Stephen Kenny

[seanfhear]

Kenny has done a great job at lowering expectations.

[paul_oshea]

Well he's definitely managing expectations very well.

[Fixer82]

Conor sammon

Yep. That’s the name that leaped out at me too

[Stuttgart88]

I’d say France, Germany, Belgium, England, Brazil and Argentina would be above the rest of the world.

The very top tier. Portugal would be a rung below them.

Still?

Watch out Brazil and Belgium...

[SkStu]

Its like a "Weldoninhio Bingo"

[nigel-harps1954]

I've been a Kenny supporter since day one, not out of any blind LOI loyalty or any of that nonsense, because I hated him as a LOI manager. He upset the odds repeatedly at Dundalk, and took the under-21 side to levels we've not seen before. I think he more than deserved his chance.

Now, things aren't going great, but it is a monumental shift in style, attitude, and everything football related from the rubbish we've seen for years previous, let's not forget the shambles of a Northern Ireland friendly and being outnumbered by away support that night only a few years ago. That doesn't excuse how bad it has gone though. A corner should have been turned by now.

I think his time is coming to an end. Things just aren't working out as planned.

Another part of me wants him to stay though, mostly because of the completely rotten attitude from some posters on here who would dare call themselves Ireland supporters when they've had daggers out from the minute Kenny was appointed. I desperately want him to succeed, just out of spite to those. It's utterly pathetic to see grown adults having such a pitiful attitude towards the Ireland manager.

[jbyrne]

yes, there are some posters who you feel would never be happy and have never been happy with any of our managers

[CraftyToePoke]

I think he should have experimented in the Norway / Malta window, it was an unimportant window and several players played as such when he can't really afford that from them. He should have picked Hodge / Smallbone / Coventry / McNamara / Manning / Szmodics / Sykes & given them all a half each over the two games. In not doing so he attached too much importance to two nothing games & applied even more pressure to himself where there is plenty pressure already. He would probably have secured two similar results anyway & indeed might have gotten better results from lads wanting into the set up & playing like that. It would have bought some much needed goodwill too.

It was a mistake of a man really feeling the pressure now IMO & the fear of losing.

None of it warrants the bile being directed at him by certain posters on here. He's struggling, yes, mostly because the u21 crop he was put in charge because of have collectively and individually failed to impact at a level expected by the Association and whoever got the job would have faced that. Any other manger would have hidden behind that as his predecessors often did, but to his credit he has never mentioned it.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Now, things aren't going great, but it is a monumental shift in style, attitude, and everything football related

You are correct in that it's a monumental shift but not as you outlined. The monumental shift has been to change us from a competitive team to a complete shambles trying to avoid coming bottom in qualification campaigns instead of trying to qualify.

[Eminence Grise]

I've been a Kenny supporter since day one, not out of any blind LOI loyalty or any of that nonsense, because I hated him as a LOI manager. He upset the odds repeatedly at Dundalk, and took the under-21 side to levels we've not seen before. I think he more than deserved his chance.

Now, things aren't going great, but it is a monumental shift in style, attitude, and everything football related from the rubbish we've seen for years previous, let's not forget the shambles of a Northern Ireland friendly and being outnumbered by away support that night only a few years ago. That doesn't excuse how bad it has gone though. A corner should have been turned by now.

I think his time is coming to an end. Things just aren't working out as planned.

Another part of me wants him to stay though, mostly because of the completely rotten attitude from some posters on here who would dare call themselves Ireland supporters when they've had daggers out from the minute Kenny was appointed. I desperately want him to succeed, just out of spite to those. It's utterly pathetic to see grown adults having such a pitiful attitude towards the Ireland manager.

Well said, Nigel. Very well said.

[EalingGreen]

Show me another all time great goalscorer who wasnt selfish on the pitch?

He's maybe not yet an "all time" great, but at 29, Harry Kane could certainly get there - just 3 goals short of the England record and a decent bet to overtake Jimmy Greaves' Spurs record and Alan Shearer's EPL record.

