Trap out now!

[weldoninhio]

He has been in the job 2 and a half years now, picking up E2 million a year and for what exactly?? Doesn't bother going to games to scout out players, is completely rigid in his thinking and has no plan B for when plan A doesn't work. He must think Irish people are mugs, getting money for old rope. The fact that he hasn't even bothered to pick up the language to a decent level shows what contempt he has, how can you communicate to the players through a translator and get across exactly what you want???? Ridiculous!!!



TRAP OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Fly]

He has been in the job 2 and a half years now, picking up E2 million a year and for what exactly?? Doesn't bother going to games to scout out players, is completely rigid in his thinking and has no plan B for when plan A doesn't work. He must think Irish people are mugs, getting money for old rope. The fact that he hasn't even bothered to pick up the language to a decent level shows what contempt he has, how can you communicate to the players through a translator and get across exactly what you want???? Ridiculous!!!



TRAP OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could we have a "No Thanks" button please?

[brine3]

He has lost only two competitive matches, against France and Russia. For a nation as small as Ireland that's good going.

While I don't always agree with his team selection, his motivational skills and his ability to train players and get more out of a team than the sum of its parts is second to none. When it comes to training and motivation, he's probably one of the best managers the game has ever seen. Yes, he can be tactically rigid and his player selection can be confusing. But on the whole, he's very good at what he does and knows what he's doing. A lesser manager might pick a starting XI I'd prefer, but he wouldn't do as well as Trap because Trap is a fantastic trainer and motivator. There's more to management than picking a starting XI, as Stan clearly demonstrated.

And still, sometimes Trap's selections can surprise me. I had never heard of Liam Lawrence. At the time, I wondered how he could pick Lawrence ahead of Stephen Hunt. Lawrence has been nothing short of a revelation for Ireland. St. Ledger, the same.

Trap is similar to Rafa Benitez. Benitez is tactically rigid, makes strange player selections but is great at training and manages to get everything out of his team. Look at Liverpool since he left. Losing 2-0 to Everton as I write this and deep in relegation territory.

Anybody who says "Trap Out" is frankly delusional.

[weldoninhio]

He has lost only two competitive matches, against France and Russia. For a nation as small as Ireland that's good going.

While I don't always agree with his team selection, his motivational skills and his ability to train players and get more out of a team than the sum of its parts is second to none. When it comes to training and motivation, he's probably one of the best managers the game has ever seen. Yes, he can be tactically rigid and his player selection can be confusing. But on the whole, he's very good at what he does and knows what he's doing. A lesser manager might pick a starting XI I'd prefer, but he wouldn't do as well as Trap because Trap is a fantastic trainer and motivator. There's more to management than picking a starting XI, as Stan clearly demonstrated.

And still, sometimes Trap's selections can surprise me. I had never heard of Liam Lawrence. At the time, I wondered how he could pick Lawrence ahead of Stephen Hunt. Lawrence has been nothing short of a revelation for Ireland. St. Ledger, the same.

Trap is similar to Rafa Benitez. Benitez is tactically rigid, makes strange player selections but is great at training and manages to get everything out of his team. Look at Liverpool since he left. Losing 2-0 to Everton as I write this and deep in relegation territory.

Anybody who says "Trap Out" is frankly delusional.

*sigh* You ever read the story of the emperors new clothes?? He was a great manager, he was a great coach, nowadays he can't even be bothered to speak the language of the team he is in control of. He is an old man making a mint off us silly paddys while living on past glories.

[SwanVsDalton]

His English is occasionally better than most Irish people's.

[brine3]

*sigh* You ever read the story of the emperors new clothes?? He was a great manager, he was a great coach, nowadays he can't even be bothered to speak the language of the team he is in control of. He is an old man making a mint off us silly paddys while living on past glories.

We were within a kick of qualifying for the World Cup in Paris, lest you forget. He got us into the playoffs and we just missed out.

Ireland has never, under any manager, won a qualifying group. Trap might be the first.

What has he done wrong? You think we should be beating everyone 3-0?

[Charlie Darwin]

One thing having a legitimate gripe with Trap's methods/selections, another throwing journalistic quality out of the window in favour of petty moaning and biased tub-thumping. The article has some decent points - pity it's wrapped in very obvious point scoring with very little reference to the reality. Ward should be included instead of the 'ludicrous' Kilbane (who played well against Russia and Slovakia)? Reid should be in despite barely playing all year? Gibson's being destroyed by Trap? Yawn.

I happen to think Andy Reid is so good he should play even when he's injured.

[SwanVsDalton]

I happen to think Andy Reid is so good he should play even when he's injured.

I feel the same about Gary Doherty.

[Eminence Grise]

Sweeney's article is just a hatchet job, an opinion piece space filler that makes up for what it lacks in facts in good old fashioned verbiage.

I think the photo ed got the picture bang on for the tone of the article: Trap with two fingers raised aloft to the great Irish football public. Maybe I've spent too long dipping in and out of semiotics, but that is a very clever juxtaposition of text and image.

Could there be some nefarious scheming in INM that sees having a go at Trap as a subtle way of having a go at the man who pays half his wages, and who is a pain in the side for the O'Reilly clan, Denis O'Brien?

