Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane

[Diggs246]

http://metro.co.uk/tag/steve-finnan/

He went with McShane instead of Finnan for the play offs against France .... how did that work out

[tetsujin1979]

http://metro.co.uk/tag/steve-finnan/

He went with McShane instead of Finnan for the play offs against France .... how did that work out

He went with O'Shea, McShane came on as a sub. Finnan had only played four games that season after signing for Portsmouth, and missed most of the previous season in Spain.

[Diggs246]

I meant he went woth McShane ahead of Finnan. Finnan and Reid were both fit for the France game

[tetsujin1979]

I meant he went woth McShane ahead of Finnan. Finnan and Reid were both fit for the France game

Finnan wasn't fit, he was taken off for Portsmouth against Wigan at the end of October, and missed their next four games. Didn't play against until early December.

not sure which Reid you mean. Steven was out of the Blackburn team at that time and Andy was out of favour with the manager at the time.

[Fixer82]

McCarthy wasn’t in his prime, he was still a kid at that stage

[geysir]

Aside from O'Neill's hoofball fetish and some dismal slipshod performances, he has had to work with quite a few players who were around in Trap's time and not exactly top notch even when in their prime. Ward is still our best at LB, Whelan still a constant presence, Walters, O'Shea, McClean and Wes is turning 50 soon, though Ward has remained at his consistent level and Murphy has improved since Trap.

There should have been a tacit agreement that there be no new contract discussions until the current qual campaign has finished.

[DannyInvincible]

McCarthy wasn’t in his prime, he was still a kid at that stage

I'm pretty sure Coleman wasn't a settled right-back either until around 2011 or 2012. He was on loan with Blackpool in the Championship during 2010 - where he made nine appearances - and was then appearing on right midfield for Everton for a period after that. He didn't play a huge deal in 2011-12. Was he injured or was that due to a dip in form? His best season to date was undoubtedly 2013-14, which coincided with O'Neill taking over from Trap at international level (in November 2013).

[Fixer82]

Liam Brady: “Denis O’Brien is the benefactor of some of the manager’s wages and would probably say ‘I have nothing to do with it’ but I think he does”.

[DannyInvincible]

I don't believe in change for the sake of change so in the absence of a compelling replacement I'm reasonably happy for him to continue. Though I've stated my unhappiness before with the whole culture around the marquee manager that Delaney has now brought into this.

"some of it has been poor" is an understatement mind. Unless we experience an improbable and utterly unpredictable change in form over the imminent 180 minutes of competetive football then 2017 -that is the entire year -has been an unqualified (no puns) collapse.

I'm sure a viable replacement could have been found if a search was undertaken. Personally, I think Stephen Kenny would have been suitable. I know others wouldn't agree, but I explained my thinking here and here (although I guess such talk is academic now):

If O'Neill was to be replaced - and it's something I'm growing more and more open to because I think there are superior options out there and we could be utilising our talents much better - I'd like to see either Stephen Kenny or Michael O'Neill in charge. Kenny would be the preference. He does a great job with Dundalk on limited resources and has them playing a fantastic and very much watchable brand of football that also happens to bring positive results. Kenny has worked directly with a few of the players in and around the squad before as well - James McClean, Stephen Ward, Daryl Horgan, Seáni Maguire and Andy Boyle, for example - and I'm sure he would command a broad respect, especially from those who came through or played in the LOI and those who may have encountered him already in some form or another due to that. (When Brian Kerr was put in charge of the senior international team, there seemed to be a disconnect or a lack of respect from the players, possibly on account of Kerr's LOI background at a time when our international players simply didn't come through the LOI, save for the odd exception like Jason Byrne or Glen Crowe who didn't receive a huge deal of international recognition anyway, but I would expect a contrast in how the present group of players would regard Kenny.)

Some further opinion on O'Neill's contract extension from Brian Kerr: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017...eill-contract/

"I think the timing is strange," [Kerr] told RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland programme.

