Hiddink

Absoluetly fuming AGAIN when I think that we could have got him as manager in 2006. The FAI wouldnt wait four months til after the World Cup and his contract with Australia expired. Instead they wanted to cash in on friendlies and needed a 'Gaffer' in charge.

I said it then, the man is brilliant.

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Originally Posted by stojkovic

Absoluetly fuming AGAIN when I think that we could have got him as manager in 2006. The FAI wouldnt wait four months til after the World Cup and his contract with Australia expired. Instead they wanted to cash in on friendlies and needed a 'Gaffer' in charge.

I said it then, the man is brilliant.

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The man still is brilliant, and yes if only they had waited. But remember the s*** they got for taking so long to appoint Trap this time round.

At least I'l give a bit of credit they did it right this time, getting in football people to do the recruiting.

Here's looking forward to a successful campaign ending up in South Africa in 2 years time.

What more has the man to do???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Hiddink

You can hardly call Korea, Australia, Russia or PSV as world beaters normally

He would have been a great manager to have on board, but instead we got Stan and Bobby... I think we would have made it to the Euros had we had anything approaching a decent manager. We should have beaten Cyprus twice, Czechs at home, Wales and Slovakia away... In each game tactical issues cost us, a good manager would have seen us catch the Czechs (who would have finished second as Germany wouldnt have taken the foot off the gas if the group had been tighter).

I think we have, possibly, the worst football association in the UEFA block. Every time they've had to make a big decision in the last 15 years they've got it wrong, hopefully this wont be the case with Trappattoni.

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Originally Posted by cfdh_edmundo

He would have been a great manager to have on board, but instead we got Stan and Bobby... I think we would have made it to the Euros had we had anything approaching a decent manager. We should have beaten Cyprus twice, Czechs at home, Wales and Slovakia away... In each game tactical issues cost us, a good manager would have seen us catch the Czechs (who would have finished second as Germany wouldnt have taken the foot off the gas if the group had been tighter).

I think we have, possibly, the worst football association in the UEFA block. Every time they've had to make a big decision in the last 15 years they've got it wrong, hopefully this wont be the case with Trappattoni.

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Id agree with most of what you say, but in fairness the FAI are starting to improve, the regional development and underage set up is a credit to them. The new Lansdowne, which they have done well to wrangle a share in etc.

Hopefully things will continue to improve with Trap, but there again I accept I'm the eternal optomist:D

We're talking about Hiddink not Big Sam. Allerdyce criticised Greece for the way they play !

Hiddink lost a World Cup Semi Final to Brasil....on penalties.

Oh and he did win a European Cup with PSV.

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

Success is generally measured through victories and you can't call Hiddink the greatest manager in the game at the moment when he just doesn't win things.

Take with the premiership for example. Sam Allardyce was a bit like the Gus Hiddink on the club scene. He had a team with very limited talent and made them compete with the good teams, not the great teams but still punching way above their belt. He was very good at getting the best out of the players he had. But when at Newcastle and faced with more gifted, less motivated players he struggled and was sacked within half a season.
I think that shows his tactical ability is top rate, but his man management is not.

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No one called Hiddink the best manager in the world at the moment, the thread is based on the fact that we could have had Hiddink instead of Stan if the FAI were a bit more professional in their recruitment in 2006

He is without doubt up there with the very best and I think most people here would accept the semi finals of a world cup and a euro championships as not bad at all

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

I think that shows his tactical ability is top rate, but his man management is not.

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Allardyce or Hiddink?

On what grounds can you make this statement-

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I'm sceptical about Hiddink's ability.

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He takes teams and makes something which is more than the sum of its parts. Thats down to him, and his ability as manager.

He's a footballing genius. I saw a documentary on him on Japanese TV about his management of South Korea in 2002. The amount of preparation he put in was astonishing, especially the countless hours of footage he watched of other teams, analysing everything, down to the smallest detail.

Excellent manager. But lets not forget he is working with excellent exciting young players. Anyone that watched a few Zenet St. Petersburg and CSKA a few years back would expect a decent display from the Russians this year. I bet on them before the tournament. Beautiful football to watch and they will be a strong team for years to come, with or without Hiddink. it is annoying to think we could have had him instead of Stan

You mean Zenit with 4 Russians and CSKA Gremio?

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Originally Posted by irishultra

You mean Zenit with 4 Russians and CSKA Gremio?

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Ha ha that really tickled me, thats a good one :D

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Originally Posted by cfdh_edmundo

I think we have, possibly, the worst football association in the UEFA block. Every time they've had to make a big decision in the last 15 years they've got it wrong, hopefully this wont be the case with Trappattoni.

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I think this sort of mindset is a bit unfair. The FAI aren't psychic. All you can do is make a judgement at the time. In my opinion they have gotten it right with Trap regardless of how results go. They got the best man at the time. If he fails then, unless the FAI have put obstacles in his way, you cannot hold it up as an example of their incompetence.

I saw a poll a while back that was run at the time of Stan's appointment where 33% thought he was the right man for the job. By the end of his reign that figure would have been an awful lot smaller (I'd bet less than a percent). However, while the FAI should have got rid sooner and that's a justifiable stick to beat them with, most people (including some of that 33% I'd bet) were saying that he should never have got the job in the first place. I don't think that's a fair way to judge anyone. If you call it from the start, you have a right to criticise the original decision. I don't think you have any right to question the original decision if you agree with an appointment in the first place.

Incidentally, and I'm not doubting it's true, how do we know the FAI could have had Hiddink?

