I've never seen a manager at any level make so many poor substitutions.
What keeps me awake is that Malta could beat us 2-0 and he still won't be sacked
It was so pedestrian and static. No movement, understanding or penetration. We’re not progressing!
I've never seen a manager at any level make so many poor substitutions.
What keeps me awake is that Malta could beat us 2-0 and he still won't be sacked
Yet another insipid performance - it feels like Groundhog Day.
Keeping Kenny on simply means more of the mediocre same. Things will never improve and Kennyites will never get the smug told-you-so moment they obviously crave.
We'll be out of the running for qualification within three or four matches; guaranteed. We're just marking time before the inevitable happens and Kenny is finally relieved of his duties. What a waste of talent and time.
Kenny had newly-emerging options to call on, yet we get a midfield of Cullen, and the limited Molumby and Browne. It's a friendly, and one we (predictably) lost anyway. What's to be gained from using these players? What more is there to learn that we don't already know? Then he brings on Hendrick and Brady. F**king hell. Ferguson got a token two minutes. Again pointless.
I despair...
Big fan of Kenny for years but . At this stage it’s time for something new the next campaign even in a terrible group. I just can’t see this set up going anywhere worthwhile.
Awful, awful stuff. How much more of this will we have to endure? It was obvious 18 months ago this was going to be a disaster and - other than a short good spell at the end of the World Cup campaign that was almost certainly down to Anthony Barry's influence - nothing has changed.
I suppose it might be best to let him start the next qualification group at this point, we're not going to get out of it anyway so he might as well own another failure rather than saddling some new manager with it. But once we're out of the running, which will no doubt be after two or three games, we need to get a new man in and give him the rest of the group as a free pass to start fixing the problems Kenny will have left behind.
Unfortunately that was really one for the Kenny Out brigade. Decent spell at the start of the second half, but overall very poor.Originally Posted by D24Saint
Out for a spell, got neglected, lay on the bench unselected.
It's always seems to be one step forward and then three steps back with Kenny. That was woeful.
I was sat there with my brother and we both agreed the lack of enthusiasm was our biggest issue. We thought the solution was to put Sykes and Smallbone on. Making their debut they might at least have been arsed enough to run about a bit.
The substitutions were dreadful
They can say what they like, but the players clearly aren't playing for him.
Was thinking the same. Laughing away at his own voice mostly.Is Kenny Cunningham drunk
I don't mind Brady coming on. He's been injured for ages but he still has something to offer, so in that regard it's good to get him back in the fold.
Not too bothered Ferguson - with one league appearance ever - didn't get more time. But I do think there was a missed chance at more experimentation. Sykes and Smallbone aren't going to be game changers, but they're the kind of players friendlies are for.
Worst of all was that Norway weren't very good. Gave silly possession away when we pressed them properly. Which was rare.
Last edited by pineapple stu; 17/11/2022 at 9:26 PM.
I thought 8 of tonight's 11 did fine. Robinson individually was awful, nowhere near the player of a year ago. Obafemi's first touch was off tonight but was also starved of good ball, so he gets a pass from me.
But while I thought the general balance of the team was fine the team was screaming out for a creative player in Browne's position. We had good width from the full backs, a firm base from Cullen and Molumby but a creative player in Browne's position would probably have changed that overall performance. Knight was missing obviously, but Smallbone, McGrath, Brady, Ronan or even O'Dowda could have added something in the last third.
I just don't see the need for conservatism in a game like this. A rookie could have been given a chance with so many other solid performers on the pitch.
The starting selection was too conservative for that reason. The squad itself was (marginally) too conservative which probably predicted SK's approach to the games. The substitutions were again too late and failed to address the - glaringly obvious imho - fundamental weakness in the team's play. And it's not the first time SK has overlooked the importance of an attacking playmaker in this shape.
The second goal was an absolute nothing goal. Infuriating.
It's been clear that Kenny is more interested in getting results to save his job rather than develop our players for a long time now. When he played aging players like Coleman and McClean against Belgium B while not making any subs until after the 75th minute, the nonsense he was spouting should have been put to bed. He's still at the same thing now. It was a meaningless friendly, try out players!
I don't think the result matters too much, it's just that it adds to more to the negativity that has surrounded Kenny's miserable reign. It's been a horrible 2 years and another really poor interview to add to it.
It looks like Kenny is now more worried about losing these pointless friendlies than trying something new, or giving an untested player a chance.
You'd have people singing his name at the end too, celebrating failure. Embarrassing.
It's like the GameStop bubble - the more people point out that the emperor has no clothes, that the company is a failed and outmoded business model - a busted flush with the stock essentially worthless - the more the true believers double down and buy more and more shares. Those telling unpleasant truths, like Jim Cramer, are derided, becoming hate figures.
Then, the inevitable happens; the bubble bursts and it all ends in tears - reality biting hard and the fantasy over.
Brexit and Britain is the non sporting comparison I'd draw, but yeah, same sort of thing.
Why bring Ferguson on at all then? Pure tokenism. Completely pointless.
It was as conservative a line-up and choice of substitutes as he could have gone with - and we lost anyway. A wasted opportunity. You just know Hourihane would have seen minutes if he'd been available
I'm ok with tokenism. For me the value of Ferguson's call-up was a week of involvement with the seniors. But he's an academy player with one senior league appearance in England to his name. He was hardly likely to have turned the game if given the second half.
I'd have been more keen to see Sykes/Smallbone as they at least have a run of club games under their belts. (McGrath I could take or leave at the moment; lower SPL isn't a good level)
One good thing seems to have happened tonight - the public mood seems to have swung heavily against Kenny. Surprising that it would happen from a friendly when we've had to suffer so many poor displays in competitive games but tonight seems to have particularly triggered people for some reason.
Maybe it has partly come on the back of the meltdown at home to Armenia in the second half also, or maybe it's just seeing him take a friendly so seriously at home against a cobbled together Norway team and still not being able to pull out a result, but the mood has definitely changed now.
This is a good thing, being honest. The Kenny era has bitterly divided the support so hopefully this is the start of some common ground being found again, even if it is at his expense.
Malta 2-2 Greece tonight btw.
Sunday is a real banana skin
Maltese Falcon ! !
Very frustrating night. Fairly sure there was a murmur of boos as Hendrick was coming on. As usual the subs very frustrating both in timing and personnel. I’d have really like to have seen Smallbone for at least 25 minutes if not from the start, definitely brings another dimension I terms of quality on the ball compared to Browne.
I think the main difference tonight was they gave the crowd very little to get behind in the first half, no real urgency or goal threat and conceded a soft enough one from a set piece. Started to get the crowd on side second half, but lost them again with the Hendrick sub and another soft concession.
Bazunu’s confidence really seems to have taken a knock and he was definitely below the level we’d want. There was some promise in O’Dowda’s performance and at least that was a useful experiment. There was definitely a sense in the selection that the manager felt not losing was more important than looking at more options or experimenting. Understandable in many respects but also a bit disappointing.
Robinson and Obafemi just didn’t work together. Robinson got on the ball more but was poor, Obafemi just couldn’t get into the game at all. Doherty always looks fairly uninterested in friendlies and thought he had a quiet game too.
Malta is definitely a tricky one now. A loss and we’re definitely back to square one and the FAI have a big decision to make on the future of the management team.
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