Nice table. Are you highlighting the relative quality in players that had to be capped by Kenny? 19 year olds starting up front who can't get a game for Norwich, League of Ireland players drafted in overnight to fill gaps. It was a shambles. You can't instill a game-plan when players are dropping like flies and barely able to train together.
But look, I genuinely can't see the words "Mick McCarthy - next Ireland manager?" again or it will bring on a hoofball induced panic attack so I'll leave ye to it. If people were happy relying on Duffy getting his head on a corner to dig us out of games or David McGoldrick having to drop into midfield to create something that's grand. I found it fairly grim myself so I'm happy enough to wait and see if Kenny can do better with a settled team.
To be honest though, I think we are in for a long and probably frustrating road on the international front. The younger lads aren't ready and the older lads aren't up to it. No striker of note, not even a decent foil like McGoldrick and our best players on paper are struggling at club level. Possibly overly pessimistic but unless the likes of Molumby, Knight, O'Shea, Idah and Connolly all develop very quickly.....we will be seeing more of the same I think, though at least we won't be blowing ridiculous sums on managers.
Last edited by ontheotherhand; 07/03/2021 at 8:23 PM.
(My final post on this, tets1979, I know I'm on your gallows).
That Kenny used "completely different players" is clearly total nonsense. You call players available to McCarthy "our best" - but "our worst" when selected by Kenny! That he used Molumby, Idah, Knight, O'Shea, Manning, Curtis etc was his stated plan.
You say Kenny has no goalscorer, presumably unlike McCarthy. McGoldrick - 14 caps, 1 goal? And why did he pick off-form, out-of-condition and tactically unsuitable Duffy?
You remain fixated by McCarthy's money. He was offered a ridiculously generous contract and he signed it - annoying but irrelevant to performances.
And I'm not biased against Stephen Kenny - he comes across as a decent, modest bloke. But I don't think he's a good international manager based on what I've seen (and read and heard) over eight games. That's crime of the century around here, apparently.
Last edited by Snapshot; 08/03/2021 at 1:42 AM. Reason: correction to McGoldrick's caps total.
Thought McCarthy was finished after his stint in Cyprus but good for him - he evidently knows what's needed for the Championship.
Completely different was a bit hyperbolic I'll give you that. And I'm not accusing you of any crime. Just disagreeing with you on the relative quality of McCarthy as a manager and the usefulness of judgement on Kenny at this point. I have my own concerns around Kenny, namely some of his selection choices, but I'm willing to wait a bit.
I'll leave it now and come back in another 8 games. We might be on the same page at that point!
Appointed Blackpool manager today, in the relegation zone in the English second tier.
Had thought he was retiring after Cardiff, but good to see him back
A short-term contract, until the end of the season.
Seems to be moving into the Sam Allardyce/Neil Warnock role of the break glass in case of emergency option for relegation threatened Championship clubs.
To be fair to him he'll get them organised and defensively solid and give them a shot at staying up at least.
They tried to get Eric Ramsay in whose a first team coach at United. Probably going for a handy pair of hands who might do a job until they can look again for a long term option in the summer.
Wouldn't be shocked if he fancied a third go at the Ireland job if the FAI are looking for a new manager come the summer.
I'm sure he would but we'd be mad to go down that road again. I like Mick but he's become far too tactically conservative as he has gotten older. His Cardiff team were just awful towards the end of his time there. I'd take a gamble on Lee Carsley or someone before I'd go back to Mick.
Unless the Ireland job is a dream job for him the U21s gig with England is a better number and he's likely paid more or the same as Kenny already. Be mad to pack that in and think in the past he's talked about preferring to work with younger players than senior football.
To be fair if it's younger players he wants to work with the Ireland job should be ideal for him, half our squad is 25 or under!
I wouldn't be at all surprised if it interested him actually. International jobs, including under 21 jobs, have a time limit on them. Especially when it's England where, as ever, expectations will be out of touch with reality. Once he has finished out the current Under 21 campaign with England it might seem a natural progression to move into a senior role, and - unless maybe he wins the Euro Under 21s outright - it's not like he's going to get the England job.
Mick leaves Blackpool by mutual consent. Didn’t go well for him there at all. Will probably end up his last gig, I’d say.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65219737
Sad to see. 64 years of age now, hard to believe our Captain Fantastic is that old. Disconcerting on a personal level!
Perhaps a nice low-intensity international job? Agree, his club managing days are likely behind him
Reckon he'd make a good pundit if he wanted to go that route. Always came across a bit of a character in his media bits.
Think it's at the stage where he'd need to go beyond Europe if he's going to get another management job. Blackpool backed the wrong ageing horse, should have gone for Warnock it seems.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
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