New Irish manager

[Greenforever]

Yeh should narrow it down, theres a couple on there who won't get it. The next manager will never be liam brady for example...although the FAI are a strange bunch!

Wonder did you say that about Brian Kerr in 2002 or Stan in 2006, as you said FAI is short for a strange bunch :D

[eirebhoy]

Blame Geysir if you don't like the list. ;)

Old Poll Results:


David O'Leary 15 4.81%
John Aldridge 7 2.24%
Liam Brady 24 7.69%
Roy Hodgson 50 16.03%
Leo Beenhakker 31 9.94%
Paul Jewell 29 9.29%
Greame Souness 16 5.13%
Steve Coppell 41 13.14%
Otto Rehhagel 18 5.77%
Other 81 25.96%

[eekers]

i voted for jol/coppell both excluded from the poll - best two candidates

[Paulh]

i voted for jol/coppell both excluded from the poll - best two candidates

I agree.

I'd love to see Jol get it. The guy is available and I think he'd jump at it.

However, he certainly hasn't featured too heavily in the betting and I haven't seen anything that implies he's been interviewed. So, it looks like another top class performance from the FAI then.

If not him, then Coppell. If he doesn't want to leave Reading, then fair enough but I wonder if the FAI even approached him.

If we have to have someone from the list above, I'd take Houllier 1st and Hoddle 2nd.

However, I await with trepidation the announcement of Del Boy as our new manager.

I'll always support the team but I must admit (like many others I think) that I'll be very sceptical of Del Boy and wondering when he's going to try to take his payout and leave is in the lurch.

:(

[irishfan86]

I voted for Deschamps; he's had success in league and cup play, and would bring a totally fresh approach.

That said, I like McCarthy and wouldn't mind having him back.

[kingdom hoop]

I voted for Deschamps as well.


Purely for the regular opportunity to hear Colm Murray say his name. :D

[Stuttgart88]

Houllier for me.

Vastly experienced French coach with a knowledge of interntaional management and hands on knowledge of the Premiership (where our players play for the most part) or a relatively inexperienced French coach?

Houllier fits the profile far better too in my opinion. Deschamps is of an age where I expect there's real risk of him leaving for a top club job.

[Dr. Ogba]

As already stated I don't think he'd be the right appointment given the baggage at this stage but I can't agree with your assesment of him as a manager and believe it's rooted more in dislike for him over Saipan then any concrete facts.

i'll agree to differ with you on any tactical/selection debate but I just can't let that comment lie. As said on SEVERAL occasions my opinion of McCarthy as a manager has absolutely nothing to do with Saipan and was formed more around the time of the Euro 2000 qualifiers due to several baffling tactical and selection decisions which effectively cost us the chance to qualify for those championships.
Not every opinion on McCarthy boils down to Roy Keane and Saipan....

[Noelys Guitar]

Mick McCarthy for me. Got us to a WC finals. Has managed a lot of the current squad. And I believe Houllier and Deschamps are bookies inventions and have no interest in managing the Ireland team.

[jmurphyc]

He might be a good option for us - not too many left now - but only if he changes his preference for a long ball game, we just don't have the players to make it work.

[Drumcondra 69er]

i'll agree to differ with you on any tactical/selection debate but I just can't let that comment lie. As said on SEVERAL occasions my opinion of McCarthy as a manager has absolutely nothing to do with Saipan and was formed more around the time of the Euro 2000 qualifiers due to several baffling tactical and selection decisions which effectively cost us the chance to qualify for those championships.Not every opinion on McCarthy boils down to Roy Keane and Saipan....

Which decisions were these that cost us the chance to qualify? The away game in Croatia turned out to be irrelevant, had we drawn it wouldn't have made any difference to the final standings. Bringing a midfielder on to protect a one nil lead in the final game isn't how I'd have played it but it's hardly rare and if Keith O'Neill had picked his man up from that corner it would have been seen as the correct thing to do and been forgotten about straight away. Away to Yugoslavia we played well and had a stone wall penalty against MCAteer not given, that cost us more then anything. So, I ask again, what were these several baffling tactical and selection decisions which effectively cost us the chance to qualify for those championships?

[geysir]

I thought an interesting team would be Trappatoni and Brady.
Then I thought Trappatoni is in the retiring phase of his career with Salzburg (being older than Giles). But I see he is one of the favourite for the Bayern Munich job.

