Kenny has done a great job at lowering expectations.
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Kenny has done a great job at lowering expectations.
Well he's definitely managing expectations very well.
Yep. That’s the name that leaped out at me tooQuote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
Still? :)Quote:
Originally Posted by weldoninhio
Watch out Brazil and Belgium...
Its like a "Weldoninhio Bingo" :)
I've been a Kenny supporter since day one, not out of any blind LOI loyalty or any of that nonsense, because I hated him as a LOI manager. He upset the odds repeatedly at Dundalk, and took the under-21 side to levels we've not seen before. I think he more than deserved his chance.
Now, things aren't going great, but it is a monumental shift in style, attitude, and everything football related from the rubbish we've seen for years previous, let's not forget the shambles of a Northern Ireland friendly and being outnumbered by away support that night only a few years ago. That doesn't excuse how bad it has gone though. A corner should have been turned by now.
I think his time is coming to an end. Things just aren't working out as planned.
Another part of me wants him to stay though, mostly because of the completely rotten attitude from some posters on here who would dare call themselves Ireland supporters when they've had daggers out from the minute Kenny was appointed. I desperately want him to succeed, just out of spite to those. It's utterly pathetic to see grown adults having such a pitiful attitude towards the Ireland manager.
yes, there are some posters who you feel would never be happy and have never been happy with any of our managers
I think he should have experimented in the Norway / Malta window, it was an unimportant window and several players played as such when he can't really afford that from them. He should have picked Hodge / Smallbone / Coventry / McNamara / Manning / Szmodics / Sykes & given them all a half each over the two games. In not doing so he attached too much importance to two nothing games & applied even more pressure to himself where there is plenty pressure already. He would probably have secured two similar results anyway & indeed might have gotten better results from lads wanting into the set up & playing like that. It would have bought some much needed goodwill too.
It was a mistake of a man really feeling the pressure now IMO & the fear of losing.
None of it warrants the bile being directed at him by certain posters on here. He's struggling, yes, mostly because the u21 crop he was put in charge because of have collectively and individually failed to impact at a level expected by the Association and whoever got the job would have faced that. Any other manger would have hidden behind that as his predecessors often did, but to his credit he has never mentioned it.
You are correct in that it's a monumental shift but not as you outlined. The monumental shift has been to change us from a competitive team to a complete shambles trying to avoid coming bottom in qualification campaigns instead of trying to qualify.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
Well said, Nigel. Very well said.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
He's maybe not yet an "all time" great, but at 29, Harry Kane could certainly get there - just 3 goals short of the England record and a decent bet to overtake Jimmy Greaves' Spurs record and Alan Shearer's EPL record.Quote:
Originally Posted by Razors left peg
Yet his "Assist" count is equally impressive, as eg Heung Min Son could testify, after tying with Salah for the EPL Golden Boot last season, when Kane still notched 17 goals of his own, alongside 9 assists.
Or could it be that those who believed Kenny a poor appointment are being proven right? Such sceptics are now demonised with "not giving him a chance" and having a "completely rotten attitude". It's an inconvenient fact that Kenny supporters were wall-to-wall in their toasting of a supposed new era where every fan would emerge from a beautiful game with a smile on the dial - whether we won or lost. The media was on board too. Belittling previous managers who actually achieved something was not uncommon. Support was near 90% - what could possibly go wrong? So yes, it's not working out as planned (some might call that failure) and some of the debate was spicy. That's football. Cop it sweet.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
If Kenny's supporters can't stand the heat ? ~ ~ Should they be in the Football Kitchen ?
Is this in context of debating whether Portugal are top tier or a notch below top tier?Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
And on the "what we were vs what we are point" I genuinely think international football is harder now for all but the elite teams. Countries that were weak 25 years ago are well organised now and harder to play against. Teams like Greece, Turkey, Scotland all have far better structures and facilities (Turkey's are amazing and they have a huge population) yet they've sunk to NL League 3 in recent times. Our domestic facilities are pathetic. Of course during this time Ireland has declined too. So almost every game we play is objectively difficult or a banana skin. That's just the way it is.
Has Kenny dragged us down this low? I don't think so, or at least it's too simple to say it's all down to him. I think we're in decline and have been for a while and need to pull a few rabbits out of the hat talent-wise. As CTP says, the promising U21 crop just hasn't developed.
