In every report I've read, it only mentioned that Trap and Marco are having their contracts cancelled. So, y'know, does this mean Manuela gets to stay on?...
Kingdom, when people rattle out that old cliché "we haven't got the players" you have to ask "players for what?" Beating Germany or winning just one home game of note in 6 years?
I thought Green was a monumental improvement on Whelan and better than McCarthy. It wasn't his fault Wilson blasted the ball into him.Originally Posted by Paddy Garcia
You're treading on this ice with that sort of self-anointed pseudo-intellectual talk; just be careful you don't incur the wrath of David Kelly!
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 11/09/2013 at 6:34 PM.
I have to say, it was one of Ronnie Whelan's saner contributions to commentary, to give the motm to Green.
God almighty; Harte, in contrast to the admiring others, just appears so petty and bitter.
At one point early on, I'm pretty sure Ronnie was criticising Trap for ignoring Pilkington for so long until now.
Since making himself available to play for us - any delay there was beyond Trap's control - Pilkington pulled out of every squad, until Sweden, into which Trap attempted to call him.
The new manager should be given a % of gate receipts. Crowds will return if successful and we don't just hoof it
Highlight for me was claiming Del Bosque was doing the Spanish job for fifty grand a year. Eh, no, I meant Bilic Bill
Bradys punditry has been really annoying since he's rejoined the panel. "We haven't got the players" While there is undoubtedly a fair amount of truth in this, he hasn't cut previous managers any slack in this regard, and I'll bet he won't be so generous with the new man either. Clear case of sticking up for his mate.
Last edited by TonyD; 11/09/2013 at 7:55 PM. Reason: more
Out for a spell, got neglected, lay on the bench unselected.
I'd like to see Brian McDermott given a go. A young up and coming manager he did wonders at Reading and seems to be doing well at Leeds. his teams play good football with limited resources so perfect for us.
He also stated that it was his ambition to manage Ireland earlier this year so he's unlikely to jump ship if he gets a good campaign under his belt.
For me it has to be a manager who knows about the players already, can make them believe they can match any opposition, attends matches, understand the mentality and does his bit to be respectful to the domestic league. I can't really see any further than O'Neill. McCarthy, McDermott, Houghton all have points to prove in club football and further down the leagues, the likes of Sheridan and O'Driscoll haven't achieved enough.
Definitely a good choice for MOTM. I felt as if the RTÉ panel couldn't bring themselves to admit he played well
Folding my way into the big money!!!
Darron Gibson also tweeted yesterday:
On a more positive note, good day all round 2day! Knee feels good, trainin went well and.........
Meulensteen was sacked by Anzhi when he was found out to be a complete chancer. He was despised by players there, undermined Hiddink to the point where the man had no decision but to leave and only messed up by trying to cut deals with agents behind the sports directors (head agents) back. His biggest mistake was promising to get Alex Ferguson in as a consultant/director/ambassador if he was given the job. He failed within the time period and was sacked.
I'm wary of any continental coach coming in, especially with the corruption attached to them, not saying Irish or British managers are any different, only they'd be reined in.
Again, no matter who comes in, they'll be destroyed before long. If we got Slutsky, Mourinho, Capello, Del Bosque, Bilic - all being told from our meeja that they're not good enough and haven't the experience of standing on a muddy pitch in Glasthule in November.
Crass. There's a part of me that hopes Gibson never plays for us again.
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
Agree with you in many ways. Regardless of what I think of Trap's decisions over the past 18 months, he is a footballing god and a gentleman. He is 100 times the man that Gibson will ever be.
Having said that, Gibson is somewhere in the category betweena good and a very good premiership player. He would greatly improve us on the pitch, even if he does come across as a total **** of the highest order.
It was really poor around Paul Green. The sort of stuff I'd expect from lads in a pub who haven't a notion what they're talking about.
Green was very good the other night. You could easily put together a bunch of clips showing him winning the ball and using it well (even if not always spectacularly). I can easily remember 6-7 great pieces of play from him. If it was Hoolahan or someone Dunphy and Giles would have been soiling themselves. Fact is, they couldn't properly judge the lad's performance because they have pre-conceived notions about him. Whether those notions are right or wrong generally speaking isn't the point, they should at least be able to see the lad's performance at any given time.
Disgusting stuff and Bill and Giles particularly should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. Pair of c**ts. The lad went out and gave 100% for Ireland and these two jokers are sneering at him like two schoolyard bullies.
They remind me of the two old heckling codgers in the balcony of Sesame Street, Statler and Waldorf.
Ashley Cole appears to be one of the worst human beings in the entire world but no fans of his club or his country have a problem with him lining out for them. Because he's a great player.
Gibson fell out with Trap. He seems like a bit of an eejit. But he's a very good player and I'd have no problem with him playing for us again. Unless he starts nicking handbags off old ladies in Portmarnock or bullying the younger members of the squad for their lunch-money, or something.
That is the crux of the issue. I don't think anyone here believes that we should be topping groups or having a 100% win ratio every campaign. But when you see our nearest neighbours striking impressive isolated victories over incredibly higher profile nations than themselves, it is natural to wonder what is the problem with us trying to do similar?
If we acknowledge Holland as our last significant victory at home, in the following campaigns they have beaten: England; Denmark, Spain, Sweden; Poland, Slovenia; Slovenia (a); Russia.
They are serious victories. However, they've had hugely underwhelming, embarassing in some cases, defeats too. So it's not all flowers and lollipops getting a significant victory here and there either.
If you're looking at the peer opposition we've faced under Trap: Sweden, Austria; Slovakia; Bulgaria, Montenegro*; we've taken a grand total of 8 points out of a total of 30.
If you're looking at the superior opposition we've faced under Trap: Germany; Russia; Italy; we've a total of 3 points from 15.
It's been our consistent ability to beat the weaker teams** - something we've done quite well routinely (bar Stan and the odd crazy slip up per generation [Liechtenstein; Iceland;] - that has kept us in the hunt for qualification in the first two Trap campaigns. It would lead me to wonder was the tactic to beat the minnows home and away, not lose to our peers in pot 3, try to scrap points from the top seeds if possible, and hope our peers slip up to the minnows?
That's what frustrates me, and why I, perhaps snidely, ask that question about "the quality of our players". I don't believe our players are stupid. I don't believe that they wouldn't be able to adapt to a different formation at home that would utilise the creativity that we lack, or moulded to attack the weak links of the opposition.
I was thinking of something else there. People say that the Andorra's of this world should not be in qualifying, because they're sole objective is to concede as few goals as possible, and offer nothing. That's not remarkably different to our recent mentality of trying to not be beaten away from home. That run was excellent, but if the game plan doesn't change at home - and it hasn't, then really what's the point. It's like Russian Roulette with no bullets. You don't die, but neither does the other guy.
*I would include Montenegro as a peer in hindsight, as they have been very consistent in the qualifiers since their inclusion.
** I wouldn't include Israel as a weaker team in hindsight either, as that was their best team of a generation, and their results in that group proved it.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
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