Steve Staunton

dbnavan

Stekelly wrote:

Unfortunately, commitment doesnt make a good player. He was a hoofer.

He also won FAI player of the year at least once.

therecklessone

Can someone confirm or explain the role Staunton currently performs at Walsall? I've just read a post on a Spurs message board I'm on:

My mate at work is a Walsall fan and is delighted that Staunton is leaving.

He isn't even assistant manager at Walsall he just does a bit of work with the kids, Sky sports have just said he is Assistant mgr to make it sound a bit better.

Soccerbase says Mick Halsall is assisstant manager (all he's missing is a W...:D )

Walsall don't even mention him in their staff/coaching list

Kingp35

I may be wrong but as far as I know he is a player/coach at Walsall and definitely is not assistant manager. I am fairly annoyed at the moment because the FAI said that they would go for a top manager but yet here we are again with the same old story of them going for an unproven manager. Staunton has no managerial experience at all which is definitely a worry, but Robson will be there to help him out which does make it slightly better. I remember in previous threads that some people suggested Robson should take over as full manager so at least this way he is involved. Staunton is a huge gamble but we dont know if it will work or not until he is tried and tested.

Im not happy about the decision but I will be giving him my support. One thing is for sure is that he will certainly have the determination for the job.

20 Times 20 Times

Just a qick question lads. Can you see steve shouting at the lads ?

By the way some great comments above that i dont think i can add any more too , well done all.

Rikand

Sarge wrote:

Just a qick question lads. Can you see steve shouting at the lads ?

Aye can definately picture it all right, and his face going red with frustration to match the hair, hehe just like at the world cup when he got sunburnt

Pal

Stekelly wrote:

Unfortunately, commitment doesnt make a good player. He was a hoofer.

agreed.
also his loss of possession of the ball was off the scale.

finnpark

Pal wrote:

agreed.
also his loss of possession of the ball was off the scale.

The chelsea boss never kicked a ball and hes alright. John Giles was very good but usless as a manager. Was Martin O'Neill any good?

Seen that he is so cheap does this mean ticket prices will go down?

redspider

Kingp35 wrote:

I am fairly annoyed at the moment because the FAI said that they would go for a top manager but yet here we are again with the same old story of them going for an unproven manager. Staunton has no managerial experience at all which is definitely a worry, but Robson will be there to help him out which does make it slightly better. I remember in previous threads that some people suggested Robson should take over as full manager so at least this way he is involved. Staunton is a huge gamble but we dont know if it will work or not until he is tried and tested.

I think I was one of the voices that mentioned that Bobby Robson (not Bryan) would be a good choice for the Irish mgmt role. He has a good footballing brain, and should be able to apply that to the Irish situation. Staunton on his own would have been a complete shot in the dark, but Staunton with Robson may work out ok. Only time will tell.

No matter what the FAI would have done there would have been complaints. Unless the FAI pays big bucks, they would not be able to get a big name in.

And our track record is to get in managers that are not the pick of the crop, Kerr, McCarthy, Charlton, Giles, Hand. It think its good that Steve is there with his Irish connection and lets see what the complete staff selection is.

By the way, are there any other Irish players who are involved in management? Hughton was probably overlooked as he was too closely involved with Kerr.

redspider

eirebhoy

redspider wrote:

By the way, are there any other Irish players who are involved in management?

O'Leary.

OTliddy

I have as bad an instinct as anyone about Staunton, but I didn't think Stuart Pearce would be a success either

Rikand

redspider wrote:

By the way, are there any other Irish players who are involved in management? Hughton was probably overlooked as he was too closely involved with Kerr.

redspider

Mich McCarthy

BRING BACK BIG MICK!

zAbbo

Rickylovesuall wrote:

Mich McCarthy

BRING BACK BIG MICK!

Captain Shamtastic, at least Stan had a good footballing brain, and in his later stage of his Ireland career was a competent attack starter, always seemed to find a man when he passed the ball from the defence, unlike McCarthy who lumped it high and hard.

I'm behind Stan, lets wait and see if he includes some of the young guns in his first irish squad, I'm talking Kevin Doyle,Stephen Ireland and Glenn Whelen specifically, Names i don't want to see are Matt Holland and Kevin Kilbane.

garred

Was there many top class managers on the FAI list? Suppose they had to appoint someone soon, before the Euro draw. With us being 4th seeds and if we get a hard group, what top manager or so called up and coming manager would put their rep on the line and take the Irish job.
Not mad about the appointment but will give him my support in the stands.

mike65

I feel your pain!

