Kerr For Leeds?

[drummerboy]

Spoke to a few lads over the weekend who have placed some resonable large amounts of money on Brian Kerr becoming the next Leeds manager. I would have thought this unlikely, but they reckon they have some inside information. Fools and their money … or perhaps they could be on to something.

[tetsujin1979]

Odds dropping all across the usual betting sites, heard there were sizeable amounts placed in Dublin on Kerr getting appointed last week

[theworm2345]

I'd rather have Kerr than Staunton

[Qwerty]

As he has zero experience of professional club football in England I'd say he is about a 250-1. I don't think leading Ireland to their 2 worst place finishes in more than 25 years is going to impress anyone. Does St Pats really count as an achievement

[theworm2345]

As he has zero experience of professional club football in England I'd say he is about a 250-1. I don't think leading Ireland to their 2 worst place finishes in more than 25 years is going to impress anyone. Does St Pats really count as an achievement

It'll probably be 2nd and 3rd worst after the Euro 08 Qualifying unfortunately

[gustavo]

As he has zero experience of professional club football in England I'd say he is about a 250-1. I don't think leading Ireland to their 2 worst place finishes in more than 25 years is going to impress anyone. Does St Pats really count as an achievement

I suppose you could look at it that way , or else you could look at it from the viewpoint that he was a successful club manager whatever the level was , a highly successful international youth manager and an international manager that was only beaten by the eventual runners up of the whole competition by a piece of genius over 2 games in qualifying.

[billybunter]

or you could look at it this way. we could never beat the swiss. could'nt beat israel. were poxed to beat cyprus. he highest ranked team we beat in a competitive game was Albania. you are right gustavo, i prefer to look at it your way. That has a "feel good factor" about it. i blame kerr 100% for us not qualifying for a major tournament. He facilitated the slide that started at the tail end of mccarthy's tenure. Staunton is building a better slope for it to continue.

[theworm2345]

or you could look at it this way. we could never beat the swiss. could'nt beat israel. were poxed to beat cyprus. he highest ranked team we beat in a competitive game was Albania. you are right gustavo, i prefer to look at it your way. That has a "feel good factor" about it. i blame kerr 100% for us not qualifying for a major tournament. He facilitated the slide that started at the tail end of mccarthy's tenure. Staunton is building a better slope for it to continue.

Israel cant be blamed completely on Kerr, how bout that son a bitch Awat or our defenders going to sleep? He couldve done more, but hes not completely to blame, all we needed was one goal against the Swiss and we were in a playoff. True, Kerr did not have much high level managing experience, but Staunton had 0 of any managing experience

[gspain]

I suspect this is agent talk to get him back in the limelgiht.

I think Kerr faield a smanager and had to go. Israel away was his fault - team there for the ebating and he kept callng the players back into defence and paid the price. It was never the same afterwards.

We may have made the wrong choice to replace Kerr. We'll have a better idea in 8 days time. However even if we did it was still the right decision to get rid of him.

[Noelys Guitar]

Remember who advises Kerr. Nothing to do with Paddy Power!

[tetsujin1979]

Anyone who wants Kerr back should take a good hard look at the Cyprus game last year and then think about whether or not they really want him back

[blobbyblob]

Move To General Football?

[eirebhoy]

Move To General Football?

Good point.

I really hopes Kerr gets this job as I'm waiting long enough for him to prove himself to the many doubters. I honestly believe he's very similar to Jose Mourinho in his tactics. He could maybe motivate the players a bit better but I really like him as a manager. Everything he does I usually agree with so he probably isn't that great.

[geysir]

I think Kerr faield a smanager and had to go. Israel away was his fault - team there for the ebating and he kept callng the players back into defence and paid the price. It was never the same afterwards.

It is one of the frustrations in footie that myths like this finds some feet and crawl back into print as if an indelible fact.
This issue was dealt with clearly in a thread after that game. With reference to frame by frame of the recording, it was conclusivly proven that Kerr was not calling the players into defence. Not to mention "kept calling".

