The main thing Charlton had was a bit of personality. Wasn't the biggest fan of his football but he was an inspiring man.
The main thing Charlton had was a bit of personality. Wasn't the biggest fan of his football but he was an inspiring man.
Exactly!
Same as McCarthy. And O’Neill
Players like them and would run through walls for them.
I’m not sure Kenny would inspire me to finish my dinner.
Also, they bang on about the system and how they can switch systems etc but we’re never really sure of who’s going to be playing.
It’s not a settled squad.
Duffy was out in the cold for a while and tonight he was captain.
Robinson hasn’t played in a long time after being our saviour for a few games two years ago.
The only sure starters seem to be Cullen, Bazunu, Collins, Ferguson and Ogbene. After that it’s a bit of a lottery
Charlton was blessed with the best ever squad of Irish players .,.. but instead of using them correctly played a percentage game that granted brought us some success but failed to bring us to the level we could have achieved … and that’s not a hindsight view but one expressed by many at the time…. Anyone old enough to have suffered through our draws against Egypt 1990 or Norway 1994 will know what I mean
I never saw O'Neill in those terms. He was direct for sure, but I never saw him as quite being from the same school of thought as the like of Jack, Graham Taylor or Egil Olsen.
I think Allardyce would look at us in the same terms he looked at Leeds and WBA. They were obviously nothing more than pay-days to him. And maybe more importantly I think the players anf fans would see him in those terms, here for another payday.
The guy I would have loved to have had the job at some point was another ex-england manager: Roy Hodgson. He was a rare example of a cultured Englishman who went abroad and challenged himself in different cultures. I think he would have gone down well with the Irish public. The timing was never right for that unfortunately and it's rather beginning to look like they will carry him out of Palace in a box.
I honestly don't know who it should be. I suggested Coleman as a caretaker but if he was brought in as permanaent player-manager I wouldn't object. If nothing else he's a leader and he has the respect of everyone in Irish football. Could have said all that about Stan though.
Yes, but the African Cup of Nations is in Jan. Presumably he would be available after that.
Last edited by backstothewall; 13/10/2023 at 9:31 PM.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
Dont agree it was stupid, i still think that early one there was the genesis of a new team being built and in a different mould from picking the highest ranked players in terms of their club football and sending them out to play up and under. It plateaued quickly, circumstances had us hope that corner is turned and things click. Nieve but I think something that needed to be tried. I think we are losing sight that the decline in the Irish international side has been predicted for a long time due to manner in which the FAI ran the game and that neglect of domestic football including grassroots would come home to roost, that we couldnt forever rely on England and Scotland clubs to develop our players when English and Scottish players were struggling to get game time with the impact of cheaper and developed players from Europe etc. English football got their act together with developing technically better players, we have years ahead of picking up cast offs with a few exceptions. We could get lucky and have a generation of players come through at the same time, it happens, but usually its well coached players complimented with that rare natural talent. The granny rule can be a sticking plaster again but there are no top class gems like an Aldridge or Townsend knocking about and when one like Declan Rice does crop up well...
Another manager will improve from where we are now but we're still going to struggle to break in to higher seedings in a consistant manner for the forseeable. Kenny offered a glimmer of hope of a long term plan. We are likely back to a short term punt, he a horrible team and eek out some memorable occasional results. What will help is the expansion of competitions by UEFA and FIFA, relegation in Nations League and getting play-offs among lower ranks. No matter what its going to be a long slog imo. Even with a new ethos at the FAI it will take time and major financial investment to get anywhere near the levels of similar sized countries never mind the levels expected by a fickle sporting public.
You know, we can't get a top male manager but we could probably hire whoever is the worlds top female manager.
Would certainly be different.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
We need a manager who makes us hard to beat again.
We’ve always prided ourselves on being a difficult team but we’re relatively easy to beat now
"Some success"
It brought us a World Cup Quarter final, which we lost by an odd goal due to a goalkeeping error. He brought us 2 other major tournaments (at a time when qualifying for the Euros was even tougher than qualifying for the World Cup). He brought us a victory against any country you choose to mention (apart from Spain. They always seemed to turn us over).
For a country with a population of less than 4 million at the time, that's a hell of a lot more than "some success".
But if there is a group of players to play that way with, it's this lot. Their a long long way from the quality of that team, who you quite rightly say were the best ever squad of Irish players.
We have the makings of a solid defence with the right organisation. We have a decent young forward who is mobile and is capable of bullying opposition defenders. We have no midfielders worth mentioning. So rather than hoping they can play their way through superior opposition midfields, why not just kick it over all their heads and have the midfielders role being to help the defence and support the forwards?
That's the biggest problem. We're far too easy to play against. Particularly at home.
Last edited by backstothewall; 13/10/2023 at 9:57 PM.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
I'm having a gin in ranelagh recovering..
We would’ve beaten them in Seville too if the ref hadn’t wrongly given Aldridge offside
My first memory of playing Spain is them coming to Lansdowne Road in the qualifiers for 94 and thumping us 3-0
3-1
The one being hugely important as we ended up qualifying on goals scored, being level on points and goal difference with Denmark
I thought Liam Scales looked a bit raw, but at the same time showed that there is plenty of potential there ~ Probably the only plus point from the game for me.
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