The interview is some craic, is that a lad on transition year work experience asking the questions :-)
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Havin a weekend away is quite frankly,lettin ur team mates down! -
Yeah, Trap's Ireland did it well during his first two years in charge. The match in Paris is probably one of the greatest ever Ireland performances, if not the greatest. We gave away hardly any chances and had the midfield under control.
After that Trap got bored I think... Or maybe Liam Brady (who was on Trap's staff for the first two years) was doing a lot of the behind the scenes work.Comment
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I would actually say that Ireland look at their most organised when defending against attack-minded opposition.Comment
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The Stoke thing doesn't bother me that much re O'Neill's suitability for the Irish job. It's just swamped under the sense of utter 'underwhelmingness' about another campaign of dross under Martin and Roy. I don't know quite what to read into the Stoke affair as facts are absent, but for sure O'Neill should have come out and done a proper (respectful of fans) Q&A instead of hiding behind Delaney's spin on it.Comment
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Yeah, it's the thought of more nights like Wales Serbia & Austria at home, the Denmark games that's deflating.
Hopefully some fresh faces in the squad in March might get the enthusiasm going again.
The way O'Neill's squads have been in the past I'm expecting more of the same with the fresh faces being Alex Pearce, Stephen Gleeson & Adam Rooney.Comment
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i must admit i was a little surprised that people seemed to think it was wrong of o'neill / roy to consider another job offer. it's a positive thing that our management team is in demand in my opinion.
i can't think of a viable, realistic alternative to the current team either. in terms of irish candidates, hughton is unlikely to leave brighton i suggest even if they are relegated.Comment
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To be fair, I think 60% is an exaggeration. There are always those who leave before the final whistle for a host of reasons even when their team is winning. Add to that then those who left because we were being trounced, I'd say you're talking at most 25% but I can't really remember as I was too stunned to notice and I don't fancy looking at the video again
Why always concentrate on the negative though ? What about the two German games and the games away to Austria, Wales and Denmark ? The pleasure of those games will go with me for an long as I live.Last edited by OwlsFan; 18/01/2018, 11:57 AM.Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.Comment
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And that's not even mentioning the Euros. I'm willing to give MON a chance to help provide some more great moments. The players have massive respect for both himself & Keane, the importance of that shouldn't be underestimated. I don't think the, admittedly uninspiring, events of the past couple of weeks will jeopardise that too much. The alternatives really aren't too inspiring. Stephen Kenny? bah.Last edited by DeLorean; 18/01/2018, 12:19 PM.Comment
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I think literally the only good thing in the 180 minutes in Wales and Denmark was McClean's goal. The rest was utter cack. Denmark tore us open too many times for enjoyment. And in both games, our own footballing contribution was as caveman as in the defeats/bad draws. Even our goal, well-worked as ultimately it was, came from a daft unforced error from Wales.Comment
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Unforced?.. i think the superb closing down by two of our players (Hendrick and Brady?) had an awful lot to do with the error....
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I'll give you the German games. Austria away we played well and played some decent stuff, can't say the same for the games in Wales & Denmark.
That night in Copenhagen almost felt like a defeat, the performance was so dire I couldn't see how we'd manage to go through in the 2nd leg.
And more of the same to come....Comment
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I suppose the difference between us is that you want to win having played well. I just want to win or get a result. I am not bothered about the performance. Obviously I would prefer if we played attractive football getting those wins but perversely a win obtained by the skin of our teeth is probably more enjoyable in the long run. I will admit though that after the Cardiff game I said to my friends that our performance was terrible as we cracked open a bottle of Champagne. And that is the point. Money can't buy the highs of that victory over Italy, the last minute goal in Germany, Shane Long's winner against Germany, the victories in Austria and Wales and I also came home happy from the Danish game. Even under Jack I can only think of a handful of similar results and other than in Scotland, no victory of significance away from home.
My worry about MON is that history tells us that managers find it hard to recuperate from bad results. A few bad results at the start of the next campaign and it will start to turn ugly (and not just the football) so we need to start firing on all cylinders straight away.
I wonder though what does Keane with his Notts Forest and Man U background think of our style of football? I doubt if he approves or maybe he's just glad of a job and does whatever he's told. What exactly is the role of the Assistant Manager? Does he only put out the cones ?Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.Comment
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OK, fair enough point from re-watching alright.
Still doesn't negate the overall point that neither game - particularly Denmark away - gave any particular pleasure. Both were torturous drivel for the main. And the worry watching them always was that a hammering was coming, which it very quickly did.Comment
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Not that I think commitment is an issue, I just don't like spin.
In the video interview, Delaney presented an example of "O'Neill's 100pc commitment to Ireland",
"I believe he had a bigger offer from Stoke,"
that O'Neill rejected a higher salary before renewing his contract with ireland as undoubted evidence of his "100pc commitment" to Ireland.
Fwiw, Hughes was on £3m p/a at Stoke for a 6 day a week job, O'Neill's probably on a basic €1.2m before bonuses, for a one day a week job. Which one pays the better?Comment
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