Maybe it was the only day that they could all meet. Logistics play a big part in all of this.
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Maybe it was the only day that they could all meet. Logistics play a big part in all of this.
Kilbane and Ireland in central midfield. Need I say more. I think I'm gonna have to repeat that line again, and again, and again. :) We had no midfield against Cyprus. They won the ball in their half, they were 30 yards from our goal in a few seconds.Quote:
Originally Posted by mackannovic
As eireboy says, its the midfield that is the problem, that would be sorted if we had S Reid and S Ireland in there.
I would play 5 in midfield to balance out our weakness in midfield.
Something like this
Given
Kelly Dunne O'Shea Kilbane(for home games only)
S Reid Carsley
McGeady Ireland
Duff
Keane
Hunt and Doyle are two good impact subs to have. I believe that the above team if well managed and organised can get us to the World Cup.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBoss
Giles on Newstalk throws his hat firmly on Trapattoni.
Who said Giles doesn´t know about football outside the EPL :)
He thinks Venables is still ready to take the job if it was offered.
Also he thinks Brady´s application was more or less 'if you can´t get anyone better then you can consider me' and if Giles was Trapattoni he would get Brady in on the backroom staff.
Thats the kind of line-up/formation i'd be looking at too KK.
4-2-3-1 or 4-5-1 or whatever you want to call it. Our strength and weakness both lie in midfield. We have plenty of small skillful types who don't fit in anywhere in a traditional 4-4-2 and an imaginative set up could accomodate the likes of Ireland, McGeady, Duff, Keane(who doesn't play as a normal striker in a 4-4-2 anyway) etc etc. If we could find the right balance midfield is our best area and I could see it getting goals too as I don't think we're good enough up front to play 2 players out of Keane plus one of the underachieving Doyle, Long, Stokes, Murphy.
In a 4-4-2 our midfield is weak and so are our forwards.
What sort of formations does Trappers like to play? Is he adaptable considering what is at his disposal anyone know?
That team and formation i picked. That might be something that Trapatoni would go for. Some one posted some of the teams and he always plays one striker supported by two wide men (keane, duff and mcgeady)
I agree entirely. A proper football thinker can take stock of what we've got, see where we're strong and where we're weak and attempt a solution.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bottle of Tonic
Anytime we've gone with a 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 type formation it's been using players like Stephen Elliott out on the right. They key is to have good fast wide players (Duff & McGeady are ideal) flanking a genuine no. 9 preferably. Keane is more of a classic no. 10 so in my opinion getting goals from midfield will be important (isn't it always I suppose?). If our traditional 2 in midfield with two nippy wingers ain't solid or creative enough then maybe 3 would be.
The U21 game was really interesting. England and ourselves both played a 4-3-3 style. In my opinion our midfield was as functional and cohesive an Irish midfield as I've seen at any level since Keane was at his peak. However, what made the difference was that our wide men were Stokes and Clarke, each of whom prefers to play centrally, whereas England had Walcott and Lennon, both pace merchants, and Milner I think played further forward too.
Thoughts return to job at hand
Ireland's Richard Dunne in action against Brazil's Luis Fabiano during Wednesday evening's match in Croke Park. The central defender has led the calls for a decision to be made on the new Republic of Ireland manager soon.
Ireland's Richard Dunne in action against Brazil's Luis Fabiano during Wednesday evening's match in Croke Park. The central defender has led the calls for a decision to be made on the new Republic of Ireland manager soon.
Photograph: The Irish Times
International news - Search for a manager: Emmet Malone assesses the merits of the two most likely candidates for the Ireland job.
With Wednesday night's game against Brazil out of the way, Don Givens returned yesterday to the task of finding the next Ireland manager. Though Billy Davies has apparently still to be interviewed, the three-man panel's remaining workload essentially consists of establishing whether Giovanni Trapattoni's interest is serious and, if it is, deciding whether to give the job to him ahead of Terry Venables.
