Completely agree. The only journalists I have a lot of respect for are pro-Kerr so that is all that matters to me.Originally Posted by Conor74
I disagree, you can't be less effective than completley ineffective, and we could have kept Duff in his best position then. I'd rather one woeful striker and Duff on the wing than Duff up front and anyone else in mid field.
Kilbane did more than Duff out on the left anyway. He did well out there. Duff could only pass it short. I agree, it was a bad substitution but people are going a bit overboard.
Yes but Duff out there was creating space for the rest of his team by his very presence.
Maybe people are going overboard but it was a poor sub and everyone could see it at the time, that Kerr couldn't is worrying.
I think we should judge Kerr when the group is finished. We are all having a go because of the Israel matches. We could hammer Franch, Swiss and Cypus and top the group and people will say what a manager. It is very surprising to see Kerr has 3 matches to save his job when you compare with how many years they gave Mick. This is Kerr's first full campain, and with 3 games to go we are top of the group with france and swiss to come to LD. Granted we could be in a better position but lets wait and see.
But who cares about friendlies?? Kerr takes them way to seriously. Giving McGeady 5 and 10 minutes here and there. He should be starting these matches and i hope he starts against italy.
Agree 110% reserve judgment till we know our final position, but if were not in the top 2 at the end then major questions will arise.
Aye, we were expected to lose in Paris and should have lost in Basel. We could have been 6 points behind the top 2 after 3 matches. Luckily we're top of the group and I'm more confident than ever of winning our first WC qualifying group (I think).
I dont know if you were at the game eireboy but when he took Keane off for Kavanagh you could see the structure we had go out the window, they fell apart within minutes.. I seriously believe if keane had went off and nobody came on to replace him, leaving morrison alone up front and the midfield left as they were we would have got a result.. Too late now so lets hope we beat the French & Swiss. Which I believe we can.
Well, we had the chance to hammer Israel twice, couldn't do it, and dropped 4 crucial points. France and Switzerland are better sides than Israel, so we won't hammer them. Kerr has 3 matches to save his job, because this Irish team is, (when they play like they can), the best we have ever had. Unfortunately, the team play within themselves most of the time, don't score enough goals, switch off when leading, can't defend when required, and collapse under pressure. All Kerr's mumbo-jumbo about the opposition being world-beaters (even part-timers) doesn't help. His substitutions are poor, and badly-timed. His tactics are (mostly) negative. He refuses to learn from his mistakes. It's not an opinion made up on-the-spot, because he has played against decent teams 5 times during his reign, and has dropped 10 points. As head coach, the results are his responsibility, and should we fail to quailfy for the World Cup, it will be ultimately his fault.
Winning what amounted to no more than an end-of-season runout against the hapless Faroe Islands is merely a smokescreen, which will
fade fairly fast when real teams like France and Switzerland get stuck into our fragile defence in the autumn. You don't qualify/fail for the World Cup in the last match, you win/lose it over the campaign. 4 teams are trying to qualify from our group, but they can't all qualify. Those 4 points dropped against one of our qualifying rivals from winning positions, may prove to be the ones that cost us qualification.
Failure to qualify will get Kerr the sack, Keane, Cunningham, and several others into immediate International retirement, and a team left coachless, leaderless, and a weakened squad in total disarray, resigned to playing disinterested opponents in meaningless home friendlies, before the qualifiers for Austria and Switzerland begin next year.
Last edited by mypost; 14/06/2005 at 4:05 AM.
How do you know Switzerland are better than Israel? I'd say they're both definitely on par.
Jaysus, we might as well all give up now so, and save ourselves from further embarassment!
I fail to see where you draw this conclusion from, they are nowhere near the best side we've ever had - and in fact I agree with the Liam Brady view that we simply dont have enough top quality players at the end of the day. Face facts - we've a fairly **** crop of players at the moment - our best - Duff is not the sort that "carries" a team on his own and but for the fact that a bit part second choice striker (Clinton) saved our bacon with a couple of goals (while playing above himself) we'd be well out by now. We're in with a shout with two home games - and given the medicroity of most of our squad at international level and the less than overwhelming return of Roy Keane thats something to be thankful for I'd venture.
We have a good core to the team: Keane x2, Duff and Given. Some reasonable Premiership players in Finnan, Carr, Kilbane and Cunningham so we have the basis of a solid if not world beating side but due to our size we'll never have 11 quality players in all positions.
The fact is that on paper we're stronger than Israel and Switzerland but we haven't beaten them but France is stronger than all 3 and they haven't performed either. We've got 3 away draws against Swiss/France/Israel and drawn at home to Israel. I'd sooner be in our shoes than any of the others with the away draws in the bag. Kerr's competitive record doesn't point to us winning the home games but I'm confident we'll beat the Swiss. As regards the French, we'll need bags of aggression and a high tempo game and who knows. I fear he'll play Finnan on the right and play a holding game and settle for a pt. I hope not.
Fanning - he only sees one player on the pitch and is now starting on Kerr as he did on previous managers. He has an obsession with Houllier and is now comparing Kerr to him. Isn't it his daddy's paper he writes for ? His is only one opinion and he probably knows far less about football than many on here so forget about him.
In summary, it's too early to start on Kerr. We're top of the group and our fate is in our hands. We would nearly all have accepted this in advance for this stage of the group.
I couldnt call given world class. He NEVER saves ANY Peno's
Carr is overweight and crap these days
No Finnan?
Jolly - Given is not world class because you never seen him save a peno? I've yet to see Duff score a peno, doesn't mean he's not world class. Actually, would you believe. My memory is probably playing games but the only time I remember seeing Duff take a peno was against Newcastle in pre-season friendly in Malaysia. He missed. Guess who saved it???Given actually laughed at Duffer after he saved it.
http://www.nufc.com/html/2003-07-27c...sia-cup-a.html
given is one of the best keepers in english PL. but i dont think he really is world class like czech or cassicsas. Maybe he is world class but he defintely needs to work on the peno's
friendlies dont count
hehe, why not?
Another:
He's no different than any other keeper.Newcastle's in-form keeper Shay Given pulled off an exceptional penalty save to help his side beat Derby and move joint top of the Premiership - for 24 hours at least.
Given had seen striker Alan Shearer give Newcastle the lead with a 30th minute penalty before facing a Derby spot-kick in the second-half.
Derby's Fabrizio Ravanelli picked himself up after being brought down by home defender Andy O'Brien to take the visitors' penalty.
But, even though Ravanelli produced a well-struck penalty, Given saved with a dive to his left to deny Derby an equaliser.
At saving penos ?? No, he hopeless and one of the worst I've seen. But I agree that doesn't make him a poor keeper.
Perhaps "international class" might be better than "world class" when describing the players since obviously few if any would get on a World XI.
Well there wouldnt be many that would have more than 2 in the world XI.. but given would certainly be in the top 10 in the world..maybe even top 5.
Lol, i remember watching the match. That is the corner Duff must go for when training with Given because their was a cheeky smile from Given. But that is the only Peno i remember him saving and i think he is horrible at saving them but that doesnt mean he is not a top class keeper. I rate Given up there with the best in Europe.....but if he stays on his line for a few seconds longer hi might save a few.lol.No Finnan?
Jolly - Given is not world class because you never seen him save a peno? I've yet to see Duff score a peno, doesn't mean he's not world class. Actually, would you believe. My memory is probably playing games but the only time I remember seeing Duff take a peno was against Newcastle in pre-season friendly in Malaysia. He missed. Guess who saved it???
http://www.nufc.com/html/2003-07-27c...sia-cup-a.html
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