Steven Reid: Staunton's the right man for the job

from icons.com:

I'm delighted that Steve Staunton has been given the Republic of Ireland manager's job. He's a top man and will be a really popular choice among the whole squad. He's one of our own, but he's also a person that the rest of the players will have a lot of respect for.

I played with Stan for a couple of years at international level and found him to be a very good influence within the squad. He was particularly good at helping the young lads settle in, and I for one appreciated what he did for me when I first joined up with Ireland. He was somebody that every player could talk to if they had something on their mind.

I never saw Stan as a future manager at the time because he was still such a good player. I saw him as a team-mate and didn't ever think of him as someone that might take over as boss of the national team one day. Now that he's there though, I think it will work fine. He's extremely respected in Ireland and should be able to slot into the role without any problems at all.

He's a top man and will be a really popular choice among the whole squad.

The combination of Steve Staunton and Sir Bobby Robson is really exciting. Because of Stan's lack of management experience I think it makes perfect sense to have an older, wise head alongside him. Let's face it, Sir Bobby has been there and done it all in football, so he will be an invaluable part of the set-up. I've not worked with Sir Bobby before, but everything I have been told by players that have has been positive. Nobody ever seems to have a bad word to say about him.

At this moment in time nobody knows how the new set-up is going to work. We just have to give it a chance and hope that we can produce good results. I'm sure it will be a success.

From a personal point of view, all I'm interested in is being picked for the next game against Sweden on March 1. It would be fantastic to be part of that squad and to make an impact in the first match of the new regime.

Here at Blackburn I've had a disappointing week. After a good run of form I missed our FA Cup win over QPR through suspension, and subsequently found myself on the bench for our Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United. I really was unhappy about that.

All I can do is battle on, and hope that I get picked for Saturday's Lancashire derby at home to Bolton.

smacks of " well he would say that wouldnt he" although i can see him having a more prominent role in future.