Could Kenny be doing better? Yes, absolutely and in so many ways. Stu and Gary Breen both say the same thing I think: there have been steps forward but frequently followed by big steps back. The last window infuriated me for its conservatism. I have little confidence in Kenny at the moment but I think it's more or less right that he's still here. I do think he has started something that must be finished, though not necessarily by him. If there was a clearly better alternative available - Irish or otherwise - I'd be very open to it.
And footy is a bit mad too: Germany & Argentina could/should have been out of sight, then lost.
Still trying to figure out the purpose of all the tildas. Almost as confusing as some of Bielsa's waffle at this stage!Quote:
Originally Posted by seanfhear
FWIW I do think that Kenny has improved some aspects of our play. We've more possession and attempt/complete more passes in games that we did under previous managers, but so much of it is what Mourinho (or Wenger?) called "sterile possession", i.e having the ball but doing nothing with it. Against Norway, we spent so much time getting the ball from defence into midfield, where we were outnumbered, and the ball rarely went into the final third. Kenny has his ideas of how football should be played, how chances should be created, and there's nothing wrong with that, but he doesn't seem to have a plan B. It's been mentioned a few times that the substitutions he makes happen too late to have any real impact on the game, against Norway hid first change came after Norway had already made three changes. I was in the East stand and didn't see anyone warming up untli around the 65th minute, so a substitute couldn't come on until the 70th minute.
The heat in the football kitchen is not for everyone.Quote:
Originally Posted by EAFC_rdfl
Not just Portugal, it appears to be every team we face are been talked up or excuses made. Just like what you've done there. There are more countries that are competitive now all of a sudden. This excuse wasn't used or accepted for any previous managers. Was anyone saying that when we struggled to a draw against Georgia in McCarthy's last reign? We have gone into every group thinking we could qualify, against Denmark and Switzerland under McCarthy, against Serbia, Wales and Austria in 2018, against Germany, Poland and Scotland for Euro 2016. Most of us either expected us to qualify or come very close to it. Now we have Kenny saying that surely no one expected us to qualify ahead of Serbia and Portugal for the World Cup, everyone saying we have no hope against France and the Netherlands. This kind of defeatist attitude has been introduced by Kenny and his supporters have bought into it. We used to criticise managers talking down our players and now all we hear from Kenny supporters is that our players are crap. McCarthy had a midfield of an aging Glenn Whelan, Hendrick and Hourihane, he made us competitive. Kenny has had a squad of similar or better quality depending on how you look at it and he has made us uncompetitive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
This is also ignoring that the only periods of improvement under Kenny has come when coaching, formation and tactics were implemented by someone else. When Kenny was in charge with only inexperienced coaches with him, we could barely score a goal, had no direction and were left languishing in our groups. This happened without actually building for the future, look at the teams he selected in his first Nations League. This building for 2024 myth was only introduced by Kenny after the Luxembourg defeat. This again was swallowed without question by Kenny supporters. And this is the crux of the issue. For many people, this is about Stephen Kenny succeeding and not about Ireland. They backed him as the saviour of Irish football, celebrated the removal of McCarthy and have sung his name since, even when losing to Luxembourg. They refuse to admit they've backed a dud and now it's about saving face. The same with Kenny, the development of our players come secondary to him saving his job. It's not right that he's still there because he's probably the worst manager in our history, his record backs this up. And he's mostly played against countries with players in lower leagues than ours. We usually punch above our weight but he has us punching way below. He is doing serious damage to our progression and has already driven us far back from where he took over.
I just don't see it the same way, which isn't to say I'm offering unqualified support to Kenny. My personal expectations have been downgraded for quite a while (2012 era maybe) and I think I've been realistic in my assessment of opponents. Not necessarily because they're good but because we've been in decline and just not developing players of sufficient quality to be considered a solid tier 2 country anymore. I think for about a decade we've been a tier 3 nation who could on occasion mix it with a tier 1 or 2 country. Remember we did only come (a good) third in 2016 qualifying. And I think we had senior players of a better quality then. Although we have players at decent clubs now, very few are key players at their clubs.
I think it's a while since we punched above our weight. But yes, it's clear we're not doing it now and it doesn't look like we will for some time either
I'm not sure it's a myth that we've been building for 2024. I had understood all along this episode has been seen as a rebuild and a change in attitude. The problem is that the rebuild has been haphazard, confused and often too conservative. Poor results have put pressure on Kenny to sacrifice experimentation with results, as you rightly say, but at the same time Collins, Omobamidele, the goalies, O'Shea, Cullen, Knight, Molumby are all mainstays now and others would have been if not for injury. That's a pretty hefty shift in personnel.
