Who the fcuk is Wim Koevermans?

Xavi6

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7502117.stm

Koevermans joins Republic set-up

The Republic of Ireland have appointed Dutchman Wim Koevermans as their International Performance Director.

The 48-year-old, currently working for the Netherlands FA, will take up his new post on 1 September.

Koevermans will be responsible for developing the Republic's stars of the future at international level.

He will head up the new FAI National Academy for elite youth players and work closely with the association's technical department.

"The appointment emphasises our determination to bring the best talent to this country to develop Irish players," said FAI chief executive John Delaney.

"Wim will work closely with the managers of our male and female teams from Under-21 down and also the senior women's team to help them achieve their objectives.

"As head of the new national academy he will look to improve the quality of our young elite players and build on the work being done by the emerging talent programme."

So we're getting a new academy to be run by someone who comes from the Dutch FA. Can't be a bad thing I suppose.

delija_sever029

Al i know is that guy with that second name is playing in PSV:D
But this one is Danny

Guy:Incognito

Xavi6 wrote: »

So we're getting a new academy to be run by someone who comes from the Dutch FA. Can't be a bad thing I suppose.

Unless they turfed him ouit for being a long ball merchant.

Vokes

Dammit, was clicking on this thread expecting to read that Don Givens had been replaced by Koevermans :mad:

estebancambias

I thought Board better than this. 3 posts regarding what could be a massive change in the history of Irish football. I guess some people are more interested in the size of Gareth Barry's balls than an actual proper football story.

For me this is a bigger appointment than Trapattoni....much bigger. I said 'fair play' when FAI appointed Trap. They didn't deserve that. They do now.

This guy has made it clear the importance of players remaining in national league. This academy is the best news I've heard. Hopefully they can operate like they do in the MLS with graduates being drafted to EL clubs.

This would see a higher standard of player in the EL, and hopefully would lead to deals like the figure Modic moved for.

delija_sever029

Well dont bother,its everywhere same,noone cares for national football things like this so you arent different.Whos Modic?

shane86

estebancambias wrote: »

This guy has made it clear the importance of players remaining in national league. This academy is the best news I've heard. Hopefully they can operate like they do in the MLS with graduates being drafted to EL clubs.

The MLS is sh1te. By graduates do you mean college graduates? meh, while I know that is the way American football works (probably because people are passed through the college/exams on condition they spend most of their time playing for the team) but you will find the vast majority of soccer players commited to the sport rather than study route.

As for the EL, again, until it can match the wages of even the C`ship it will not retain good players. It amazes me here how many EL fans believe their poor little league is being preyed on by the big bad English clubs and this somehow has something to do with the state of our national team.

bohsman

Think hes talking about graduates from the youth academy, what sort of wages are mid table Cship teams paying?

Ekels

shane86 wrote: »

As for the EL, again, until it can match the wages of even the C`ship it will not retain good players. It amazes me here how many EL fans believe their poor little league is being preyed on by the big bad English clubs and this somehow has something to do with the state of our national team.

I think it's a bit silly to say that player wages are the be all and end all of attracting top quality Irish players to remain in the league. The underlying and greatest issue is the revenue the clubs receive and perhaps the most important being gate receipts which, in many cases, are quite poor.

I read recently that Joe Gamble is due to sign a contract worth in excess of 200,000 euro a year to him. That's just under 4,000 euro per week: roughly 3160 sterling, a very reasonable wage, when compared with league two or three wages (as far as I know).

Jivin Turkey

This is a great move by the FAI. Credit whree it is due! We need to develop a proper academy in order to ensure the development of our players to a higher level before the cream inevitably move across the water.

It would mean we wouldn't see guys pinched at 16/17 only to end up leaving a Premiership club at 22 and lost from a career perspective having only played a handful of Carling Cup games. The LOI would also be in a better position to take on players who could slot straight into their first teams at 18/19.

leninbenjamin

saw this alright, along with a few interviews with the man. definitely a real positive, plus Koevermans sounds a pretty hands on fellow from what i've read. not your typical FAI head which again can only be a good thing. still, it will be at least 3 or 4 years before this academy is even up and running fully so we've a long wait ahead of us.

DSB

Definitely a good idea for young players to be staying here in Ireland for a few years before heading off if they're good enough.

JimiTime

Its great news, but only if its the beginning of a more elaborate plan IMO.

1) The upkeep of pitches has to be drastically improved.

2) There's got to be incentives introduced for schoolboys below a certain age to keep the ball on the ground. No emphasis on winning etc.

3) Basically, try get the dutch system at the grass roots level of our game so that there are more players that are in the elite in the first place.