[DotTV]

I thought McCarthy did great for us too but in hindsight he should have left after the world cup and he lost the plot in the end.
I think we need to look forward. Houllier would be great.

At least now a few names are being bandied around who have actually managed in the past few years.

[Noelys Guitar]

I thought an interesting team would be Trappatoni and Brady.
Then I thought Trappatoni is in the retiring phase of his career with Salzburg (being older than Giles). But I see he is one of the favourite for the Bayern Munich job.

Houllier turned down the job before Christmas but Brady/Giles is still very much up and in the running. Nobody seems to know what Delaney's dealings with Venables are. True betting odds at the moment
Venables 6/4
McCarthy 7/4
Brady/Giles 7/2
Hoddle 4/1

[Kingdom]

Does anyone get World Soccer magazine? They have a one page article on manager salaries of the international game, and it would lead me to believe some of the figures bandied about here would be correct. The most expensive ones were obviously the England, German and Russian jobs but apart from England the other two were still only €2m p.a., not madly inflated from what will be on offer for our own job.
There were also some ridiculous ones. 80k was one salary, for Slavan Bilic!!!, some crazy ones too, Lars lagerback was on 100k.

[Newryrep]

But it's no good if they are willing and we tell them to wait 5 weeks until we've interviewed all the other (inferior) candidates, which may have happened with Hodgson. If there is a standout candidate then we offer them the job and tell Kendall et al to **** off.

Dont disagree JM, all it takes is a phonecall to ascertain any interest.

Fai - Giovanni, FAI here, would you be interested in the Ireland job competative salary 5 games a year , your own staff etc

Giovanni - no thanks

fine who's next on our list or

Giovanni - yeah maybe

FAI - right i will be over on the next plane for an informal chat (not a bloody interview), we are keen to tie this up

[Lionel Ritchie]

Does anyone get World Soccer magazine? They have a one page article on manager salaries of the international game, and it would lead me to believe some of the figures bandied about here would be correct. The most expensive ones were obviously the England, German and Russian jobs but apart from England the other two were still only €2m p.a., not madly inflated from what will be on offer for our own job.
There were also some ridiculous ones. 80k was one salary, for Slavan Bilic!!!, some crazy ones too, Lars lagerback was on 100k.

I've been saying this all along. At €400,000 p.a. (Stans wedge) the Irish job is more attractive than many. At €1,000,000 it is not only more attractive than most, I fear it could become a sticking point every and any time a result doesn't come up to expectations. "FFS he's on a million quid! sack him and get someone else in (on at least a million quid)" and the thing spirals out of control to the point where you're changing manager every campaign. The only winners there are the tabs.

[Kingdom]

I've been saying this all along. At €400,000 p.a. (Stans wedge) the Irish job is more attractive than many. At €1,000,000 it is not only more attractive than most, I fear it could become a sticking point every and any time a result doesn't come up to expectations. "FFS he's on a million quid! sack him and get someone else in (on at least a million quid)" and the thing spirals out of control to the point where you're changing manager every campaign. The only winners there are the tabs.

I'm not saying that this is new news, more that its proof to what we've been saying here all along, that the money Staunton package got (because remember OBR was part of that package @ 250k p.a.) was quite respectable and was better than many managers were getting in the international game.

Does it all come down to accountability? I believe it does. This process has been a joke from start to finish.
Delaney probably had no other choice but not to renew Kerr's contract, but to take that action and appoint the managerial package he did (regardless of OBR's) health was a bad mistake. It was such a bad mistake and on such good financial terms, that he was forced into leaving the appointment of the next manager, on even better terms, to 1 biased insider and to two men who have no standing in football.
The money thats available, the fact that it solely a senior international job, no underage and part time for most of the year, with a massive fan base, and a limited but relatively skilled work force (squad) to pick from, should have yielded better candidates than what have transpired.

I've been away for a while and have a lot of posts to read, but I'm getting the jist that Roy Hodgson was invited to interview the day he was offered the Fulham job. IF that is the case, then its the biggest indictment of the process so far. He was finished with Finland in November. November for the sake of Jebus.

I don't like the way this whole thing has been dragged out but it seems to me that a certain cockney wide boy was asked was he interested a few months ago, to which the response was positive, and the job was his to take over in early 2008. The interview lark was set up people applied, their applications were thrown out immediately and complete non-entity's were interviewed, while the process took so long that any aspiring successful candidates took up positions in club football leaving a choice of a cockney wide boy and nobodys. We all lose.