I think there has been more than a bit of exaggeration there too. McCarthy's departure wasn't celebrated, was it? I think most people were surprised by the timing of Kenny's elevation and I think it was a mistake on two fronts (the play off and the U21s). I was glad to see the back of McCarthy because I think it signified the end of a long era that was essentially Charlton v.5.0 and our entering the 21st century was far too long overdue.
To try to make your point, you've had to completely ignore McCarthy's reign directly before Kenny and the involvement of coaches such as Anthony Barry. It shows how weak your argument is when you're forced to do that. Switzerland got to the Euro quarter finals, Denmark got to the Euro semi finals. That's Kenny's starting point, those were the teams we were competing with. Now we're competing with Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and Armenia. With nearly qualifying for the Euros, there was no talk of a rebuild. And Kenny's team selections reflected that there was no rebuild.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Here are Kenny's first 10 team selections:
v Bulgaria:
Darren Randolph Enda Stevens Shane Duffy John Egan Matt Doherty James McCarthy Adam Idah Jeff Hendrick Conor Hourihane Callum O'Dowda Aaron Connolly
v Finland
Darren Randolph; Enda Stevens, Shane Duffy John Egan, Matt Doherty; Robbie Brady, Harry Arter, Jayson Molumby; Callum O'Dowda Aaron Connolly Adam Idah
v Slovakia
Darren Randolph; Matt Doherty, Shane Duffy, John Egan, Enda Stevens; Jeff Hendrick, James McCarthy, Conor Hourihane; Callum Robinson, David McGoldrick, James McClean.
v Wales
Darren Randolph; Matt Doherty, Kevin Long Shane Duffy Enda Stevens; Conor Hourihane, Jeff Hendrick, Jayson Molumby Shane Long Robbie Brady James McClean
v Finland
Randolph; Doherty, Duffy (c), O'Shea, Stevens; Molumby, Hourihane, Horgan, Hendrick, Connolly; Maguire.
v England
Darren Randolph; Cyrus Christie, Matt Doherty, Shane Duffy, John Egan; Conor Hourihane, Jeff Hendrick, Alan Browne; Daryl Horgan, Callum O'Dowda, Adam Idah
v Wales
Randolph, Doherty, Duffy, O'Shea, Molumby, Hendrick, Horgan, Brady, McClean, Long, Idah
v Bulgaria
Darren Randolph; Ryan Manning, Kevin Long, Shane Duffy (capt), Dara O'Shea; Conor Hourihane, Jason Knight, Robbie Brady; Ronan Curtis, Daryl Horgan, James Collins.
v Serbia
Mark Travers; Seamus Coleman, Matt Doherty, Enda Stevens, Ciaran Clark, Dara O'Shea; Alan Browne, Jayson Molumby, Josh Cullen; Callum Robinson, Aaron Connolly.
v Luxembourg
Gavin Bazunu; Seamus Coleman, Dara O'Shea, Ciaran Clark; Matt Doherty, Enda Stevens, Josh Cullen, Jason Knight, Alan Browne; Callum Robinson, James Collins.
Pretty obvious that he wasn't planning for 2024 with those selections. That talk came after the Luxembourg defeat.
McCarthy's term ending early was celebrated, Kenny was coming in to transform our fortunes according to many. They look very foolish now. He had a competitive squad and a whole host of youngsters coming through to add to it, some you've listed. He has failed miserably with the hand he was dealt. There's no way around that fact. I think it's right to play a more progressive game on the pitch but Kenny is 100% not the man to implement it. He's proven that now. We stick with him in charge and the chances are that we'll end up with a long ball manager next. Like I said, he's doing serious damage to our progression.
no matter how many love letters you write to mick, his time was up and his day in football is long gone. kenny aint the answer but mick certainly wasnt either.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
That wasn't a love letter to McCarthy, it was just a good old fashioned filleting of the defense of Kenny. My last few sentences in the post you quoted show that I don't think McCarthy should have been kept on either but he was replaced by a manager worse than Stan. Probably our worst ever manager.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jd2793
We just got 7 points out of the NL group. How did England get on? Wales? France, the defending champions? We've won 2 of our last 3 games, won 3 home games this year. We recently went 3 years without a home win at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
We're not preparing for 2024, we're a transition team bringing through new players playing a totally different kind of football to anything we've seen in the past 20-30 years, where after every failed campaign (and there were many) there would be a massive inquiry into why we didn't qualify and what we need to change. The change is currently happening, and people like you can't accept it because results are going to be affected, and have been.
