The Steve Staunton Discussion thread

**NeilMcD** · 22/08/2006, 9:10 AM

Staunton's reign sees decline in quality

Emmet Malone On Soccer: More than six months after the irrepressible Bobby Robson took on the job of providing guidance to Steve Staunton during these early days of his career in football management, we shouldn't be too surprised by news that the 73-year-old, who is due to have a brain tumour removed tomorrow, was apparently both anxious to attend yesterday's press conference where Staunton announced his squad for Germany and keen to travel to Stuttgart next week for the game itself.

Thankfully, he was talked out of both trips, though in the wake of last week's defeat by The Netherlands the latter offer must have been just a little painful for the FAI to decline.

The veteran coach's expertise was sorely missed on Wednesday night when Staunton and the rest of his coaching team looked utterly shocked by the extent of Ireland's onfield disintegration and entirely at a loss as to how they might halt the slide.

Five days on, the manager was putting a remarkably brave face on the situation yesterday, claiming he, Robson and the players were all taking heart from the second-half performance and looking forward to building on it during the game against Germany.

It is, of course, understandable that nobody in the Irish camp wishes to dwell on the fact that the team was only slightly less awful after the break than before it. But one suspects that in private, far from being "buoyant", they would acknowledge that if the performance in Stuttgart significantly resembles the one in either half last week they will be simply at the mercy of their hosts.

During the Brian Kerr years, the Republic's record in friendly games was outstanding but the team never beat a side of any quality in a competitive match.

Staunton's problem at this stage is not that he has lost two of the three games he has overseen since taking charge; rather it is that there has been a marked decline in the quality of the performances and a growing suspicion that the players do not really understand what is being asked of them tactically.

For this, Staunton must bear much though not all of the responsibility. It was well known how the Dutch would play here, and yet his side proved incapable of dealing with a situation that no end of positional tinkering seemed to improve in the slightest.

Still, Eamonn Dunphy's insistence on absolving the players of any responsibility for what happened at Lansdowne Road was even more surprising than his assertion, just two weeks ahead of the start of the Euro 2008 campaign, the FAI should change a manager he had once endorsed.

There was certainly very little during the 4-0 defeat to support Staunton's claim that the training sessions he had overseen during the previous few days had been impressive. But the idea that a back four consisting of Steve Carr, Andy O'Brien, Steve Finnan and John O'Shea, defenders who have played around 700 Premiership games between them, should be unable to co-ordinate the marking of an opposing side's lone centre forward at a corner - regardless of what their international manager had gone through with them in training - is surely absurd.

There were individual as well as collective failures everywhere last week, and one of the few things Staunton can take away from the game is that it is surely implausible quite so many of his players could perform so badly again on Saturday week.

Whatever about his players, though, the manager now appears to have been guilty of a serious misjudgement in opting to bring his squad to Portugal for a training camp rather than lining up a couple more games prior to the summer break. He said yesterday he was anxious to allow his senior players as long a break as possible so as to have them fresh for the new season. But, as it turned out, he was still without a string of them last week.

He went on to insist that without the bigger names, nobody was interested in playing us at that time of year, yet Northern Ireland could line up games against Uruguay and Romania in America.

Additional matches would have helped the players adapt to the new regime, while even working with a weakened team would surely have benefited the Louthman as he tries to prepare for an encounter next week that would prove a major test for men with far greater managerial experience than he has been able to amass in a few months.

As he discussed his squad yesterday he referred more than once to the lack of depth available to him and his aim to develop talent over the next four years. For the moment the development of his own management skills is perhaps the most pressing concern.

The FAI can hardly argue with Dunphy's assertion that they took a major chance in appointing the 37-year-old at a point when he had nothing really but an illustrious playing career on his CV. While it is far too early to say they have gambled and lost, they could do with having some evidence to point to during the next few months that things are indeed moving in the right direction.

For the most part there remains enormous goodwill toward Staunton, but whatever about the last three games, his job would become much harder if the next three - Germany and Cyprus away, then the Czech Republic at home - were all to go poorly.

If that is how it transpires, it will be interesting to see how long the FAI retain their faith in a man whose appointment was sold on the basis of his ability to inspire the current generation of stars rather than uncover the next

**Macy** · 22/08/2006, 9:42 AM

Kerr being sacked/ contract not renewed if people prefer

was justified, if we were getting someone better. We were told that it was to get a genuine quality manager in the Hiddink class. We didn't, we got a Walsall reserver team coach, so it wasn't justified, and Delaney should've gone then.

However, Staunton has to be given at least this campaign to prove himself or otherwise. To talk about sacking him after one friendly is ridiculous.

As ever, it comes down to our lack of quality players - something that people seem unwilling to accept even after the last 2 campaigns. We'll p�ss around with tatics and calling for managers head when the problem is the structure of the game in this country, or total lack of it. Too much reliance on a failing English system to produce quality players (aided and abetted by FAI underage managers ffs) and celebration of "nursery" clubs that are only interested in results and who many kids they can send abroad, rather than putting in place academy's with top quality coaches that develop the players skills (both football and off the field).

Kerr Out or Staunton Out is irrelevant. Delaney and the rest of the blazer wearing tossers OUT is more like it.

**OwlsFan** · 22/08/2006, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by Macy

Kerr Out or Staunton Out is irrelevant. Delaney and the rest of the blazer wearing tossers OUT is more like it.