[Paddy Garcia]

.. but Brady/Giles is still very much up and in the running.


I'd love to see the criteria which these two meet!

"I've a great idea lets get someone who has been out of the game for 20 years and get him to work with someone who could not hack it as a manager. Jaysus no-one will expect that."

Don't entirely agree with the Wiki piece below, but interesting nonetheless.

"Giles is widely acknowledged to have been responsible for not qualifing for the '78 world cup and the arrival of Jack Charlton a few years later showed what a good manager could do for the Republic of Ireland's future international success."

[Noelys Guitar]

I'd love to see the criteria which these two meet!

"I've a great idea lets get someone who has been out of the game for 20 years and get him to work with someone who could not hack it as a manager. Jaysus no-one will expect that."

Don't entirely agree with the Wiki piece below, but interesting nonetheless.

"Giles is widely acknowledged to have been responsible for not qualifing for the '78 world cup and the arrival of Jack Charlton a few years later showed what a good manager could do for the Republic of Ireland's future international success."

I was at Giles's last home game in charge and he was loudly booed. Everyone was happy when he eventually resigned. It is beyond bizarre that he would be appointed manager or co-manager. But this is the FAI.

[Stuttgart88]

Maybe I'm getting desperate but if we can't get Houllier I think maybe we should just go for one of our own and get on with it and someone we all like and would get behind, like Brady.

It'd gall me to see some opportunist spiv getting paid good money for a job he has no major interest in and who'd cut & run if a better opportunity came along.

One thing is clear: Staunton was appointed to be a sort of "captain on the touchline" a motivator and a shouter. There was NEVER any signal whatsoever that he had a tactical clue or was ever in any way a thinker about the game.

Almost anyone will improve our prospects.

Yours, defeatedly.

[Stuttgart88]

Houllier turned the job down before Christmas - Noely.

Houllier now the favoured candidate - Independent.

Reality is that nobody other than a privileged few actually knows anything.

The radio silence from Abbotstown is generating a load of rumour and innuendo.

As a statistician would say, anything written or spoken to date is just "noise".

[Noelys Guitar]

Maybe I'm getting desperate but if we can't get Houllier I think maybe we should just go for one of our own and get on with it and someone we all like and would get behind, like Brady.

It'd gall me to see some opportunist spiv getting paid good money for a job he has no major interest in and who'd cut & run if a better opportunity came along.

One thing is clear: Staunton was appointed to be a sort of "captain on the touchline" a motivator and a shouter. There was NEVER any signal whatsoever that he had a tactical clue or was ever in any way a thinker about the game.

Almost anyone will improve our prospects.

Yours, defeatedly.

Liam Brady has had over 6 grand placed on him this morning on Betfair.

[paul_oshea]

managing a team with real expectations flopped.

Its all about managing expectations you see ;) Thats where he really failed, those stupid geordies want instant gratification, id love to see shearer get the job, then when he failed they might cop themselves on.


The radio silence from Abbotstown is generating a load of rumour and innuendo.


I have to say, to that point at least, fair play to the hitman squad and the FAI for doing so.

I will withdraw all that however, if somebody who I deem stupid gets the job!!!

[Paddy Garcia]

Maybe I'm getting desperate but if we can't get Houllier I think maybe we should just go for one of our own and get on with it and someone we all like and would get behind, like Brady.
.

I don't think I would feel any better wasting money on Brady as opposed to anyone else. He is not going to starve anyway.

Also he was a very poor manager & would be a terrible appointment.

I have no idea why Stan was appointed, I agree he was not a thinker from his time playing. Or indeed managing.

[soccerc]

Liam Brady has had over 6 grand placed on him this morning on Betfair.

Director of International Performance is more probable than the manager/coach position.

[Noelys Guitar]

Director of International Performance is more probable than the manager/coach position.

If Brady gets that job how much power will he have if any over the new manager?

[conlonn]

The list is not as bad as it could be. At least Terry Venables seems to be down the pecking order. I certainly hope he is. Its Houllier number 1 then Daglish number 2 (if Houllier does not get it) Both would be fine choices nad would stay in the job for at least 2 years I would think. FAI should get the finger out and appoint one of them!

