QuoteNo matter what way you dress it up
Kennedy and McPhail are not up to International football
John O'brien's article from the weekend (courtesy of chatsoccer.net).
I've highlighted the sections that I agree with most, O'Brien backing up my suspicion that Staunton is probably unaware of many of his options.
Kennedy, McPhail, O'Brien . . . forgotten by Staunton
Sunday September 10th 2006
JOHN O'BRIEN
BACK in the days before they became a despised irritation, Brian Kerr would frequently charm reporters with dizzying tales of his travels around England, often taking in two, sometimes three, games in a single day. Watching games was Kerr's narcotic, an adrenaline rush fuelled by the never-ending dream that down among the agate type of England's football leagues he might unearth an unpolished diamond.
Occasionally he did. It was a phone call from Packie Bonner, a Kerr confidante, which landed Aiden McGeady five years ago. Whether it was a taxi driver in Wycombe alerting him to the Irishness of Iam Simpemba or a parish priest in south London tipping him off about Charlton defender Adrian Deane, Kerr established a network that ensured few players with possible Irish connections were allowed slip through the net.
Worryingly, there are few early indications of such thoroughness in the current regime. Beyond the slapstick notion of the words Big Ron flashing up on Steve Staunton's phone as the former commentator called to inform him about the eligibility of Preston defender Seán St Ledger, it is hard to feel confident that the fussy, meticulous approach adopted by Kerr over the years is even close to being replicated under his successor.
Whether it was just an unfortunate slip or not, Staunton's insistence a few weeks back that he had received a scouting report on Gary Doherty and Paddy McCarthy after Norwich had played Leicester when, in fact, the two clubs are not scheduled to meet until the end of November, set alarm bells ringing. A month ago he was extolling Doherty's virtues as a striker before taking him to Germany as a central defender. Such inconsistencies hardly augur well for his future prospects.
For all the passion he exhibited as a player, you don't get the sense from Staunton that the game is quite the narcotic for him the way it is for the likes of Kerr or Bobby Robson. Famously, when he was injured or absent from the squad, Staunton could not bare to attend games. Playing was the thing, the only thing. Unlike, say Roy Keane, the science of the game does not seem to have greatly occupied his mind.
Perhaps he underestimated what being manager of Ireland entailed. Far from merely bringing back relics of the past like Mick Byrne and extolling the old virtues of pride and passion, its success depends more on the tedious trawl around England's football's stadiums and training grounds, keeping tabs on his players and an eye out for future prospects. On the evidence of the squad he took with him to Germany, the Ireland manager has failed to grasp this fact.
As has been said many times, the absence of Andy Reid was a grievous error. If it was so important, as Staunton himself said, that his players were getting regular club football then on what basis could Reid, who has started the season well at Charlton, be left at home? For sure, question marks still exist in relation to his fitness, but Reid could feel aggrieved not to be on the plane ahead of Liam Miller, Jonathan Douglas and Alan O'Brien.
Reid wasn't the most glaring omission, though. It can't have escaped Staunton's notice that Everton's fine start to the season has owed much to the composure Lee Carsley has brought to their midfield, precisely what was missing in Ireland's engine room in Stuttgart last Saturday night. In a midfield that lacked bite or bollock, Carsley would at least have added a steely edge.
So why wasn't he there? What we know is that when they spoke in April, Carsley told Staunton that Everton was his priority and he wanted to concentrate on establishing himself in the first team. But he also said that if he was called up for the friendly against Chile in May he'd be happy to turn up. Staunton then named an enlarged squad of 29 but didn't include Carsley. We haven't heard from him since. [Not true? Carsley announced his availability in the press the week before Stuttgart, no?]
For a country with a small playing pool, we seem remarkably quick to give up on certain players who have gone through lean spells or apparently failed to deliver on early potential. Northern Ireland's circumstances may be rather different but you can be fairly certain that if we were handed the same bunch of players we'd have dispensed with the likes of Keith Gillespie and Michael Hughes years ago. Just as we have seemingly done with Mark Kennedy. For all his obvious talent, Kennedy comes with the football equivalent of the timeform squiggle next to his name and will never be a cause celebre. Yet he is still only 30 and has been charming Crystal Palace fans with his displays in the centre of midfield since the start of the season. Are we really in a position where we can blithely ignore his claims?
