New Manager?

**monutdfc** · 13/12/2005, 12:38 PM

Are there any credible candidates on the horizon?

(Please, don't mention Aldridge.) Are Kevin Keegan or Terry Venables still in the running? I could take either of those 2 just about.
I stuck a euro on Alex Ferguson for the hell of it at 100-1, he has since come in to 40-1. He's about the only name I've heard mentioned so far that I'd be pleased about.

Has anyone changed their mind about the sacking of Brian Kerr as no credible successor has appeared?
Does anyone think Delaney is regretting it - he is for some serious flack if he doesn't come up with a good replacement soon.

**pineapple stu** · 13/12/2005, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by monutdfc

Are there any credible candidates on the horizon?

(Please, don't mention Aldridge.)

John Aldridge. Apart from that... Everyone else mentioned so far - bar Martin O'Neill, who in other circumstances would unquestionably be interested - seems to be a red herring to make money for the bookies.

Originally Posted by monutdfc

Has anyone changed their mind about the sacking of Brian Kerr as no credible successor has appeared?

Nope. If I had to watch another game where we went 1-0 up early, sat back and conceded a late equaliser, I'd have gone mad.

**as_i_say** · 13/12/2005, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Nope. If I had to watch another game where we went 1-0 up early, sat back and conceded a late equaliser, I'd have gone mad.

I think you'll find he learned that trick from watching mick mccarthy away match videos

**Marked Man** · 13/12/2005, 2:43 PM

Originally Posted by as_i_say

I think you'll find he learned that trick from watching mick mccarthy away match videos

Pity he couldn't have learned the qualifying trick too.

**TheJamaicanP.M.** · 13/12/2005, 7:33 PM

Originally Posted by as_i_say

I think you'll find he learned that trick from watching mick mccarthy away match videos

Mick was a gentleman and class act (to use one of Dunphy's phrases). I thoroughly enjoyed the football and commitment which the Irish team gave under Mick. He was a different class to Kerr. I really wanted Kerr to succeed because it was a feel-good story for Irish football, but the man was out of his depth at this level. One positive outcome has been that Irish fans are again appreciating what Jack Charton achieved for us. Hopefully, we won't have to listen to any more tripe from bitter old men like Liam Tuohy or Kerr for that matter.

Kerr sniggered at McCarthy and considered himself superior to Charlton. He got brought back down to earth fairly quickly. His ego had become inflated. There's no way Delaney is regretting the decision. In my view anyone would be better than Kerr. The man was simply unable to instill passion into the players.

**Closed Account 2** · 13/12/2005, 9:01 PM

No, it was the right choice. We finished 4th in a pretty easy group - a position that will haunt our seedings for years to come. The French were destinctly average for the majority of the matches, the Swiss are a good team but they are beatable, similarly the Israelis. Kerr made too many mistakes, persisted with the likes of Miller (who had barely played a club game for 2 years), kept starting Carr when Finnan was probably a better choice and had been outstanding for the Liverpool in their European Cup campaign).

At the end of the day finishing 4th is simply not good enough. If we had gone out in a playoff, maybe fair enough, even if we had finished 3rd but played well in important games I might have been up for giving him another chance. But 4th is the worst weve finished in a generation, and whats worse is how badly we played as the qualifiers went on. Kerr was out of his depth and as JPM says there was no passion - I'd rather throw the likes of Aldo or John Sheridan into the managerial fray than persist with Kerr.

**HarpoJoyce** · 13/12/2005, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by monutdfc

Are there any credible candidates on the horizon?

Bora Milutinovic, http://www.answers.com/topic/bora-milutinovic
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/m...vic-cintl.html

World Cup journeyman coach, is available http://www.jadransport.org/articles/2085.html

I think if fans just want to qualify then he's a better choice than most, as he's proved it in the past.

There's a small snob barrier to get past, as he hasn't managed a European nation (it may be considered he has not proved himself with a proper country yet).

**livehead1** · 14/12/2005, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by HarpoJoyce

[B]

I think if fans just want to qualify then he's a better choice than most, as he's proved it in the past.

