Kerr - Judgement Day!

**Reality Bites** · 02/09/2005, 9:41 AM

Six days to go for Kerr to prove he is the real McCoy.. it is as simple as that! One draw away against a shakey french side in stade de france where the Irish outnumbered the home support is the highlight of his tenure so far, the lowlights... where do i start lacklustre draw at home to Russia, collapse in Basle 2003, tactless use of substitutes against the Israelis etc..
How much damage has been done in that disasterous home draw against the Israelis remains to be seen and Kerrs willingness to learn from these mistakes is crucial i.e Reid must play on the right instead of the cautious Finnan Carr option, Clinton Morrison will not last 90 minutes! he cannot be replaced with a holding midfielder, Elliot must come on in the second half at some stage, we are not good enough to hold the play in our own half if we get the early advantage. Positive football and belief is Key, home advantage is also crucial, anyone lucky enough to have a ticket should bawl and shout for the 90 minutes, we must get on the frenchs backs intimidate them, Lansdowne road needs to be a fortress that day.

I hope Kerr turns things around big style next wednesday nite, A win and we have one foot in Germany, a Draw ( likely scenario) its going to be nail biting to the very end of campaign, Lose and Kerr plays outs remainder of the campaign and a new manager is appointed in January 06 while we get to look forward to another Unity cup while the real teams head to the World Cup..

**NeilMcD** · 02/09/2005, 10:02 AM

I dont think we will lose but I dont think defeat would put us out cause we stll have Switzerland to play and if we beat them we could get a playoff place. But thats negative thinking and I dont think it willl happen

**Stuttgart88** · 02/09/2005, 10:26 AM

Neil is right. We'll know a lot more about this group on Saturday night.

If Israel beats Switzerland a defeat to France will almost probablly put us out. We'd need a minnow to do us a favour, either Faroes against Israel (x2) or Cyprus at home to the Swiss.

But even if Switzerland wins against Israel we can trump that by beating Switzerland. The only caveat here is that Switzerland may beat France. That'll be bad!

As said many times already, an Israel win in Switzerland really puts the pressure on us. Though I still have a sneaking suspicion Israel may struggle in the Faroes and Switzerland may struggle in Cyprus.

**Reality Bites** · 02/09/2005, 10:32 AM

In fairness to you total football you are correct Mathematically we can still qualify if we lose, but don't fool yourself the momentum would clearly be with the french to then to go ahead and win the group and the swiss to take second place.

**Dodge** · 02/09/2005, 10:32 AM

Brian Kerr is the not only the greatest manager of all time but the greatest person ever involved in any capacity in football. And whether he can get our 2nd rate bunch of hasbeens, never gonna bes and the odd gem to the world cup will not change that

**Donal81** · 02/09/2005, 10:40 AM

Losing to France shouldn't be an option when we can beat them.

I don't like it when fans rush to judgement and scream for this and that without patience or perspective but I agree with a lot of the points from Reality Bites. Kerr has made some decisions that I think went against us (putting Duff upfront against Israel when Keane got injured - when will we learn that whatever Duff's merits as a striker, he is simply much more effective for the team as a whole as a winger) but let's not discount the disgraceful scenes from the Israel game at home or the relative bad luck of a last minute goal away to them.

I wouldn't call for the guy's head if we lose or fail to qualify as I think this team is growing and there's more talent coming through but this Irish team has yet to produce a truly great performance in this campaign and has yet to bring home a truly great result. Whatever about bad luck, bad refereeing decisions etc, an entire campaign without that is unacceptable. This is our opportunity to prove that we deserve to go to the World Cup and Kerr's to prove that his team is capable of playing like the great Irish teams that came before him.

**TerryPhelan** · 02/09/2005, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

As said many times already, an Israel win in Switzerland really puts the pressure on us. Though I still have a sneaking suspicion Israel may struggle in the Faroes and Switzerland may struggle in Cyprus.

Switzerland did struggle in Cyprus - winning 1-0 with an 89th minute goal. They should have an easier ride at home though. I think Switzerland will beat Israel by 2 clear goals and set themselves up to top the group.

**paul_oshea** · 02/09/2005, 10:53 AM

well i know one thing for sure the more I think about the possible outcomes the more hair falls out in my head and the more confused i become!!!

**Reality Bites** · 02/09/2005, 10:53 AM

I agree with Donal81, he has yet to achieve a a big result as Irish manager The title of this thread pointed out that next Wednesday will say alot about Kerr as a manager.. certain individuals on this board seem to react very strongly with even the slightest criticism of Kerr..Its my opinion that he just hasn't cut the mustard yet and i see Wednesday nite as his chance to prove me wrong.

