Armenia V Republic of Ireland - Saturday, 4th June 2022 - 2022/23 UEFA Nations League

[SkStu]

We can't keep someone who isn't good enough?.

Your philosophy infairs if we lose every game for the next 2 years we should keep him for 2026 WC Unless the candidate list jumps out.

Its insane.

No. It’s a fair question when the FAI is broke. Naming a better, viable replacement for him has to be part of the conversation for those who want him gone now.

[tetsujin1979]

We seemed to have a plan A of playing through the inside left/right channel and then either shooting or crossing for the opposite forward to shoot. Armenia figured this out early, so manned the channels and denied the opposite player space to restrict chances. Other than Robinson's miscued shot, and Ogbene's free header, I don't think we created a clear goalscoring opportunity.
But, there was no plan B. The substitutes did not offer anything different that to the players that they replaced. McClean was not allowed to cross from the wing, so the balls he did put in were harmless.
Obafemi either did nothing or was so isolated he couldn't do anything, same as Parrott before him.
I think Keane and Browne were brought on to win headers - Browne has two headed goals, Kenny has spoken about Keane's ability in the air in press conferences - but I don't think either won anything in the air.
Duffy was pushed up front late on, which is sheer desperation in my opinion.

We are still so maddeningly inconsistent under Kenny. Play well against Serbia, lose to Luxembourg. Play well against Portugal, struggle to a point against Azerbaijan.
And now, after pushing Belgium hard and earning a win against a dogged Lithuania, we lose to Armenia. Form is temporary, class is permanent, and we're still not sure which is which under this manager.

Kenny earned some respite from the criticism in the first year of his reign with some good performances in the second half of last year, but if we play like that again on Wednesday against Ukraine then the knives will be back out.

[jbyrne]

to me this is worse than luxembourg at home. my expectations were quite low then and the result not a total shock. was at the 21s game last night and while the performance was just ok the result was great and all the talk around me was that after 2 u21s campaigns were we were competitive and the recent seniors improvement that we were on the way back. todays result is therefore a massive disappointment and has burst my bubble considerably

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Losing Anthony Barry was huge. We were developing with him involved. We should have done everything to keep him. Gave him the top job and got rid of Kenny.

We all wanted Kenny to do well, some of us realised that he's way out of his depth a long time ago however. It's time for others, including many in the media to swallow their pride and admit they got it wrong with Kenny.

He is doing untold damage that could take years to recover from. How many more failures and embarrassing results have to happen before he's shown the door or how far down the rankings do we need to fall?

[SkStu]

One final comment on the game that i forgot to share earlier. Its not an excuse at all but I thought the referee was diabolical and screwed us over a few times. Definitely seemed like a bit of a homer.

[Razors left peg]

Losing Anthony Barry was huge. We were developing with him involved. We should have done everything to keep him. Gave him the top job and got rid of Kenny.

We all wanted Kenny to do well, some of us realised that he's way out of his depth a long time ago however. It's time for others, including many in the media to swallow their pride and admit they got it wrong with Kenny.

He is doing untold damage that could take years to recover from. How many more failures and embarrassing results have to happen before he's shown the door or how far down the rankings do we need to fall?

Ah there we go, was worried you weren't gonna bring up Barry

[geysir]

There's a big thing made about cullen being this kind of all round midfielder, but we've conceded these goals so often,he's clearly not closing the space like some would lead you to believe. I was never a Whelan fan but he did cover that space well

I'm genuinely interested to see the "greenshoots"( dare I say spin) from this one regardless of this result.

It's been shocking

That's fine but what are you saying, Cullen is not good enough to be in our midfield, if so should he be replaced and if so by who?
Considering midfield is also being populated by Hendrick and substitute McClean who imo should not be near the team, who do you think should replace those players?

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Ah there we go, was worried you weren't gonna bring up Barry

Maybe you and others were wrong and Barry was responsible for the upturn in performances? You ignored the rest of my comment for some reason.

[pineapple stu]

How did Belgium do this week? Biggest competitive home defeat in 25 years I believe?

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

How did Belgium do this week? Biggest home defeat in 14 years I believe?

Results and performances for Ireland is all I care about. Do you dispute that things improved with Barry involved?

I've said previously, it wasn't perfect but at least Barry could set up a team. Kenny is clueless, the Armenian manager made an absolute show of him. Kenny couldn't figure out how to counteract some basic tactics. Maybe when he does he can give his media pals another demo in FAI headquarters.

Armenia lost 9-0 in their last game and Liechtenstein drew with them away recently. Why isn't Kenny getting destroyed in the media? Why aren't supporters calling for him to go?

[pineapple stu]

Results and performances for Ireland is all I care about. Do you dispute that things improved with Barry involved?

Ironic that you completely ignore a comment after accusing another poster of the same thing!

I think yesterday's game fitted in with the pattern of the Kenny regime to date tbh. Against the poor sides - Luxembourg, Andorra, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Lithuania and Armenia - we've tended to start brightly and if we score early then we get a bit of confidence, force the other team to come out of their shell, and we create more. (See Qatar (H) and Azerbaijan (A). Qatar in Hungary is the only exception, when we scored early and drew 1-1)

But if we don't score early, then we get bogged down, lose our way in the game, let the other side into it. Luxembourg (A) and Andorra (A) saw us get bogged down for more than an hour before finally scoring and then the other team had to change tack and we had more room and scored more. Yesterday could well have been the same if Ogbene had scored that sitter of a header on 45.

But the longer we don't score, the less we look like scoring, and it just takes a bolt from distance to really put us under pressure (Azerbaijan (H), Luxembourg (H) and Armenia (A)). We did at least get an equaliser against Azerbaijan by abandoning our game plan, sticking Duffy up front and lumping balls into him. That didn't work last night.

