Delaney said from the outset that they were not going to do interviews like last time. Is there any substance to claims that Aldridge and Stapleton were 'upset' or even that they were to be interviewed.It reads to me as total conjecture.Originally Posted by Macy
Nedder, I would have given it to Terry Venables or even Bobby Robson.
Venables is highly regarded as both a motivator and tactician, I really can't see why all the opposition to him. Robson in my view is a good manager, but there is no way I would have given the job to Staunton or Aldridge for that matter? What has Aldo achieved in management....? Tranmere let him go. It is very similar to the McCarthy appointment a few years ago an wasn't exactly a success was he?
Guys
Apart from Morrison have any of the other players expressed an opinion?
There is not much difference between this appointment than there is in Mick Mc Carthys. Staunton retired in 2002 and is going to be appointed in 2006. Mc Carthy retired in 1992 and was appointed in 1996. Both captained their countries at World Cups and were liked by a large section of the squad they played in and were regarded as leaders on the pitch. The only difference is the Bobby Robson factor. I presume this is to prevent the earlier mistakes that Mick Mc Carthy made i.e. 3 at the back etc.
Now this Robson appointment can go one of 2 ways. Either it does prevent these sort of mistakes that Mc Carthy made early on or else its a recipe for disaster and there is disagreements and a misunderstanding of who is doing what.
I do think that John Aldridge can feel himself really unlucky not to be interviewed or chatted to over Staunton. Alridge has as much experience as Mc Carthy did if not more and a better record. He also shows all the passion that Staunton and Mc Carthy did on the pitch. He played at a top club and also played in Europe. He also dealth with average players and got them to play above themselves in Cup ties. In my view this is the major job for an ireland manager. To get average players to play above themselves in one off games. When al the fuss dies down and the draw is made I wll get behind the new working team but it all sees like a shot in the dark by the FAI which may work out but is more likely to end in disaster.
In Trap we trust
What current player in their right mind is going to criticise the appointment of Staunton now that it is practically a done deal. You might as well retire from the international football
This is not the best signature in the world, this is just a tribute
Never said it was "all" we need to qualify for tournaments....but then you know that.
We need quite a few things:
1. The spirit and fight I spoke about (particularly when most of your players are not world class (as is our case at the moment)....see Porto, Greece, Liverpool winning big tournaments. - Staunton should bring this element.
2. Technically good players - We have a shortage here. Staunton or in fact any international manager can do little to improve this. They can only pick what's eligible and do not get the time needed to significantly improve players.
3. Sound tactics - You can't spend as long in the game or have a career like Staunton's without becoming tactically astute.
4. Winning mentality - Staunton has proven to have this throughout his career.
5 Luck - Very important element. Remains to be seen.
For a country like our's with a small pool of players to choose from the first factor cannot be over-estimated and seems to have been lacking somewhat recently (for a number of reasons). When Staunton was captain, it was something we had in abundance.
"Can I have a Kit-Kat, chunky?"
"you mean a big one"
"No a normal kit-kat you fat bitch"
If as the press is reporting that Staunton has got his own way over backroom staff then it is obvious that Robson's roll is as a figurehead with little actual power. He may well advise Staunton but that can be ignored. I would think that Staunton won't realise how little he actually knows until it is too late.
This is not the best signature in the world, this is just a tribute
Sorry Greenbod but point 3 above is an absolutely ridiculous statement. There is a clear distinction between the role of the player and the coach and just because you have a long career as a footballer does not automatically mean that you will be a good coach. It is like saying that a janitor could be promoted to the CEO position of the cleaning company he works for after spending 12 years cleaning toilets. (No offence to janitors intended)
This is not the best signature in the world, this is just a tribute
Its your opinion that it can be ignored. But in my view it will either be a positive or a negative on Stauntons reign. But it cannot be ignored. Without Robson I dont think there would be too much difference between Mc Carthy and Staunton and to be honest we have better players now that when Mc Carthy took over but the morale is very low. Robson is the unkown factor in all of this. It will either be a great move or a disaster.
