Roy Keane to miss Swiss

[dr_peepee]

Apparently injured for six weeks

[tetsujin1979]

Where did you see this? Did you perform the diagnosis yourself, good doctor??

[tricky_colour]

A rather unreliable source called The Sun apparently.

Oh dear.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2...420494,00.html

[tricky_colour]

Or maybe he is a closet Telegraph reader:-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mai...4/ixfooty.html

"Manchester United again start without Roy Keane, who may be absent for up to a month with a hamstring injury"

The Swiss match is the 12 October, which is about 28 days and 18.5 hours (aprox )
away

[geysir]

Will you ever quit with these tabloid threads.
From the BBC
"Boss Sir Alex Ferguson has decided not to risk Keane, who reported a slight hamstring strain in training and, with Sunday's Premiership trip to Liverpool looming, Sir Alex Ferguson opted not to risk his veteran skipper."

[Qwerty]

Expect Keano to have Gerrard in his bacl pocket as usual

[macdermesser]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...td/4244054.stm

its on the BBC this morning .. although he didn't play against City as stated in the report. feck.

[wallis]

If you are talking about the Man City game then he did play , he came on as sub late on.

Yet more OTT journalist lies....

[thejollyrodger]

he got the injury playing against city. i hope he wins his battle and plays in 4 weeks time for us

[NeilMcD]

This would be a disaster for us.

[gspain]

out for 3 weeks according to Sky but obviously must be 6 if it's in the Sun.

[macdermesser]

If we don't beat Switzerland, not only will we not qualify and will we get a difficult draw for the European Championship, it is likely that Kerr will lose his job, just as many on this list hope he will. We will then probably end up with some second-rate or third-rate Brit 'with Premiership experience', even though nobody has yet managed to formulate a coherent argument as to what Kerr is supposed to have done so badly wrong against France. The Irish media will of course endorse the decision to get rid of Kerr. After all, anyone with experience of English football, no matter how poorly they have performed as a manager, has got to be better than the best Irishman on offer, haven't they?

Agree with you 100%. Kerr has to be given the chance to build on what he is done. No failed English managers like John Gregory etc, or mercenaries like Troussier or Schaefer... or ex-Irish internationals looking to get some experience in management. Kerr and Hughton are the best duo for the job.

[tetsujin1979]

The Irish media will of course endorse the decision to get rid of Kerr. After all, anyone with experience of English football, no matter how poorly they have performed as a manager, has got to be better than the best Irishman on offer, haven't they?

Given how widely he was supported by all corners of the media, it would be a severe case of foot in mouth if they turned on him to support a Premiership manager.

[Tired&Emotional]

(Realistic) suggestion on RTE that Roy may have played his last game for Ireland if the hamstring injury is prolonged and he'll miss the Swiss game. I realise that he won't play that game if he's still injured but when they put it like that (.."last game...") my optimism for WCQ has taken another dent! Pyschological dent for the team as well...

[shakermaker1982]

we do need him, ideally with a game in the Premiership to shake off rust, Bad news either way.

[OwlsFan]

. We will then probably end up with some second-rate or third-rate Brit 'with Premiership experience', even though nobody has yet managed to formulate a coherent argument as to what Kerr is supposed to have done so badly wrong against France. The Irish media will of course endorse the decision to get rid of Kerr. After all, anyone with experience of English football, no matter how poorly they have performed as a manager, has got to be better than the best Irishman on offer, haven't they?

On the basis of what experience do you think we'll end up with "some second-rate or third-rate Brit" were Kerr to be dismissed.

[colster]

Based on the record of who applied for the job last time for starters. The main candidates other than Kerr were Brits like Robson or Aldridge who were then failing as managers but had 'premiership experience'. If we don't make the playoffs, and Keane retires, I can't see a higher calibre of manager applying for the job this time as we will clearly be a less appealing prospect than we were a few years ago.

Also on the basis that the main argument against Kerr seems to be that he doesn't 'have premiership experience' or 'can't motivate the players because they don't respect him'. Those calling for his head do not take the care to explain who should replace him and why they would be better than Kerr, so I am not convinced they have thought through the consequences of getting rid of Kerr. If I believed that the arguments against Kerr were properly thought through (eg. did the fact that Roy Keane had no respect whatsoever for McCarthy ever prevent him from giving 100% when he was playing under McCarthy? If not, why do people try to imply that if Duff or Robbie Keane underperform against France that it is somehow Kerr's fault? Why is it not Duff's, Keane's, Mourinho's or Jol's fault?), then I would be convinced that the plans for replacing him were also thought through.

I don't see any Irish nationals with 'premiership experience' and who aren't total failures as managers, with the exception of David O'Leary who has made clear that he considers managing Aston Villa, a total non-entity of a team, to be more important than managing his country.

Of course, the FAI could appoint some continental who is also out of a job, who knows nothing about Ireland and little about Irish football, but that wouldn't be much better in my opinion.

Kerr considers the job to be the best in the world and knows everything he needs to know about Irish football. He has made mistakes (or rather, decisions I don't agree with), but I see no evidence whatsoever that he is not capable of learning from them. So please, why don't those who want to get rid of him produce a reasonable argument to show how this will improve our chances in the future?

Excellent post. Couldn't agree more.
AFAIK Kerr has played the strongest lineup and formation in all of the games.
He hasn't tried ridiculous tactics ala MacCarthy or had a Macedonia.
I've said this a few times now but irelands problems are in central midfield. We are playing a converted winger who can't pass the ball and a great player approaching the end of his career who can't get around the pitch as he used to and we have no viable alternatives to them.
I think Kerr should be given a contract up until the WC 2010.
Let him build for the next WC even if we qualify for this one. The likes of Cunningham, keane and holland could all be gone by the time the EC qualifiers start.

[NeilMcD]

Great post but I would have left out the bit about Alrdridge been a Brit. I know technically he is but he is also Irish. Its funny though, I agree with you about Keeping Kerr but Van Basten and Klinsman both got top jobs even though they have never managed anybody. The French playeres wanted Blanc instead of Domenech. Football is a funny old game and you can never tell who would be successful in a job or not. But what is most important is that you get the players playing together.

[Metrostars]

Excellent post. Couldn't agree more.
AFAIK Kerr has played the strongest lineup and formation in all of the games.
He hasn't tried ridiculous tactics ala MacCarthy or had a Macedonia.
I've said this a few times now but irelands problems are in central midfield. We are playing a converted winger who can't pass the ball and a great player approaching the end of his career who can't get around the pitch as he used to and we have no viable alternatives to them.
I think Kerr should be given a contract up until the WC 2010.
Let him build for the next WC even if we qualify for this one. The likes of Cunningham, keane and holland could all be gone by the time the EC qualifiers start.

But it was Kerr's tactics of having Duff and Reid come scurrying back everytime France came forward that hindered their game. On the midfield situation, I usually get lambasted whenever I bring up Ronnie O'Brien's name around here. But he's been probably the best midfielder in the US the last few years and I think he could do a job for us in the middle. However for Kerr, live doesnt exist outside the English Premiership. Just look at how long Ian Harte was exiled by him.
In the last qualifying campaign, Russia and the Swiss both skrewed up enough in other games to give us a chance in the last two games. What happened. And then in this campaign, we didnt get the job done against Israel. I blame Kerr.

[NeilMcD]

Do you not want them to track back. Duff tracks back everytime for Chelsea. Thats how you keep a good defensive record. Henry beat us with a moment of brilliance, Kerrs tactics were spot on against the French.