Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane

[Stuttgart88]

It's not daft to think that part of the Irish national team manager's job is to be up to speed on Irish football. For a whole host of reasons.

If he can help to promote the Irish game then that too is a benefit. It sends a message to the public that maybe there's something worth watching and if that message gets through, as well as the message being sent by creditable European performances, then that can only be a good thing.

Going to Bray versus Rovers in itself is not going to help us qualify but it's hard to argue that it's not the right thing to do.

[Crosby87]

Stutts get "Eight World Cups" by George Vescey. You will like it I think, if you dont mind me saying.

[Charlie Darwin]

It's not daft to think that part of the Irish national team manager's job is to be up to speed on Irish football. For a whole host of reasons.

If he can help to promote the Irish game then that too is a benefit. It sends a message to the public that maybe there's something worth watching and if that message gets through, as well as the message being sent by creditable European performances, then that can only be a good thing.

Going to Bray versus Rovers in itself is not going to help us qualify but it's hard to argue that it's not the right thing to do.

There's also the line of thinking that Martin O'Neill is a football man who likes going to football matches. A bit of an alien concept to the Irish psyche alright, but he has been living in England for most of his life.

[gastric]

Would love to see LOI players continue to train with the senior squad and even the U21s as it promotes the League and the players themselves.

[Charlie Darwin]

Not much point having players training as trophies either. I'd just hope he sees guys like Towell and realises it's not a lack of talent that has them playing in Ireland.

[Stuttgart88]

There's also the line of thinking that Martin O'Neill is a football man who likes going to football matches. A bit of an alien concept to the Irish psyche alright, but he has been living in England for most of his life.

He was at the Dubs at the weekend too.

I'm told it was to see what a full ground looks like in Ireland.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Not much point having players training as trophies either. I'd just hope he sees guys like Towell and realises it's not a lack of talent that has them playing in Ireland.

So what is it then?

He was at the Dubs at the weekend too.

I'm told it was to see what a full ground looks like in Ireland.

Can't believe he'd be that naive. Been plenty of full houses over the years and not just in Croke...

[BonnieShels]

He was at the Dubs at the weekend too.

I'm told it was to see what a full ground looks like in Ireland.

I was one of the 62000 there... 20k from a full house!

[jinxy lilywhite]

There is still a large part of Brooks Park that is still undeveloped

[paul_oshea]

"We get a limited view on TV, you don't get the full picture "

and that my friends I've been saying on here for years and hence brought to my conclusion long before most on here that ward was/is truly awful.

http://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer...-30451501.html

[BonnieShels]

If only you told Trap.

None of us could see his obvious frailties until you pointed them out; as glaringly obvious as they are.

[paul_oshea]

Well yer right thete bonnie.

It kept falling on deaf ears and silly posts trying to ridicule me rather than the point I was making cos I didn't drop it......oh wait ridicule

[OwlsFan]

The interview on the Last Word was interesting. O'Neill spent much of it slagging Keane. The latter was occasionally amusing but the audience found everything he said absolutely hysterical, even if he wasn't trying to be funny. He was his usual curmudgeonly self on many issues. Glad to hear him say though that Ireland never feared anyone although he talked up Germany big time - sorry ONEWHOKNOCKS. O'Neill ended it by saying Keane wasn't a friend. They haven't seen each other socially. They have a job to do and that is be successful with Ireland.

[DannyInvincible]

"We get a limited view on TV, you don't get the full picture "

and that my friends I've been saying on here for years and hence brought to my conclusion long before most on here that ward was/is truly awful.

I'm not necessarily saying you're in the wrong here, but I've started reading Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski and its opening anecdote about Roberto Mancini reminded me very much of you generally, Paul. In a purely affectionate way, of course.

A few years ago, the data department at Manchester City carried out a study of corner kicks. City hadn't been scoring much from corners, and the analysts wanted to find out the best way to take them. They watched more than four hundred corners, from different leagues, over several seasons, and concluded: the most dangerous corner was the inswinger to the near post.

The beauty of the inswinger was that it sent the ball straight into the danger zone. Sometimes an attacker would get a head or foot to it and divert it in from point-blank range. Sometimes the keeper or a defender stopped the inswinger on the line, whereupon someone bashed it in. And occasionally the ball jut swung straight in from the corner. All in all, the analysts found, inswingers produced more goals than outswingers.

They took their findings to the club's then manager, Roberto Mancini, who like almost all managers is an ex-player. He heard them out politely. Then he said, more or less: "I was a player for many years, and I just know that the outswinger is more effective." He was wrong, but we can understand why he made the mistake: outswingers tend to create beautiful goals (ball swings out, player meets it with powerful header, ball crashes into net) and beautiful goals stick in the memory. The messy goals generally produced by inswingers don't.

[Stuttgart88]

Sorry, I'm just not having this "I'm a visionary for pointing out that TV isn't as good as attending a real match live" nonsense.

I honestly can't think of anyone who would argue that telly is better, other than Trap. Most of us don't have the luxury of having the time and money to scout Irish players live though. Martin O'Neill gets paid for it. Trap took the p1ss big time.

[DannyInvincible]

Sorry, I'm just not having this "I'm a visionary for pointing out that TV isn't as good as attending a real match live" nonsense.

I honestly can't think of anyone who would argue that telly is better, other than Trap.

I'm not even sure Trap could credibly have argued that. It's obvious he resorted to watching DVDs as a substitute for attending live games out of convenience.

[BonnieShels]

I'm not necessarily saying you're in the wrong here, but I've started reading Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski and its opening anecdote about Roberto Mancini reminded me very much of you generally, Paul. In a purely affectionate way, of course.

Even the most cursory of plays of Football Manager bears this out.

[BonnieShels]

Well yer right thete bonnie.

It kept falling on deaf ears and silly posts trying to ridicule me rather than the point I was making cos I didn't drop it......oh wait ridicule

I'm always right I find.

Re-iterate, again, for me, what the point was, maybe utilising the Euro 2012 experience as an example...

[Charlie Darwin]

So what is it then?

They're using it as a stepping stone or else it just hasn't worked out for them elsewhere with injuries or whatever. Obviously LOI isn't a great level for aspiring international players to be at but it's no worse than plugging away in the SPL or League One.

[Fixer82]

I found it interesting to hear Keane laughing at O'Neill's stories. And of course, O'Neill taking the pi$$ out of him was great. They seem to et on well but gerat to hear O'Neill say they're not friends and they have a job to do.
I imagine very few people would get away with that with Keane other than people he has huge respect for