Originally Posted by wallis
Unfortunately (and it was the same in the run-up to France), we are going to be subjected to constant media reports with no substance to them and whose only objective is to stir up trouble and mistrust .
If Im honest I dont see the reasoning behind changing the manager. For all the whining on this forum and others about selections , tactics etc I dont believe Kerr has done anything different to what supporters wanted.
There was a lot of garbage spoke about who should have been playing in the side (all good aftertiming of course after the results of the matches). We have people suggesting that players who ply their trade in lower divsions should be selected over proven premiership players. We have other lower division players being touted as a better option than guys who have Champions League experience etc etc. The facts are we have a limited side at the moment. There are a couple of genuinely 'special' international players and the rest are all what I would call 'solid' - not spectacular in what they do but certainly capable at this level. The trouble is , there are not enough of them about. With one or two exceptions we would all pick the same side as BK going into the games. It is not his fault that JOS handballs against the Israelies or that the goalkeeper plays the game of his life.
I doubt if anyone can honestly say we were second best or outplayed by any team in our group. One or two things havent fallen in our favour but have in others (Swiss last minute winner against Cyprus for example). You can argue all day long about tactics for games but I dont think BK made any mistakes barring the Keane injury against Israel and even then just how many chances did we need to still win that game. He is not responsible for Henrys 25 yarder, the Israeli dream-strike in the 1-1 draw or us not beating the French in Paris.
When I look back at the campaign I can pinpoint the occassions where it went wrong and none of them are the fault of the manager in the same way McCarthy should not have been held responsible for the Macedonia incident. It is the players on the pitch that need to perform and although it is not ideal we are still in with a chance. If we finish second to France I would say thats exactly where 90% of us thought we would be a year ago. If that is where we end up then win or lose in the play offs I think BK would have taken the team to exactly the stage I expected them to be.
We do have a next generation of possible stars coming through like Kevin Doyle and at the other end we will lose more established players like Roy. Someone has to make that transition over the next few years and I would prefer BK who has worked with them previously , than letting the FAI appoint a manager with no idea of the irish set-up/attitude whatever you want to call it. Whether we want to accept it or not Ireland is way short on world class and even shorter on strength in depth I dont see a change of manager making a difference. It does make a difference in a situation like Englands where you have a huge pool of quality to pick from and can therefore select different formations, different players depending on the opposition and have plenty of cover in all areas but that is not how Ireland is built at this time.
Would a change in manager make a difference to us ? would we become a better team ? Im not so sure. Going into the last two games my thoughts are not 'is the manager good enough ?' but 'are our players good enough' ?