Kerr defends meaningless friendly

from rte.ie

Following last night's 1-0 victory over China, Ireland manager Brian Kerr has hit out at critics who have questioned the decision to play what appeared to be a meaningless friendly.

If this game had been played prior to Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Israel in Tel Aviv then it would have served as a beneficial warm up. However critics have claimed that the match served little purpose.

The game itself was a dour affair marked by a distinct lack of intensity and, but for scorer Clinton Morrison, it was a match that will not live long in the memory.

However, Kerr insisted that there were plenty of positives to take from the game and claimed that it gave him a much needed chance to try out new things and give the fringe players of his squad a chance to prove themselves.

The Irish boss said: "It gave us the opportunity to look at players who have not had chances, yet have been very honest in their commitment. We made six changes to the starting line-up, while we got another three players onto the pitch who didn't play on Saturday."

"I think we used the squad well, which keeps everybody happy and feeling they are in with a chance of playing and considered as a worthwhile person within the group," he added.

"Clinton's confidence will have improved, while Stephen Elliott at 21 has another game under his belt, as has Paddy Kenny, along with Alan Maybury who had not played since the (friendly) game in Holland."

"Andy O'Brien played with Richard Dunne for half a game when we've not had a chance to play that combination before. Then there was Liam Miller who had a good second half despite the fact he has not been playing an awful lot of football, but he gave us a bit of dash when he came into the game."

"So, from my personal point of view, there were a lot of positives, and from the players' point of view, you can see the spirit and morale is there in the squad."

The performance of Morrison was one of the big bonuses from the game and despite his lack of first team football at Birmingham, Morrison once again proved his worth scoring an exquisite 82nd-minute winner.

Despite being relegated to fourth-choice striker at St Andrews following the transfer window signings of Walter Pandiani and Robbie Blake, Morrison has now scored four goals in his last six games for Ireland.

However, Kerr beleives that the lack of first-team football with Birmingham may eventually hurt Morrison's international chances. "He is on a good run, although I would like him to be playing more often than he is," he said.

"I said on Saturday night that I didn't think he was as sharp as he could be and like he was before the transfer deadline when Birmingham signed Pandiani and Blake. Clinton was then playing regularly with Heskey and I thought his form then was the best I had seen him in for his club."

maybe he should've rang Duff and said the same to him - His interview today on Jackeen Radio was a disgrace - "can't see the point in meaningless pointless friendlies that only disrupt preperations for importants games " ...wonder if he wants to donate half a hour of his wages to reimburse everyone that turned up to watch that rubbish last nite seeing that it was a hinderence to him

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Originally Posted by millwallfc

What the fcuk is Jackeen radio :confused:

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Must be dedicated to the Michael Jackson trial?

I read similar quotes from Duff today, in The Irish Times I think.

Kerr was right to take some positives from the game even if it was absolutely abismal as a spectacle.

Lansdowne is more of a comfort zone than a fortress at this stage & I think it's made us complacent. Of course it's useful to give players a run out but more meaningful tests away from home would be of more merit. We'd learn much more about our players away from the coziness of lansdowne.

The FAI is obviously happy to take the gate & TV money though.

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Originally Posted by millwallfc

What the fcuk is Jackeen radio :confused:

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newstalk106 in Dublin is what (I think) redgav is referring to, hardly the point though. Enough people paid in for Duff to be arsed about it.

Duff is turning into a cheeky so and so since joining Chelsea.It must be the london influence,he was never like this and judging by the last two games he has played he is not exactly setting the soccer world on fire. Saying this though before i get slaughtered,he is a world class footballer but needs to concentrate on this instead of all the politics involved.He should also keep his opinion on who is the best manager in the world to himself.

Duff is absolutley bloody spot on and the fact that he was told to start yesturday is a disgrace and a complete waste of time while McGeady sat on the bench, and he'll do the same against Italy as Kerr will doubtless treat it as a competitive game and so when the competitive matches roll around and there's a few injuries we wont be able to play McGeady as we'll be told he "lacks experience at this level", yet he found time to give feckin Doherty a run out.

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Originally Posted by redgav

maybe he should've rang Duff and said the same to him - His interview today on Jackeen Radio was a disgrace - "can't see the point in meaningless pointless friendlies that only disrupt preperations for importants games " ...wonder if he wants to donate half a hour of his wages to reimburse everyone that turned up to watch that rubbish last nite seeing that it was a hinderence to him

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If only all the players were as disinterested as him. He was by far the most effective player on the pitch.

