Tone it down, there's a line, and you're coming close to it.
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I don't see a single Kenny fanatic in the above posts. You seem to invent them to go along with your straw man arguments. Nobody is even really defending Kenny a great deal. They are calling your posts out for their lack of clarity and overall negativity even in the face of improvement. The only fanatic, to be honest, seems to be you with your wild claims of Barry being responsible for anything good while the evil overlord Kenny stands in his way despite being the man who hired him to do the job he seems to be doing so well.....
OK, this is how I see it: Kenny is still fighting to save the job, but he is at least in the fight. We need to remember that this is still likely to be our worst qualifying campaign since 1972. Also, I want to note that in the Nations League, Callum Robinson played 47 minutes and Josh Cullen played 25 and I think we would have been better from the off had Kenny given them more time so that they could be better integrated into his system (admittedly I'm not sure about whether Robinson was injured/ill at the time but Cullen sat on the bench for at least a couple of games).
So there has been an improvement in performance and results, but is it enough? Going into the qualifiers for Euro 2024, we need to be confident that we will be reasonably comfortable against the 3Ms of teams: middling, mediocre and minnow - and also that we will be able to run with the big boys. Recent results have indicated we may be getting close to that but it's not certain - I think Kenny still needs a result against Portugal and a solid victory away to Luxembourg to cement his position, but I would be happy for him to lead us if he manages that.
Assuming his contract is renewed, he needs to hit the ground running in next year's friendlies and Nations League. In the friendlies, currently I would like to see him bring Smallbone, Obafemi, Scully and Elbouzedi into the mix (this may change over the coming months). The minimum goal for The Nations League should be finish in a position that is likely to get a home draw in the play-offs, as it's still quite possible we will need to use that route if we get a difficult draw in the main qualifiers
Robinson -
September Camp - 2 nations league games, comes off the bench for both
October Camp - starts in playoff vs Slovakia, misses 3rd and 4th NL games due to being close contact with Williams
November camp - missed 5th and 6th NL games due to Covid along with England friendly
March camp - starts vs Serbia and Lux. Comes on as sub in 3rd game vs Qatar.
June camp - missed 2 friendlies due to Achilles injury
September camp - missed Portugal due to Covid and told Kenny he could only play 30 mins vs Azerbaijan and Serbia due to ill effects from covid
October camp - started both games
-
So under Kenny, he’s missed 8 games due to injury/Covid/CC. 2 more he’s been unable to play more than 30 mins due to illness. Of the remaining 8 games, he’s started 5 and come off the bench for 3, one of which was a friendly and would have been his 3rd start in a week...
Small point but I find it interesting. It might also be a sign of a changing Ireland but some of Kenny's selections have (probably unintentionally) resulted in a very diverse side and squad.
Last night, there was one English born starter (Robinson). There were two lads with one or more Nigerian parents (Ogbene and Omobamidele). There were four Cork starters, one Meath, one Derry, one Kildare and three Dubs.
If Kenny can survive then the 2022 Nations League will be the true barometer of any progress as it'll line us up against peer nations. Dispatching poor opponents in a facile fashion is something we couldn't manage even a month ago so it's looks like some progress albeit the bare minimum. Hopefully the momentum can be carried into the Luxembourg game.
Just dipped into the last few pages of this thread out of curiosity. Guys, you've got a troll on here and you're feeding him. Never feed the troll!
Ah it was a slow day.
I'd give him the NL games next year, and see where we are at then. At the very best with the Nations League, we'll be in Pot 2 for the Euro seeding.. by winning the group and winning it well.
16 teams in Group A will provide top 10 seeds, with worst 6 going into Pot 2.
Best 4 of the 16 teams in Group B, will go into Pot 2, with the 6 worst Group A teams
So win our Nations League group, we'll be in Pot 2 for the Euros.
Next ten teams in Group B, make up Pot 3. So unless we finish bottom of the NL group, we're heading for Pot 3, with worse case scenario, Pot 4.
But at that stage, it makes damn all difference to be honest. Unless you're in the top 2 pots, whether you're seeded 3,4,5 you'll end up with one really high level team, and possibly a second
So basically we can end up 2nd,3rd or fourth seeds for euro 2024
Oh no no no... that would literally be the worst option - that's how we got in this mess to begin with - gave MONKEANO a two-year contract in January 2018 - O'Neill experimented with his system and gave caps to fringe players in the Nations League and got two draws and was given the boot with a huge payoff. Then Mick was brought in to perform magic with no time to bed in his own system, knowing he had one qualifying campaign - due to COVID didn't get to finish it off and got a big payoff (did give debuts to a number of young players in spite of his constraints)
So whatever the decision, make it by the end of the year and stick with it - either we're now moving significantly in the right direction so we should give Kenny a full second chance at qualifying or these last couple of results have just been a blip and we should give a new manager plenty time to prepare for the Euro 24 qualifiers
Not sure how serious the "Anthony Barry for manager" shouts are but I would counter it with a few points. Kenny brought him in. He knew his reputation and his position at a big club under a big tactical manager. He has been big enough to embrace what Barry has brought, even when results were jeopardized. Is Barry responsible for the players being happy and the spirit in the camp? There's clearly a framework in place which focuses on the tactical aspect but the culture and spirit appear to be bang on too. And what about the players, of all ages. I heard Shane Keegan say recently he was at an under 17 game with Kenny a few years back and that Kenny waxed lyrical about Omobamidele. I'm sure he has been watching Bazunu a while. I'm sure he has been watching McGrath a while too. And Ogbene. That is four which he has given chances to, the extent of which another manager might not have, particularly when another manager wouldn't know these guys as well.
Oh, but he isn't great with the media? But that is subjective. Tell me Bazunu and Omobamidele weren't great with the media post Serbia.
I have been a Kenny supporter but have tried to be pragmatic and the Lux and Azeri results are blots on the copybook. But I'm feeling that he has done so much positive stuff in terms of the framework that's in place and the players within it
Also, we are in a sensitive position with regards to our current playing group. We have some good young players that could go in a couple of different directions at club and international level. The defenders and keepers look good. But the forwards are in precarious situations. And there is a gap to be filled in terms of young midfielders. I trust him to bring the right midfielders through and continue managing the forwards. I don't know if I could say that same about another manager.
He still needs to beat Luxembourg....
If Jeff remains on form with cullen as the DM. We could be ok. The 3 at the back with Coleman and Doherty as wing backs has been great.
So with an attacking 3 of CR7, mcgrath. Idah. We start to look like a good outfit