Seriously though, who knows what this might bring. You can spend a fortune on a sure thing and have it flop or take a chance. As expectations are soooooooo low he's bound to be a raging success!

Mike.

Mike.

Nunu

finnpark wrote:

The chelsea boss never kicked a ball and hes alright. John Giles was very good but usless as a manager. Was Martin O'Neill any good?

Seen that he is so cheap does this mean ticket prices will go down?

Ye, O'Neill was a fantastic midfielder. 60 odd caps for the North, a league championship medal and 2 European cup medals.

If Staunton gets the job it's scandalous. The farcical situation of a mentor assisting him is almost hard to believe. It highlights that his employers do not even believe themselves that he merits the position. Is the Ireland job now just going to be a thank you for ex players, who offered great service on the pitch, so that they can cut their teeth in management before moving on out into the bigger, bad world of club football. What have we done to deserve this?
I have nothing against Staunton, he is onto a hiding to nothing because there is too much that stands against him. Somebody mentioned about marching on Merrion Sq. Normally I dismiss that sort of talk, but really we(the fans) have to do something. The FAI can't get away with this.

colster

Nunu wrote:

Ye, O'Neill was a fantastic midfielder. 60 odd caps for the North, a league championship medal and 2 European cup medals.

If Staunton gets the job it's scandalous. The farcical situation of a mentor assisting him is almost hard to believe. It highlights that his employers do not even believe themselves that he merits the position. Is the Ireland job now just going to be a thank you for ex players, who offered great service on the pitch, so that they can cut their teeth in management before moving on out into the bigger, bad world of club football. What have we done to deserve this?
I have nothing against Staunton, he is onto a hiding to nothing because there is too much that stands against him. Somebody mentioned about marching on Merrion Sq. Normally I dismiss that sort of talk, but really we(the fans) have to do something. The FAI can't get away with this.

It's looking like Robson is the main man.
http://www.rte.ie/sport/2006/0110/ireland.html

Guy:Incognito

And to think I said not to get ROy Keane in as it's too early for him and he hasnt got the experience. Turns out he's at just the right point in his career to be given an international management position.


Why didnt they get Robson to be full time manager and make Staunton assistant with a view to taking over when Robson goes?

finnpark

colster wrote:

It's looking like Robson is the main man.
http://www.rte.ie/sport/2006/0110/ireland.html

Looks like Phil Babb wont be Stan's assistant then:D

sprinkles

Nunu wrote:

Ye, O'Neill was a fantastic midfielder. 60 odd caps for the North, a league championship medal and 2 European cup medals.

If Staunton gets the job it's scandalous. The farcical situation of a mentor assisting him is almost hard to believe. It highlights that his employers do not even believe themselves that he merits the position. Is the Ireland job now just going to be a thank you for ex players, who offered great service on the pitch, so that they can cut their teeth in management before moving on out into the bigger, bad world of club football. What have we done to deserve this?
I have nothing against Staunton, he is onto a hiding to nothing because there is too much that stands against him. Somebody mentioned about marching on Merrion Sq. Normally I dismiss that sort of talk, but really we(the fans) have to do something. The FAI can't get away with this.

Off to march we go.

Is there an email address at the FAI we can lodge our complaints?

cournioni

Don't like the man. Never have done. I would personally like to see Bobby Robson become the manager.

GuanYin

finnpark wrote:

John Giles was very good but usless as a manager.

Errrr

Giles wasn't useless, he got West Brom promoted first time of asking, won the FAI cup with Shamrock Rovers (the gulf between division not being as huge then) and as for his stint at Ireland? Its pretty well accepted that Giles put the structure in place that allowed Hand to come within a whicker of qualifying and eventually led up to Charlton's success. Selectors were picking the team before Giles was manager ffs.


That aside, I'm far more optimistic about Robson's influence in the matter than the Stan appointment. That said, Robson is said to have heavily influenced Jose and Stan probably has the right demeanour to be a hit.

I'll reserve judgement. He has two very tough friendlies before I have an opinion either way.

TheDoc

Well I can see that the next 2-4 years of irish football will be dier, with poor results, mis qualifitcations the lot.

Then the current team who ar enot great, will be gone, and the irish team will become a total shambles.

I regurly view irish talent at young ages such as under 21's etc etc, and I have to say nothing really special coming up.....I'd say maybe 3-4 quality players coming through but could turn up as nothing at international levels.

To be fully hones the irish youth squads, i cant see most of them making a decent career anywhere.