When Roy Keane wasn't able to play a few friendlies due to injuries/ commitments/ age/ fitness he was slated repeatedly..
But now Saint Duffer complains about having to play one and he's spot on...

mmmmm interesting :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Eire06

When Roy Keane wasn't able to play a few friendlies due to injuries/ commitments/ age/ fitness he was slated repeatedly..
But now Saint Duffer complains about having to play one and he's spot on...

mmmmm interesting :rolleyes:

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I never slated Roy Keane for not showing up for meaningless friendlys and risking injury :) In fact, funnily enough, I said at the time Duff should do the same. Why risk players with a history of injury in a rubbish meaningless friendlies who have already clearly proved themselves when we have a young and potentially brilliant winger who'd absolutley kill to be out their proving himself instead of him, who will now be told he 'lacks the experience at this level' to play in our next round of competitive matches?

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Originally Posted by Slash/ED

Duff is absolutley bloody spot on and the fact that he was told to start yesturday is a disgrace and a complete waste of time while McGeady sat on the bench, and he'll do the same against Italy as Kerr will doubtless treat it as a competitive game and so when the competitive matches roll around and there's a few injuries we wont be able to play McGeady as we'll be told he "lacks experience at this level", yet he found time to give feckin Doherty a run out.

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No he is not - For duff to come out with those comments is a disgrace - your reply seems more about whether or not some scottish "wonderkid" played or not
As far as i am concerned ,he has insulted all the fans who paid out money to watch that game last nite -to call the game pointless ,and even worse, disruptive to more important ( chelski) games- People came up from cork last nite for that game , friends of mine came down from ballybofey , people travelled over from London for this game - does that sound like it was meaningless to them - methinks murinhio is rubbin off on him

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Originally Posted by tiktok

newstalk106 in Dublin is what (I think) redgav is referring to, hardly the point though. Enough people paid in for Duff to be arsed about it.

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On the ball as ever TT

Jackeen radio - newstalk106

I went and it was meaningless to me. The match was pointless, established players were never going to give a sh*t combined with the fact they'd be very tired having just been to Israel four days before it. I can't believe anyone expecteded different. I was gutted when I saw the line up. I didn't pay money to goto that match to see established players who I've seen more times than I could count play again against weak opposition in a match for no points or nothing, I went to see new blood try and establish themselves in the team. I went to see McGeady, Elliot and Kavanagh for the full 90 minutes, I only got one of those. That's what disappointed me. Duff was absolutley right, and the fact that he showed up shows his commitment, which I find staggering to see people call into question. If ever there was a country before club man, it's Duffer, and he's said as much himself many times.

Slash/Ed - As i've said already. If he put out a completely different 11 it would be a B international match basically. Seriously, if people want to see McGeady and a few other fringe players play with a whole knew 11 go to see the Under 21's. It is really important that there is a certain amount of 1st team players on the pitch with the fringe players in these types of friendlies.

"I went to see new blood try and establish themselves in the team."

Thats what I mean, if Duff, Keane, Cunningham and Kilbane didn't start nobody would have established themselves in the team as it would have been a B international.

I'm disappointed that McGeady didn't start and would have preferred him instead of Duff but that means maybe playing Finnan or Morrison as we won't learn an awful lot with less than 4 first teamers on the pitch. Maybe against Brazil but not against China as some U-21 or B teams are as good as that team anyway.

Yes but for the senior players sake, given this was four days after a draining (mentally and physically) trip to Israel, they should have been given a rest. Elliot and co. didn't get the real Duff last night, he wasn't near his best and I don't for a second blame him, so playing him didn't really achieve anything. I would have played O'Shea, Morrison and O'Brien, players who aren't playing regularly with their clubs so could do with the matches. As well as Reid, who is a senior player anyway, maybe Kilbane too given Holland pulled out. That's enough, there was no need to see a 20% Duff and Keane out there, it achieved nothing and I doubt the others learned very much from having them there.

I agree with you about Duff but it was important that we got to see how Elliott and Keane combined.