[Jerry The Saint]

Does St Pats really count as an achievement

Interesting use of the smiley there. In what way do you think his success in Ireland doesn't count as "an achievement"? Do you think that the other teams felt sorry for Pats and let them win a couple of leagues - "Ah sure, 'tis only the League of Ireland, we're not really bothered like dem lads in England"?

Winning the U-16 and U-18 European championships in the same year, finishing third in the World Youth Championships - I take it this doesn't impress you either? It's obvious that these successes weren't down to a Golden Generation of players - the likes of Gary Doherty and John O'Shea went on to make the senior team and several others were very average players who couldn't even make it in our own league which some people have such a low opinion of.

The next 2 games will be vital but it's conceivable that Ireland could be out of the running for qualifcation in just over a week's time. Kerr brought most of these players to the last day and within 1 result of qualification in both his campaigns. Personally, I think he overachieved, especially given the attitude of some players who wanted to treat Ireland games as a holiday and disliked the fully-prepared, profesionally-run setup that brought Roy Keane back into the squad. We've now seen a decline in performance and, most obviously, expectations with Staunton indicating that we should write off Euro 2008 already. In a way it's understandable and may help keep him in a job for longer especially given the support of his buddy in the FAI, something that Kerr never had.

[drinkfeckarse]

Good point.
I honestly believe he's very similar to Jose Mourinho in his tactics.

In what way eirebhoy?

[eirebhoy]

In what way eirebhoy?

He likes to have his wingers switching sides throughout the game. His teams are usually very solid and excellent at keeping clean sheets. He prefers to keep the ball on the ground and start play from the keeper to defence, to midfield and to the strikers as seen in the 1-0 win against Holland. He's very professional in his scouting and will not miss an opportunity to get to know more about the opposition. He's a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 man and the formation we played against Croatia was exactly the same as Mourinho's formation at the time (in his first season).

I just think Kerr is so similar to Mourinho tactically. I also think Kerr's tactics in Israel were spot on. Israel play on the break so if we don't commit 4 or 5 players into their half and lose possession then they simply can't play on the break. It took a great late strike from outside the box to get the draw. When I say they play on the break they absolutely ripped through France on a number of occassions in their game. The speed of them on the break was top class. At the end of the day, we went all out for the win when they got the equaliser. France and Switzerland were happy to sit back for the draw in the end of their games in Israel.

[Dodge]

Top top post Jerry. All I wanted to say without calling John Delaney a ******.

[geysir]

Good post Eirebhoy, many points I'd agree with but the arguement is weakened by the references to friendly games. The only games that matter are the competitive games. We all know that Kerr has an excellent record in pre season friendlies. Any manager's strengths and weaknesses re tactics re anything football can only be judged in the competitve real pressure games.

[macdermesser]

Interesting use of the smiley there. In what way do you think his success in Ireland doesn't count as "an achievement"? Do you think that the other teams felt sorry for Pats and let them win a couple of leagues - "Ah sure, 'tis only the League of Ireland, we're not really bothered like dem lads in England"?

Winning the U-16 and U-18 European championships in the same year, finishing third in the World Youth Championships - I take it this doesn't impress you either? It's obvious that these successes weren't down to a Golden Generation of players - the likes of Gary Doherty and John O'Shea went on to make the senior team and several others were very average players who couldn't even make it in our own league which some people have such a low opinion of.

The next 2 games will be vital but it's conceivable that Ireland could be out of the running for qualifcation in just over a week's time. Kerr brought most of these players to the last day and within 1 result of qualification in both his campaigns. Personally, I think he overachieved, especially given the attitude of some players who wanted to treat Ireland games as a holiday and disliked the fully-prepared, profesionally-run setup that brought Roy Keane back into the squad. We've now seen a decline in performance and, most obviously, expectations with Staunton indicating that we should write off Euro 2008 already. In a way it's understandable and may help keep him in a job for longer especially given the support of his buddy in the FAI, something that Kerr never had.

excellent post