But dont be suprised if irish football just blows for the next decade....cause I'd say it will.

tim3115

Why are the Eircom League players not looked at more often? Kevin Doyle goes to Reading during the summer, after his first 4 or 5 games people are talking about international football etc. He hardly changed dramatically in 4 or 5 games? So he was a quality player in the Irish league but no looked at enough?

Kingp35

tim3115 wrote:

Why are the Eircom League players not looked at more often? Kevin Doyle goes to Reading during the summer, after his first 4 or 5 games people are talking about international football etc. He hardly changed dramatically in 4 or 5 games? So he was a quality player in the Irish league but no looked at enough?

It boils down to the quality of the opposition that he is playing against, lets face it bar the top three sides in the EL the standard is pretty poor. Doyle had to be tried out in a league that had a better overall standard before he could be picked. Its sad but its the way it is at the moment but the league does seem to be on the up.

RuggieBear

tim3115 wrote:

Why are the Eircom League players not looked at more often? Kevin Doyle goes to Reading during the summer, after his first 4 or 5 games people are talking about international football etc. He hardly changed dramatically in 4 or 5 games? So he was a quality player in the Irish league but no looked at enough?

Perhaps it's the professional training?

tim3115

In 4 or 5 games though?

MrJoeSoap

RuggieBear wrote:

Perhaps it's the professional training?

I hope that was a joke!

Guy:Incognito

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

Well I can see that the next 2-4 years of irish football will be dier, with poor results, mis qualifitcations the lot.

What makes it worse is that it will be justified by the excuse that we are a low seed. So the FAi are in a win win, even if it was their fault we are in this position in the first place.

The attitude is ridiculous. Eoin Hand was on the radio the yesterday talking about Stan getting the job and he basically said " ahh sure it's ok cos we're not going to qualify . we'll get a group of Italy, Holland and Ukraine and wont get near qualification" . That attitude sickens me, and just shows up the shambles that we're in. No wonder Roy went off on one, and I don't know how anyone can blame him when this is the crap they are faced with.

The Insider

It looks like the FAI have written off the next campaign already which really pi**es me off. Seems to me like they want to use the next campaign so Stan can learn his trade of Robson. Then they will get rid of Robson and leave Stan in sole charge for the world cup.

The FAI are the biggest shower of wa**ers I mean for this campaign who is really going to be in charge, who is going to sit in the dugout, who is going to pick the team, who is going to give the half time talks. If a player has a problem with not getting his game or the way something is happening in training who does he go to? Having two men in charge has never worked, just look at Houlier and Evans.

If they thought Stan was the best man they should have given him the job straight out on his own. What happens if we actually did qualify for the next euros and had a good campaign, would Robson then step down and let Stan take over the team fully. I just feel this joint partnership will end in tears.

The Rooster

The Insider wrote:

who is really going to be in charge, who is going to sit in the dugout, who is going to pick the team, who is going to give the half time talks ?

A lot of money in the bookies riding on this - could be complicated if one is Coach and the other is Director or similar. Who the hell is the manager? I'd guess the bookies would much prefer Robson to get the position, rather than Stan who's had buckets of cash placed on him over the last week or so (allegedly!?). I presume the key criteria for whoever the "manager" is, is who picks the team - which presumably the FAI will explain when they announce the Dream Team.

Also interesting to hear that both men are bringing in assistants. Robson bringing with him the chap who's been assistant to be man times before (cant remember his name) and Stan bringing in ex-Liverpool player Kevin McDonald (played in the double winning side in 86).

BillyBoy

The Insider wrote:

If they thought Stan was the best man they should have given him the job straight out on his own.

It looks like bringing in Robby Bobson is a feeble attempt by the FAI to keep the fans happy for appointing Stan as manager, because Bobson has experience. Either appoint one or the other (or neither preferably) but I can see having the two of them as a bad idea (like the Evans+Houllier partnership mentioned). The FAI obviously know that the majority of fans (and T.Cascarino) wouldn't like Stan as manager (until he gets expereince at least) and have tried to win them over by appointing Bobson as an 'advisor'

Ridiculous:mad:

The Insider

In the Independent its today it's suggesting that Stan is the man who will be fully in charge and that he is bringing in his own right hand man but that Robson will be dealing with the media. You can see the confusion that this is causing already I can't see this working.

The Rooster wrote:

Staunton wins first 'battle' with Robson
Wednesday January 11th 2006

Steve Staunton

Gerry McDermott

ROOKIE Ireland manager Stephen Staunton has won his first battle by insisting that he chooses his backroom team.

Reports from England yesterday suggested that mentor Bobby Robson was lining up his long-time right-hand man John Carver to join the new set-up as Staunton's top coach.