In Trap we trust
taunton must be given time to learn the art of management
By Tony Cascarino
Patience is needed if the new Ireland manager is to enjoy success
I AM delighted for Steve Staunton, the new Ireland manager. I am also scared for him. Steve is a friend and I have a lot of fond memories of playing and socialising with him when we were in the Ireland squad. We shared a testimonial, an Ireland XI against Liverpool, in Dublin in 2000.
I just wish this opportunity had come a couple of years later. He is a young man and going from assistant at Walsall to manager of his country is a huge step, even if Sir Bobby Robson will be there to help him. It can be so hard to recover from setbacks at the start of your managerial career.
It is important that the FA of Ireland (FAI) gives him two qualifying campaigns — European Championship, then World Cup — regardless of how results go in the next two years. It would be the easy route out to replace him if things wobble, but he needs time to gain experience and grow into the job.
Of course, there are no guarantees, no matter how much or little experience you have. After months of deliberation, the FAI has settled on the trendy option — a relatively young man who was revered as a great player. Look at Rudi Völler, then Jürgen Klinsmann with Germany, Marco van Basten with Holland and Mark Hughes with Wales.
It can be tough if you are managing footballers who you played with, but if they respected and liked you in your playing days, the chances are they will when you are the man in charge. There is no doubt that Steve — or Stan, as he is known — will have that admiration. Not only is he Ireland’s most capped player, he is hugely popular as a person. He is media friendly and approachable, which will help, especially in international football, where there is so much scrutiny.
Steve is not afraid to stand up for himself or voice an opinion. He never was. I first met him in a hotel in England when he was part of the Ireland squad for the first time. He was only 19 and we were sitting playing cards with three of his Liverpool team-mates, Ray Houghton, John Aldridge and Ronnie Whelan.
Ronnie asked him to go and get some tea and biscuits. Older players love to boss about the youngsters and mock them for being timid. Steve’s response? “F*** off, do it yourself, you lazy, fat f*****!” Fair play to you, I thought. You are just a teenager, but you know how to stick up for yourself.
He even took on Roy Keane in an argument about whether Liverpool were a better club than Manchester United. I’m not saying he won, but he stuck to his guns and did not back down, which is no mean feat.
When Steve was out of the team at Aston Villa in 2000, he was considering going on loan to Crystal Palace. I was not convinced and I told him: “Stan, if you go there and play badly, I don’t know where you can turn to.” But he was resolute, took the risk and was brilliant.
Steve lives and breathes the game. He is shrewd, opinionated, the sort who can be decisive and strong but also humane and honest. I agree with the FAI that he needs a wise head by his side. Being old and wise is one thing, but is 72 too old? I would like to see Sir Bobby in an informal, limited role. At least he is not the kind of person to go behind Steve’s back and undermine him because he covets the top job himself.
Steve will want Ireland to play in the traditional Liverpool way — fast-moving and elegant. It is the right style because Ireland do not have the players for the physical and direct tactics we used in my day. His first task is to restore the morale that had collapsed under Brian Kerr.
There is no reason to be pessimistic. Ireland can field 11 Barclays Premiership players yet finished behind Israel in the World Cup qualifiers. They have the talent to do better. Steve needs to get the smiles back on Irish faces and I wish him the best of luck.
In Trap we trust
I'd agree,
i would have liked the idea of Venables, personally I think Robson is too old for a four year stint, which is why he'll probably be given a two year deal as "advisor".
I also would have fully backed the idea of Staunton as assistant.
Major mess up again by the fai in leaking all this. Who knows, maybe Robson will be unveiled as mgr and stan as assistant in the next few days
that's a ridiculous analogy. A CEO of a cleaning company wouldn't talk about tactics with a janitor 3 to 4 times a week.
A CEO would not have a video analysis everytime a janitor cleans the floor.
Stupid!!!!
