I think the first question you have to answer when looking at who will take the Ireland managers job is who would actually want it? It’s has got to be someone who is fully aware of what’s at stake. The person that takes this job is putting their football ability and reputation on the line. They would have seen from Brian Kerr and Steve Staunton’s reigns that if you don’t qualify, that’s the end of it. Personally, I don’t think that’s the right policy to adopt - it doesn’t set the right example to the players who will be conscious that if they don’t win, then the manager will get fired – it’s not the way to bring about stability.
I think the fans expectations are far too high and we’ve got to be more realistic. We’ve got good, honest, hard-working lads who will go out there and give it there all, but over the course of 10 or 12 games in a league situation, they’re not going to come out on top and more often than not we’re going to finish where we are now which is third or fourth position. I think once we start to realise this rather than getting ahead of ourselves, we can really enjoy it when we do get success. Whoever comes in is going to have to think of all those factors – the players that they’re going to be working with, the FAI and what their role will be, what backing are they going to get?
When you think of who might get the job, you have to think is it going to be an out of work manager who doesn’t mind not being around his players on a day to day basis because make no mistake, it’s a lonely affair. There’s not a lot that Brian Kerr and Steve could do during most weeks. They go to games and things like that, but all that they can realistically do for large parts of the season is sit back and pray that the players that can make the difference results-wise are available to them when the time comes.
It’s easy to throw names around about who might get the job, but the fact is are they the ones that want to take the job on? They’re going to have to have a real desire and a lot of self-belief that they can turn things around. Even the money involved, which I’m lead to believe is much more than it has been in the past, is it enough to convince some candidates because people will look at the FAI and the media attention and say it’s not worth it. It has to be a strong character, who feels they can make a difference.
I’m sorry if I haven’t given much of a clue as to who it might be, but definitely don’t put a penny on me, that’s for sure. If pressed I’d like Paul Jewell, but I think he would miss the day to day involvement with the players. I just hope we get the right man – some people think we do that by getting someone in quickly so he’ll have more time with the players, but that’s no use if he’s not the right man for the job. It’s more important to get a shortlist, get to know the people on the list and find out what they plan to do with the team and where they see the country going in the next few years. Once we do that, we have to give them our full backing, full support and trust them to bring in the right people to move the country forward.
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