Carver is currently head coach at Leeds and the speculation was that he would take the Ireland role on a part-time basis - similar to the way Spurs first team coach Chris Hughton operated under Brian Kerr.

However, the Irish Independent can reveal that Staunton is set to name his former Liverpool team-mate Kevin McDonald as his No.2 with Alan Kelly as the goalkeeping coach.

McDonald, who holds a FIFA Pro-Licence, is currently on the coaching staff at Aston Villa and Staunton is very close to securing his release from Villa Park.

The 45-year-old Scot was part of the Liverpool side that won the League and FA Cup double in the 1985-86 season having been signed from Leicester in 1984 where he was team captain. He left Liverpool for Coventry before joining the Aston Villa coaching staff.

Sources close to the new management team last night dismissed the Carver story as "utter rubbish" but it does focus attention on how exactly the Staunton-Robson relationship is going to work out.

The FAI see Staunton as the manager with day to day responsibility for everything to do with the senior international team and Robson as his advisor but a major question remains over whether the former England manager will be able to keep off the training pitch or out of the dug-out.

His most famous pupil, Jose Mourinho, recently offered an insight into Robson and it suggests that he may find a background role difficult.

"Bobby Robson isn't interested in studying, systematising or planning the training practice. He is a pitch man; he's about training and having direct contact with the players. With Robson, I didn't get much work as a coach on the pitch," explained Mourinho.

Robson had experience of being on the sidelines when he was was replaced as manager of Barcelona by Louis van Gaal and became Director of Signings, a time he recently recalled in his autobiography.

"I was disappointed to be sidelined but not bitchy and I still felt part of the club and the decision-making process," he wrote.

It understood that the FAI have given Staunton full authority to call all the shots and that he will determine Robson's long-term role which is likely to mean the former England manager being used as a scout and analyst as well as a source of advice when needed.

It is also likely that Staunton may hand Robson the onerous task of dealing with the media on a day to day basis.

CountryWise

If it becomes a success it is a complete fluke by the FAI,surely Brian Kerr is better than a manager with no experience, the FAI have really highlighted how poor they are this time round

redspider

eirebhoy wrote:

O'Leary.

Yeah, I temporarily forgot about him. He distanced himself from the role though early on, didnt he, coming out and saying that he would like to do it at some point way in the future. Mind you, if he had got sacked by Villa I'm sure he would have taken it as a job if he couldnt get another job elsewhere.

The problem for Ireland is trying to get a manager thats good, and available, and I would prefer someone with some sort of Irish connection or at least a gra for Ireland.

I highly rate Robson though. I dont think he will let ego's etc get in the way of having a good close two-man management team. Brian Clough did it for years with Peter Taylor and it worked very well. Its true that it usually doesnt work out, which is Giles hypothesis, as in there should only be one manager and one person that selects the team. Funny enough, he's the first one to complain that Quieroz is having too much of an influence at Man U yet he's the first to say that Ferguson is a good example of a single boss. The reality is that all clubs are managed by a team of people, not just one person.

I take Gile's point, that two heads usually doesnt work out, but that doesnt mean that it cant! And with the make-up of Steve and Bobby, Steve learning, Bobby with the experience, it could just work out ok.

I for one am willing to give it a go, and there are no alternatives that I have heard of that would be much better.

George Burley .... naah ...
O'Leary on his own, yeah, he'd be fine, but his hat isnt in the ring.

So, to all the nay-sayers about the Staunton/Robsom proposed double-act, who would you have in instead and pick someone who has shown an interest in the job? And then lets judge them.

redspider

redspider

CountryWise wrote:

surely Brian Kerr is better than a manager with no experience

Brian Kerr was a manager with no track record of management at an equivalent level, no top league clubs and no other international management experience.

=> Kerr WAS a manager with NO EXPERIENCE

redspider

BillyBoy

redspider wrote:

Brian Kerr was a manager with no track record of management at an equivalent level, no top league clubs and no other international management experience.

=> Kerr WAS a manager with NO EXPERIENCE

redspider

But Kerr had managed at underage level for Ireland and Pats (one of the EL teams anyway i think it was Pats anyway, apologies if it wasn't) Not an equivalent level but had managed before. I think most peoples problem with Staunton, experience-wise, is that he has never managed any team at any level. I know hes assistant at Walsall but thats not being a manager.

colster

CountryWise wrote:

If it becomes a success it is a complete fluke by the FAI,surely Brian Kerr is better than a manager with no experience, the FAI have really highlighted how poor they are this time round

So a failed manager is better than one with potential???

Kingp35

BillyBoy wrote:

I know hes assistant at Walsall but thats not being a manager.