Every team goes through transition. Some of them have the luxury of having enough resources to do so without suffering on the pitch. But we don't have those resources, so we have to find them and develop them, and it takes time when everyone wants results yesterday.
We've qualified for 2 tournaments in 20 years. So we've got to accept where we stand and drop the demands that we either qualify or sack the manager. Otherwise no manager will want to do the job.
Punching above our weight is a bonus. Punching at our weight is where the benchmark should be. Too often, Kenny has had us punching below our weight.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
There's no doubt that we have a dearth of players compared to some past squads. There's also no doubt that we've gone backwards by standing still as so many other countries get their act together in terms of facilities and footballing infrastructure.
But all that said, some of the results under Kenny have been inexcusable. We are losing to teams, and failing to beat teams, that we should be dismissing with ease, despite our weaknesses.
Now, if those preformances and results were mere blips on the road in a journey that was obviously showing great promise otherwise, they might be tolerable. But, in my case at least, I'm not convinced that any great improvement is being made at all, or any great transition is taking place at all.
That's some amount of spin and bluster, typical of Kenny's reign. We got 7 points battling it out with Armenia at the bottom of our group, way off the top. What other countries did is irrelevant. Kenny's only wins have been against Scotland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Lithuania, Malta, Qatar and Andorra. Played 30, won 8, drawn 11, lost 11. You'd actually think he was doing a decent job looking at your post but the facts prove otherwise.Quote:
Originally Posted by mypost
Not preparing for 2024? Is it 2026 now? 2028? Soon Kenny will have everything in place to give the World Cup 2038 a good go. Kenny has us playing some of the worst stuff we've seen in longer than the past 20-30 years. He's just not capable at this level or anywhere near it. He has had to get coaches on board to show him some basic tactics, formations etc. Why not just hire those coaches? Why waste any more time on this clown? The players are laughing at him in the dressing room.
We don't have those resources yet we should have qualified for the Euros with the same squad Kenny had just 2 years ago? It's not his failure to qualify that's the issue, it's that he hasn't even come close to qualification. Lost to Slovakia, came near the bottom of his first Nations League, came near the bottom of World Cup qualification, came near the bottom of his second Nations League. Repeated failure with no sign of things improving. That's why he has to be sacked. No amount of spin can counteract that.
Where did I completely ignore McCarthy’s tenure just before Kenny? The one where we were rubbish twice against Gibraltar, took one point from Switzerland. Two decent points against Denmark though. I don’t think it’s relevant to my point.
We've just had our best ever NL campaign by some margin, and then you tell me we're not making progress. This is what I have to debate with, here and elsewhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
Our resources have been way behind most countries and dwindling for the past 10-15 years. When those players couldn't be replaced, we played ever more negative football to compensate. Indeed I struggle to recall any game since about 2008, when there wasn't a referendum held on whether he should stay or go after it, win lose or neither. The team was getting booed off after games during campaigns when we qualified, let alone when we didn't. When they failed, we sacked the manager.
Now we are in transition because as a tactic, parking the bus and hoping to nick a goal off Duffy's head from a setpiece had a limited shelf life. We had two chances to get to the last Euros before Kenny arrived and it didn't happen. If you want to get to the tournaments, you have to try and win matches, not simply park the bus and hope to draw your way to tournaments.
I don't know what tournament we're preparing for, I don't think that's the priority right now. The priority should be bringing new players through and developing them to the stage that when we qualify the next time, they're able to cope at the top table of the game. That's what we're trying to do, and we need to let the manager get on with doing it.
I do miss the days when our on field tactics were a better metaphor for our off field strategies. At least there was a better synergy between the lack of planning on both fronts.Quote:
Originally Posted by mypost
I admire your continued confidence mypost but I don't think we are really seeing the manager bringing players through or trying models that might get the most out of what we have at this point. For a time maybe but these friendlies were a completely botched opportunity. In the grand scheme of things maybe it's fine, end of season fare and all that but for me that almost makes it worse. Why play players who have checked out and have nothing to prove? Why put Kelleher in for the game he'd face less action in? Why not try him against Norway? If Ferguson has the potential to be the main man why not get him in now and run with it. Why not put Ogbene at wingback? We know what we have with Doherty. It was Malta, why not try Hodge etc? Why not try a different formation or approach? Our third string should be able for Malta. Why not bring in all the fringe players and see who might be worth a place? He's operating in a scenario where he can't actually do the job that's required for fear of losing the job. Very frustrating. Maybe more patience is required but I'm just not seeing the big picture planning anymore. Jeff Hendrick ffs.
