Stephen Kenny

[Eirambler]

Hang on, what's all this about results all of a sudden? Sure it was only a few posts ago you were telling us that they didn't matter?!

[osarusan]

The argument that there are no other options, no scale of any sort, that it's a simple binary of either Kenny or hoofball is nonsense.

I dont think there's many people at all on here who desire a return to hoofball.

I'd guess the clear majority of people that want Kenny gone want him to be replaced by somebody better equipped to continue what he has been trying to do (but unfortunately not succeeding).

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

According to you, there's a lot wrong with saying he wants us to win the group and failing, and there's a lot wrong with lowering our expectations to reflect where we stand. One extreme to the other.

I know you don't like facts that don't support your argument, but in terms of results, we have won 3 and drawn 1 of our last 6 games. That's not a disasterous record that supports an instant sacking. If anything it shows that we're making slow but steady progress, and calls for more encouragement from us, rather than rip up the project and go back to hoofball. I know people don't want it described as that, but that's what's on the menu in the event that Kenny is sacked. No it's park the bus, hang on for dear life, and launch the ball in the general direction of Duffy's head instead. The tried and trusted technique that is boring, outdated, and ineffective.

It's a tale of 2 groups. In one Kenny aimed to come top and came near the bottom. In the other, Kenny had already finished near the bottom and tried to pass the blame off onto the players. The bottom line is the awful results and coming near the bottom of every group we've been in under Kenny. Your wins against Malta and Armenia spin has been nonsensed previously, as has your hoofball talk.

[mypost]

Now you're describing the rare wins we get as "your" wins, rather than "our" wins that they are. If you don't like the fact we won them, that's up to you, but we still won them.

McCarthy won 3 games against Georgia and Gibraltar. He finished the campaign with 1 win in 6 competitive games. And you tell me he would have got us to the Euros?

The argument that there are no other options, no scale of any sort, that it's a simple binary of either Kenny or hoofball is nonsense.

I dont think there's many people at all on here who desire a return to hoofball.

I'd guess the clear majority of people that want Kenny gone want him to be replaced by somebody better equipped to continue what he has been trying to do (but unfortunately not succeeding).

He wouldn't get the time. There's a referendum on the Ireland manager after literally every single game, regardless of result. If we win, the performance means he has to go. If we don't win, then he really has to go. This has been the case long before Kenny got the job.

Name me one manager who will be given the time and the patience to do Kenny's job, but do it better than him, on a similar salary? No, they'll demand he either qualifies for the next tournament, or he gets fired.

Where is the long term vision of where we want to be and how we want to get there, in 5-10-15-20 years time? The team's that over achieved at recent international tournaments, did so because they went down the Kenny route of sacrificing results and qualifications, while they put the necessary structures in place to bring through new players, and bring them up to a team capable of competing at the highest level. It is a painfully slow transition but it has to be done, and eventually they were rewarded. Iceland, Finland, Macedonia, Albania, Belgium to name a few in Europe. That's the model we should be looking towards, not what we do atm, either qualify or the sack, paying out unsustainable sums that the FAI can't afford.

[seanfhear]

Now you're describing the rare wins we get as "your" wins, rather than "our" wins that they are. If you don't like the fact we won them, that's up to you, but we still won them.

McCarthy won 3 games against Georgia and Gibraltar. He finished the campaign with 1 win in 6 competitive games. And you tell me he would have got us to the Euros?



He wouldn't get the time. There's a referendum on the Ireland manager after literally every single game, regardless of result. If we win, the performance means he has to go. If we don't win, then he really has to go. This has been the case long before Kenny got the job.

Name me one manager who will be given the time and the patience to do Kenny's job, but do it better than him, on a similar salary? No, they'll demand he either qualifies for the next tournament, or he gets fired.

Where is the long term vision of where we want to be and how we want to get there, in 5-10-15-20 years time? The team's that over achieved at recent international tournaments, did so because they went down the Kenny route of sacrificing results and qualifications, while they put the necessary structures in place to bring through new players, and bring them up to a team capable of competing at the highest level. It is a painfully slow transition but it has to be done, and eventually they were rewarded. Iceland, Finland, Macedonia, Albania, Belgium to name a few in Europe. That's the model we should be looking towards, not what we do atm, either qualify or the sack, paying out unsustainable sums that the FAI can't afford.

According to Great Greta Thunberg and the like there is no point making 10 /15 / 20 year plans ! !