[feo123]

what would ye think of allardyce getting the job? would be much better than venebles anyway

[Bondvillain]

I was watching the end of the Toon match the other night (nothing else on... I tuned in just at the point where the bloke who looked like The Bomber Liston was attempting to decapitate Shay Given) and at the end, Allardyce was walking off the pitch, smiling & whistling to himself in the rain & waving to the fans who were either baying for his blood or resigned to gloom.

He had all the appearance of a man with nary a care in the world despite the fact that his sacking was obviously imminent within mere minutes, & I thought to myself :

"The Three boys are just wahnking themselves into a frenzy over this...They'll be on the phone to him before he even gets to clear the fuzzy gonks and the "You dont have to be MAD to work here..." sign off his desk.

I had visions of Houghton panting into the phone asking :

"Now Sam? Is Now good? How are ya fixed Sam? Can you come now? Did they let you go yet? Are ya all right to come over? Do ya want a lift Sam? " like that annoying little dog from the Tom and Jerry cartoons...

I am of course, probably wrong, but it was an amusing, if slightly disturbing, daydream.

[geysir]

Thats a bull****e wikipedia entry about the ´78 qualification, "widely acknowledged" me árse.
I´m about the only fan from that time who thinks Giles would have qualified us for 1982 had he stayed on. Managing Rovers took away his will to live :)

[bennocelt]

I actually voted for brady, as he is the only one on that list i would be happy about, which says a lot more about the quality on show than anything else

Maybe we deserve another few years of crap. Jeez people going on about Houiller, "Big Sam", Jol, O Leary, mccarthy, even obsure rubbish Dutch managers who sound good!!! And Deschamps, for gods sake. We need someone with international managment experience. If not there at the moment, then surely we should wait. Still would love to see Leo Benhakker, or otto R, but thats never going to happen with the EPL obssessed Irish "football fan"

Big sam, god did ye guys not watch the stoke game:rolleyes:

[NeilMcD]

So is your rule of thumb as long as they have not worked in the Premiership then

[Bondvillain]

My own rule of thumb is that they can have been employed on Mars as long as the criteria for getting the job is not
" Is currently only interviewee still unemployed at the end of interview process"

[Stuttgart88]

Jeez people going on about Houiller

We need someone with international managment experience.

the EPL obssessed Irish "football fan"



Houllier managed France, is/was national director of football for France, one of the most technically proficient football nations, the very antithesis of the Premiership, and Lyon, perennial league winners in France and a force in the Champions League. Oh, and he also managed a big club in England, where all but one of our international squad plays.

[Stuttgart88]

Meanwhile, sources close to Sam Allardyce made it clear yesterday that the former Newcastle United manager has no desire to be considered for the vacant Republic of Ireland job. Don Givens denied suggestions that the manager's agent had been in touch to express his client's interest although he confirmed that a third party had supplied him with the agent's phone number and suggested that Allardyce might be interested.

Allardyce's sacking on Wednesday prompted immediate speculation that he might become a candidate but the 53-year-old intends to seek another club job in England after taking a break with his family.

Don Howe, Givens and Ray Houghton are believed to have talked with Terry Venables this week and there have been suggestions they will talk to Gerard Houllier over the coming days.

Givens said this week, though, the Christmas period had hindered their progress and that with a number of candidates still to be interviewed nothing was "imminent".

The first paragraph is quite specific on detail so it suggests to me that this article is to be believed.

[Stuttgart88]

Klinsmann to take over at Bayern.

[Jerry The Saint]

Houllier the overwhelmingly popular choice. I voted for Deschamps but I can see why Houllier's greater experience is appealing for 50% of the voters so far.

Nice to see long-term front-runners Venables and Brady storming up the charts with one whole vote for each now :eek:

[Kingdom]

Have to admit I voted for the new poll before reading through all the posts as I had 10 pages or so still to read and thought Deschamps was there as a windup. I would take Houillier over him still I think, but wouldn't be disappointed with DD if he came aboard.
I have no argument with a recent moderately successful manager from the EPL, but as others have mentioned someone whose style of play was on battling merits, shall we say, probably won't do too much with the type of players we can envisage to be in the senior squad for the next campaign.
That is why I'd be inclined to welcome a manager whose teams strengths are to retain possession, and while it might seem a contradiction to go for Houllier in light of this qualification, I believe he would play the right system and type of football to the advantage of the squad rather than introduce a new style alien to their techniques.
Does that even make sense?