There's a small snob barrier to get past, as he hasn't managed a European nation (it may be considered he has not proved himself with a proper country yet).

and just what, my learned friend, denotes a 'proper country'. I dont think i've heard a ridiculous comment in many's a week on this forum. He has taken countries to major tournaments, indeed without looking at the stats, he has probably taken as many teams to tournaments than all of our managers of our 'proper country' in the history of the sport!

**pineapple stu** · 14/12/2005, 12:45 PM

He said "it may be considered that" - i.e. it may be other people's opinions, though not necessarily his own.

**gustavo** · 14/12/2005, 6:06 PM

Originally Posted by TheJamaicanP.M.

Mick was a gentleman and class act (to use one of Dunphy's phrases). I thoroughly enjoyed the football and commitment which the Irish team gave under Mick. He was a different class to Kerr. I really wanted Kerr to succeed because it was a feel-good story for Irish football, but the man was out of his depth at this level.

Did you think that McCarthy wasnt out of his depth after his first full campaign?

**TheJamaicanP.M.** · 14/12/2005, 6:23 PM

Originally Posted by gustavo

Did you think that McCarthy wasnt out of his depth after his first full campaign?

In tactical terms, I would suggest that McCarthy was out of his depth after his first term. However, in terms of motivating players and improving the team, he certainly proved his capabilities. Mick had to make do with a poor squad. He relied on strikers such as Connolly, Jon Goodman and even David Kelly during that first qualifying campaign. In contrast, Kerr had the luxury of putting 11 Premiership players on the field for most of the games. He was able to leave a European Cup winner on the bench. Unlike McCarthy who was willing to acknowledge his mistakes (such as 3 at the back and Keane as sweeper), Kerr never accepted he was wrong and never learned from his mistakes. The team continued to score early goals and sit back and defend. I'm glad that Kerr is out of the job. I'd take Mick McCarthy back in an instant. His Irish teams had character. At least he would have the ability to instill the right attitude in the players.

**klein4** · 14/12/2005, 7:47 PM

I thought macarthy was a muck manager and that is been borne out at sunderland were he is hopelessly out of his depth. a P.R. man blaming his players in public as if he had nothing to do with their performances. anyone could have qualified on the third attempt. and it was more down to keanes perfomances at home to holland and potugal that got us through rather than any genius on macarthys part. he then managed to send his best player home and get knocked out by a spannish team who were there for the taking. terrible manager who was out of a job until a totally unexpected result against the dutch at home. still managed to lose away to iran anyway. people always look back with the oul rose tinted glasses cause he got us to ONE tournament at the third attempt but to me he was always a rubbish manager.any other country would have gotten rid of him after two **** poor qualifying campaigns were ireland threw away qualification eventho all events conspired in our favour. At the world cup ireland were totally clueless against spain. we got TWO penos, had an extra man and spain had more than one goal disallowed. anyone who looks back nostalgically at "the macarthy" era obviously didnt have to sit thru any of the great days of scrapping for results against iceland, lithuania,andorra,belgium and of course the brilliant macedonia. kerr was ten times the manager that macarthy was.millwall couldnt beleive their luck that they got rid of the useless waster and I'd say sunderland fans are thinking along the same lines now.....if he ever got the ireland job again I wouldnt ever support them again til he was gotten rid of. god even thinking about all them crap performances and crapper excuses is making me vomit.