Then Lithuania (H) we bailed out in the 97th minute.

You could maybe add both Bulgaria games to that list given how far they've fallen - they meet the same pattern.

So to be honest, I think all those games fit a broad pattern that has been reasonably consistent in Kenny's time, regardless of coach. We're too easy to defend against, have no creativity, and are unwilling to have a pop from distance; the only positive is that if we do take the lead and make a poor team come at us, we can get in behind them then

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

I think yesterday's game fitted in with the pattern of the Kenny regime to date tbh.

I agree, yesterday's game was an utter shambles which describes Kenny's reign perfectly. You can judge a manager on where the team was prior to taking over and where they currently stand. He has driven us backwards by a long way. From qualifying and coming really close to qualifying for major tournaments, Kenny has turned us into no hopers scraping it out at the bottom of groups.

[youngirish]

Stephen Kenny shows again how out of his depth he really is and how poor and amateurish the LOI is. Nobody managing or playing in that league should be near the Irish setup. The talk from the LOI groupies about not being able to get rid of him because there is nobody better to replace him with is the usual garbage designed to obfuscate the real issue (Kenny himself) and keep their man in the driving seat no matter how disastrous his term in charge proves to the Ireland team. He should have been sacked a year ago. It will now take years to repair the damage he has done. To put things into perspective Staunton had a more impressive record as Ireland manager.

For 550,000 Euros a year I'm sure you could find a multitude of managers who would be interested in the job but I don't expect anything to happen as the FAI, in their infinite wisdom, decided to recently extend his contract. They would now have to pay this clown a fortune to leave.

For all the fools singing his praises I leave you with this - you are as responsible as he is for the absolute dire state of circumstances the current Irish team finds itself in. The team are a laughing stock amongst our closest neighbours and I'd imagine to anyone who cares in the footballing world at large.

[pineapple stu]

I agree, yesterday's game was an utter shambles which describes Kenny's reign perfectly.

You're again "ignoring the rest of my comment for some reason" (your quote) where I say that I don't see much difference across the various coaches/assistant managers we've had. Or am I to take it you actually agree with that part too?

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

I don't see much difference across the various coaches/assistant managers we've had.

You don't see much of a difference between battling it out at the bottom of groups with Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and Armenia and qualifying and coming close to qualifying for major tournaments?

[pineapple stu]

Of course I do.

But I don't see much difference between Kenny with Anthony Barry as coach and with someone else as coach, which is the point being discussed.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Of course I do.

But I don't see much difference between Kenny with Anthony Barry as coach and with someone else as coach, which is the point being discussed.

Well, I can't do anything to help your observational skills I'm afraid.

The point being discussed is Kenny showing that he is completely out of his depth at this level. How much more evidence is needed before his fanatics face that reality?

[pineapple stu]

Well, I can't do anything to help your observational skills I'm afraid.

I guess you could address my post where I analyse our performances across the various coaches and argue that the same issues are arising regardless of who the coach is.

That might involve going away from your stock cliches though.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Stephen Kenny shows again how out of his depth he really is and how poor and amateurish the LOI is. Nobody managing or playing in that league should be near the Irish setup. The talk from the LOI groupies about not being able to get rid of him because there is nobody better to replace him with is the usual garbage designed to obfuscate the real issue (Kenny himself) and keep their man in the driving seat no matter how disastrous his term in charge proves to the Ireland team. He should have been sacked a year ago. It will now take years to repair the damage he has done. To put things in perspective Staunton had a more impressive record as Ireland manager.

For 550,000 Euros a year I'm sure you could find a multitude of managers who would be interested in the job but I don't expect anything to happen as the FAI, in their infinite wisdom, decided to recently extend his contract. They would now have to pay this clown a fortune to leave.

For all the fools singing his praises I leave you with this - you are as responsible as he is for the absolute dire state of circumstances the current Irish team finds itself in. The team are a laughing stock amongst our closest neighbours and I'd imagine to anyone who cares in the footballing world at large.

Get El Loco Marcelo Bielsa, he wants a national team, Australia is after him and Bolivia and Chile too, he loves The DNA of The irish players as Leeds Marseille and The basques, turn ordinary players into better one, he is a crazy teacher

[Bielsa´s irish]

Ironic that you completely ignore a comment after accusing another poster of the same thing!

I think yesterday's game fitted in with the pattern of the Kenny regime to date tbh. Against the poor sides - Luxembourg, Andorra, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Lithuania and Armenia - we've tended to start brightly and if we score early then we get a bit of confidence, force the other team to come out of their shell, and we create more. (See Qatar (H) and Azerbaijan (A). Qatar in Hungary is the only exception, when we scored early and drew 1-1)

But if we don't score early, then we get bogged down, lose our way in the game, let the other side into it. Luxembourg (A) and Andorra (A) saw us get bogged down for more than an hour before finally scoring and then the other team had to change tack and we had more room and scored more. Yesterday could well have been the same if Ogbene had scored that sitter of a header on 45.

But the longer we don't score, the less we look like scoring, and it just takes a bolt from distance to really put us under pressure (Azerbaijan (H), Luxembourg (H) and Armenia (A)). We did at least get an equaliser against Azerbaijan by abandoning our game plan, sticking Duffy up front and lumping balls into him. That didn't work last night.

Then Lithuania (H) we bailed out in the 97th minute.

You could maybe add both Bulgaria games to that list given how far they've fallen - they meet the same pattern.

So to be honest, I think all those games fit a broad pattern that has been reasonably consistent in Kenny's time, regardless of coach. We're too easy to defend against, have no creativity, and are unwilling to have a pop from distance; the only positive is that if we do take the lead and make a poor team come at us, we can get in behind them then

I totally Agree and he stopped calling up players he trusted McGrath and Horgan for no reason.