[Jerry The Saint]

Big move on Deschamps - 4/1 2nd favourite on Paddy Power now.

Gilesy at 11/2 is just weird to me - I think it would be a very hard sell for the FAI to appoint someone who left the job around 30 years ago:confused:

Terry Venables 7 - 2
Didier Deschamps 4 - 1
Liam Brady 5 - 1
Johnny Giles 11 - 2
Gerard Houllier 11 - 2
Sam Allardyce 11 - 1
David O'Leary 11 - 1
Mick McCarthy 14 - 1
Glenn Hoddle 14 - 1
Steve Coppell 18 - 1
Kenny Dalglish 18 - 1

[Dr. Ogba]

Is there any actual substance to this Deschamps rumour???

[DotTV]

Houllier managed France, is/was national director of football for France, one of the most technically proficient football nations, the very antithesis of the Premiership, and Lyon, perennial league winners in France and a force in the Champions League. Oh, and he also managed a big club in England, where all but one of our international squad plays.

The youth football academy Houllier set up in France brought through many of the playes on their World Cup winning team. He's got loads of experience.

[eirebhoy]

Is there any actual substance to this Deschamps rumour???
I don't think we'll be finding out much about what's going on at all until someone is actually appointed. The media in this country obviously don't feel there's enough interest to go and investigate. As a Celtic fan we find out absolutely everything that goes on so the lack of info about the Ireland job is quite frustrating. :) As others have said though, it's probably for the best.

[Dr. Ogba]

I don't think we'll be finding out much about what's going on at all until someone is actually appointed. The media in this country obviously don't feel there's enough interest to go and investigate. As a Celtic fan we find out absolutely everything that goes on so the lack of info about the Ireland job is quite frustrating. :) As others have said though, it's probably for the best.

its a curious thing that his name just seemed to appear out of thin air and now he seems to be the bookies "second favourite" (not that bookies odds are anything to go by in this market) :confused:

Its just a very strange one to me as the only place I've seen his name mentioned is on this forum...

[Stuttgart88]

The media in this country obviously don't feel there's enough interest to go and investigate.
True, there's been far more written (or syndicated in) about Capello and the England job and the merry-go-round of Premiership managers than anything other than the odd " Venables would be ok wouldn't he?".

McDonnell seems to be the one who is most interested by it, next The Examiner.

In fairness to the likes of Emmet Malone, there's really little to write about while the search is being conducted. The panel is probably right to keep quiet about proceedings.

[soccerc]

True, there's been far more written (or syndicated in) about Capello and the England job and the merry-go-round of Premiership managers than anything other than the odd " Venables would be ok wouldn't he?".

McDonnell seems to be the one who is most interested by it.

In fairness to the likes of Emmet Malone, there's really little to write about while the search is being conducted. The panel is probably right to keep quiet about proceedings.

What is there to write or investigate?

All parties privy to the machinations of the whole process are not saying a word.

Most of what has and will be written until an appointment is announced is mainly speculation.


For example where did the Deschamps and Allardyce stuff come from?

Givens to his credit kicked the latter to touch with his comments.

I agree it's frustrating, particularly as it is now 80 days since Stan was waved off.

[Juanace]

Has everyone just given up on the idea of O'Leary.

I think he has enough experience to be seriously considered. Yes he has his negitive points, as does EVERY candidate mentioned so far, but he did take Leeds to Champions League Semi Final, his first session at Villa saw them barely miss out on Champions League Footy (despite being give only 5 million to spend) and he's IRISH.

Am I the only one who would thinks he'd be a good appointment? Seems that way from the poll so far!!

The fact he's Irish (and a legend) sway it for me.
Houllier, really:(.

[Stuttgart88]

What is there to write or investigate?Yeah, I kind of referred to that in my defence of Malone.


That said, I think we all agree that the focus & editorial view of the 3 main papers in Ireland is overly angloccentric. I tire of reading a syndicated match report in an Irish paper on a match involving irish players where they're not even mentioned, good or bad.

[Bondvillain]

Has everyone just given up on the idea of O'Leary.



No one except O Leary Himself ever really ran with it...

[geysir]

Hold the nerve.
What else would we be talking about for 80 days.
The new manager search is manna for a board discussion.