Whether Kennedy still has the appetite to fulfill his potential for Ireland remains to be seen, but shouldn't the option be explored anyway? While Kerr was manager there doesn't appear to have been any contact between them, but then Kerr was relatively flush with midfield options. With Keane and Matt Holland out of the way and Graham Kavanagh patently not up to it, Staunton surely must consider every card in his pack.
The lazy rap is that Ireland simply doesn't have the players at present and are rebuilding with the 2010 World Cup in mind. But there are options. It's hard to believe that six years have passed since Stephen McPhail helped Leeds United to the semi-final of the UEFA Cup. Luck and other factors have counted against him since but, after a restorative season at Barnsley, McPhail has been showing glimpses of his old magic in guiding Cardiff to the summit of the Championship.
The notion that McPhail has always been too weak to function in a 4-4-2 formation never held water. In that wonderful season at Leeds, McPhail was a mainstay alongside David Batty in midfield. His next two seasons were catastrophically destroyed by injury. What he's doing now is still a far cry from the bubbling potential of his youth, but it should be enough to get him a seat on the plane to Cyprus next month.
Maybe some day too we'll give Ronnie O'Brien the chance he deserves. Whatever your idea is about Major League Soccer, it didn't prevent the United States, of whom almost half the squad was composed of MLS players, being competitive in Germany while for three seasons O'Brien has been one of the most celebrated players in the league. Still not even a sniff. As Gary Breen discovered when Mick McCarthy warned him of the consequences of moving abroad some years ago, out of sight is very much out of mind.
It is time now for Staunton to make tough but correct decisions. The worry is that the discordant upbeat tune the Irish camp was singing after last week's defeat will tempt him towards a laissez-faire attitude. Major surgery is required, though. If there aren't at least four unforced changes to the squad that travels to Cyprus, then it will be hard to see that Staunton is learning from his experiences.
For now he could do worse than get on his bike and start hammering out the lonely miles between the football towns of England and beyond.
No matter what way you dress it up
Kennedy and McPhail are not up to International football
Neither was our central midfield in Stuttgart. I think the broader point still holds: there are other options, let's look at them. It's only a suspicion, but Staunton gives a very clear impression that he's not running the rule over these options.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 11/09/2006 at 9:27 AM.
Interesting article. Reid's absence can't really be explained.Originally Posted by hoops1
As for Kennedy, the author correctly questions how much Kennedy wants it. He's not without ability, obviously, but what do we gain from bringing him back? I'd prefer to see McPhail recalled, a younger player who still wants it, or see Douglas, Miller and other young players promoted.
I'm sick of players turning in average performances, game in, game out. It's been happening now since the end of McCarthy's reign and it's not good enough. Sometimes I wonder if the staple core of regulars, who know they'll be picked anyway, are to blame. In that context, recalling Kennedy would be a step backwards.
It was a massive error on staunton's behalf to leave andy reid out of the last squad.
Do you think John O'Brien reads foot.ie???
This is the exact same stuff that has been on here over the last few weeks
Stan has said he will be taking a larger than usual squad to Cyprus for the preparations for the next 2 games.
The article ignores Stan's only important few words to the press after the German game - that the performance was encouraging but there was much to learn from the defeat.
What does Stan mean by ' much things to learn'?
It will be interesting to see what are Stan and Bobby's responses to the couple of obvious shortcomings in the team.
In Trap we trust
It might be the biggest comeback from a state of perceived mistaken disrepute since Nixon.
JOB is as reactionary as most in these matters. I don't have acces to his archives but remember him being withering in his dismissal of the claims of Stephen McPhail back when he was in a team in the latter Stages of the CL.
" I wish to God that someone would be able to block out the voices in my head for five minutes, the voices that scream, over and over again: "Why do they come to me to die?"
Carsley wants to play for us by the looks of it in that Times interview.....so come on Stan give him a call.
I think the lad in the MLS, Ronnie O'Brien, has to be worth a shout, he should have been given a proper chance by now - the trouble is Stan seems reluctant to have friendlies. He could have had one after Chile, but did a training camp instead, he then some during the WC against other teams who missed out but didnt want to, and also could have had one on Wednesday but again didnt want to.
I think if we had had a friendly against one of the following teams, during the World Cup, we could have got a great deal out of it in terms of knowledge of squad players.
Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Turkey, Greece, Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, Austria. Im fairly sure we could have got a home or away friendly against one of the above.
In my view we should have played an away friendly on wednesday night in my view also against a team we are likely to beat.
In Trap we trust
100% agreed on that, it also would have been no harm to arrange a B game and take a good look at the players he didn't call up like Andy Reid and Paddy McCarthy and a couple of the younger lads.
Fail to prepare and all that
We could play a friendly will the following, mainly youth / B players:-
Henderson/Supple
O'Dea
McShane
McCarthy
St Ledger (think he played right back a few times for P'boro)
----------
Alan O'B / Chris McCann (Burnley)
Carsley / Whelan
Flood
Ronnie O'B (or McGeady, but McG is pretty much a starter for us now anyway)
----------
Dixon
Long/Elliott
Other players in the mix could also be
Garvan, Kennedy, Douglas, Kohlmann, Tabb, Spillane (Norwich), and the O'Connors at Burnley
I'm no fan of Stanuton but O'Brien shows a distinct lack of knowledge and uses silly examples to justify his stance.
Ronnie O'Brien one of the best players in the MLS? I agree on this fact but justifying his inclusion because the USA did well in 2002 and 2006 is absolute tosh. Everyone knows most of the USA's first team players are based in Europe. They weren't competitive in 2006 anyway. They were hammerred by our upcoming opponents the Czechs 3-0.
Another point where he invents facts to back up an opinion is where he claims McPhail was a mainstay of Leeds march to the Champions League semi-final. Again rubbish. He was nothing more than a bit part player. Their central midfield was usually 2 of Dacourt, Batty or Bakke.
Why should we give Kennedy and McPhail another chance anyway (particularly Kennedy)? They have never been good enough and are unlikely ever to be at this stage of their careers. Surely McCann from Burnley, Thornton or Tabb from Coventry or Garvan for Ipswich would be more deserving of a chance. But he probably doesn't know any of these players as they haven't as of yet played in the Premiership.
These journalists really are muppets.
P.S. I think he ripped that bit about Miller, Douglas and Alan O'Brien comment keeping Reid out of the squad directly from one of my earlier posts where I used the exact same players in the exact order. Muppet.
Last edited by youngirish; 11/09/2006 at 1:27 PM.
Yes we should have been involved in some kind of friendly on Wednesday night. Also the 2 friendlies at either end of the summer were poorly timed and should not have happened. In the Chile game the team were distracted and uninterested and were thinking only of blue skies, sun sea and sand. In the Dutch game they feared injury and ommission from their club sides. A US cup type competition would have been useful in blooding the younger players.100% agreed on that, it also would have been no harm to arrange a B game and take a good look at the players he didn't call up like Andy Reid and Paddy McCarthy and a couple of the younger lads.
Fail to prepare and all that
They were both very badly timed but with the world cup happening it must have been impossible to arrange anything and in Stan's defence the international dates are so dictated by FIFA now it must make arranging games outside of these dates a nightmare.
A very good point. I reckon we need to encourage young fellas who are coming up in the game that the international stage is within their grasp. Calling up Kennedy (I disagree with you on McPhail - I don't think he's had a shot at international level) would send out the wrong signals.
A lot of people seem to be forgetting that, as with David Connolly, Mark Kennedy has already had an Ireland career. He had his chance, time and time again. That doesn't mean that we should write him off forever, of course, but if he's not doing anything different now to what he's been doing the last couple of years, why call him up now? What can he bring to the team that we can't already provide with someone who deserves a shot?
It's not so much the players O'Brien nominates rather than the need to be imaginative and to be constantly scouting the up & coming players, forming his own opinion as to what their strengths are etc., which is what you refer to. There's a very valid suspicion that he simply doesn't know who's worth watching.
At least under Kerr you simply knew that he was aware of who was available, it's just that I personally thought that Kerr was way too conservative and dogmatic in who he picked.
Staunton can't afford to be dogmatic. The number of midfielders we have in the Premiership is minimal.
Staunton was at the Derby vs Sunderland game on Saturday. Going to Leeds (Douglas) to see Wolves (Potter) would have been useful too. Douglas is the kind of busy midfielder that could actually improve things for us.
You're correct about USA and McPhail's contribution to Leeds' CL run. But McPhail's current form should at least warrant him being checked out.
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