I don't know, Elliot wont play for Ireland for the forseeable future unless there's an injury to one of Keane or Morrison, he's as likely to have to link up with one as the other imo so it made more sense to play Morrison given he could do with the games, but really, Duff over McGeady was the one selection I really had a problem with. Giving Doherty a run instead of him only made it worse, also Elliot should have been given the full 90 minutes to try and nick a goal, the first one can be the hardest to find as Aldridge found out.

I can't understand Kerrs thinking when it comes to Friendlies!! Why put Delap and Steven Reid on standby and fail to call them when Quinn and Holland withdraw.

But Brian thinking about friendlies has always been a bit bizzare. He tried a new right back where as i think its fair to say that it's one of our strongest positions with Carr and Finnan, and for me O';Shea are ahead of Maybury in the pecking order. Where as at left full he never bothered having a second look at Finnan, who done O.K there in basle.

O'Brein and Dunne should have been given a whole game together, as appart from cunningham being at an age were he needs the rest, the two lads need exposure together.

Kilbanes erratic form overall means we should try anticipate other options in central midfield.... And yes McGeady should've got on for an extended period.

Some of these roads not taken will be cited as factors down the line when results don't go our way. Mark my words

To be honest I find it hard to get worked up over who Kerr plays in friendlies. As long as he does the business in the competetive matches that will do for me. I don't have any fear that he won't bring on the younger players in time. His record in developing younger players in the Irish underage set-up speaks for itself. I think its obvious he doesn't think McGeadie is ready for the senior side yet. He is giving him some experience of been around the senior squad and seeing how things work. This indicates to me that he is certainly in his longer term plans but not just this campaign. If he has no intention of playing him for this campaign I don't have a problem with him not using him and giving playing time to those squad players who have a realsistic chance of getting into the team if we have injuries to the established 1st team players.

That's why I think he was right to give Elliot some time on Tuesday with both RK and Morrision. He will probably end up partnering one of them if either has an injury so he should get used to playing with them both. Similarly that's why it was good to give Dunne some time playing with both Cunningham and O' Brien. I also think it was good to give Doherty a run out. He may be needed in one of the upcoming games at some stage. I think he would have been a good option in the last 20 minutes last Saturday.

From icons.com (McGeady's diary):
It was good to be away with the Irish national squad during the past week. I played for the Under-21s in Israel and thought I did all right, but as a team we didn’t really play too well. We gave away two early goals in the opening ten minutes and lost 3-1. It was just an off-day for the whole side.

I was then drafted into the senior squad for the friendly with China in Dublin on Tuesday night and it was very disappointing not to get on to the park. I thought I would have come on, as it was a friendly, but it wasn’t to be and that was frustrating. I think the manager, Brian Kerr, will know I was disappointed not to get on. China sat in during much of the game and if I had got on, maybe I could have changed it a little bit in terms of breaking them down. I am sure there will be other games like that in the future, where I want to get on but remain as an unused sub.

It is good to get a little break now and again from the club game, but sometimes you do want to go home - Israel was a five-and-a-half hour flight away and everybody was feeling quite tired at the end of that journey. Israel looked like a nice country although we didn’t see a lot of it.

Has Kerr been questioned about why he hasn't played young McGeady in China match, as this seems to be one of the main talking points from an otherwise forgettable affair!!

I know, there won't be much better chances than a friendly against China.
The few times he's played, he's only gotten a couple of minutes...
I think he was the only squad member not to play in the 2 games -?

I reckon he felt he was under pressure to actually win the game to restore morale after Israel. He was probably expecting to be one or two up and having the luxury of bringing him on. I'd say he was able to sense the frustration from the crowd.

I also think he reckons Doherty's height rather than McGeady's trickery is the most likely solution to finding ourselves making no progress late on against Israel.

In hindsight playing Barrett instead of McGeady against Croatia was an even stranger decision, given that Barrett didn't get called up for the Israel / China squads.

I have a feeling that Kerr is trying to do the likes of Miller & Barrett a favour by putting them in the shop window. Judging by what I've seen it's a shop selling damaged goods.

Another possible explanation I read elsewhere could be with regards his position at Celtic.

Sutton is injured, Hartson was rumoured injured at Wales, perhaps MON asked Kerr not to play him because of this? It wouldn't be the first time that a club manager had influenced national team selection for friendlies would it ;)

Kerr hinted before the friendly that McGeady would play little or no part in the game.

Maybe Kerr took note that McGeady warmed down after the U21 game on the Friday night with a trip to MacDonalds on the Tel Aviv beachfront. ;)