No logic to this massive FAI gamble
SOCCER/Republic of Ireland managerial vacancy: Irish Times soccer analyst Mark Lawrenson would love to see the Steve and Bobby show hit the big time, but he has his doubts
Steve Staunton and Bobby Robson? Well, it has to be the biggest gamble the Football Association of Ireland has ever taken, in its history. What is the thinking behind it? I have no idea. I've tried to look at it rationally, and have come up with zilch. I've tried to look at it in a slightly off-the-wall way, and I've come up with zilch. I really, really don't understand it.
I'm delighted for Steve, genuinely thrilled for him, I know him well and I think it's great for him, but it's one hell of an ask. I don't understand the logic, to be honest, I just find the situation extremely strange.
My initial reaction to the news was that I was amazed, but not surprised - which, I know, makes no sense at all.
What I meant, though, was that while the news amazed me it's hard, at this stage, to be surprised by some of the decisions the FAI make.
There had been so much talk about potential candidates for the job, most of them pie in the sky, but my belief all along was that the most realistic contender for Brian Kerr's job was . . . Brian Kerr.
He lost his job because Ireland didn't qualify for the World Cup, so that's the standard now: fail to qualify and you're out. Now we're down to fourth seeds in the next qualifying campaign and the FAI is asking a man with absolutely no coaching or managerial experience to get us qualification.
That's some pressure on Steve, even with Robson helping him out.
Kerr must be bemused by this, and he's entitled to be. The FAI said they wanted someone who could improve things and get us qualification - in all honesty, do we really think the two we've got are the men to do it?
The point I'm making is not against Staunton and Robson, it's against the FAI - it's almost like they've fudged it.
We assumed they had a plan once they made up their minds that Kerr was going.
There was all that talk about Martin O'Neill, but he was an absolute non-starter. Always a non-starter - for two reasons, first the health of his wife Geraldine; secondly because he is a massive favourite to take over from Sven-Goran Eriksson, he has so many supporters in the English FA you wouldn't believe, so if and when he returns to football it might well be for that job.
Guus Hiddink was another non-starter, he will have bigger fish to fry after the World Cup with Australia, and we have to be realistic about that.
So it seems to me that the FAI never really had a plan, certainly not a realistic one.
It was a case of 'Brian isn't going to take us any further, let's look around for a new manager'.
It sounds, then, like they went down all sorts of avenues and ended up saying, 'ah, we'll stick Stan in with Bobby Robson'.
I don't think anyone really knows yet what Robson's role will be, it may be that Steve decides on a way of playing and Robson will help him achieve it, point him in the right direction.
What Steve has to be able to do - and this is where Robson must really come to the fore - is not just set his tactics and define the way we're going to play but to be able to change it midstream, before the game if someone gets injured, when you concede a goal, and so on.
He has no experience on that front so I'm assuming that's where Robson will come in, a sounding board for Steve.
But if you're making Steve the manager or coach then you have to be looking at having someone on the touchline with him, someone who has been a coach, someone who can advise him on making changes when they're needed.
I'm guessing that Robson will sit in the stand at games, but you have to believe that an inexperienced manager needs someone in the dug-out beside him.
That's why I thought they might go down the Terry Venables route; like Robson he has massive experience but he would have been on the touchline, making all the decisions.
Some have made the comparison with the likes of Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard, or even Rudi Voller and Jurgen Klinsmann, all appointed to major managerial jobs when they had little or no experience, but there is one significant difference: all of them had, and have, much, much better players to work with. And more of them.
The comparison just isn't there. And while Mark Hughes did well for Wales, remember, they didn't qualify for anything.
Because, with just three or four exceptions, Steve will be working with a largely average group of players and his main task will be to motivate them and get them to play above themselves, on a regular basis.
He has got to get these players to raise the level of their game, game in, game out, to have any chance whatsoever of qualification, and that is a massive ask.
What is in Steve's favour is that he is well liked and respected - you don't need to be liked as a manager so long as you have the respect of the players but I would argue that Steve has both.
