I don't like Kenny much but I wouldn't be calling for his head. The run of luck makes it very hard to judge. It wasn't a 2nd string he had against Bulgaria, it was the 2nds and 3rds. We didn't even have our main striker who is now a 19 year old warming the bench for Norwich.
I still think he might do what he did at Dundalk and start earning the loyalty and maximizing the potential of these younger lads who he is blooding. We need to get the most of of what we have and he can do that. He may also do what he did at Rovers and buckle under the pressure, especially when the more senior players are around. Either way, it's too early to make that call I think. He got hired based on his achievements with Dundalk but the scenario was very different there to what he stepped into at Rovers. Dundalk were garbage and he managed to earn their loyalty, boost their confidence, find a good system and get the most out of lads like Shields. He took them from being below average LOI players to competing and getting results in the Europa League. I'd still probably prefer if he had stayed with the 21s until that crop was all ready to step up to senior but here we are.
Mick wouldn't have done any better for me though. I think people are quick to forget just how bad we were under him. It was depressing to watch and you were looking at our best 11 more often than not. Talk of fans turning their backs is a bit rich - most of the fairweathers I know had already had their heads turned by the rugby or gaa due to how bad we've been for a long time under multiple managers. Crowds were already ****e. As bad as last night was, at least we showed some positives with Cullen, Knight (2nd half), Byrne, O'Shea and even Curtis all looking useful. And as weak as Kenny can be in the media, at least we haven't had to listen to Mick or Martin or Trap's negativity. Imagine the excuses and moaning if they'd had the squad turnover Kenny's had to deal with. Sure they were prone to knocking our best players and saying we couldn't compete, what would they have said about the rest? Would Trap have even known who to call up? Couple that with the fact we were wasting so much money on these big names while the debts were astounding.
Talk of scouring the world for some young up and comer is a little odd as well - what would you look for? Someone who took a small club to unprecedented heights and ideally knew our young players well?
I have concerns, notably in his formation and fear of using Byrne which go hand in hand. We are built for wing backs. We have 2 of the best from one of the best leagues in the world in the side and Byrne would thrive in that set up as he does at Rovers. Maybe not to start, I'm not saying he would've lit it up against England or will change us completely, but in that system we can at least use him against Bulgaria and switch to someone else if we need to keep it tighter against the better teams. Who that is I don't know as Brady is too lazy to rely on and Hourihane is too cumbersome. Maybe Ronan/Cullen/Knight can play in there.
Putting it to bed now until March. The FAI cup beckons thankfully.
It was clearly referring to the only poster who queried backstowalsall’s contention that Bulgaria were “much worse” hit than us. I’ve no beef with backstowalsall’s position here. My beef is with being accused of ignoring facts. I can rattle off several facts that fairly back up my view. At the end you have one set of facts (Bulgaria’s losses) and another (our losses). Of course we can take an objective view of whose were worse, but that’s not the point. In disagreeing with backstowalsall’s point I didn’t accuse him of ignoring facts. I wouldn’t do that. But in agreeing with him Paul did, a few times, as Tets quoted above.
Remember there was also this needlessly aggressive comment in the same sequence of posts:
Reality versus fantasy again. Facts versus fiction. Paul’s favourite theme.
Paul then even moved the goalposts to say each side had maybe faced the same bad luck.
Just man up Paul and we can move on.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 19/11/2020 at 5:22 PM.
If i might add, in a dreadfully off topic way (sorry admins), that as a nordie i can only admire the level of discipline required to never recognise my 'new' username (It's what, 2 or 3 years now?).
You would fit right in almost anywhere in the north of Ireland, but particularly well in Londonderry.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
That's after giving me a proper auld laugh Walsall.
---
It's actually nearly 5 years!
Request on 09/12/2016.
Changed on 16/12/2016. Even Adam wasn't happy about it!
https://foot.ie/threads/207341-Usern...=1#post1852838
You'll always be our Opal Fruits!
Last edited by BonnieShels; 20/11/2020 at 12:32 AM.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
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