Next Ireland manager?

What do we make of this possible USA tournament this summer with the lovable losers Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Chile, Holland, Italy, etc? FIFA says it's fine as long as it doesn't coincide with the WC. Do you think any of the Irish players (Or any other countries) would want to bother coming?

I'd imagine a lot of the clubs would be putting a bit of pressure on their players to pull of this if it got the go ahead

Maybe younger players would come? I'm starting to come around to the idea of it.
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/ml...185248778.html

Anybody looking forward to O ‘ Neill style football until the Euro qualifiers or even during ?

It ain’t appetising .

Easily fixed: Have Ruud Dokter managed Ireland in USA.

Just think of it: Board (bored?) heavyweights Paul O'Shea, Bonnie Shells, Charlie Darwin, Stutts, et all with bowler hats on and index cards sticking out with the word "press" written in black marker. Scouting our future stud players against the likes of South Africa and Ghana from beautiful downtown Columbus, Ohio in front of crowds in the high hundreds.

Pineapple Stu sending live missives back to the foot.ie masses as Danny Invincible types out a 30,000 word parable on Declan Rice. Saint and Grevsie doing their radio show live from the bowels of Met Life stadium as the USA Cup upstages a boring World Cup, Ireland charging all the way to the finals vs an underrated Canary Islands squad. "We have hope now." An emotional Geysir would tell anyone who would listen as he boarded the flight home, the jubilant Irish players celebrating in the back round.

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Originally Posted by Olé Olé

I'm completely in the middle. The alternatives haven't got me excited. And that's irrelevant because we can't consider replacements until he makes the decision. The media's narrative is that the ball is firmly in his court. Reneging on the verbal agreement is only possible on his side.

The issue with alternatives is that it's plainly apparent that O'Neill has managed to embed a strong spirit in this group. In terms of tactics, sometimes he hasn't been impressive (ignoring style of play arguments, I'm referring to effectiveness- maybe they should go hand in hand though). In terms of youth development, he has mostly been less than impressive.

Who can bring a balance of all 3? All 3 are probably integral for international football. Hughton would probably provide the best balance but I think that's more of a pre-retirement aspiration of his. It's a pity Brian McDermott's career has petered out.

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I'm the same as this, on the fence until I see the replacement. I think he'll stay on anyway though.

What about Stephen Hunt or Trigger?

Trigger and Roy, a match made in heaven.

Trigger is the way to go, he got us to the WC before with assistance from Roy.

So why can't they do it again?

Dunphy has suggested Stephen Kenny and Brian Kerr should replace O'Neill and Keane: http://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/socc...kenny-11555487

Not a bad suggestion from Dunphy actually. I could get behind it.

Acknowledging Dunphy's opinion on anything is liking accepting Trump's policy on paying tax.

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Originally Posted by gastric

Acknowledging Dunphy's opinion on anything is liking accepting Trump's policy on paying tax.

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So thats a big yes then........:)

Would Kerr work as a number two, or mentor?

I don't get this sudden love-in for Kerr. I actually like him for the most part and, yes, he probably should be involved at some level of Irish football but he had his chance in a big role and ultimately it wasn't very good.

Stephen Kenny is a bit of a reactionary, flavour of the month suggestion. He doesn't have the credentials in my opinion and wouldn't garner the respect required for the role, neither from the media nor the players. He would have it all to prove and enter the firing line almost immediately.

Has his stock not fallen somewhat anyway? John Caulfield isn't exactly hailed for his tactical nous and supposedly managing an inferior, primitive footballing side, yet he has almost completely got Kenny's measure over the last season or two (P 10 W 7 D 2 L 1 F 16 A 5). One of those draws was the FAI Cup win on penalties too. Their childish, small-time bickering at each other wouldn't inspire confidence either. Kenny had one opportunity to produce at a higher level and unfortunately he didn't, quite the opposite in fact.

As for Dunphy's recommendation, get off the stage Eamon!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBT69w2Iw2k

I don't think there's any 'sudden' love in for Kerr. For the best part, I think it's fairly widely acknowledged he was rather unlucky in his spell as Ireland manager. People are very quick to criticise him for failing to get out of the group, forgetting McCarthy set the tone for him with that horrible start to the group.

I'd love to see someone like Kerr act as mentor to Stephen Kenny at international level. It would be a totally left field, and somewhat risky choice, but the risky choice paid off handsomely for the north, I don't see why it would be such a no-no for us.

There's a lot of talk about how it's a disgrace that Kerr is not involved at some level. It's always been there to a certain extent but I suppose the disaster last week has given it more momentum. Given Kerr's standout contributions to Irish football were at underage level, and we seem to be doing okay in that department right now, I think the desperation to get him back involved it a bit overblown.

I'd have no problem with him being involved though, and if the new or current manager actually wanted him in an advisory role or something similar, that would be okay too I suppose. I don't see the point in suggesting it as a package though, Kenny (or whoever) could be totally anti the idea for a start. I don't really like the idea of a manager needing a formal adviser though really, I think that speaks volumes by itself (e.g. Staunton/Robson).

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Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

I think it's fairly widely acknowledged he was rather unlucky in his spell as Ireland manager. People are very quick to criticise him for failing to get out of the group, forgetting McCarthy set the tone for him with that horrible start to the group.

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Nobody is judging Kerr on the campaign he tried to salvage after McCarthy's exit, he had another full one after that.

Kerr was nearly three years in the job and never beat a team ranked in the top eighty (I think that's what they said in another video of the RTÉ analysis after that Switzerland game).

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

Nobody is judging Kerr on the campaign he tried to salvage after McCarthy's exit, he had another full one after that.

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exactly, we went out of the euros in 2003 without landing a single punch against the swiss in the last game and then again against the swiss in the last wc 2006 qualifier without landing a single punch at home. I gave him the benefit of the doubt after the first swiss 2003 qualifier but our last performance of the 2006 qualifiers was a dreadfully conservative performance.

id have kerr back at underage level but no way for the seniors.

all irrelevant though as id be pretty sure MON will stay on

I think we needed four points from the last two games in the Euro 2004 campaign (Russia at home and Switzerland away) to be guaranteed of the play offs and we got just one - the draw against Russia. Nobody's denying that the opening two losses put us on the back foot at the beginning of those qualifiers, but Kerr was responsible for how they finished. He was still very much in the honeymoon period, and had the excuse of the opening two games of the qualifiers to fall back on when the qualifiers were reviewed in the media, but those two games foreshadowed the end of the following qualifiers - two games against our main rivals for top spot and earning only one point.

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Originally Posted by BonnieShels

Would take him or Bielsa in a heartbeat.

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I just jizzed in my pants.

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Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

I think it's fairly widely acknowledged he (Kerr) was rather unlucky in his spell as Ireland manager. People are very quick to criticise him for failing to get out of the group, forgetting McCarthy set the tone for him with that horrible start to the group.

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I don't agree with that. Far too defensive when it mattered. Throwing away a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes at home to Israel was criminal - and Kerr can take the blame for replacing Keane (who was injured) with Graham Kavanagh. Similar defensive priorities cost us in the return game too.

But I agree he should be involved in the FAI somewhere.