. But it would be lunacy to consider bringing him back now.