Next Ireland manager?

Stephen Kenny's odds have shortened with most bookies, he's gone to joint favourite with Mick on Paddy Power, so the public money is on SK. Interestingly, or maybe worryingly, Sven Goran-Eriksson has gone from 66/1 outsider to 3rd favourite at 6/1 with PP! He would bring sexy back, but maybe not sexy football...

Presumably the budget for a new manager will be much smaller now O'Brien's money is gone. That won't help the search.

That said, Delaney's ego might allow a splurge to get us the best chance of qualifying for the Euros we're hosting.

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Presumably the budget for a new manager will be much smaller now O'Brien's money is gone. That won't help the search.

It's a blessing in disguise, if you ask me.

Originally Posted by brine3

It's a blessing in disguise, if you ask me.

Exactly, wont be able to appoint quick fix's that will end in failure.

Well, we'd be able to appoint lower-calibre quick fixes.

Obviously a lot of this is moot while the real issue remains our chronic lack of players and appalling underinvestment in the domestic game, contrary to pretty much every other country in Europe.

Originally Posted by IsMiseSean

Bert van Marwijk - would he want it though?

Lars Lagerback has been successful throughout Scandinavia - currently the Norway manager so it rules him out.

Van Marwijk is an interesting candidate. Success at Feyenoord for a massive club that struggled with Ajax's success and the relatively new success of PSV. Struggled at Dortmund, success again at Feyenoord.

Qualified success with Holland, as in reaching the World Cup final is amazing, but hated by pretty much the majority of fans for how it was achieved.

he's available.

Originally Posted by Cathalsmart

Exactly, wont be able to appoint quick fix's that will end in failure.

A quick fix could be exactly what Delaney seeks though. The priority, for him, will probably not be long-term strategic planning, but somebody that gives us the best chance of reaching the Euros that we will partially host. In fairness, it would be terrible not to be a part of that, really depressing actually. Is it possible that the best short-term and long-term solution is the same guy?

in case it wasn't clear from my post, a quick fix is what we need right now. We cannot afford to not qualify for Euro 2020.

Couple more names who are now available

Peter Stöger
Ralph Hasenhüttl (someone else also mentioned him)
Slavisla Jokanovic
Leonardo Jardim
Julen Lopetegui
Arsene Wenger

Originally Posted by backstothewall

Julen Lopetegui

Maybe wait until 2019 to appoint him. Everything he touched in 2018 turned to sh!t.

Whoever can bring Declan Rice back. It's as simple as that. We won 1 game this year. Rice was motm in that.

..against the USA U21 team

This is really, really stretching it, and definitely in tin-foil hat territory, but UEFA will be bricking it if they've a few venues where the host nation hasn't qualified. They are in safe ground with Spain England etc. but with Baku, Dublin, Budapest and Bucharest, they definitely are not safe. The draw could be kind to us, and it could be even kinder when it's mentioned that more than 2 hosts cannot be paired together. With 5 of those hosts being in the Tier 1 group of seeds, being a host should be of benefit to us in the draw.

I like conspiracy theories, so I'm floating the idea that we'll get a handy draw. JD obviously knows this, so he'll throw his lot in on short-term gain to qualify.
He'll go with Allardyce with a nice salary and a mega bonus to qualify.
We then draw Switzerland, Iceland, Lithuania and Luxembourg, being a 5 team group on account of Switzerland being in the NL playoffs.

No reason a quick fix for the first team can't be accompanied with structural reform and a plan for the future around that. Especially with the U21 job also vacant.

The U21 job manager should be an opportunity for someone to learn about management, the demands of international management and the structure of the FAI, with a view to being next in line the next time the big job comes up. It should go to someone intelligent, charismatic and who will instantly have the respect of fans and players alike.

That job should be offered to Damian Duff. And it should be understood that he gets the senior job next time (assuming it doesn't come up again inside 2 years)

Is anyone able to speak with any knowledge about what Ruud Dokter has done or if appointing him has been worthwhile?

I’m open-minded on who it might be, and closed to tired, old-fashioned, serial short-term merchants like Redknapp, Allardyce, Bruce – all of whom we’d be worried about losing to a decent club from day one. Also, anybody out of the game for more than a few seasons won't do, so no O’Leary, Aldridge types. I like Kenny, but I think he’s more valuable to Irish football from within the league than outside.

