I dunno if it's fair to say that the evident esteem in which people hold Kerr is a love-in all of a sudden. I'd say it's more the case that the apparent tactical illiteracy of O'Neill has provided a stark reminder of the inexplicable reality that the knowledge and insights of the very-much-available Brian Kerr aren't being exploited at any level of Irish football beyond punditry external to the actual running of the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
I think former LOI players in the squad (and there are a lot more now in comparison to a decade or two ago) would at least respect and look up to Kenny if he was to be put in charge of the international team. In fact, he has already in the past worked directly with a few of the players who are currently in and around the squad; James McClean, Stephen Ward, Daryl Horgan, Seáni Maguire and Andy Boyle, for example. As for the players in the squad who've never played in the LOI, I'd doubt they'd look down upon the league or the fact it's where Kenny made his name considering half of their international team-mates came through it. I think the league commands a greater level of respect now that it didn't have in prior times.
Fair point that Kenny has never done well against Cork. This season, Conor McCormack has been able to stifle Paddy McEleney in virtually every game they played. It is admittedly a concern or a blot of sorts on Kenny's record as he doesn't appear to have found a way to get the better of Cork head-to-head. It would appear to indicate that he may have an Achilles heal. In saying that, I'm not sure Kenny's stock has necessarily fallen of late. Obviously, he hasn't been in the limelight as much recently compared to when Dundalk were in the Europa League, but had they not narrowly missed out on European progression this season to Rosenborg, things might have been different.
Dundalk started the domestic season poorly as Kenny had to re-organise after losing two pivotal players in Horgan and Boyle, but once they got going and into the run of things again, they were very impressive. Dundalk's form in the latter half of the season was superb. They displayed title-winning form towards the end and, whilst they didn't manage to completely close the once-massive gap on Cork, I'm sure there were some nerves on Leeside as Cork stuttered towards the finish line with Dundalk making a late push and closing in. It ended up a lot tighter in the end than anyone would ever have envisaged back in July when Cork showed all the signs of steam-rolling their way to the title with ease.
On Kenny's alleged failure to produce at a higher level, I'd argue that the Europa League merits a "higher level" classification. Simply qualifying for that alone was an amazing achievement, after also having come so close to the Champions League group stage, but the fact his team then went on to pick up four points in the competition and remained very competitive in all their group games far surpassed anyone's wildest expectations.
Dunfermline didn't go well for him on the whole, true, but it wasn't all failure. Dunfermline were already likely relegation candidates when he took over, so he already had a mountain to climb from day one. In spite of this, he still managed to lead them to a Scottish Cup final, beating Hibs in the semi-final, and qualified for Europe despite losing the final to Celtic 1-0. Dunfermline also reached the Scottish Challenge Cup final in his second season.
Just a concluding thought or theory on the apparent spat between Kenny and Caulfield... After Richard Sadlier's involvement with St. Pat's, he once spoke of having attended a conference that had been arranged by some PR gurus to help those running clubs improve their clubs' profiles. According to Sadlier, the consultants running the conference expressly encouraged the idea of brewing or provoking relatively minor controversies, "feuds" and media "storms" in order to cultivate "bitter" rivalries and personas with whom the public could connect or identify and to garner more headlines, exposure, coverage and interest. As far as these consultants were concerned, the odd row in public now and again was of practical benefit to clubs and thus was considered entirely professional, in spite of the negative surface optics. Perhaps there's an aspect of that - pantomime and exaggeration - to the public rowing between Kenny and Caulfield. If not, it all does seem a bit petty, although I've always found Kenny to be very diligent in explaining and defending himself (as he has had to do after being personally and incorrectly accused of various things by Caulfield). Caulfield just strikes me as a bit more emotional, hasty and ill-considered in his declarations and outbursts.