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

I'm sceptical about Hiddink's ability. To me he seems like a world class scout rather than a world class manager (though he may be both). He tends to attatch himself to low profile underachieving or up and coming sides rather than make trash play like gods.

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what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
he is a brill manager, that has won the daddy of them all, ie the Euro Cup
A gUy that is fluent in at least 5 languages, is clever and seems to enjoy travelling the world and learning about the countries he
coaches in...........much better than the usual after college roundd the world trip id say

its not the fact that he hasnt a huge bag of trophies but the fact that most of his teams play with passion and attacking football


and comparing him to lardice just shows up your lack of knowledge on these matters:eek:

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Originally Posted by Ruben Sosa

Hiddink is the Greatest International manager of all time.

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Big statement... hes definately up there with the best though.

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Originally Posted by Ruben Sosa

I thought long and hard before saying it, but it's accurate I think.
While he's not won a trophy, his ability to get to latter rounds of the two biggest tournaments in football, with good, not great sides is the envy of many managers.

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if he wins the Euros with the Russians I would put him as number 1... there have been alot of good managers through the years though

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Originally Posted by stojkovic

Absoluetly fuming AGAIN when I think that we could have got him as manager in 2006. The FAI wouldnt wait four months til after the World Cup and his contract with Australia expired. Instead they wanted to cash in on friendlies and needed a 'Gaffer' in charge.

I said it then, the man is brilliant.

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agree with you but...

was he really that close too becoming irish manager???

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Originally Posted by Ruben Sosa

Yes, but even the one's who won tournaments, Lippi, Scolari, Lemerre, Jacquet, Vogts, Carlos Alberto Parreira, Beckenbauer, they all won with Big nations, but none achieved so much with such limited resources. I think for this reason Hiddink is number one.

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Im trying to come up with an arguement for another manager and I cant come up with one so I think Im gonna have to agree with you!!

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Originally Posted by Hibernian

agree with you but...

was he really that close too becoming irish manager???

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AFAIK yes. Only John Delooney can confirm it though.

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Originally Posted by Ruben Sosa

Yes, but even the one's who won tournaments, Lippi, Scolari, Lemerre, Jacquet, Vogts, Carlos Alberto Parreira, Beckenbauer, they all won with Big nations, but none achieved so much with such limited resources. I think for this reason Hiddink is number one.

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What about one Otto Rehhagel??

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Originally Posted by stojkovic

Absoluetly fuming AGAIN when I think that we could have got him as manager in 2006. The FAI wouldnt wait four months til after the World Cup and his contract with Australia expired. Instead they wanted to cash in on friendlies and needed a 'Gaffer' in charge.

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What makes you think Hiddink was interested in the job? Other than fans talking about it in various blogs, is there any quote from Hiddink saying he would like the job?

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

What makes you think Hiddink was interested in the job? Other than fans talking about it in various blogs, is there any quote from Hiddink saying he would like the job?

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Exactly. Other than wishful thinking on our part, is there any evidence that Hiddink was EVER a serious contender to be Ireland boss?

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

What makes you think Hiddink was interested in the job? Other than fans talking about it in various blogs, is there any quote from Hiddink saying he would like the job?

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Have to agree, I don't think it was ever a realistic option outside of tabloid talk and the internet. As it is Abramovich is doing what Denis O'Brien is doing with Trap except he's paying pretty much all his wages. No way could we have matched what was on offer from Russia had we waited without a benefactor stepping at at that stage and I don't think O'Brien was considering it back then. Hiddink also had a billionaire Aussie paying a good part of his wages when he was in charge there so he's used to a very hefty salary.

Funny enough, I doubt that the Russian Joe Duffy's (Joesf Duffski anyone?) radio talk show was buzzing with people ringing in bitching about the Russian Football Federation allowing someone to contribute to their managers salary when he was appointed.....

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Originally Posted by barney

I think this sort of mindset is a bit unfair. The FAI aren't psychic. All you can do is make a judgement at the time. In my opinion they have gotten it right with Trap regardless of how results go. They got the best man at the time. If he fails then, unless the FAI have put obstacles in his way, you cannot hold it up as an example of their incompetence.

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in hindsight, the stan appointment was a disaster but the mindset of the time was that a few countries had experienced success with novice managers who were recently retired internationals e.g van basten, klinsman and the thinking behind the stan appointment was that he would bring that a bit of passion to the set up that was absent during Kerrs reign (and arguably is still missing now).

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Originally Posted by elroy

in hindsight, the stan appointment was a disaster but the mindset of the time was that a few countries had experienced success with novice managers who were recently retired internationals e.g van basten, klinsman and the thinking behind the stan appointment was that he would bring that a bit of passion to the set up that was absent during Kerrs reign (and arguably is still missing now).

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And that's fair enough but you can't turn around and slate the FAI after the event for hiring him in the first place if you agreed with that decision at the time. They, I assume, thought along the same lines about why Stan was the right man for the job.

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Originally Posted by barney

And that's fair enough but you can't turn around and slate the FAI after the event for hiring him in the first place if you agreed with that decision at the time. They, I assume, thought along the same lines about why Stan was the right man for the job.

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I agree and at the time it was a big gamble, but if Bobby Robson was on board troughout things could have turned out a lot different. At the time the pressure was on the FAI to make a quick appointment and the only other candidates mentioned were your usual journeymen managers. They took ages to appoint Kerr and in that case as well the only other contenders semmed to be your average journeymen again.

Hopefully this time around we have struck it lucky.