Yet his "Assist" count is equally impressive, as eg Heung Min Son could testify, after tying with Salah for the EPL Golden Boot last season, when Kane still notched 17 goals of his own, alongside 9 assists.

[Snapshot]

I've been a Kenny supporter since day one, not out of any blind LOI loyalty or any of that nonsense, because I hated him as a LOI manager. He upset the odds repeatedly at Dundalk, and took the under-21 side to levels we've not seen before. I think he more than deserved his chance.

Now, things aren't going great, but it is a monumental shift in style, attitude, and everything football related from the rubbish we've seen for years previous, let's not forget the shambles of a Northern Ireland friendly and being outnumbered by away support that night only a few years ago. That doesn't excuse how bad it has gone though. A corner should have been turned by now.

I think his time is coming to an end. Things just aren't working out as planned.

Another part of me wants him to stay though, mostly because of the completely rotten attitude from some posters on here who would dare call themselves Ireland supporters when they've had daggers out from the minute Kenny was appointed. I desperately want him to succeed, just out of spite to those. It's utterly pathetic to see grown adults having such a pitiful attitude towards the Ireland manager.

Or could it be that those who believed Kenny a poor appointment are being proven right? Such sceptics are now demonised with "not giving him a chance" and having a "completely rotten attitude". It's an inconvenient fact that Kenny supporters were wall-to-wall in their toasting of a supposed new era where every fan would emerge from a beautiful game with a smile on the dial - whether we won or lost. The media was on board too. Belittling previous managers who actually achieved something was not uncommon. Support was near 90% - what could possibly go wrong? So yes, it's not working out as planned (some might call that failure) and some of the debate was spicy. That's football. Cop it sweet.

[seanfhear]

If Kenny's supporters can't stand the heat ? ~ ~ Should they be in the Football Kitchen ?

[Stuttgart88]

It seems vital for Kenny supporters to talk up any opposition we come against. Remember even Luxembourg and Azerbaijan were talked up. Strangely, prior to Kenny coming on board, other teams were all beatable. Barely coming behind Denmark and Switzerland was seen as an abject failure.

For the last 40 years we've competed with all the top teams, we qualify for tournaments or come close to qualifying. When we haven't, the manager gets sacked. Even Staunton drew with Germany and Czech Republic. We now are looking at the euro qualifiers as hopeless but that's where Kenny has dragged us. Into no hopers. It's some achievement in 2 years!

Is this in context of debating whether Portugal are top tier or a notch below top tier?

And on the "what we were vs what we are point" I genuinely think international football is harder now for all but the elite teams. Countries that were weak 25 years ago are well organised now and harder to play against. Teams like Greece, Turkey, Scotland all have far better structures and facilities (Turkey's are amazing and they have a huge population) yet they've sunk to NL League 3 in recent times. Our domestic facilities are pathetic. Of course during this time Ireland has declined too. So almost every game we play is objectively difficult or a banana skin. That's just the way it is.

Has Kenny dragged us down this low? I don't think so, or at least it's too simple to say it's all down to him. I think we're in decline and have been for a while and need to pull a few rabbits out of the hat talent-wise. As CTP says, the promising U21 crop just hasn't developed.

Could Kenny be doing better? Yes, absolutely and in so many ways. Stu and Gary Breen both say the same thing I think: there have been steps forward but frequently followed by big steps back. The last window infuriated me for its conservatism. I have little confidence in Kenny at the moment but I think it's more or less right that he's still here. I do think he has started something that must be finished, though not necessarily by him. If there was a clearly better alternative available - Irish or otherwise - I'd be very open to it.

And footy is a bit mad too: Germany & Argentina could/should have been out of sight, then lost.

[EAFC_rdfl]

If Kenny's supporters can't stand the heat ? ~ ~ Should they be in the Football Kitchen ?

Still trying to figure out the purpose of all the tildas. Almost as confusing as some of Bielsa's waffle at this stage!