Top players will quit if Staunton forced out

[OwlsFan]

Long was a debutant and to expect him to come on and shine when the rest of the senior established players can't be bothered their arse is expecting too much. Keane is captain, Keane is supposed to lead the team, he's supposed to set and example. If its true regarding the comments in San Marino or that he's tying his future in with Stans then I've lost the bit of respect I had for the lad. You'd at least think they'd have the balls to put their name to something instead of this cloak and dagger muck. Mind you its probably just Delaney putting this garbage out.

Keane "bothered his arse" to make runs through on goal twice in the first half. Saw nothing like that from Long. I also saw Robbie working hard to close down defenders. The arm waving aside, I still have a lot of time for Keane who has never failed to turn up for his country and who now seems to be carrying the can for an inept performance. I suppose he was to blame for the 5-2 defeat in Cyprus as well and should have been back clearing the ball off the line.

I don't think he should be captain but it's hard to see who else fits that role as there don't appear to be any natural leaders in the squad.

[NeilMcD]

When he mentioned Cyprus, I wonder did he also mean to include his own team's performance there as well, which but for Given, could almost have been as bad a result.

There's a hint there that he was let down by the players as well. Mind you no one ever mentioned "the staff" except him with his super duper background boys and preparation. Saipan apart, it's usually just about the players and the manager.

YOu seem like you are bitter towards Kerr for actually having good preparation. Comments like Super Duper background boys and preparation give the impression that you see it as a bad thing that Kerr prepared the Irish team well on the technical side of the game. It seems every time we get a new manager we through the throw the baby out with the bath water. So we seem to get the opposite to what went before. Why can Staunton have great preparation like Kerr etc and also have maybe better team spirit. Just cause we failed to qualify under Kerr does not mean that he was doing things the right way 90% of the time.

[RogerMilla]

i can agree with that , there was a lot that kerr did well. trouble is he lost the dressing room so all the good innovations were flushed away with him and of course he was too conservative.
if we had put israel away at home it could heave been so different though

[micls]

Nervous against San Marino in front of 2500 supporters when he is used to playing in front of 30K plus. To use your own expression for ffs. The point is did he not try either as is alleged against Robbie?

Well you see some playuers actually give a crap about representing their country and yes i think this would make the lad nervous on his debut. Its not just about the opposition or the crowd its his international debut.

Robbie has consitently not tried as you put it.

Tbh i think Long was the wrong choice to play against San Marino. He's a very quick player who will score with balls played in behind. The type of San Marino game was never gonna suit him, he's not the type of player we needed but our manager doesnt have a clue about this stuff.

I differentiate between Keane and Long based on the fact that as our captain and all time highest scorer its his job to go out and shine regularly and help the debutants along. Long didnt play well, but it was one game. Its a regular thing with Keane

[NeilMcD]

Well said there Micls about Long and his liking for a ball over the top to chase behind a back four pushed up. This was never going to happen and sadly I dont have any confidence that Staunton actually thinks about such things. With Kerr at least you knew that he did. He was lacking on the team bonding side of things it seems.

[OwlsFan]

I differentiate between Keane and Long based on the fact that as our captain and all time highest scorer its his job to go out and shine regularly and help the debutants along. Long didnt play well, but it was one game. Its a regular thing with Keane

Even if he's out of form as he obviously is at club and international level? People expect too much from Keane because of past performances. He still tries hard in my opinion but has lost the magic touch. Until someone better comes along, he should still be picked. Stokes and possibly Long may eventually replace him but let them prove themselves at club level. He was still the only one at that SM game that managed to get 1 and 1 with the keeper. If Long's strength is these runs, why didn't he get in as well?

[OwlsFan]

YOu seem like you are bitter towards Kerr for actually having good preparation. Comments like Super Duper background boys and preparation give the impression that you see it as a bad thing that Kerr prepared the Irish team well on the technical side of the game. It seems every time we get a new manager we through the throw the baby out with the bath water. So we seem to get the opposite to what went before. Why can Staunton have great preparation like Kerr etc and also have maybe better team spirit. Just cause we failed to qualify under Kerr does not mean that he was doing things the right way 90% of the time.

Not bitter. Just such a song and dance was made about it post Saipan and he mentions "staff" again and yet no one else does. Nothing wrong with good preparation but it's the relationship between the manager and the players and the tactics which count. Not whether it's Mick Byrne or someone whose name I don't remember is the physio or whether a practice pitch is bumpy

I was neutral when it came to Kerr. He got Keane back which played a large part in his results but I think by concentrating on all the preparation, he lost sight of the basic aim: beat the opposition. Whether he would have got much out of this crop of players without Roy Keane is doubtful but it's all speculation.

[dr_peepee]

I still believe Kerr would have made a great right hand man to an Ireland manager rather than being the big dog!!

[geysir]

Keane was the problem then he became the solution.
When we had Keane, we didn't need a manager.
Without Keane, Kerr's results were poor.
It won't be difficult for Stan to better that.

[Kingdom]

Several times?

Stan scored late on in Malta to seal a win in 2001, and Stapleton scored over 20 years ago on a disgrace of a pitch. The 2001 game was the only time Malta have even scored on us. All the other games were largely comfortable - 8-0, 2-0, 2-0, 3-0, 5-0. Ditto Cyprus - bar that 3-2 win in 1980, we've won 6-0, 4-0, 4-0, 3-0 and 1-0 (not with a late goal). I don't think it's really fair to bring games from 20-25 years ago, when we had never qualified for a major tournament, into the equation.