And it's hard not to like Bobby Robson, even harder not to respect him because of his managerial record and experience.
I can't say that I always assumed Steve would go in to management but, to be honest, you don't spend your time looking around the dressing room wondering which of the players will end up a manager.
But occasionally one will come to the fore, someone who is always asking about tactics, always got a point to make, always has something to say, but Stan wasn't the most vociferous of players, although if he had something to say he would say it.
He was a consistent player and he was consistent in thought too, but also if he needed to be one of the lads he was one of the lads. In terms of getting on with everyone not a problem, not a problem whatsoever.
All of that, then, will stand to him, but the fact remains: Kerr lost his job because we didn't qualify for the World Cup; Staunton, with no experience, will be asked to qualify for the next European Championships from a position of fourth seeds in our qualifying group, with an average squad that has lost some of its better players.
How does that make sense? Unfortunately I think the FAI may end up rueing this decision. I genuinely hope they don't, I have great time for Steve and I really hope he and Bobby are very successful, but I'm half expecting, two years down the road, for the FAI to realise their greatest ever gamble has failed to pay off.
In Trap we trust
So Staunton picking his own coach over Robson's advice (if it can be believed) is not Staunton ignoring Robson's advice. Ok.
By the way your above statement is a bit wishy-washwy, why not get down off the fence and say something objective, at least in 2-4 years you can come back and say I knew it was going to be a [insert here] move. (great,disasterous)
This is not the best signature in the world, this is just a tribute
I accept the analogy is a stretch but it amounts to the same point that Greenbod is making. A long playing career does not mean that you have all the required skills and experience to become a manager/coach, in fact it doesn't guarantee that you will have any of the skills or experience to be a good manager/coach. Apart from the obvious ability to say inane things to reporters of course.
Last edited by Schlooooomp; 11/01/2006 at 10:40 AM.
This is not the best signature in the world, this is just a tribute
Well sorry Schloooomp, I see the point you're trying to make, but you're analogy to the janitor is 'absolutely ridiculous'. The Janitor need not even know what the company does and will pick up nothing of the business. Staunton was a lot closer to the CEO than the Janitor during his playing career! I realise being a good player does not necessarily make a good coach, but I believe someone with Staunton's intelligence and experience at the top level will be tactically astute, which is what I said.
"Can I have a Kit-Kat, chunky?"
"you mean a big one"
"No a normal kit-kat you fat bitch"
Well I have no evidence that Staunton picked his own coach over Robsons choice to be honest so I am not going to comment on that little bit of mischief creating by the Indo and a few others. So its a huge jump to go from rumours that Robsons man was to be coach and then Stauntons man to be coach to now saying that Staunton is ignoring Robson. Talk about 2+2 = 7
Also surely you mean something subjective. If I am to express my opinion that would be a subjective statement. All comment and opinion is subjective. Only statement of facts are objective and I think commenting on the Ireland manager and how they will do in the future is hardly a statement of fact so as a result it is by nature subjective.
Also I have no interest in coming back here and gloating etc. I am just trying to contribute somewhat intelligent comment to the debate. Regardless of peoples views it how they are formed and expressed that interest me on this forum. Little rants and bitchy comments from either side of a debate are of no interest to me. My view is I dont know how Staunton will do but I think without Robson it would be a very very similar appointment to Mc Carthy. To me the Robson factor could either be inspired or a disaster.
In Trap we trust
Do any of you think that there could be one final twist and see Venables and Staunton put in place?
So the FAI are going to pay €250,000 a year for a phone-a-friend consultant to the national team? Okay that may be my words, but from the noises that are leaking through the newspapers, Bobby Robson will only be called upon when his advice is needed. 250 K ...ffs ...for what exactly? could they not have worked out something a bit cheaper than that?! Has Staunton no contacts/friends in the game who could give him a bit of free advice if he needed it?
no, sounds like wishful thinking on your part and not based on any sense of reality unless you have some inside information.
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