Ireland are not Holland, and Kerr must realise this
Niall Quinn
Friday October 7, 2005
The Guardian
A more aggressive media, a less aggressive football team. I do not want to simplify a situation that is complex, but in a nutshell this is my assessment of the Republic of Ireland under Brian Kerr. The next six days may decide Kerr's fate, with Ireland going to Cyprus tomorrow and then hosting Switzerland in Dublin next Wednesday. Two victories could be enough to see us at the World Cup or in the play-offs. Anything less and Kerr could find his job in jeopardy.
The manager is discovering the thin lines that separate success and perceived failure. Had the Irish beaten France at Lansdowne Road last month, for instance, Kerr would almost certainly have been awarded and signed a new contract. But try as they did, and they could not have tried harder, Ireland lost to a piece of magic from Thierry Henry.
The response is something I have never witnessed before in Ireland. We are a decade or so into the country's Celtic Tiger phenomenon and maybe that has made us a more demanding nation - it's just a theory. But for whatever reason we now have a media akin to London's.
The intensity that accompanies every cough and spit from Sven-Goran Eriksson or Wayne Rooney is now being seen across the Irish Sea. Where once the sporting press travelled every inch of a qualifying campaign with the team, they have now climbed off well before the last kick to pen their disapproval of Kerr's Ireland. To me that is quite a change in the culture.
In Britain it might not be understood just how Kerr came to succeed Mick McCarthy. Having had exceptional results at youth levels, Kerr was a popular and accessible presence among Irish sports journalists and when the vacancy arose he rode a wave of media support like no other. He was clapped into office. Once there, however, he immediately shut a previously open door and that is a decision now revisiting him.
While things were going well - impressive results in friendlies and Roy Keane reintroduced to the squad - Kerr's increasing distance from the media mattered only to the people involved. Meanwhile, he was setting about imposing his ideas on how the game should be played by the national team and a decent start to a hardish group featuring Israel as well as France and the Swiss left him in a comfortable position, if not a cosy one.
Those ideas of Kerr represent a second cultural shift. I would describe him as a technocrat when it comes to coaching. When I started out playing for Ireland the manager was Jack Charlton and the criticism was that we played caveman football. There was an element of truth to that and I would not apologise for it because I always felt that the sheer urgency of our play somehow contained a degree of our Irishness. We are the country of gaelic football, of hurling; we are not Holland.
The following is an example of where these two shifts have merged, I think. When we played England off the park at Wembley in 1991, every Irish player attended a PFA dinner until 2am, less than 72 hours before kick-off. We were in full view of everyone and we are still lauded by the media for our display at Wembley. Last month, five days before France, a few of the Ireland team went out for a meal and after it a few of the few had a night out. There was a frenzy of media criticism designed to embarrass the manager. I could not believe it.
That was the background in which the players went onto Lansdowne Road. They fought hard, but one thing lost in the scrutiny of Irish defeat was just how hard the French fought. They equalled us, which meant to win we had to be superior technically. We may be all Europeans now, but we have no Henry.
That is not Kerr's fault, but the Irish sides who reached Euro 88, Italia 90 and the rest had no Henry. What we had was spirited, sometimes raw Irish talent and all the video analysis in the world won't give you that. I have been in this sort of siege position before and I know what the players are going through. I want them to win - which not everyone in Ireland can say - but I want them to win playing Irish football, not cautious continental football.
Disgusted
QuoteOriginally Posted by mountie
That performance, if you could call it that, by this Irish team last night was the worst I have ever seen. I am old enough to remember the days when we would send out a team with only a few players plying there trade in England and the rest made up with part timers from the LOI. Those guys always, always gave 100%. They did not have lofty ideas about themselves nor did they ever, ever surrender in a game, like this team does. I don't know what the problem is in the squad, but there definetly is one. Some of you may have noticed Steve Finnan's attitude last night, his body language suggested that he did'nt give a rats ass, totally non commital. But he was'nt the only one. Kerr could have made at least six changes at half time, the commitment to the cause was so poor. We have all seen these players playing for their clubs they ARE good players and a couple of them exceptional, but it did'nt show last night. We have all played soccer, all at different levels, but the common thing was you gave your best each and every time, unless, if you are honest with yourself, there was a problem, either with your team mates or with the coach/manager. Maybe the media know something we don't know, they have hounded Kerr like a fox hunt, they have not openly criticised the FAI nor hunted Delany in the same manner. These players are unhappy with something, the old Irish collective spirit is not there and we all know it and witnessed it last night. I am not optimistic about Wednesday, Switzerland are an ordinary side IMO, but they are a TEAM and that wins games. I hope I'm wrong and that last night was a one off, but there have been too many one offs lately that I fear the worst for us. I hope someone writes a post next Thursday telling me I was totally wrong, but......
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