**NeilMcD** · 02/09/2005, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by TerryPhelan

Switzerland did struggle in Cyprus - winning 1-0 with an 89th minute goal. They should have an easier ride at home though. I think Switzerland will beat Israel by 2 clear goals and set themselves up to top the group.

I think that game was in Switzerland so they have to travel to Cyprus too.

Switzerland have Israel and France at home and Cyprus and Ireland away

**Stuttgart88** · 02/09/2005, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by TerryPhelan

Switzerland did struggle in Cyprus - winning 1-0 with an 89th minute goal. They should have an easier ride at home though.

Wrong, that was definitely in switzerland!

**Lionel Ritchie** · 02/09/2005, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by Donal81

) but let's not discount the disgraceful scenes from the Israel game at home or the relative bad luck of a last minute goal away to them.

Agree with the first bit but totally disagree with the last. Lady luck couldn't sit for a week after the way we played in Tel Aviv. We didn't get bad luck luck out there, we got bad managment, an inept performance and nothing more than we deserved.

It was the first time that I really, really questioned if Brian can cut it at this level. He had six months to do his homework on Israel ...six whole months -and even the misfortunes with empty pockets standing around William Hill waiting for them to weigh in at newmarket could've told him that Israel are statistically good for a late goal.

**Donal81** · 02/09/2005, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie

Agree with the first bit but totally disagree with the last. Lady luck couldn't sit for a week after the way we played in Tel Aviv. We didn't get bad luck luck out there, we got bad managment, an inept performance and nothing more than we deserved.

It was the first time that I really, really questioned if Brian can cut it at this level. He had six months to do his homework on Israel ...six whole months -and even the misfortunes with empty pockets standing around William Hill waiting for them to weigh in at newmarket could've told him that Israel are statistically good for a late goal.

I agree largely with you mate, it was a muck performance. I still remember clearly the pathetic waste of free kicks and corners. We had one I particularly remember from just outside the box. At this stage (70 mins thereabouts), the pub was getting a bit nervous, we fancied a second to wrap it up. Whatever miserable player was taking the frees that day, it went flying miles high and wide over the bar. From a set piece! And it wasn't the first time! At the same time, we were a number of seconds away from what many may have considered a classic old Arsenal-style 1-0 away victory. That's why I said 'relative' bad luck - the last minute goal was unfortunate but the game should have been put away long before that.

**Littlest Hobo** · 02/09/2005, 1:06 PM

Getting nervous about it all now. Reading reports, the French are in an optimistic mood ahead of this game. With Zidane back they will be really confident.
I have a deep down gut feeling it will be a nightmare. I can see the Spain 3-1 scenario all over again

. Hope Mr Henry misses tthe flight over.
Obviously, I hope it will be another Sep '01 Holland job. Beautiful

If we fail miserably on Wed and don't qualify, I would still like to see kerr stay at the helm. It might be a wake up call for him to change tactics and drop the cautious approach, which will have been the main reason for his failure to qualify. We should have bagged the paris match, with a bit more adventure. Remember seeing Roy Keane at the end of that game and he was ****ed off with the draw, last one to clap us lot. The others seemed more pleased. That O'Shea miss may come back to haunt us.
Tel Aviv was a joke. Kerr hung on for the 80 odd minutes.

**eirebhoy** · 02/09/2005, 4:09 PM

Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie

Agree with the first bit but totally disagree with the last. Lady luck couldn't sit for a week after the way we played in Tel Aviv. We didn't get bad luck luck out there, we got bad managment, an inept performance and nothing more than we deserved.

FFS! There were 11 players on that pitch that night. Kerr deserves just as much blame as any player out their but certainly not the sole blame. The players were out their to create chances, Kerr told them this at half time but they just didn't attack. Maybe the video's of Israel breaking superbly put them off, I don't know. Anyway, it was Israel's game plan to break. Us holding possession destroyed that game plan until we lost possession with a shot in the last minute.

**youngirish** · 02/09/2005, 5:29 PM

Kerr's tactics have been very dodgy on numerous occasions so far particularly against the poor teams that we should be expecting to beat. If we don't qualify he needs to go. If he stayed we would just be admitting that we are content to be one of the s**t teams in Europe and that we don't expect to qualify for any major tournaments.

With the players we have we should at least be expecting to finish second in this group. Anything less would be a disaster.