Originally Posted by
brine3
He has lost only two competitive matches, against France and Russia. For a nation as small as Ireland that's good going.
While I don't always agree with his team selection, his motivational skills and his ability to train players and get more out of a team than the sum of its parts is second to none. When it comes to training and motivation, he's probably one of the best managers the game has ever seen. Yes, he can be tactically rigid and his player selection can be confusing. But on the whole, he's very good at what he does and knows what he's doing. A lesser manager might pick a starting XI I'd prefer, but he wouldn't do as well as Trap because Trap is a fantastic trainer and motivator. There's more to management than picking a starting XI, as Stan clearly demonstrated.
And still, sometimes Trap's selections can surprise me. I had never heard of Liam Lawrence. At the time, I wondered how he could pick Lawrence ahead of Stephen Hunt. Lawrence has been nothing short of a revelation for Ireland. St. Ledger, the same.
Trap is similar to Rafa Benitez. Benitez is tactically rigid, makes strange player selections but is great at training and manages to get everything out of his team. Look at Liverpool since he left. Losing 2-0 to Everton as I write this and deep in relegation territory.
Anybody who says "Trap Out" is frankly delusional.