I’d like whoever it is to be

• A modern tactician, able to blend style with our traditional pressing game
• A motivator
• Able to develop young players – we’ve a lot of prospects who could be the nucleus of a team till 2030+
• Someone who doesn’t bull5hit about not having top Premiership players. I count 14 Premiership first-teamers (i.e. squad of 25), excluding Rice, Obafemi, Pilkington, Brian Murphy, and youngsters with a few appearances or on loan; Championship players who have played in the Premiership – Randolph, Meyers, McClean etc; and some who might declare, e.g. Bamford, Keane. We have the makings of a squad from one of the top four leagues in Europe. If you play in it, you’re good. A lot of managers would love to have a squad that talented.
• Somebody who sees the League of Ireland as a necessary branch of the national team. At any given time we have about 40 players for national team consideration who are fit, playing and in form: 4 LoI players increases that pool by 10%, 8 by 20%. Find the best, and cap them – even if only in friendlies.

Now, how hard can that be?

Originally Posted by ArFella

Stephen Kenny's odds have shortened with most bookies, he's gone to joint favourite with Mick on Paddy Power, so the public money is on SK. Interestingly, or maybe worryingly, Sven Goran-Eriksson has gone from 66/1 outsider to 3rd favourite at 6/1 with PP! He would bring sexy back, but maybe not sexy football...

No chance it is going to be Stephen Kenny especially with Euro qualification being essential where we will be one of the hosts. It is definitely going to be someone with International experience.

Originally Posted by backstothewall

It should go to someone intelligent, charismatic and who will instantly have the respect of fans and players alike.

That job should be offered to Damian Duff.

Sorry, while I agree in principle with what you are saying about succession planning, this does not compute.

Originally Posted by Eminence Grise

Somebody who sees the League of Ireland as a necessary branch of the national team. At any given time we have about 40 players for national team consideration who are fit, playing and in form: 4 LoI players increases that pool by 10%, 8 by 20%. Find the best, and cap them; even if only in friendlies

I'd like to see us have the new senior international management team regularly taking a squad for something like B international match but using only domestic based players against countries with leagues of a similar standard (Hungary, Finland, Bosnia etc).

It would be quite straight forward to organise as they wouldn't need to be played on FIFA international dates. Great platform for the players involved and a good means of letting the national team coaches get an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of League of Ireland players.

Originally Posted by Eminence Grise

I’m open-minded on who it might be, and closed to tired, old-fashioned, serial short-term merchants like Redknapp, Allardyce, Bruce – all of whom we’d be worried about losing to a decent club from day one. Also, anybody out of the game for more than a few seasons won't do, so no O’Leary, Aldridge types. I like Kenny, but I think he’s more valuable to Irish football from within the league than outside.

I’d like see whoever it is to be

• A modern tactician, able to blend style with our traditional pressing game
• A motivator
• Able to develop young players – we’ve a lot of prospects who could be the nucleus of a team till 2030+
• Someone who doesn’t bull5hit about not having top Premiership players. I count 14 Premiership first-teamers (i.e. squad of 25), excluding Rice, Obafemi, Pilkington, Brian Murphy, and youngsters with a few appearances or on loan; Championship players who have played in the Premiership – Randolph, Meyers, McClean etc; and some who might declare, e.g. Bamford, Keane. We have the makings of a squad from one of the top four leagues in Europe. If you play in it, you’re good. A lot of managers would love to have a squad that talented.
• Somebody who sees the League of Ireland as a necessary branch of the national team. At any given time we have about 40 players for national team consideration who are fit, playing and in form: 4 LoI players increases that pool by 10%, 8 by 20%. Find the best, and cap them – even if only in friendlies.

Now, how hard can that be?

Louis van Gaal ticks those boxes.

I'd say his knowledge of Finn Harps v Drogheda is pretty rudimentary! And he doesn't strike me as the kind of chap who'd gladly spend his evenings on the highways and by-ways when he could have his feet up in a villa somewhere.

Edit

The tabloids would have a field day - Louis van Gael! van Gael-goer!

For that reason alone I'm wavering...