Maybe that's why football managers don't get much time these days !

[pineapple stu]

We've overachieved at recent international tournaments?

We've won one game in 20 years, and that was against a B side who weren't all that pushed. Our only other non-defeat in all that time - indeed, the only other game we were even vaguely competitive in - was a 1-1 draw against a Sweden side who didn't manage a shot on target in the entire game.

[Eirambler]

In fairness we also lead against a full strength French team in their own Euros for almost an hour and lost by a goal in the end. I'd say that counts as vaguely competitive at a minimum.

[pineapple stu]

We were absolutely battered in that game. We fought hard and I'd take a similar performance/result this month, but once France got going (after realising they had no need for a defensive mid), we barely got a touch of the ball.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Now you're describing the rare wins we get as "your" wins, rather than "our" wins that they are. If you don't like the fact we won them, that's up to you, but we still won them.

McCarthy won 3 games against Georgia and Gibraltar. He finished the campaign with 1 win in 6 competitive games. And you tell me he would have got us to the Euros?

Clearly I was referring to your spin, I don't think you're involved with the Irish squad.

McCarthy's record was played 10, won 5, drew 4 and lost 1. And that included playing against two of the top teams in Europe home and away. And as you say, his reign wasn't even great. So that shows just how bad Kenny's reign has been. Played 30, Won 8, drawn 11 and lost 11.

Just to show the stark difference between the record of the two, had McCarthy kept the same rate up, after 30 games it would have been won 15, drawn 12, lost 3.

So yes, I think McCarthy would have taken us to the Euros or if any reasonable manager had taken over. Not only that but we would have made a much better crack at qualifying for the World Cup and we wouldn't even be in a group with France and Holland.

[paul_oshea]

Tets whats the top 5 Threads for views on foot.ie? I notice this one has 263,722 which says a lot about the activity on the forum recently.

[SkStu]

Click where it says views and it will sort top to bottom.

[Eirambler]

And the most viewed player thread on the forum is......



James McCarthy. Didn't expect that!

[third policeman]

And the most viewed player thread on the forum is......



James McCarthy. Didn't expect that!

Is he fit or just so far down the pecking order that he doesn’t even make benches anymore. Sad.

[elatedscum]

Is he fit or just so far down the pecking order that he doesn’t even make benches anymore. Sad.

hamstring injury

[jbyrne]

We were absolutely battered in that game. We fought hard and I'd take a similar performance/result this month, but once France got going (after realising they had no need for a defensive mid), we barely got a touch of the ball.

that's simply not true. we were well in that game until the hour mark. having had a few days less than france to recover from the previous round then told.
our first half performance was excellent against the hosts and probably favorites for the tournament.

[pineapple stu]

First half was decent, sure, but the game is 90 minutes. And when they brought Coman on for Kante at halftime, the second half was mostly one-way traffic. It certainly wasn't competitive. I think they had 80% possession in the second half or something like that.

[jbyrne]

First half was decent, sure, but the game is 90 minutes. And when they brought Coman on for Kante at halftime, the second half was mostly one-way traffic. It certainly wasn't competitive. I think they had 80% possession in the second half or something like that.

you said we were "absolutely battered". we weren't

[pineapple stu]

We were though. Especially that entire second half was no contest.

25 shots v 6. 9 corners to 1. 80% possession in the second half once France had worked us out.

Everything except the scoreline was no contest; France were quite wasteful that day.

[Fixer82]

We were though. Especially that entire second half was no contest.

25 shots v 6. 9 corners to 1. 80% possession in the second half once France had worked us out.

Everything except the scoreline was no contest; France were quite wasteful that day.

Yet we still could’ve easily gotten a second goal. Stats are fine but they don’t always tell the full story. We were well in that game for a long time.
I think their first goal was an error from Duffy?

[pineapple stu]

They could have a hatful if you want to take every chance as a possible goal. They hit the bar for starters, the nearest either side came to adding to the scoring.

Doesn't really matter if they scored from an error by Duffy; that's what being under pressure will do.

The Guardian had a live blog of the game here - early in the second half of mentions a "rare Ireland attack", the equaliser had "been coming since the break really", Ireland "just can’t cope with the pressure", there's "only one side look like adding to the score at the moment, and it’s not Ireland"

We were leading for a long time. But we weren't in the game at all after the break. It was one-way traffic