Stephen Ireland

[drinkfeckarse]

Kerr only took charge of a handful of games after that date, and none at U-17 level, so shouldn't we all be worried about why he chose not to work with Sean McCaffrey at the same level when he replaced Kerr??

I think the jist of it (and again this is paper talk) was that Ireland thought Kerr still had an input because he was never actually selected therefore suggesting to him that Kerr told McCaffrey not to pick him.

For what it's worth, I think everyone is getting a little carried away with this, there's never been one single quote from Ireland or Kerr and I doubt very much that he will turn down any call now that he has matured a little more, be it the Under 21's or the Senior team.

[soccerc]

I think the jist of it (and again this is paper talk) was that Ireland thought Kerr still had an input because he was never actually selected therefore suggesting to him that Kerr told McCaffrey not to pick him.

For what it's worth, I think everyone is getting a little carried away with this, there's never been one single quote from Ireland or Kerr and I doubt very much that he will turn down any call now that he has matured a little more, be it the Under 21's or the Senior team.

http://www.soccercentral.ie/viewstor...&viewstory=yes

It's from 24 October 2002 while Kerr was still boss of the underage sides.

[Stuttgart88]

I remember the article well soccerc!

[Kingdom]

Just read Dion Fannings article summing up the group and Kerr so far in Sunday's Indo. The one thing that I noticed was a lot of quotes from nobody's family friends, inside sources etc. Surprised and disappointed. I like reading the Indo, but it has gone downhill. As a few have already stated, there seems to be a campaign out for Kerr's neck, and almost certainly has its origin's in Merrion Sq.
I hope, really really hope that we get the results we need to (at worst) make a play-off. If Kerr gets sacked (oops sorry doesn't have his contract renewed) then it will be a joke.

[CollegeTillIDie]

All we need at this time. Another Cork punk who knows better than his team manager!

If there is any truth in these rumours... no future ex-Ramblers players have a hope of getting picked for the Senior team

[CollegeTillIDie]

Just read Dion Fannings article summing up the group and Kerr so far in Sunday's Indo. The one thing that I noticed was a lot of quotes from nobody's family friends, inside sources etc. Surprised and disappointed. I like reading the Indo, but it has gone downhill. As a few have already stated, there seems to be a campaign out for Kerr's neck, and almost certainly has its origin's in Merrion Sq.
I hope, really really hope that we get the results we need to (at worst) make a play-off. If Kerr gets sacked (oops sorry doesn't have his contract renewed) then it will be a joke.

Yes the Chief Executive Macchiaveli... sorry John Delaney has a lot to answer for if these Chinese Whispers originate in 80 Merrion Square rather than a Fast Food outlet

[Jerry The Saint]

Just read Dion Fannings article summing up the group and Kerr so far in Sunday's Indo. The one thing that I noticed was a lot of quotes from nobody's family friends, inside sources etc. Surprised and disappointed. I like reading the Indo, but it has gone downhill. As a few have already stated, there seems to be a campaign out for Kerr's neck, and almost certainly has its origin's in Merrion Sq.
I hope, really really hope that we get the results we need to (at worst) make a play-off. If Kerr gets sacked (oops sorry doesn't have his contract renewed) then it will be a joke.

Heard Fanning on the radio this morning - "It doesn't matter what structures Brian Kerr has put in place. It doesn't matter if Ireland implement a development plan that is the envy of every country in the world. If Ireland don't get the results to qualify for this World Cup he will be sacked". Sad but true What's worse is that Delaney is likely to take the money that's currently being spent on the national team and squander it on the salary of some "big name" unemployed figure like John Aldridge, Tony Adams, Alan Ball, Roddy Collins or Chris Waddle. (or the dream team of Ron Atkinson and Carlton Palmer )

Very malicious comments have been made in the press recently - Roy Keane/Martin O'Neill/even Alex Ferguson are being lined up by the FAI to replace Kerr. Utter nonsense but designed to put out the impression that we can do better than Kerr and he should be got rid of. Of course once the damage is done and the FAI come looking for a replacement it'll be too late when we realise we're stuck with John Gregory or Steve Claridge...

[nismo]

ye dont have a ****in clue,kerr left him out of the team in cobh beacuse he played for the city reserves when kerr didnt want him too in a semi cup final,kerr had promised him he'd get his game,then after not getting his game twice he got a call from manchester askin him to com play in the reserves cup final match so he left as he was captain of the reserves.

now id prefer to play for my club in a cup final then sit on a cold bench watchin a game for my country!!

ps he was approached to play for england after this happened and declined saying he wants to play for ireland at senior level in a few years.

[Dodge]

Don't forget the last time the job came up, it came down to Bryan Robson and Kerr and Delaney voted for Robson. Told me all I needed to know about Delaney's interest in football

[thejollyrodger]

Delaney is a scúm bag. He is filth of the highest order. THe reason he is still in the FAIlure for so long is that is the most manipulative, backstabbing, two faced judas of them all. I hate the sight of him and I know the toe rag is behind most of the anti kerr media stories.

Delaney's intrest in football extends to following Man Utd on sky sports and spends more money going to Old trafford supporting MAn U than he ever will going to Eircom League games.

What other CEO of an FA would be such a avid supporter of a english based team and english based managers ??. Its so pathetic its embarssing.

He will offer "name your price" to any Englishman in the English PL. In the mean time he will pis$ all over any development of Irish soccer and it stinks.

2/c

[Jerry The Saint]

now id prefer to play for my club in a cup final then sit on a cold bench watchin a game for my country!!

ps he was approached to play for england after this happened and declined saying he wants to play for ireland at senior level in a few years.

Provided the Ireland game doesn't clash with a Manchester City reserves game of course.

