Great coaches do not always make great managers either. Not saying it's the case with Barry but it's not safe to assume that he would thrive with the additional responsibilities and pressures that come along with being a manager
The flipside of that is, its taken kenny a year and a half to realise what his best formation and team is - and I dont put that down to covid, he stated he wasn't enamoured with 3 at the back. He has learnt on the job, and that's only fuelling the "he's not experienced enough to be national team manager" arguments. As you pointed out, the shift in play and the move to a more hybrid system has reaped rewards, its shown that when you might have more than just a hammer and you;ve definitely got more choice than just nails. Question can only be asked where would we be had he seen this before as some of us suggested way back. Could we have beaten Slovakia with a more tried and tested method? Would we still be in contention for WC playoff place? Was kenny too inexperienced to take over and needed the 17 games in to get it right and fit in? And would any other manager have been afforded the same time? I believe the first 2 are definite yes'. And i believe he was lucky in the last question because of covid and all the other things that came before and since.
Azerbaijan having 64/65% possession the last day did not bother me one iota. Overrunning us in midfield did though, it reminded me of cyprus away especially in the first half. Two goals, one very fortuitous and another one id say the same given how he was falling, and again the outcome could have been very different. But its a 3-0 win and its away from home so you cant be too negative.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
You can certainly give it a good try through.But its a 3-0 win and its away from home so you cant be too negative.
"Could we have beaten Slovakia with a more tried and tested method?"
You do know poor finishing is what let us down in Slovakia. Hourihanes inability to tap the ball home from what five yards out and he barely pussy foots it at goal.
https://punditarena.com/irish-footba...ijan-analysis/
On a separate note, there is a +10 minute highlight package of the Azerbaijan game on the FAI channel. I watched it because i was having difficulty remembering - from watching the game live - all this long ball stuff that people are saying we have now switched too. The quality of passing football and freedom of expression in that ten minute highlight reel is phenomenal; even against a team like Azerbaijan. I cannot remember too many similar performances under previous regimes.Callum Robinson understood his assignment to a tee, James McClean looked a natural at left wing-back and Josh Cullen was no different in front of the back three. The bedding-in period hesitancy is morphing into certainty as chemistry improves. Perhaps Matt Doherty wasn’t lying when he said this Ireland team is ‘coached brilliantly’.
Kenny appointed Damien Duff. If Duff had remained, Kenny would be fired by now. It appears that Anthony Barry has taken over in terms of style of play, formation and set pieces. Has Kenny had to admit his tactics/4-3-3 weren't going to cut it at international level?
You have to give Kenny credit for admitting his failings if that's the case. But why keep him if he's clearly not up to it at this level? Let the man capable take over. Is Kenny in charge of team selections? Does he do the team talks?
Out for a spell, got neglected, lay on the bench unselected.
Like I just said in that post you quoted. Even with Barry's arrival, I haven't been that impressed. It's less of a shambles than it was but I think giving Barry the managers job is the way to go. Kenny has even had to face up to the fact that his methods weren't working. Hes out of his depth and I think he's hurting the development of our players. If we can keep Barry on board, then Kenny will deserve credit for that. I've said all this in previous posts. For example:
"I still don't think Kenny is the man to have in place to bring these through. But he made one great decision during his reign.
That was getting Anthony Barry on board. This guy is excellent. Moving away from Kenny's 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 is clearly Barry's influence. Our set pieces have improved drastically, players seem to be gaining confidence in the system. The question is always asked, who can we get as manager anyway if we get rid of Kenny? Well, he's already there but obviously, he may be a top class coach, that doesn't mean he'd be a top class manager. Still, a young innovative and highly respected coach (see his Chelsea reviews) is someone I think would be an ideal candidate to develop the young talent emerging."
So.....we were ****e against Portugal and Serbia with Barry calling all the shots and you want him in as manager? We are back to that?
Would you not just give a bit of credit to the manager for bringing in an apparently good coach (who most people hadn't heard of), possibly taking on some of his advice (even if the emerging availability and form of 3 good centre halves probably had more to do with changes in formation than anything else) and getting a decent win away from home?
You're suggesting that Barry has completely changed everything - formation, style of play, set pieces - with little evidence to back it up and your own criticisms of all of those pieces throughout the campaign Barry has been here for. Has our style of play changed? I think I read that we are playing 10% more long balls in 2021 than 2020....is that down to Barry? Or is that down to Idah and the front 3 developing enough to be trusted with a few direct passes here and there and a bit of an injection of pace and movement with the increasing availability of Connolly and Robinson along with more familiarity amongst the team with patterns etc?
Is it possible that we are just seeing the natural progression of things Kenny has been implementing from the start? That's at least as likely as your own theories around Kenny being sacked by now without Barry or Barry being the shadow-manager behind the scenes. How would you implement a more possession based game to a team used to pumping the ball up to McGoldrick? Do you tell the team to scrap the long ball for a while so they start to trust each other in tighter spaces? Or can you immediately balance both? Outside of that small tweak, what changes in our style of play are you crediting Barry with? Maybe our counter attacking approach v Portugal in the game you think we should have lost 5-1? I'd hazard a guess that we would have played the same way with or without him against Ronaldo and the rest. Our set pieces do seem more organized and threatening now although Duffy's resurgence are a part of that.
The biggest factor in our win, for me, was Robinson being fully fit, available and hungry to deliver. There are others who have come on enough now for us to be better, Cullen being one, but Robinson is by far our most accomplished attacker at the moment in terms of the level he is regularly playing at. Kenny's tenure so far has completely lacked a credible threat up front. We've created a lot without scoring and that's been the most consistent story for me. Robinson took (some of) his chances and we won a game. Hopefully we go on and win again today but we will continue to lack real quality up front until a top level striker emerges. Unless Barry can play up front?
A far more balanced view. With bringing so many new young players into the squad and team it was always going to take time to click. I’m hopeful that what we saw on Saturday was the beginning of that. Yes, it was “ only” Azerbaijan, and yes it’s a game we should be winning, but we did the job and that’s the bottom line. You’re right I think in that we need a stronger threat up front. That and a quality centre midfield player would transform the team.
Out for a spell, got neglected, lay on the bench unselected.
Who said Barry was calling the shots? Kenny is the manager. I've said I don't know if Barry is the right man for the job but I do know that he's a far superior option to Kenny.
If Kenny is facing up to the fact that he was getting it wrong, then the question has to be asked, why should the man giving him the answers be number 2?
It's not a coincidence that the formation changed to the Chelsea formation when the Chelsea coach came on board or do you think it is?
Also, Robbinson was there for the Luxembourg game? Kind of destroys your argument.
Look, we've gone far backwards under Kenny. Theres no doubt about that. Barry has improved things a little bit. We all want what's best for Ireland. We all wanted Kenny's approach to work but it hasn't. It's clear that people are backing Kenny from an emotional standpoint, it's not based on any rationality. Removing Kenny is necessary, Barry may not be the answer but Kenny certainly isn't.
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