**TheJamaicanP.M.** · 14/12/2005, 8:09 PM

Originally Posted by klein4

I thought macarthy was a muck manager and that is been borne out at sunderland were he is hopelessly out of his depth. a P.R. man blaming his players in public as if he had nothing to do with their performances. anyone could have qualified on the third attempt. and it was more down to keanes perfomances at home to holland and potugal that got us through rather than any genius on macarthys part. he then managed to send his best player home and get knocked out by a spannish team who were there for the taking. terrible manager who was out of a job until a totally unexpected result against the dutch at home. still managed to lose away to iran anyway. people always look back with the oul rose tinted glasses cause he got us to ONE tournament at the third attempt but to me he was always a rubbish manager.any other country would have gotten rid of him after two **** poor qualifying campaigns were ireland threw away qualification eventho all events conspired in our favour. At the world cup ireland were totally clueless against spain. we got TWO penos, had an extra man and spain had more than one goal disallowed. anyone who looks back nostalgically at "the macarthy" era obviously didnt have to sit thru any of the great days of scrapping for results against iceland, lithuania,andorra,belgium and of course the brilliant macedonia. kerr was ten times the manager that macarthy was.millwall couldnt beleive their luck that they got rid of the useless waster and I'd say sunderland fans are thinking along the same lines now.....if he ever got the ireland job again I wouldnt ever support them again til he was gotten rid of. god even thinking about all them crap performances and crapper excuses is making me vomit.

That is an absolutely stupid post that lacks any balance at all. What are you talking about McCarthy being out of a job until he got an unexpected result against the Dutch.? We were unbeaten in the group before that match against the Dutch. Without bringing the whole Keane issue to the surface again, you neglected to mention that Keane didn't travel to Iran for a game on the Thursday coz he had a game for ManU two days later. During the same campaign, Mick soldiered on with his team after his father had just passed away. He sent his best player home from the World Cup because there was no other alternative. I think you'll find that the other 22 players were more than happy. McCarthy might have had bad days against some poor teams but how you can tell me that Kerr is "ten times" better I don't know. McCarthy beat teams like Croatia, Yugoslavia and Holland in competitive games. Kerr managed to beat Georgia and Albania and conspired to finish fourth in the group. Unlike Mick, Kerr left the team in a worse position than when he took over. Kerr is an arrogant pr!ck who had notions above his station. It was Kerr who was the PR man who used the Irish media to get the job.
As for McCarthy at Sunderland, I think you'll find that the fans understand the difficult situation he's in. He has a woeful squad and no money to spend. It's actually a miracle he got them promoted (another fact you casually neglected to mention). Mick criticised his players a few weeks ago (something he'd never done in his career prior to that). He did it to see if he could get a reaction out of them. Compare that to Kerr who went on the Late Late Show and begged to stay in the job. On the show, Kerr said that the Irish squad wasn't good enough and he'd done his best.
I hope Kerr gets a job with Dublin City or some other parochial backwater of a club. That's just about his level.

**klein4** · 15/12/2005, 8:06 AM

nope.
I thought all along that macarthy was a brutal manager.
couldnt beleive the revisionism that went on after one result.(holland at home)
keane dominated that qualifying tournament. hence the unbeaten run. left to their own devices they always struggled. andorra home and away anyone?
had kerr been given the leeway macarthy got then I am sure he would have got us to a tournament. dont try and convince me otherwise by quoting selective facts. I saw it with my own eyes. to me your post on macarthy was pure revisionist rubbish.

**Stuttgart88** · 15/12/2005, 8:19 AM

Originally Posted by TheJamaicanP.M.

Keane didn't travel to Iran for a game on the Thursday coz he had a game for ManU two days later. During the same campaign, Mick soldiered on with his team after his father had just passed away.

Originally Posted by klein4

to me your post on macarthy was pure revisionist rubbish.

Nothing revisionist about Mick leaving his father's deathbed to manage Ireland though. I think those people who direct vitriol at him at every opportunity would be well served to remember the circumstances under which Mick took the team to Cyprus in March 2001. He has my respect as a person. As a coach / manager? Curate's egg. Good in parts.

**klein4** · 15/12/2005, 8:30 AM

absolutely irrelevant point about his father.
crap manager who made ridiculous decisions.too many to list here.
better state than he found them in? ireland away to russia and ireland at home to swiss were two of the worst tactically inept performances ever.
what has keane not going to Iran got to do with macarthys ability as a manager? what are you on about???? kerr was also unbeaten before france game. it didnt go his way and he was out the door. the same threat hung over macarthy at the time of the dutch game. most people thought they would lose and a third failure to qualify would not have gotten him another chance.classic irish inferiority complex is the root of a lot the vitriol directed at kerr.