[Spudulika]

Sweeney's article is just a hatchet job, an opinion piece space filler that makes up for what it lacks in facts in good old fashioned verbiage.

I think the photo ed got the picture bang on for the tone of the article: Trap with two fingers raised aloft to the great Irish football public. Maybe I've spent too long dipping in and out of semiotics, but that is a very clever juxtaposition of text and image.

Could there be some nefarious scheming in INM that sees having a go at Trap as a subtle way of having a go at the man who pays half his wages, and who is a pain in the side for the O'Reilly clan, Denis O'Brien?

Never thought of that and it could be just that simple. INM have gone after him before, as well as other "enemies", so this makes sense. Also it plays to the ignorant crowd who are swayed by lies, mistruths and poor research, aka tabloid journalism. I'm not suprised it was given to Sweeney to do, he's have a bit more gravitas as a sports writer, though some of his articles are beyond poor. I liked his Sligo Rovers book, but he's been consistently poor and often ridiculous writing for the Indo, he's trying to be the Myers of the sports section!

[osarusan]

Also, the phrase is "au fait accompli"

I don't think so. Are you sure you're not mixing it up with 'au fait' meaning 'up to date with'?

[The Fly]

I don't think so. Are you sure you're not mixing it up with 'au fait' meaning 'up to date with'?

You're correct, the phrase is expressed without the 'au' prefix.

[tetsujin1979]

I don't think so. Are you sure you're not mixing it up with 'au fait' meaning 'up to date with'?

You're correct, the phrase is expressed without the 'au' prefix.

Really? I've only seen it written "au fait accompli"

[The Fly]

This may help - http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/fait-accompli.html

[Charlie Darwin]

Au means "to the," so "au fait" means "to the point"

"Fait accompli" means "done deal" or literally "fact accomplished"

edit: or what Fly said

[Alf Honn]

For a nation as small as Ireland that's good going.

That excuse went out the window when Greece, with just over 2.5 times our population, won the Euro Championship six years ago. We haven't even qualified for over 20 years.

It still doesn't stop Trap's chief apologist Brady bringing it up as a defence, despite Trap having enough English Premier League players at his disposal to pick two teams.

[boovidge]

we should definitely get rid of trap.

options for his replacement are:

paul jewell
terry venables
Steve Staunton in shock return.

[EastTerracer]

He has been in the job 2 and a half years now, picking up E2 million a year and for what exactly?? Doesn't bother going to games to scout out players, is completely rigid in his thinking and has no plan B for when plan A doesn't work. He must think Irish people are mugs, getting money for old rope. The fact that he hasn't even bothered to pick up the language to a decent level shows what contempt he has, how can you communicate to the players through a translator and get across exactly what you want???? Ridiculous!!!



TRAP OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First post in 4 months - at least he's dropped his Glaswegian alter-ego, Aidinhio!

[BonnieShels]

Can we wait til November 2011 and worry about it then?
The Norway game should give us a real insight as to what his plans are from March onwards...

He indicated that he would be mixing the squad around so I say we just let him get on with it. I read and listen to all of the anti-Trap stuff and I let it not cloud any judgements or criticism I may have. I suggest that the rest of ye knowledgeable and more discerning types here do the same.
The media are going to frustrate the crap out of ya due to their need to sell papers and their journo's need to be on the Last Word and Off The Ball to keep their high opinion of themselves on the go so let them at it.

At the end of the day we'll be the ones in Lansdowne next October whether the game against Armenia is meaningless or not. We'll be the ones shouting from the first til the last minute. And we will be the ones who will do the whole thing again in September 2012 when we try to qualify for Brazil 2014.

[The Fly]

That excuse went out the window when Greece, with just over 2.5 times our population, won the Euro Championship six years ago. We haven't even qualified for over 20 years.

It's hardly gone out the window, since a victory like Greece's still remains a fairly rare occurrence. One has to go back to 1992, with Denmark's victory in the tournament, to find a parallel. Denmark, with a population much more comparable to our own, had initially failed to qualify for the tournament - trailing Yugoslavia in second place.

However, due to international sanctions resulting from the Yugoslav wars, Yugoslavia was barred from the tournament, and Denmark entered as the second-placed team in its group.

Greece were 150-1 outsiders to win Euro 2004. Indeed, they had only qualified for two other major tournaments - in 1980 and 1994, and their win in the opening match in 2004 was the first time they had even won a game in a major tournament.

Needless to say, both sides were victorious playing a structured, defensive game, Greece to tedious lengths, and Denmark less so - relying on Peter Schmeichel's defence, and Brian Laudrup's creative spark. Michael Laudrup had retired from international duty during the qualification campaign.

The fact that we haven't qualified for nearly 20 years should tell you something about our status/merits as a footballing nation. Trapattoni has done well with the talents at his disposal, and we are still in with a good chance of qualifying for this tournament. The glass is half-full!

It still doesn't stop Trap's chief apologist Brady bringing it up as a defence, despite Trap having enough English Premier League players at his disposal to pick two teams.

What matters is the quality of those players, not the quantity.