I also don't think we struggled against Andorra in the way we struggled against San Marino. For a start, Andorra are a better team who have actually taken points off people (four from Macedonia in the last campaign alone), and secondly, we did end up breaking them down and coming through 3-0. That's how those games go at times. Far different from the struggle we had last week.

Thanks Stu. I knew there was a post somewhere that I meant to take up! Last week was the worst performance I've ever seen from an Irish team. There's been some bollo*x posted over the last 10 days or so.
The performance was crap, there seemed to be no soul/passion from the players. Staunton is a joke, as is the management team, but he's backed to the hilt by toupée, so it would take an absolute riot in Croker for him to be sacked.

It seems to be a catch 22 situation for most fans. On one hand you want Ireland to win all their games and hopefully qualify/do the best they can, whereas on the other hand, you know Staunton is gank and won't get this team anywhere near qualifying.
As for the tripe written by Fanning in the Sindo last week, well I hope for the sake of the players that is was written unfounded. The players loyalty should be to the shirt and to each other, not a gimp manager and the clown who appointed him. And if it really is down to the meeja getting on their backs, well, if some of them showed half the heart of Given and young McShane, then the fans wouldn't get on to them all the time, we can take defeats but not embarrasments.

[conlonn]

Jesus Owlsfan your some clown to think Robbie Keane tries his best for Ireland, he is useless for Ireland and never stops whingeing, He was good for the first 50 caps or so but for the last 2 years or so he has been brutal but he is not alone in that. Half of the rest of the team Ireland have put out especially away from home have not tried or given 100%, At home they seem to perform much bettter

[citizenerased]

In fairness to kerr he was a victim . the big time charllies like keane, duff, carr etc didnt like the fact that kerr over prepared for a match, making them watch a dvd of the opposition etc when they wanted to go to lillies...if he had the respect of the players he would have been a success, u didnt hear of any players threathening to quit for him....foock duff and keane their complaceny is a disease, its not like they have done anything of merit since 2002

[Lionel Ritchie]

Sadly I suspect Citizenerased is onto something. I've long been suspicious of the near unanimous opposition, among our squad, to a non-Irish manager and what lies between the lines when they've parroted the "not understanding the Irish mentality" tripe as a reason for their opposition.

[OwlsFan]

Jesus Owlsfan your some clown to think Robbie Keane tries his best for Ireland, he is useless for Ireland and never stops whingeing, He was good for the first 50 caps or so but for the last 2 years or so he has been brutal but he is not alone in that. Half of the rest of the team Ireland have put out especially away from home have not tried or given 100%, At home they seem to perform much bettter

I was at the game in SM. He worked as hard if not harder than some on the pitch. You are equating not being effective with not trying his best. The two are NOT the same. The hand waving is irritating but is symptomatic of his frustration. Robbie is not the player he was a few years ago but it's not from want of trying. So apart from the scapecot, Robbie, who else among the "half the team" "have not tried or given 100%"?

[conlonn]

John OShea (over rated, friendly against Portugal spring 05 he gave ball away to the opposition 9 times in the first half alone!!), Steve Finnan very good for Liverpool but for Ireland!!, and Robbie Keane (2 goals today for Spurs!!!! and in imporant games for Ireland has oly performed well in perhaps3 or four games in the last 20, he is the captain should lead by example, but does not! he is not a leader!
plus the constant changing inentre midfield all lead to poor performance, At home they perfom ok, but take them away from Ireland they perform way elow par!

[Den Perry]

good riddance keane and Duff, over paid tossers, bring in Stokes and Hunt and Geary and Mccarthy

What a stupid statement...do you honestly think we would be better off without Keane and Duff? if so you havent got a clue

[Den Perry]

Cathal Dervan had something similar to this in yesterdays Star. Sounds like a load of rubbish to me. As has been said above, anyone who wants to quit the Irish team, they know where the door is (I know I've stopped being a supporter for the last year.) By the way, hilarious to read Dervans stuff now, about how sacking the manager is a knee jerk reaction, he needs time ,etc, etc. Dervan went out on a limb backing Staunton for the job (before anyone else as far as I remember) after a disgraceful campaign against Brian Kerr, and now he's stuck out there, waiting for the branch to break. Hope he ends up with a lot of bruises from the fall. Probably the worst football "journalist" in the country. (and that's a competitive race )

Lets not forget Roy Curtis....

KOH

[tetsujin1979]

John OShea (over rated, friendly against Portugal spring 05 he gave ball away to the opposition 9 times in the first half alone!!)

Where did you get this stat? And do you have the stats for the other players that day?

[OwlsFan]

John OShea (over rated, friendly against Portugal spring 05 he gave ball away to the opposition 9 times in the first half alone!!), Steve Finnan very good for Liverpool but for Ireland!!, and Robbie Keane (2 goals today for Spurs!!!! and in imporant games for Ireland has oly performed well in perhaps3 or four games in the last 20, he is the captain should lead by example, but does not! he is not a leader!
plus the constant changing inentre midfield all lead to poor performance, At home they perfom ok, but take them away from Ireland they perform way elow par!

You said "half the team". That's 3 players and tell me anyone who "overrates" John O'Shea.

As for our not performing away from home, this is not recent news you know. The last decent victory against a group rival in an away game was Scotland in 1987!!

[geysir]

Where did you get this stat? And do you have the stats for the other players that day?

Tets, I think stats are your toys then