I just love cliches like "blazer wearing". Most of the people in the FAI come from the grass roots of Irish soccer. With whom would you like to replace them with ? Non football people in which case you will get a load of blazer wearers.

That said, I agree Kerr should not have been replaced unless we had someone better lined up. I still don't see rationally how Staunton was chosen ahead of the likes Aldridge who had managerial experience and some success. However, he's in the job and should be given at least one campaign before we have clowns like Drunkphy calling for his head in a tabloid newspaper - the same poison dwarf who castigates the English tabloids at every opportunity.

**Billsthoughts** · 22/08/2006, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by OwlsFan

I just love cliches like "blazer wearing". Most of the people in the FAI come from the grass roots of Irish soccer. With whom would you like to replace them with ? Non football people in which case you will get a load of blazer wearers.

Bit of a cheap shot on what was a very intelligent well argued post.
these people are career politicians, Owlsfan. John Delaney has never been involved in "the grass roots" of Irish soccer. And it would be absolutely no harm to replace them with non football people. People with a proven track record of delivering large projects(something which the creation of an academy system would be)

**Macy** · 22/08/2006, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by OwlsFan

I just love cliches like "blazer wearing". Most of the people in the FAI come from the grass roots of Irish soccer.

You have five years (max) in sports administration before you become instutionalised. How many years in football administration do you reckon you need to become head of the FAI?

The Grass Roots are part of the problem - everyone fighting for their own bit instead of everything working for a common goal. For a quality International Team you need a strong domestic league, which needs to be the step up from a schoolboy structure designed to develop player skills rather than put names on a club house plaque and trophies in a cabinet.

**bwagner** · 22/08/2006, 10:52 AM

Walsall reserves team coach.......one word PATHETIC !!!!!1 HOW THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO QUALIFY WITH THIS CHUMP.
Im a dundalk man and even played and drank with his wee brother paudie but f me this is sick ,just sick in my opinion , imagine england hiring a reserve coach in the 3rd tier of their soccer ....money money money ...the fai have enough with all the full houses and grands , sponors etc
We really r turning in to the joke of europe soccer
its downhill all the way, im dreading the wales and cyprus games i swear

**DotTV** · 22/08/2006, 11:37 AM

I liked Emmet Malones point that our defenders against Holland had over 700 Premiership games between them and still could not organise things.
A lot of the organisation of the defence is down to the keeper who can see everything so hopefully things will change with Given at the helm

**OwlsFan** · 22/08/2006, 2:44 PM

Originally Posted by Billsthoughts

Bit of a cheap shot on what was a very intelligent well argued post.
these people are career politicians, Owlsfan. John Delaney has never been involved in "the grass roots" of Irish soccer. And it would be absolutely no harm to replace them with non football people. People with a proven track record of delivering large projects(something which the creation of an academy system would be)

I would have thought the cheap shot was describing anyone who works at the FAI as a "blazer" which is a populist pejorative. Have a look at how it works:

http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=c...d=26&Itemid=40

These are nearly all, Delaney apart, people brought up in football, including numerous Eircom League people, who run the game in this country.

I repeat the question - if you don't want football people to run the game, who do you want ?

**hoops1** · 22/08/2006, 3:31 PM

where is the names on that link?

**wws** · 22/08/2006, 4:18 PM

Originally Posted by OwlsFan

I would have thought the cheap shot was describing anyone who works at the FAI as a "blazer" which is a populist pejorative. Have a look at how it works:

http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=c...d=26&Itemid=40

These are nearly all, Delaney apart, people brought up in football, including numerous Eircom League people, who run the game in this country.

I repeat the question - if you don't want football people to run the game, who do you want ?

and I'll do the honours of repeating his answer, given above. Professional people who can put in place and deliver a structured program producing results at all levels. This starts with the EL as the football fulcrums within their communities for the education and development of local talent and hopefully in a few years fodder for the national team and less reliance on the meagre return and decreasing one from the player mill in the UK.

**DmanDmythDledge** · 22/08/2006, 9:15 PM

I don't see why he should be given to the end of the campaign to prove himself. If he continues to be useless before the end he has to go before the end.

**NeilMcD** · 23/08/2006, 9:00 AM

Cause every other manager got that treatment so why should he not get it. Fair is fair.

**Reality Bites** · 23/08/2006, 9:59 AM

I can see the whole Stan affair going pear shaped alot like Niall Quinn at Sunderland...So have the lads at Merrion Square a Contingency, We just cannot keep sacrificing places in Major Tournaments for the sake of Blooding inexperienced Managers!!!!!!!!!!

**RogerMilla** · 23/08/2006, 10:06 AM

its not places in tournaments we are sacrificing its our seeding , we could have ended up in scotlands group in the last draw , i shudder to think how that group will go for them

**Billsthoughts** · 23/08/2006, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Cause every other manager got that treatment so why should he not get it. Fair is fair.

not really a sound basis to run a business.....

**NeilMcD** · 23/08/2006, 12:05 PM

Either is sacking a manager after 3 friendlies. A sound basis of running a business is letting your manager have time to show he can do the job. I agree that appointing one of your best mates on the basis of his playing career is not a good start. I was not behind the appointment of Staunton at all but I do think that now that he is in the job he should be given a fair crack at the whip. Therefore he should be given at least one campaign.