The fixtures meeting

[Noelys Guitar]

According to todays Examiner an FAI insider stated that the new manager was unlikely to be appointed before the Jan 14 fixures meeting. Therefore Givens, Delaney and Blood will be representing Ireland at the fixtures get together. The FAI insider goes on to say that playing Bulgaria and Italy back to back away is a no-no. And playing Georgia away in the depths of winter is also a no-no. For me only the new manager should be making those decisions. And it should not take six to seven weeks to interview candidates. Of which only three or four are realistic targets.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Ok Let's play Georgia away in September and get that one out of the way. JD do you copy?:D

[Stuttgart88]

For me only the new manager should be making those decisions. You're doing them an injustice. Maybe they've already asked Venables.

[Bondvillain]

Yeah. It'd be unfair of them to ask him to break his location contract with the 'Holidays in the sun' programme just for some silly meeting about football in bloody Bulgaria.

[Noelys Guitar]

England appoint Capello a first tier manager 3 weeks after sacking McClown. Yet we have to wait another 7 weeks to appoint a second tier manager. Why are the 2 dons and Rayo wasting everyones time interviewing Kendall and the dozen or so no-hopers? To me it shows they don't know what they are doing.

[Stuttgart88]

I just posted something similar on the "Selection Team" thread.

[carloz]

We will do the ****ing usual Irish thing, we will play the Italians away and probably Cyprus or Mentenegro away in our first game. We will use the usual idea that we will catch Italy cold after the European Championships, which has only worked bloody once. We will prob get 1 point from a possible 6 and be playing catch up as usual. For once id like to get the points on the board before our biggest games

[jmurphyc]

According to todays Examiner an FAI insider stated that the new manager was unlikely to be appointed before the Jan 14 fixures meeting. Therefore Givens, Delaney and Blood will be representing Ireland at the fixtures get together. The FAI insider goes on to say that playing Bulgaria and Italy back to back away is a no-no. And playing Georgia away in the depths of winter is also a no-no. For me only the new manager should be making those decisions. And it should not take six to seven weeks to interview candidates. Of which only three or four are realistic targets.

Ideally the new candidate would be installed by then. It's a massive hindrance to the new manager and the campaign as a whole if we don't get him in by then. However, if the FAI insider is to be believed and the fixtures pan out the way the FAI wants, then I would be happy with the way the fixtures work out (as posted above). Also, if the delay in appointing the new manager means that they're taking their time to get the best possible candidate (ie. one who has a proper managerial record and has had successes and not too many black marks) then I would be more than happy with that. However (as I've said before), being the FAI, I doubt that this will work out.

[Bondvillain]

Also, if the delay in appointing the new manager means that they're taking their time to get the best possible candidate (ie. one who has a proper managerial record and has had successes and not too many black marks) then I would be more than happy with that. However (as I've said before), being the FAI, I doubt that this will work out.

Sadly, I doubt that even features in their list of priorities. At the moment cynics could argue that there seems to ba a "Whoa there boys" attitude, where the FAI dont want to approcah anyone who could concievably say "Thanks for your interest lads, I like the idea of Ireland, but Ive been offered X amount of money by Scotland/Finland/ Hong Kong/Serbia/Korea etc etc... Can yous do any better with the ould cash situation?" , which is unlikely, as I do really believe that the money is there, and shouldnt be allowed to be an obstacle to hiring the best man.

The also seemingly have little interest in headhunting an already employed candidate, possibly because the compensation would be exorbitant.

What it seems to me is that the reason that the selection committee (3 men who's playing skills and character are not in question, but who will not be troubling Fifa's Managerial hall of fame anytime in the future - sound familiar?) are dragging their heels is that they are either :

A)Suddenly realising that the FAI's typically lacklustre and shoddy "recruitment" campaign has aroused bugger all interest in the managers pool, and they are now waiting for a high profile management casualty from the Euro , UEFA or CL Non-qualifiers to throw their hat into the ring,

B)Actively headhunting the most suitable & sucessful candidates

or

C) Clueless, and just are waiting for the nod from upstairs so they can stop this bollockology and release the name of whoever it is John wants for the job & then they can go back to the wife and kids, their pockets considerably more full with FAI cash than they were in October.