What indications there have been suggest that the players' preference is for the Englishman, although the only real attempt to articulate their reasons, provided by Richard Dunne on Sunday evening, fell some way short of making a compelling case.
Having put behind him the years when he seemed hell bent on squandering his talent, Dunne has developed into one of the Premier League's best central defenders. Even he, however, would hardly argue that there isn't potential for further improvement. And so it was disappointing to note at the FAI awards his apparent lack of interest in working with Trapattoni, a centre back for more than a decade at Milan, where he won two leagues and two European Cups and was capped 17 times by Italy before going on to become one of the game's most accomplished club managers of all time, success built repeatedly on a highly effective defensive approach.
The Dubliner is entitled to his opinion and Venables, it seems certain, would bring the more enterprising brand of football, but the suggestion that because the new manager will have a limited number of opportunities to work with the players before the start of the World Cup campaign the Londoner should be appointed - as he could more easily communicate his ideas - is a still hard to take.
Steve Staunton, for one, might scratch his head at the idea that the players are desperate to spend as much time as possible with their international coach so as to maximise the team's potential.
In need of a strong showing during the latter part of the European Championship campaign, the Louthman managed to get just one established first-choice player - the ever-loyal Kevin Kilbane - on to the plane to the United States last summer.
A more productive end-of-season tour would hardly have gotten Ireland back on the road to qualification but had his team beaten Slovakia away and Cyprus at home, neither of which would have required a hugely improved performance, then the reality is that Staunton might have kept his job.
Dunne, like Damien Duff, Shay Given and just about every other player who has ever had a conversation about Venables with somebody who has played under him, says he has received positive reports about his coaching skills and man-management style.
Players, for the most part, like him while the media tend to be divided, his supporters consistently overstating his achievements down the years and his critics tending to dwell on his personality.
The reality is that if Venables is appointed by the FAI over the coming week it would be far from a calamity; but it would be a considerable disappointment now that Trapattoni appears to be a serious alternative.
Language barrier and management style aside, the critical difference between the pair is evident from a cursory glance at their CVs.
While the Italian has been successful in almost every club job he has held, winning nine league titles in four countries as well as a handful of major European trophies, his rival's reputation is based primarily upon a Spanish championship won 23 years ago with Barcelona, a solitary FA Cup victory while at Spurs, his larger-than-life persona and that rapport he enjoys with players.
His initial achievement at the Nou Camp should not be underestimated. Barcelona had not won the league in a decade when he arrived, and while he inherited a good side he changed personnel as well as tactics for the title-winning season.
Things then went steadily downhill thereafter, however, and having been totally outwitted by the Steaua Bucharest coach Emerich Jenei in the following year's European Cup, which the Romanians won on penalties, he struggled to achieve further success in Spain.
Eventually, he was sacked after his side lost home and away to Dundee United in the Uefa Cup almost a year later, few locals bemoaning his departure.
His tenure as England boss consisted mainly of home friendlies during the build-up to Euro 96. At the tournament, it is repeatedly pointed out by his backers, England were unlucky to lose their semi-final to Germany but then they tend to overlook the fact his side were desperately fortunate to get past Spain in the previous round.
Still, the team did play an admirable brand of football and the destruction of the Netherlands in the group stages was one of England's finer moments of recent times.
Since then there has been the fall-out from his disastrous business activities culminating in a seven-year ban from holding a company directorship after he admitted to a string of very serious charges brought by the British Department of Trade and Industry. There has also been one fairly successful spell at Middlesbrough and seriously ill-fated stints at Portsmouth, Crystal Palace and Leeds United.
There was also a brief return to international football with Australia, who looked set to qualify for the World Cup in 1998 before they surrendered a 2-0 lead at home to Iran in a manner that would be all too familiar to those who followed the Irish team's misfortunes over the past couple of years.
Appointing Trapattoni, on the other hand, carries with it none of those complications even if it would scarcely be a surefire thing. A glance at his famous Bayern Munich press conference on YouTube reminds one just how volatile he can be, and his four-year spell in charge of Italy was far from a triumph.
