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I request any journalist who reads this forum to pose this question to Staunton.
Why bring back Stephen Carr out of retirement when we have plenty of cover at right back and not bring back Carsley from retirement when we are short of defensive midfielders.
Staunton is not consistant in his approach to dealing with issues.
I'm convinced he feels compelled to play Carr having persuaded him to return.
Finnan for right back, permanently.
How true, just goes to show that Stan is stubborn and unwilling to undo mistakes to save face. This stubborn-streak is the same reason he won't pick Paddy McCarthy (because he has previously stated he needs another year of development) but is willing to call up the "developed" St.Ledger and McShane, and the same reason why he won't bring Carsley into the squad (because he previously stated the door was closed for "oldies" like Carsley).Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I think everyone can agree that Staunton has made some weird decisions so far in his young managerial career. No consistency whatsover. The McCarthy and St. Ledger thing took the biscuit for me.
With respect Mc Carthy and St Ledger are fringe players at best at the moment so I am not totally annoyed with those decisions. But saying he wants to build for the future and yet tries to get Stephen Carr back in a position we are very strong in and does not do the same for Carsley in a position we are weak, does not make sense to me.
The "Carsley for Ireland" cheerleading is quiet possibly the funniest thing to happen on foot.ie for years.
- How many people were sad he retired in the first place
- I can never remember anyone saying Carsley even had an ok game for Ireland.
Too many people see 5 minutes Premiership highlights & think a player great. Sky Sports have a lot to answer for.
Carsley offers nothing extra to the irish squad that Kilbane, O'Shea etc... already give. He is an extremely limited player (he not called the crab for nothing) who i think i've never seen hit a forward pass for Ireland.
:rolleyes:
Pete have you not seen posts in other threads about Carsley. We are not saying he is a fantastic player and the reason that there was not too many people going mad when he retired was due to the fact we had Roy Keane playing there.
What Carsley will offer us is some defensive stability in midfield and the abilty to keep the ball and not give it away. Something which O Shea and Kilbane do all the time. It is a sign that we are very poor in that area that we are calling for Carsley to be called back but needs must.
I can't agree with that at all Pete. Kilbane can't be compared with him as Kilbane could only dream of playing in the holding role. He's a much better option than O'Shea while Douglas is the only other alternative from the rest of the squad. imo he plays in the most important position on the field so if Everton are such a better team with him in their starting XI then he must be doing something right.
Ian Harte is was castigated by the Irish support for years but by God how I'd love to have him in our team now. :)
I stand my belief that Carsley only looks good as he never tries anything.
Agree totally with this. What was it that Tony O Reilly said about his rugby career? The best games he ever played for Ireland were the ones he missed.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
Just on the Staunton thing. I think if he explained his decisions a bit better they might not look so bad or look so random. good article by Brady at weekend. Basically said he should realise that he is not just talking to a journalist but to the public. Also that people arent stupid and wont fall for things like "we were all magnificent". The fact is we appointed a manger who had yet to learn his trade so misunderstandings like this were inevitable. Would not bother me too much bout Carsley not being in the team. but the fact that the obvious solution would have been just to pick him in the squad and not play him would suggest that carsley didnt want this.
The first responsibility of any Ireland manager is to to put out the best team possible. Stans building for 2010 bull**** is exactly that. He should have included Carsley who is playing the best football of his career. And unlike O'Shea and Kilbane is highly rated by his clubs fans. Who do watch their players every match and not on sky' highlights!
Agree totally. It's not so much his decisions, more his (lack of) communication of why they're made.Quote:
Originally Posted by Billsthoughts
"I've picked X because he brings this to the party."
"We've been looking at Y, think he's good, but Z is more experienced / versatile."
"If player W continues to do well at his club it'll be hard for us to leave him out."
That type of thing quells all speculation about whether he really knows what's going on. He's perfectly entitled to make value jugments & we don't have to agree with them, but leaving people guessing is dangerous. Just like Kerr with Dunne, Reid, Delap etc. Ultimately it turns people against you.
Can anyone post the Brady article?
Lads I dont know about you but I think X should be in the squad. From the games I have seen so far this season he has been top class. Surely Staunton should make X captain also.
Soccer
Looking fragile but maximum points necessary
Soccer Analyst Liam Brady
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IT'S not quite do or die for our qualification hopes, but it's getting to that stage. When you look at how the Czech Republic and Germany have started, both with maximum points and both with highly-impressive performances the last day out, it leaves us already playing catch up and we need to get into the mix before it's too late. Steve Staunton won't want to hear this but these are critical games and I would go so far as to say they are must-win games. Sure, a draw against the Czechs wouldn't be disastrous but if we really have ambitions, we need maximum points over the next 10 days. We need to lay down a marker now to show our intentions.