I dont think it's B)

[jbyrne]

We will do the ****ing usual Irish thing, we will play the Italians away and probably Cyprus or Mentenegro away in our first game. We will use the usual idea that we will catch Italy cold after the European Championships, which has only worked bloody once. We will prob get 1 point from a possible 6 and be playing catch up as usual. For once id like to get the points on the board before our biggest games

for the last wc campaign we got early points on the board (cyprus home w, swiss away D, france away D, faroe island home W) and what good did that do for us?

[Stuttgart88]

Well, it had us in contention until the very last game, one goal away from a certain play off spot.

Points on the board early on should be a priority in my opinion, to build momentum / keep interest, let the new manager have time for his methods (assuming he has any) to sink in and for younger players to develop their games. The final games are nearly 2 years away. The likes of Garvan and JJ O'Toole, not to mention the likes of McGeady, McShane, Long etc. could well have made big strides in that kind of time frame. We should look to play Italy late as I reckon they'll qualify early.

[BradyIsMyHero]

Do Montenegro have a home venue and, if so, where?

Is it up to FIFA standards?

Have been to Montenegro and its all mountains and beaches, but not much in the way of large towns or cities. Very pretty, and would be great for an away game - but where are their stadiums?

[Schumi]

Do Montenegro have a home venue and, if so, where?

Is it up to FIFA standards?Podgorica City Stadium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podgorica_City_Stadium). I think the photo at the bottom of this page (http://hr.nogonet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2198&Itemid=103) is it.

[Wolfie]

We should aim to get as decent a start as possible.

Georgia at home. I wouldn't class that game as a formality either but we'd need to be beating Georgia at home to hope to be anywhere near contention to qualify.

[jmurphyc]

We won't be starting at home unless we begin the campaign in October due to the All Ireland.

[Wolfie]

We won't be starting at home unless we begin the campaign in October due to the All Ireland.

Never dawned on me. Damn GAA!!! You'd think they own the place.

[Stuttgart88]

Kevin Kilbane should go. He's a fixture.

[Stuttgart88]

I see Scotland has confirmed their fixtures already. They don't have a manager.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7143572.stm

For info, these are obviously the international dates:

Scotland World Cup 2010 Group 9 qualifying fixtures:

Saturday 6 September 2008 Macedonia (a)

Wednesday 10 September 2008 Iceland (a)

Saturday 11 October 2008 Norway (h)

Saturday 28 March 2009 Holland (a)

Wednesday 1 April 2009 Iceland (h)

Wednesday 19 August 2009 Norway (a)

Saturday 5 September 2009 Macedonia (h)

Wednesday 9 September 2009 Holland (h)

[NeilMcD]

Thats a real ****er of a trip Macedonia to Iceland for the fans. Involves at least 2 flights and maybe 3.

[Wolfie]

I see Scotland has confirmed their fixtures already. They don't have a manager.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7143572.stm

For info, these are obviously the international dates:

Scotland World Cup 2010 Group 9 qualifying fixtures:

Saturday 6 September 2008 Macedonia (a)

Wednesday 10 September 2008 Iceland (a)

Saturday 11 October 2008 Norway (h)

Saturday 28 March 2009 Holland (a)

Wednesday 1 April 2009 Iceland (h)

Wednesday 19 August 2009 Norway (a)

Saturday 5 September 2009 Macedonia (h)

Wednesday 9 September 2009 Holland (h)


Macedonia away is a tricky start. A few campaigns have imploded there over the years. And that's just Ireland.

[Noelys Guitar]

Macedonia away is a tricky start. A few campaigns have imploded there over the years. And that's just Ireland.

Exactly. I'd say the next Scotland manager will be over the moon having to play his first 2 games away in the space of 4 days against very tricky opposition.