Mark O'Neill-Cummins' Eircom Lge Focus
Kerr most suitable
The result against Switzerland last Wednesday brought our interest in the World Cup campaign to an end and will bring about major changes in Irish football.
How any of this will affect the eircom League remains to be seen, but affect the League, it possibly will.
It appears that the tenure of Brian Kerr is all but over, despite losing just one game in the group and being without the services of his best players through injury.
Brian was the first Irish manager to come up through the League of Ireland/National League ranks since Eoin Hand in the 1980s.
He was the first manager since Eoin Hand to actually attend league games on a regular basis. However, if and when Brian goes, the names of some of the possible replacements worry me.
Can you imagine Bryan Robson, Bobby Robson, George Burley or John Aldridge heading to Dalymount or Turner's Cross on a Friday night to check out the latest talent? I can't.
Even Sam Allardyce would be a better choice. At least he's managed in our league.
If the merger of the league and FAI is to go ahead, surely the manager of our national team should have a decent knowledge of the highest level of domestic soccer?
At present, there is no one more suitable or qualified to take the job than the man who already has it. When both Eoin Hand and Jack Charlton got the gig, the names of managers from within the league were mentioned considerably in the media.
Jim McLoughlin is a good example. It shows how far we have fallen that the media and the bookies can't name even one eircom League manager that could take on the national side.
Maybe they're right. Though I would love to see the new man, or Brian if he's kept on, surround himself with a cross-section of assistants and coaches, appointed by the FAI.
At least one, if not two, should be from the eircom League.
Stephen Kenny and Pat Fenlon would be my choices.
They should be visibly part of the set up with a defined role. Steve McClaren does a similar job for England.
I was intrigued by a caller to a radio show on Wednesday night, who suggested that the overpaid Premiership players should be dumped and the 'amateurs from the League of Ireland' given a chance.
I don't know many 'amateur League of Ireland' players who could do a job for Ireland but I can think of several full timers in the eircom League who deserve a shot at the top level.
Liam Kearney, John O'Flynn, George O'Callaghan, Wesley Hoolahan and Owen Heary to name but five. But then again Brian Kerr never picked any of them, and must have had reason for that.
He only picked former Cork City striker Kevin Doyle after he moved to England. It appears that the highest level of international recognition eircom League players can reach at present is the Under-21 side.
Kearney, Doyle, Hoolahan, Kevin Derry, Stephen Paisley, Darren Quigley, Stephen Ward and Gary Dicker are just some of those who have made Don Givens' squads recently.
The U-21 side serves many purposes, one of which is to develop and provide players for the senior squad. Of those mentioned above, the only one who progressed was Doyle when he moved to Reading.
The others, despite their Champions League and UEFA Cup exploits of the last two summers, were ignored by Brian Kerr in favour of various average players from English sides.
Brian Kerr may not be perfect but he's the best we have and deserves a new contract. If he gets it, he might look closer to home for some of his personnel. He's good at that.