It's not so long since we were in Cyprus and on that occasion we struggled badly and were quite fortunate to come away with a win. The problem on that occasion was that we were reaching a critical stage of the campaign under Brian Kerr but even though we are only a game into this campaign, Staunton now finds himself in a similar, critical situation. That's because of the German game and also because of the embarrassing result and performance against Holland. We are going to Nicosia a little fragile and that's where Staunton will have to step up and get his team right. He must get them confident, get their mental strength up, get them believing and most importantly, make sure they don't buckle because of the situation they find themselves in. It's at times like this that a manager has to stand up and show himself to be a leader.
Staunton is still learning, but he has to learn quickly in this job. There were a few things that he did wrong against Germany in the way he handled himself.
While he shouldn't be fazed by the press, the last thing he wants to do is give them extra ammunition. Getting himself sent off did just that and suddenly at a critical stage of a big night for him and the team he found himself away from it all, not able to make the crucial calls and decisions. I remember when I got my first managerial job at Celtic, I found if very hard initially to detach myself from what was going on. But that cannot happen and you have to rid yourself of that attitude because it affects your ability to perform. You have to have a clear mind when it comes to making calls.
He also must conduct himself much better when it comes to press conferences. I said after the Germany game that he needs to realise he is speaking to the public, not just one reporter.
Everyone is listening in and judging him and giving one-word answers won't help him. Nor will getting angry when a question hits too close to the mark, like when he was asked about his reasoning behind the Duff substitution in Stuttgart. He said that every one of his players were magnificent that night which was a stupid thing to say. People aren't mugs and they aren't going to buy into that.
But it is for that reason I think he won't change a whole lot about his lineup. If it were possible I think he'd change nothing. It will be an anxious weekend for him, waiting to see who comes out available after all the games, more so for him because he doesn't have the same resources of a German or Czech manager. But if everyone did come out healthy, I wouldn't make too many changes myself. I would stick with the back four. I thought they didn't do too badly against Germany. Stephen Carr was a big plus and he looked like the Carr in the early days of his international career. Obviously having Steve Finnan at left-back isn't ideal but you can only work with what's available.
In midfield I would take out John O'Shea. He is more comfortable as a defensive midfielder but against Cyprus we need someone dictating things, controlling the tempo and making the space.
Liam Miller might fit the bill and if he did come in, he has to make sure plenty of ball gets to Damien Duff . . . if fit . . . and Robbie Keane. They are the players we rely on to open teams up and they need more ball if they are to do that.
It's an early stage and people can't be judging Steve until the group unravels.
He is new and he has to find his feet. The worry though, is that if points are dropped in Cyprus things could unravel very quickly.
That's the situation now, but looking forward to the future for a minute, it's my opinion we have to have a long-term plan to produce better players for the Irish team. I'd be only happy to speak to the people in the FAI if they wanted because we have to get a philosophy and a culture into Irish schoolboy football to produce better players technically. It's too late having them go to England at 15 and 16 if they are not technically proficient and the English clubs won't be concentrating on it because it has to be there already.
We've got to address that problem ourselves.
Copyright of Sunday Tribune.
You're right Neil. Sorry. Stan's communication has been top notch so far.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
Q: Steve, Why did you make that decision?
A: You tell me
Quality
Thanks for posting the article. Can't disagree with any of it but I think Brady could have been more committal about who he'd pick in midfield.
Interesting that FAI seemingly hasn't ever consulted him about youth development. Then again, I wonder what Brady's opinion of the Technical Development Plan is, or has he even seen it.
A Face wont like to see that:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Liam Brady
To be fair in the past Carsley was well down the pecking order behind Keane, Holland & Kinsella but we no longer have that sort of strenght in depth so like him or not he is playing at a higher level than most of our other central midfield options and should be at least considered for a starting place.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
Personally if everyone was fit I'd shove him in the centre with Steven Reid and move O'Shea to Left Full. He's no world beater but he wins tackles and doesn't give away sloppy ball, although he did give away a sloppy penalty once ;)
Thanks Liamo. You agree with my recent posts! But McGeady instead of Miller to supply the ammuniton to Keane Doyle and Duff
But isn't the problem that Carsley doesn't want to be just "considered" he wants to be guaranteed his place?Quote:
Originally Posted by endabob1