As with Venables, his best years might well be behind him too, but unlike the Englishman he has continued to stack up the trophies, winning the Portuguese title with Benfica and the Austrian one with his current club, Salzburg, in the last three seasons.
Despite his occasional tirades and the frustration of squad members who believe his teams are too defensive, he has generally been hugely popular with his players.
Clearly there are difficulties to be overcome if he is to succeed Staunton, but having waited this long to appoint someone and now found themselves in a position where getting somebody of his calibre is even a possibility, the FAI and their recruitment panel have been right to give the 68-year-old every chance to confirm his availability.
Even if he were obliged to see out the season at Salzburg he would, as things stand, be available for Ireland's next game, against Serbia in May, when he could quite easily ask the players to come in for longer than the standard few days.
Either way, the next manager looks set to be significantly better than the last one and his time at the helm promises to be interesting.
Perhaps, the most frustrating thing, though, with no suggestion that either man will be asked to groom his successor, is that we might well be put through the agony of yet another extended selection process once the team's World Cup campaign is out of the way in just a couple of years' time.
© 2008 The Irish Times
Our new manager will really need to work on our set pieces. They're shocking at the moment. One thing that really started to concern me during the Brazil game is our lack of tall players, or even decent players in the air as we can be found out very easily in the air. At the moment the only two players we have who can be dangerous for us in the air are Doyle and Kilbane. This needs to be remedied in some way to give us a good chance in the qualifiers.
Good article by Malone. Basically summarises all the hundreds of opinions offered on foot.ie already!
I like the Giles comment that Neil posted up here yesterday, that if Trap was that defensive how did he win so many games?
I have to disagree with this in part. Kelly, O'Shea and Kilbane played at the back against Brazil and worryingly, that was probably our strongest defense at the moment. They're simply not good enough if a team has aspirations of qualification. You could maybe get away with one sub standard defender in a back four, eg Harte in 2002, but three out of four and we're in big trouble.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBoss
I agree our midfield also looks pretty poor unless the two Reids regain full fitness
jmc, ya you know i was thinking hte exact same thing, if we only had a 12th player that played in front of keane who was tall, because keane comes out so far that when the wing men make breaks into the box, there is either a) no one there or b) too small as its someone coming in from our midget midfield.
http://www.chatsoccer.eu/news/index....r-Ireland.html
Lothar Matthäus is the latest in a long line to express an interest in the vacant Ireland managers job.
It may however be too late for the former German international who also managed Hungary as it is believed the selection panel have whittled it down to two candidates, Terry Venables or Giovanni Trapattoni.
Tonight he privately told a chatsoccer source “I would love the Ireland job, I am available now and believe I am the right man for the job”.
It is not known if he is ready to make contact with the FAI but he is known to be very confident of his ability to undertake the task of leading Ireland to the World Cup 2010 finals in South Africa.
No Andy Reid, the only midfielder who was creative and excelled in every game he played in the last campaign?? I'd agree with the rest of the team but I'd play Reid instead of IrelandQuote:
Originally Posted by kingdomkerry
I don't think its very likely we will have the option of playing S.Ireland anyway in the foreseeable future, not that I would play him ahead of Reid
[quote=Bottle of Tonic;872657]Thats the kind of line-up/formation i'd be looking at too KK.
I don't think we're good enough up front to play 2 players out of Keane plus one of the underachieving Doyle, Long, Stokes, Murphy.
[quote]
What about the underachieving Robbie Keane in an Ireland Shirt for the past two years.
[QUOTE=mackannovic;872867]Our strikers need support if they are to stop underachieving. Something which in the last campaign our midfield was unable to do, and we won't be able to do if we have the central midfield that we had against Brazil. We need Andy Reid back for a Keane - Doyle partnership to fulfill it's potential.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bottle of Tonic
Same old same old. A front man needs service.Quote:
Originally Posted by mackannovic
What happens if no manager is announced come wednesday?
