- The FAI have looked at the playing population and feel there isn't a whole lot more that someone other than SK can extract from whats available, at a price that can be afforded; or
- The Media "ins" in the FAI aren't what they appear to be (therefore they've no credibility - John Fallon looks to be particularly guillable in this regard) regarding providing an accurate FAI position post-NL;
- As crowds have held (with a disclaimer), the need to push the big red button isn't as pressing just yet;
- the FAI are/were in the process of sounding someone else out and realise the wages just are too much;
- The FAI is in ever worse financial state than we thought;
I'm wondering about the timing of the John Giles soundbyte now after seeing the McDonnell tweet. It came out of nowhere and was a real surprise.
Last edited by Kingdom; 14/09/2023 at 1:19 PM.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
I'm not sure why there's such a big discussion over how many players a manager has given a debut to. There's no manager in the world that would ignore a talent like Evan Ferguson. Why should Stephen Kenny, or any other manager for that matter, get credit for picking him?
Surely Steve Staunton must have given out about a dozen debuts on that trip to America in 2007 or so when we played Ecuador and someone else? Does he get credit for picking Joseph Lapira?
Don’t know how many times I’ve heard the line that “no-one could have done better with these players” excuse. Worth remembering that Anthony Barry seems to have managed to do it.
The dearth of good players in their late 20s is not because O'Neill didn't cap them, it's because they don't exist. There was an understandable frustration that we were continuing to rely on players Glen Whelan and Jonathan Walters, but the idea that it was happening because O'Neill was ignoring good young alternatives is just wrong.
You can't spell failure without FAI
SKs celebrations after a poxy late winner v New Zealand after losing two and maybe winning v Gibraltar will be too much for some I'd wager. There are times in this life when it's best to look away.
I thought when Carsleys contract was up at England it coincided with some of his mates in the media pushing his name forward for the job, Dunne and Kilbane especially. I had hoped this meant that some back door discussions had been had between the FAI and Carsley and there was a gentlemans agreement in place. More fool me for thinking the FAI could act like a normal semi well run business.
Instead now we have a lame duck manager, when the 4 coming games could have been preparation for a new guy. We'll end up in a long review process that the FAI always love, they might even try to get Mazars back in for the craic, and at the end of the process we'll end up with Sam Allardyce or Neil Lennon.
Today is utterly depressing
Its really not that complicated!!!
We'd have Jack Grealish if MON wasn't so conservative and **** at bringing through young talent. Remember seeing him play for Notts County at 18 and it was obvious how special he was and that he was ready to play international football. And MON waited until Jack was doing it for Villa.
Listen to Obafemi's interview from summer, https://x.com/offtheball/status/1661...388410881?s=20 That's how bad he was. I guarantee you if I was in charge, Rice would also have been capped nine months before he was capped by MON
Did you forget Martin O'Neills final home game? I think there were about 17,000 that day against Northern Ireland, with the away side heaving full and the rest of the ground embarrassingly empty.
If fans like you want to stay at home, you're welcome to, but the rest of us will still make our 200+ mile round trip.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
The FAI clearly have no resources to do the multiple jobs that need to be done and that includes finding a new manager apparently.
As McDonnell said on his podcast, the real focus should be on securing a large chunk of the money going to dog and horse racing so we can develop football in the country to a point where we are competitive again. That should be the one and only thing they are focused on. Instead we have a managerial replacement circus and a strategic plan that was never attainable.
I don't even care if the money goes towards helping players get to other countries for their development. That is, at least, a plan and Luxembourg seem to have implemented a version of it well although their plan included domestic investment.
The saddest thing about Kenny not working out is the amount of people who seem to think it's completely down to him. In reality, his struggles against the likes of Luxembourg paint a far grimmer picture. They invest, we do not. They have been planning for decades while we've been neglecting. We are sliding down the rankings for a reason. The FAI is in a complete shambles.
But Carsley should sort it all out. No bother.
21 leagues and 25 cups.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
What ever happened to Traps assistant, Tardelli? He wouldn't be a bad hire.
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