There has been a posting frenzy on here in the last few weeks so I haven't had a chance to read everything, so sorry if this topic has already been covered.
Now that we know the WC qualification group I'm interested to know what the expectations are among us the average Irish fans. Assuming Delaney won't make the silly mistake of giving the the new man more than a 2 year contract what would you consider to be enough for him to get his contract extended at the end of the campaign. Obviously if we qualify as first in the group he sould be given an extention.
What if we make the playoffs or if we end up coming second in a very tight group and end up not making it to the playoffs because of a low points total.
Would you accept third again as long as we were seriously still in contention until the last game?
Maybe you would accept third place even if we were out of with 3 games to go again but we were constantly improving under the new manager even beat Italy away in one of out last games (a game that Italy needed at least a point from to qualify as first.)
Or must come second?
Must we win the group, must we qualify or must we just get to the play-offs, so that you would be happy for him to get another two years?
I myself would be very happy with second place and would want to keep the manager on if we didn't qualify or didn't even get the play-offs. I might accept 3rd place if there was steady improvement throughout the campaign and we didn't see lots of points lost due to some crazy tatical decisions, like with Stan. Anything less and I think it would be time to move on.
Last edited by Irish_Praha; 29/11/2007 at 4:08 PM.
We must at least 'challenge' for second place, in other words put up a good fight for it and probably be in contention until the final game. If we challenge but finish third or fourth then his position should be reviewed and the FAI should examine whether he could do better in the next campaign. If not, he goes.
If its Venables, then maximum points or else he's out.
Anyone else I think it can be a little more subjective: a strong campaign with no obvious gaffes, regardless of whether play off is reached or not.
He must be able to ;
Pick a squad that are plying their trade at a decent level.
Pick a squad of players that are playing regularly.
Train & coach the squad to his gameplan and give them direction.
Pick players in their correct position in the team.
Every player must know his role in the team.
When we are winning what is Plan B and C and so on.
When we are losing what is Plan B and C and so on.
Dont be afraid to make decisions.
Dont be afraid to change things and admit you were wrong.
Know the opposition and its players and style.
When we win, praise the players.
When we lose, don't blame the players
Leave the team in a better shape than you found it.
add/delete where appropriate
must reach play-offs and be competitive in such a play off. improvement on the last campaign is not enough. i dont believe that bulgaria are much better than us (provided we get decent management, players playing to potential etc) and I see no reason why we shouldnt expect play-off as a minimum
We must be competitive, and be aiming to win the group. We have the players to do it, as we saw at home to the Germans and Czechs. You don't know which Italy are going to turn up, the one that played badly against France in the EC, or the one that runs rings round the opposition.
Reaching the play-offs but losing them, is as much use as not qualifying for them in the first place.
Last edited by mypost; 29/11/2007 at 5:46 PM.
It really depends. I'm a sucker for a knowledgeable manager. Even if he's not the best motivator in the world I basically want manager that I'll give the benefit of the doubt on any decision. A manager that wants to play good football. Someone that isn't afraid to experiment. A manager that gets the best out of our players by tactical instructions rather than pre-match rants.
Obviously winning is the most important thing but I'd like to do ourselves justice too. I wasn't over the moon with Celtic winning last night because they came out of the match looking like Northern Ireland winning at Windsor. With Duff, Keane, Reid x2, McGeady, Ireland and a playmaker in Garvan coming through it's really important for me that we get a manager in that will play the football they should be playing.
I reckon we have to be competetive and really challenge for 2nd place, we should be well capable of finishing behind Italy if a decent, technical manager is put in charge.
If we get the defence organised as was the case under Jack Charlton and to a degree under Mick McCarthy we will qualify for either the World Cup or Euro's during the next four years. If we don't we won't it's that simple. It was pi** poor defending on 2-3 occasions during the past qualification group under Stan which did for our hopes.
And Stan was by trade a defender , that was his biggest failing as a coach.
You can see from above that I started this thread before Trap was even considered for the job. For me he has passed the test and has earned his extension. IMO the FAI were justified in giving him the extension even before the play offs and even more since then.
Hopefully he can go one step further this time.
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