Statement from FAI

[DmanDmythDledge]

You spin me right round baby right round, like a record baby, spin me right round.

Not spin at all, they're all valid points. I know Stan used the building for 2010 when he was appointed so he could use that as an excuse if we didn't qualify but that is exactly what we are doing. As was pointed out on another thread we need to set the foundations so we can qualify regularly for major championships rather than be lucky that we got a load of good players at the same time. Short term loss for long term gain. With Stan having more experience during our next campaign, some of the older players retiring and a lot of promising youth players coming through the next decade could turn out to be our most successful period to date.

[magpies]

Did anyone see how Wales hammering Slovakia AWAY from home last night that will tell you how poor Slovakia are!

[Noelys Guitar]

Not spin at all, they're all valid points. I know Stan used the building for 2010 when he was appointed so he could use that as an excuse if we didn't qualify but that is exactly what we are doing. As was pointed out on another thread we need to set the foundations so we can qualify regularly for major championships rather than be lucky that we got a load of good players at the same time. Short term loss for long term gain. With Stan having more experience during our next campaign, some of the older players retiring and a lot of promising youth players coming through the next decade could turn out to be our most successful period to date.

And then not play those same players! Or play others in positions that patently they can not play in. Like now really.

[OneRedArmy]

Not spin at all, they're all valid points. I know Stan used the building for 2010 when he was appointed so he could use that as an excuse if we didn't qualify but that is exactly what we are doing. As was pointed out on another thread we need to set the foundations so we can qualify regularly for major championships rather than be lucky that we got a load of good players at the same time. Short term loss for long term gain. With Stan having more experience during our next campaign, some of the older players retiring and a lot of promising youth players coming through the next decade could turn out to be our most successful period to date.

Don't know where to start......setting long-terms foundations in place to ensure a stream of high-class footballers AND maximising the potential of the current squad are not mutually exclusive.

We can do both!

Only time will tell whether we can achieve the long-term goal (and the FAI's history of meeting any of their goals is very poor), BUT we can say for sure that we are not getting the most out of our current squad.

As many people are saying today, watching Scotland last night reminded me of past Ireland teams. Team performance was much greater than the sum of the parts.

Stan ain't the man.

[Lionel Ritchie]

Not spin at all, they're all valid points. I know Stan used the building for 2010 when he was appointed so he could use that as an excuse if we didn't qualify but that is exactly what we are doing.

Can someone tell me exactly what "building for 2010" is supposed to mean?

I haven't seen any daring tactical experimentation or out of the ordinary formations (our flat back four being neither four nor flat notwithstanding). The blooding of "young talent" would I daresay have happened anyway.

Such emerging talents would have been deployed more astutely and probably not at the expense of an older face with a legitimate claim on a place in the squads.

Moreover if this garbage about "building for 2010" is anything but ...then surely qualifying for a major finals two years previous would have constituted a valuable stage in this mythologic building process? or are we to be told their inexperience led to their unsuccessful trip to South Africa and our elimination at the earliest opportunity (for which -taking the FAI at their word -it's almost a given that we'll qualify).

[geysir]

A vote of confidence from Alan Hunter is all that Stan needs now to be well and truly jinxed.

[Nailer77]

What utter sh*te! They're raised the bar for themselves with the French comparison. And regardless of whats going on behind the scenes the fact is the international manager isn't up to it. They're two seperate issues. Unless this is Delaney painting a pretty picture of himself before having to admit he was wrong and finish with Stan.

[The Legend]

careful now lads, i just received "an infraction" for bad language using ****