It's still there for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar
/ ah you edited your post. ;)
End of the world as we know it....Quote:
Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar
"Not the end of the world" as per the man from delmonte.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er
Does HE want the job?...........at least he would say YES;)Quote:
Originally Posted by gufct
I think even when a new manager is appointed, this won't be the last we hear of this saga. There has been nothing straightforward about the entire process and I don't think putting it down to "it's just the FAI" really covers it.
For a start, it's clear that someone within the FAI is responsible for a lot of leaks that have stirred up trouble and made this a lot more difficult than it should be.
Houllier dismissed speculation linking him with the job, then apparently accepted it, then suddenly it was off - he wouldn't even answer the phone.
Sounness (not that I'd want him) was keen on the position but seemed to smell something funny going on and withdrew his name from the process very early on.
Given how huge this Trappatoni story has been, the fact that the original claims baffled both the man himself and Given, and that he still says he has had no direct contact - is baffling.
Venables has been too quiet on the whole thing. We haven't heard anything from him since (again, incredibly) repeatedly denying any contact from the FAI whatsoever - and back then we were told by all that he was a sure thing.
Okay, we know the board are divided on Venables, but there has to be more to it than that. Some ask why he would even still keep his name in the race this long - given that most people with a shred of pride or dignity would have said "okay, enough is enough" long ago. The only answer I can think of is that the pay packet is the priority.
Davies turned down the opportunity to be interviewed for the managerial position of his own country because he wouldn't be given control over the u-21s as well - yet he is being interviewed by our own hapless, ego-maniac of an u-21 manager and when it has been very publicly narrowed down to "Trapp or Venables." I mean what the hell?
There are so many other things you could add to the list (like the various meetings and 'imminent announcements') as the farce continues. I think there's at least a book or a good documentary to be made out of it yet!
But the thing I find most incredible is that from the start, something like 95% percent of the fans were vehemently opposed to the idea of Venables being appointed...and now, well past the 100 day mark, a lot of us seem to have been gradually worn down by the whole thing to the point where we've come around ('bamboozled', if you will) to think that Venables actually wouldn't be so bad.
Good summary.
I can accept Venables as a leading candidate after the search for the better or equal candidates has been exhausted.Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyP
I use to be good at those staring games
Who's come around to this idea that Venables would no be so bad? I certainly have not, I'd rather see someone decent coming in a month before the Georgia game than Venables nowQuote:
Originally Posted by JimmyP
No, nor have I. But a lot have. Sorry, I didn't literally mean "all"; I've edited it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Block G Raptor
Yeah I know what you mean, but the point is that rather than having conducted an exhaustive search, matters have been fumbled on more than one occasion and it seems to have cost us candidates who were otherwise a possibility.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
I've thought all along that if the FAI were presented with anyone other than Terry Venables as our new manager, then it wouldn't be down to any farcical interview process, but rather down to dumb luck - i.e., that the panel stumbled across someone suitable while deliberating over the (previously interviewed) candidates who remained unemployed as the process drew to a close.
While now , despite the media hailing Trapattoni as "the saviour of Irish football" (© Eamon Dunphy) I feel that the panel, despite desperate attempts, have NOT managed to fortuitiously locate 'mystery candidate X' , and are now depressingly stuck with Venables, who is apparently the only qualified manager who wants the job. Throwing the speculation dice, I think that this is probably unacceptable to a sizeable section of the FAI board.
This is why , when Delaney wanted to unveil a marquee name at last Sunday's Lovely Girls competition in Citywest, Givens felt the need to circle the wagons and make a big announcement.
The big announcement was "We have no manager. We need more time".
More time, it seems, to locate the Man who is plan B : The Anti-Venables.
Hence more interviews. Hence people like Billy Davies being drawn into this quagmire.
The issue with this 'interview panel' is not the length of time they are taking. It's the fact that it's seemingly led by a man who has no idea what to do, accompanied by two men who are allowing him to do it.