Ultimately I still think we are a long way away from competing and our priority, with very limited resources, shouldn't even be the national team if we are serious about competing properly. There's plenty to do in Ireland to develop players who can compete and we have nothing to do it with. Clearing debts and focusing on facilities at home should be the goal for me...or following any sort of model to improve our team. Luxembourg, Iceland etc all had a plan. We just keep hitting and hoping. That said, I wouldn't mind someone else coming in with a fresh slate. The endless referenda and gas lighting from all sides is getting so tiresome.
You were saying we're a tier 3 nation, not having the players anymore but conveniently forgot to mention that directly prior to Kenny taking over, we should have qualified ahead of Denmark. That's the problem with trying to defend Kenny, you have to ignore so much evidence and still the argument is **** poor. You yet again had to ignore the rest of my points which destroyed your argument.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
More spin and wishy washy nonsense. Our aim now is not to qualify for tournaments but to start winning the possession stats against our opposition. :D Like the other poster, you have to ignore the campaign directly before Kenny. Somehow with worse resources, our previous manager managed to make us competitive with teams who went far in the last Euros. Now we're competing with Azerbaijan and Armenia. And swinging the ball into Duffy has saved Kenny from an even more embarrassing record, he's scored 4 times under Kenny. You couldn't make it up!Quote:
Originally Posted by mypost
It is tiresome, but we're not going to change manager after winning a game. We continue on the project that we're on, whether we win or not, without demanding that we either qualify or sack the manager.Quote:
Originally Posted by ontheotherhand
It's going to be impossible for a new man to come in with a clean slate. He's going to have the likes of me on his back from Day 1, hounding him for parking the bus and not winning games, and eventually everyone else will see through him. Then he gets sacked, the next man is appointed and the cycle repeats itself. It's a toxic environment for any manager to work in, and doesn't allow him any leeway to see what works and what doesn't, or any long term plan. The demand is either win or find someone else who will try to get Championship level squads that we have, to tournaments against the superstars of the sport.
My gut - and my heart - continue to lean more towards the mypost school of thought in that the transition and journey we are on, and the personnel, remain right and it is just taking longer than i had thought it should. My head, though, just cant get past this last window and the entire paragraph set out by OTOH above. It was, in my opinion, his biggest failure to date for all the reasons in the bit i quoted. It was a disaster. It was cowardly and weak. I expected way more in terms of how he would use the squad.Quote:
Originally Posted by ontheotherhand
With that coming quickly after a generally disappointing NL campaign (it was an unstable rollercoaster ride v. a continued, modest upward trajectory), he has kind of lost my faith and I do think another manager could come in and probably do a better overall job with this group of players - but it wont be significantly better. No matter your thoughts on Kenny, lets not kid ourselves. If you disagree with that, you are in for some serious disappointment. Some of our players appear to have potential or a high ceiling but they are still relatively young, they havent come close to that ceiling and, in most cases, they are realistically still trying to prove themselves at club level - a level that generally continues on a downward trajectory. The Irish football system continues to operate without a cohesive vision or plan on how to maximize our potential using all options - domestic and oversees - as a nation our decline, i think, will continue no matter who the manager is - we continue to slide further towards big trouble and it started 30 years ago, not upon the appointment of SK.
Should he go? Yes.
Will things get better? Maybe but not much (even without the prospect of facing France and the Netherlands).
Is BS' perspective reasonable or accurate? No, its BS.
No one is expecting us to win the Euros! And qualifying will be difficult. It's not too much to ask that we are competitive though. It's crazy that some people are saying that what has been offered in the past 2 years has shown any sign of progress. We've clearly gone backwards. And by a long way. The only BS is the defense of Kenny, this page alone would give you clear evidence of this. As an example, a defender of Kenny was trying to claim that Kenny has moved us on from the dinosaur tactics of lofting it into the big man and hoping for the best. Duffy being the big man in this case. The only problem is that Duffy is one of the highest goal scorers under Kenny, scoring 4 goals and has been thrown up front late in games on numerous occasions. It's laughable, almost as bad as a Kenny interview!Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
You want him to have us be competitive, yet you were probably one of those lashing into him for saying our ambition was to top the NL group. When did we last top a group? 1987. And that was only because of someone else.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
Duffy has scored a few goals in the last 2 years, but other players have as well. We scored 8 goals in our last 4 NL games, more goals than was scored in Mick's last campaign. We took 7 points from our last 4 games. We even won a home game 3-0, at a canter, the easy way. The response to all that improvement was, sack the manager. Name me one manager, Irish or otherwise that wants to do this job in that kind of environment.