[dynamo kerry]

how could he play for england?

and another thing.. tough ****e on the reserves match. you don't 'not play for your country' hard cheese

[tetsujin1979]

ye dont have a ****in clue,kerr left him out of the team in cobh beacuse he played for the city reserves when kerr didnt want him too in a semi cup final,kerr had promised him he'd get his game,then after not getting his game twice he got a call from manchester askin him to com play in the reserves cup final match so he left as he was captain of the reserves.

now id prefer to play for my club in a cup final then sit on a cold bench watchin a game for my country!!

ps he was approached to play for england after this happened and declined saying he wants to play for ireland at senior level in a few years.

Not even close, Man City haven't appeared in the FA Youth Cup Final since 1989 - http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFAY...2/07/15018.htm
If that's the basis for your argument, the rest of the post is suspect at best

[Donal81]

The timing of this particular story is suspicious, an attempt to discredit Kerr? Maybe I'm too cynical....

Cocky kid from Cork the least of Kerr's worries

Wednesday October 5th 2005

IT is a moot point if Stephen Ireland will actually make it in the fame academy of Premiership football. But beyond dispute surely is his right to a PhD in gall.

He is a 19-year-old Corkman with the grand total of one Premiership start to his name and, by all appearances, a great chest of self-regard to his arsenal. That start last weekend, admittedly, reaped a Man of the Match award for his role in Manchester City's defeat of a chaotic Everton.

It earned him kind words from dressing-room colleagues and, naturally, some stirring bouquets from old friends back in Cobh, where his career first took palpable blossom.

The Cobh connection, inevitably, spawned comparison with that great, flinty leviathan of the game who left the club 15 years ago to sign for Brian Clough and Nottingham Forest. Better still, Ireland's story bore another compelling echo to that of Roy Keane.

Three years ago, he "stormed out" while on international duty with the national Under-17 squad in a European qualifying tournament.

He has not worn an Irish shirt since and is adamant - apparently - that he will remain unavailable to play for his country while Brian Kerr retains the post of national team-manager. Kerr is a kind of Lucifer in Ireland's eyes for not giving him any game-time in that Under-17 tournament.

The kernel to his argument is that, given the tournament was based in Cork and his family, friends and neighbours were in the stands, Kerr was somehow obligated to accommodate the local boy.

It is the equivalent of declaring that the underage game should be a glorified creche for teens. That the international manager should, maybe, check who's Ma or Da might be sitting in the stand before finalising his team-sheet.

You can't help but set the sheer brazenness of Ireland's stance against the storied self-sacrifice of old heroes like Paul McGrath, Kevin Moran, Frank Stapleton or Dave Langan for whom an Irish shirt represented something more profound than a self-fulfilling night out with friends.

Langan now works as a porter at Peterborough Town Hall. His career was effectively stalled by a knee injury picked up playing for Ireland against France in a World Cup qualifier at Lansdowne Road in 1981.

A bad tackle tore cartilage in his left knee. He would undergo 11 operations on that knee and attempt several comebacks before being forced to retire. Langan played for the full 90 minutes of that game, despite sustaining the injury roughly 20 minutes in. "I was desperate to play," he recalled recently. "Because you adrenaline's pumping, injuries don't matter. You just keep going."

You think of the selflessness of that image. You think of McGrath in the Giants Stadium, so unbreakable, despite the shoulder virus that rendered his right arm limp. You think of Moran in so many wars in so many bullpens, his forehead perpetually bandaged. You think of Stapleton, running a great chain of lone, heroic furrows.

And you think of this kid from Cork, a kid who has started a solitary Premiership game, a kid who is some distance removed from a guaranteed future in the business. You think of him laying down terms of reference under which he might deign to play for his country again.

And you think that, on the roster of worries Kerr will carry to Cyprus today, the obstinacy of Stephen Ireland will scarcely feature high.

Vincent Hogan

© Irish Independent
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/ & http://www.unison.ie/

[eirebhoy]

Not even close, Man City haven't appeared in the FA Youth Cup Final since 1989 - http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFAY...2/07/15018.htm
If that's the basis for your argument, the rest of the post is suspect at best

And he wasn't even playing reserve football for City at the time, never mind being captain. nismo - I can't believe you would post such lies. Don't think there's many cup finals in October.

[Roverstillidie]

and why did he refuse to play at under 19's?

we need another pre-madonna cork whinger around the team like we need a hole in the head.

the arrogance.

[CollegeTillIDie]

and why did he refuse to play at under 19's?

we need another pre-madonna cork whinger around the team like we need a hole in the head.

the arrogance.

If he f***in declares for England the Department of Foreign Affairs should withdraw his citizenship. That's the least you should do with a traitor!

[Kevin77]

The response to all this stuff is ludicrous.

Cart before the horse.

Things are bad. We have no genuine prospects in centre mid once Keane is gone.

You kid plays a few times off the bench and then gets (arguable) man of the match against the bottom team in the Premiership and were already calling for him never to represent Ireland because of something that happened a few years ago for an underage side of which the circumstances are sketchy at best.

Calm down.

1. He may be another Healy, Miller, Stephen Reid etc. He's nothing but potential so far.

2. If he fulfils his supposed potential, he should be selected for Ireland. Chances are he'll be happy to play. Kerr or no Kerr.

3. Kerr mightn't even be the manager by then

4. If he is and Ireland turns it down...then lets find out why.

Storm in a teacup

[Dublin12]

If he f***in declares for England the Department of Foreign Affairs should withdraw his citizenship. That's the least you should do with a traitor!

Like Terry Wogan

[tetsujin1979]

Like Terry Wogan

Terry tore strips off Graham Norton after he passed some comment about Dolores McNamara being from "Stab City". Absolved from any/all failings after that as far as I'm concerned.