This man makes a LOT of sense..............if the FAI fcuk up on Trappatoni.........GIVE THE JOB TO MICK WALLACE!
http://www.chatsoccer.eu/news/index....rapattoni.html
Wexford Youths FC manager and owner, Mick Wallace, has given his backing to Giovanni Trapattoni to take over as the new Republic of Ireland manager.
Italian enthusiast Wallace has been calling for the FAI to bring in a European coach since Steve Staunton's acrimonious departure last year, and he feels that if the Italian legend is available and interested in the position that the FAI would be very foolish to appoint the other leading candidate, Terry Venables, instead of the former Ac Milan and Juventus manager.
"I'd like to see Trapattoni get it - he wouldn't be my first choice but he's a lot better than any other names from across the water," Wallace said.
"If it's between Trapattoni and Venables, well there's no contest really. Trapattoni's appetite is greater than Venables's - he's still managing a team for a start - and I don't think Venables has the appetite required for the job. People question Trapattonis age but he's only three years older than Venables.
"The Irish players have come out in favour of Venables because they're familiar with him or know players he has coached, but they don't know anyone who has worked with Trapattoni, so can't really form an opinion on him. People shouldn't listen to the players however as it's not their concern; they should play were there told and take direction from the manager and not have a say in his selection.
"There's no doubt that Venables was good, but he doesn't have the appetite for the Irish job now and he was a disaster alongside McClaren for England. Trapattoni is past his best as well but if he gets the job he would be a great appointment as he's a winner.
"There's no point comparing any manager to the top Italians, as they're on a different level. The language factor shouldn't make a major difference - it would be a factor and it would be better if he could speak English, so who he has assisting him would be important, but he won the Portuguese league without speaking that language.
"People say that Trapattoni wasn't successful as an international manager, but at a stage in the 2002 World Cup they were the favourites and Italy were robbed against South Korea. The Ecuadorian referee for that match was banned for life six-months later in relation to a scandal around match fixing in his homeland. In 2004, Italy were unbeaten in their group in the European Championships and are the only team ever to record five points and not get out of their group.
"Trapattoni is also accused of being too conservative, but Italy and Germany are the two most successful European sides and regularly accused of being too cautious, so conservatism yields results and obviously works," Wallace said.
Everyone thinks Delaney's vague comments in todays Star relate to Trapp's.
FAI chief executive John Delaney has indicated that the appointment of the next Republic of Ireland manager may not be finalised until the summer.
The name that popped into my head was Coppell's and not Trapp's. Perhaps Coppell has gotten back in touch with the amigo's and now wants the job.
Guys,
First post....go easy on me! I'm sure this is mentioned somewhere on foot...but getting back to the thread title "Next Ireland Manager"...If TV is offered the post, people who know him are going to ask him, why did you wait around for months waiting on the FAI to see if there was a better candidate than you...that's why I don't think it'll be TV. In relation to GT, the Austrian league finishes in April so there's no issue at all in the FAI getting him signing the contact and starting his job in May, it's whether he wants to do it or not, people talk about his age, we gotta play that to our advantage, if Don also tells him there's a nice holiday home in Belmullet as welll overlooking the coast waiting for him...how can he say no?!
First of all, welcome aboard,Quote:
Originally Posted by Majik
Second
Why would they offer him a holiday home in mayo when they could offer him one in kerry:rolleyes:
Venables:
"I'm still in the race and I still want the job and the FAI know that. Anyone who says I would not be fully committed to the job is talking absolute nonsense."
From the SIndo.
http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0210/fai.html
Irish Businessman willing to put €1m for new manager.
$$$$$$$$Quote:
Originally Posted by eirebhoy
It's got to be Mick Wallace who's behind this offer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ireland4ever
could be anyone, JP McManus, one of the Drumaville consortium, Dolores McNamara, Ben Dunne, U2, the list is endlessQuote:
Originally Posted by ruben_sosa
thats what i assumed too, cos he wants trapatoni