I don't expect us to qualify for the Euros, not even before the draw was made. And it's not the end of the world if we can't beat Holland and France. They're a considerable step up in quality from having to beat Denmark and Switzerland, and we weren't good enough to beat them either. But the answer is for us to find better players who are capable of passing a football around a pitch, not change the manager every time.
Oh get over yourself will you. I’ve better things to do with my life than address every sentence you write. I didn’t ignore Mick’s tenure for any tactical purpose, it was because it wasn't relevant. And I forgot we were utter drivel twice against Georgia.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
"Should" we have qualified ahead of Denmark? Really?
In general there’s of course a degree of truth in what you’re saying. Everyone sees the flaws in Kenny and the general direction but you don’t help yourself with the sheer hysterical degree to which you’re making these points and the disingenuousness with which you engage.
Fwiw (using a mobile in a cafe so not easy to navigate) I’m around the same as SkStu and - I think - Osarusan (if I understood his point above right).I think the steps forward were encouraging (Scotland, Ukraine away, Portugal away, two away wins with some really good goals, in Luxembourg in particular) but the steps back have been too frequent and too large to have any confidence. We’ve wasted some good opportunities to go the full hog and do a real root and branch rebuild. The last window made O'Neill look experimental. He should have used Ebosele last year imho.
But there were mitigants at times to the first third of his tenure: Covid, empty stadia, Hourihane’s miss (Jesus Christ…how? And subsequently his gift of a goal to Armenia), Randolph’s inexplicable mistake in Helsinki when we were doing just fine. The U21s were doing well so it was arguably right to leave them be. And subsequently Idah’s injury, Connolly’s everything…
I think we’re behind where we should be after 3 years but I maintain that what Kenny started/tried to start should be finished. I don’t care by whom.
More or less the same. Yes, good performances which allow you to wonder if we've finally turned a corner are followed by performances which show we haven't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Is the ratio of punch to/above our weight performances : punch below our weight performances any better now than it was a couple of years ago? I don't really think so.
I think the problem for Kenny now is he feels he's close to the sack, so he probably has to resort to the old guard (Hendrick, for example) more than he'd like, to avoid a defeat which might be the last straw, and having to do this will slow down whatever transformative process he is trying to implement even more.
And while Kenny does deserve credit for bringing through a bunch of players, as you listed earlier, there is still a good/better/best way to do that, and Kenny has brought them into a team that is playing in fits and starts, and malfunctioning at times.
And in response to your very last line, you should care by whom. Now, I'm being a little glib there, as I know you care as deeply as anybody else on this forum, if not more than most. But we should care, because it's a process that can be completed on a scale ranging from brilliantly to disasterously, and for me, Kenny is, unfortunately, at the lower end of that scale. We can, and should, get somebody who is more capable and will do a better job of it.
I didn't. We were shyte against Gibraltar and Georgia twice. Brushed aside by Switzerland away. A good point in Denmark, all down to - yes - a late Duffy goal. If a Duffy goal is good enough for Mick then it should be good enough for Kenny.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
Worse resources? Are you sure?Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
See above. Swinging the ball into Duffy made us competitive against Denmark.Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
He should be sacked because he has had 4 miserable failures already. Slovakia, nations league 2020, world cup qualification, nations league 2022. Your cherry picking just won't cut it. It might be alright for you to give up all chance of qualifying for things just because you've backed Kenny and can't admit you backed a donkey.Quote:
Originally Posted by mypost
For most of us, we want to qualify for major tournaments. Saying we might as well give up before starting a group with Serbia and Portugal or France and Holland is not on. We haven't done that for at least 30-40 years. We need to get a manager who is capable of implementing modern tactics. Not someone who needs his coaches to do it for him, can't read a game, fails to make any impactful subs and struggles to put a cohesive sentence together.
My "thanks" button is disabled osarusan! I agree substantially with your post.
Of course I care, what I meant is that I am impartial as to whether it's Kenny or someone else. Right now I'm not sure who's better that is realistically willing to do the job. i'd be excited to take a punt on someone like Brian Barry Murphy, or even the fabled Anthony Barry but I think we run the risk of a new manager seeing the job as a stepping stone until a better job comes up in English club football. I know people are looking at the Canada manager, but he'd be a flight risk to a club job I reckon, and others like him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BOOMSHAKALAKA
slovakia wasnt a failure by any measure. drawing the game and losing on pens is hardly a disgraceful outcome!