People keep saying this for some reason. Staunton is NOT assistant manager at Walsall, he is only a player/coach.

MonkeyTennis

if he does get the job with or without robson, we should get behind him. Its, in my mind a bad decision, but you never know. Our job as fans will be to support the team and I for one will.

The Muppet

redspider wrote:

Brian Kerr was a manager with no track record of management at an equivalent level, no top league clubs and no other international management experience.

=> Kerr WAS a manager with NO EXPERIENCE

redspider

Thats right and then when he got a few years experience under his belt The FAI did not renew his contract and replaced him with another manager with no experience who will have to go throught the same learning curve as Kerr.

I think it may have been better to leave Kerr there for another two years that appoint Steve but then again I was not happy with some of Irelands tactics when leading in important matches but maybe Kerr had leared that lesson, We.ll neve know now.

I agree we should support Steve despite the sour taste the FAI have yet again managed to leave fans with.

BKtje

ill support him like ill support any irish team but i cant say im too happy with the decesion.

applehunter

The manager can only do so much.

I'd give the manager c. 10% or less in terms of team performance.

As long as he selects the right players, that is the main thing.

redspider

BillyBoy/Muppet:
Its true that Staunton has no experience as a manager, but I think he has the right credentials as a player and was involved in the international scene enough to be in a good position to be a manager. There are no guarantees that he will be of course, and it remains to be seen if the double act will work.

He was a defender, and a midfielder who, unlike forwards, usually make better managers. Thats because they are used to organising the team and rely more on team qualities. Whereas forwards tend to be more selfish, etc.

Kerr's experience at under-age level is much much different to the top-level. Although Kerr wasnt given a full two tournaments, which every manager deserves a crack at unless they are completely inept, it was just two games shy of that. I think Kerr was more unfortunate than anything else. If you look at the way Israel got their draws against us, the blame could not be put on Kerr per se.

applehunter:
In terms of whether a manager is 10%, at times he can be a lot more. Motivation is key and players performaces can vary +/- 20% at least although football cant be measured in those terms, but Managers and the whole coaching staff have a big role to play. They are not the be-all and end-all, I agree with you on that, but you can see with the right type of motivation that the likes of a Clyde can beat Celtic, that Buton can draw with Man U, and neither of these were unfair results.

So, Ireland could beat Brazil, but unlike Dunphy, I never thought for a second that Ireland should be vying to win the World Cup!

I'm still in the camp of "give the new duo a chance, who is better as a viable alternative".

Its all very well vox-pops saying that they are against the Staunton-Robson appointment, but who are people proposing instead?

answers on a postcard please to No.7, Merrion Square, D2.

redspider

whiskeyman

Got this in email today... I guess it was in the Herald yesterday?

Kingp35

whiskeyman wrote:

Got this in email today... I guess it was in the Herald yesterday?

Classic stuff

MrJoeSoap

Thats brilliant. Top quality!

eirebhoy

applehunter wrote:

The manager can only do so much.

I'd give the manager c. 10% or less in terms of team performance.

As long as he selects the right players, that is the main thing.

Its a lot more than 10%. Kevin Keegan wouldn't have got the Greece team out of the group never mind win the European Championships. That Henrik Larson fella has Faroe Islands playing way better than they should do considering their part timers. Martin O'Neill isn't in so much demand because he picks the best team.

sprinkles

redspider wrote:

Brian Kerr was a manager with no track record of management at an equivalent level, no top league clubs and no other international management experience.

=> Kerr WAS a manager with NO EXPERIENCE

redspider

he's the most sucsessful international Irish soccer manager we've ever had before taking up the job. He managed the under 18's and look where he got them.

Some of his tactical choices were very poor imo but he had the coaching ability and his research into the opponents was superb. Stan's ability is unproven, that means he could be very good or very bad. We just don't know. That is the problem.

We are at the juncture in the history of the sport in the country where a bad appointment could see ourselves drop further down the seedings and that will mean we'll need a very very good team over the period of 6 - 8 years to get us back to the level we were at 2 years ago. Taking a risk at this time is just plain stupid. We needed a manager with experience to get us out of this hole we find ourselves in.


Euro 08 is not going to happen for us so the manager needs to concentrate on getting us up the seedings for the world cup imo.

I hope Stan is very very good.

Big Nelly

Worst kept secret has just been confirmed

Roar

I honestly dont know whether to laugh or cry tbh.. a terrible, misguided appointment by a shambles of an organisation.. FFS i've more managerial experience than staunton and i only run a 7 a side team..

Once again it proves you cant spell failure without FAI..