"I think most football people would think it’s a little premature when we haven’t finished the group yet, we have two important games to go. It’s not usually how the board of the FAI and its chief executive have worked in relation to managers in recent times. Also, given that the games are so important, I would have thought that the concentration would have been totally on achieving the two results over the next few days."

And from Paul Doyle in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/football...martin-o-neill

I thought the following paragraph was both amusing and depressing at the same time in how accurate it was:

Ireland’s matches tend to follow one of two scripts: either they take an early lead and then back off as if they have committed an embarrassing faux pas, as in Georgia last month; or they start sluggishly and then stage a late rally, as in the home draw with Austria in June. Seldom have they have been good for 90 minutes. A lack of control has been a recurring feature. A sensible default prediction for almost any match involving Ireland these days is a draw, because without being defensively sound, they are cussedly hard to beat and grievously lacking in creativity.

[Metrostars]

I always think 2 qualification cycles(WC/EC) is enough for a manager. By the third cycle, the players need changing and managers tend to stick with what he knows.

[Lionel Ritchie]

I'm sure a viable replacement could have been found if a search was undertaken. Personally, I think Stephen Kenny would have been suitable. I know others wouldn't agree, but I explained my thinking here and here (although I guess such talk is academic now)::

Stephen Kenny is viable. John Sheridan is viable. Even Brian Kerr who I'm certain is factually incorrect in his contract extension related assertion that "It’s not usually how the board of the FAI and its chief executive have worked in relation to managers in recent times*" is a viable option. But I said compelling. ;-)

And from Paul Doyle in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/football...martin-o-neill

I thought the following paragraph was both amusing and depressing at the same time in how accurate it was:

He's bang on. The really pertinent bit being "A lack of control has been a recurring feature". We've sung this old song before.

*Traps contract extension was agreed before we'd qualification in the bag. It's like Delaney is desperate to prostrate himself in a demonstration of faith.

[DannyInvincible]

Craig Bellamy, who played under O'Neill for a few months at Celtic, on O'Neill's management style: https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/cr...s-style-139055

"A lot of the stuff we get taught... throw it out the window. [O'Neill] does the complete opposite," Bellamy said on Sky Sports' coverage of the Wales-Ireland game.

"You won't even see him. There are times he turns up on a Friday. There were times I couldn't tell you what formation we were playing on a Saturday or who was playing - you'd just read the list and it was basically, I had to look at someone else, Neil Lennon, and ask, 'what formation are we playing?'

"There was no information whatsoever but, I'll tell you, he knew his players. You knew where you stood with him and if you played well for him, the confidence he'd give you and the way he'd make you feel, you just want to run even more for him."

[thischarmingman]

Martin O’Neill is in the managerial elite even if a top job eludes him

The Republic of Ireland manager, once the favourite to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, is unfortunate never to have had a chance at one of the biggest clubs

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/oct/14/martin-oneill-is-in-the-managerial-elite-even-if-a-top-job-eludes-him

t tends to be forgotten, for example, that there was once a time when O’Neill was the overwhelming favourite to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. O’Neill was managing Celtic at the time, where he won seven trophies and reached the Uefa Cup final, and the Manchester press corps still talk about the 2003 press conference before the two teams played a pre-season fixture in Seattle. When O’Neill was asked about replacing Ferguson he answered with great diplomacy bearing in mind the man himself was directly to his left. Yet the journalist who asked the question was already feeling a pair of Glaswegian eyes boring into his skull. “Don’t worry about him,” Ferguson whispered to O’Neill, quietly enough not to be heard by his audience but loud enough to be picked up by the tapes. Ferguson always sounded extra Glaswegian and talked a little bit quicker when his temper had been roused. “Aye, he’s a ****ing *****.”

[DannyInvincible]

My da came across this whilst going through a few things in the house the other day and showed me:



It's from a June 1966 copy of the Columban, which was the old school magazine of St. Columb's College in Derry. The photo is of the college's victorious gaelic football team and features Martin O'Neill, my da and the other members of the team, all with their mismatching socks. I thought it was a nice historical memento.

[DeLorean]

Class Danny.