Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158449#Comment_119158449

The run of semi decent results came at the end of the year, is the results at the start of the year like the defeat to Luxembourg just Kenny's fault even though Barry was also there.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158444#Comment_119158444

In that scenario they'll probably sit back to conserve energy, let us have the ball, and pick us off with long shots instead 😂

Think the only way they'll be disinterested on Wednesday is if lads are out on the lash for the two days after the game.

Agent Coulson

I’d expect the Ukraine players to be shattered if the lose to Wales.

If they beat Wales and get to the World Cup they will be on some high and I would not fancy our chances in either game.

McFly85

Calling for someone’s head because he’s lost a friendly away is gas. Disappointing result definitely that will mean nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Kenny will rightly have the Euro campaign and then after that we can judge if the progress has been enough for him to continue.

Azatadine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158550#Comment_119158550

You do realise that wasn't a friendly?

Kermit.de.frog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158550#Comment_119158550

Kenny wants to win this group of friendlies.

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158550#Comment_119158550

Calling competitive games a friendly is certainly a new excuse for Kenny!

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158717#Comment_119158717

Really worrying thing for Kenny old failings reappearing. Basic stuff. Thought it would be sorted out at this stage. So the team can play to its strengths instead he ends up playing to the team’s weaknesses against weaker sides in particular.

As the saying goes:

’Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results’

Azatadine

Stephen Kenny and his philosophy are on 550K per annum.

https://www.buzz.ie/sport/stephen-kenny-ireland-contract-salary-26433133

Drumpot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158488#Comment_119158488

Where did I excuse the defeat? Some of you are so entrenched in a view you don’t read read what people write.

Im in the realistic camp, there’s no money to hire a high profile manager and he’s with us for another 2 years. No point in complaining about it, it’s not kennys fault Irish football is a mess.

But that aside , I do actually think it could allow youngsters to be blooded in a really low pressure environment with lower expectations. If a new manager comes in 2 years hopefully Kenny will of blooded a lot of new players and the new manager can push on from there. Sometimes things have to get worse before better, I’m not sure I see what choice we have to be honest.

ebbsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158770#Comment_119158770

Fair points there.

These days I will watch the big teams play each other, but that is it.

Kenny will have the Euros and then judge him. This 4 games in 10 days nonsense at the end of the season is indeed, nonsense.

Mr.Nice Guy

"it's not kennys fault Irish football is a mess"

We were told that the pragmatic coaching styles of previous managers were holding us back and that under the attacking philosophy of Kenny, the Irish side would thrive. What happened to that? Now we're being told the coaching isn't the problem, but the players. I had a look at the Ireland team that beat Bosnia 2-0 in the play-off 2nd leg to get to the Euros in 2016 to see the standard available. This was the side:

Randolph - Coleman, Keogh, Clark, Brady - Whelan, McCarthy - Walters, Hoolahan, Hendrick - Murphy

Aside from Hoolahan and Walters, there's not a great deal of difference in quality. It's the same mixture of Championship and lower level Premier League players. And before anyone brings up the League One players today, Kenny chose to start them over players from higher levels. The difference in competitive results is less to do with the player pool available, and more to do with the coaching team.

glenjamin

I don't get why he was given a 2 year contrac extension. Surely a contract until the end of the Nation's League campaign with an option to extend into the Euros qualifying would have been more appropriate given how poor results had been prior to the contract extension. He would have had no choice but to accept the terms of that as he wouldn't get a better offer than at club level financially speaking, and it would have given the FAI a get-out should results nosedived like our previous campaign.

noodler

I remain far from convinced but won't say anymore than that.

I do wonder just when some think we can start judging him though. The most diasterous WC campaign in years and without a Nations league win. Were coming up on two years here.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158842#Comment_119158842

Personally I think the main reasons the FAI gave Kenny a contract are ~

1) Media behind Kenny had a few OK results against poor sides

2) Kenny is cheap- this I feel is the main reason. FAI strapped for cash and wouldn’t find another manager willing to accept a low wage

Azatadine

I agree on the whole media thing alright. The OTB lads were going way over the top about him. Kenny and his philosophy were heralded as being the future of Irish football. Non stop. Every chance they got.

It'll be interesting to see what excuses they have for him now. He even looks completely clueless and out of his depth on the sidelines. Totally out of his depth.

glenjamin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158862#Comment_119158862

I do agree the media had somewhat changed their stance on him after the draws against Portugal and Belgium, as well as the convincing wins against Qatar, etc, and I myself felt he deserved the chance to take the Nation's League but there should have been a backup plan in place if things went south once again. A way for the FAI to change manager without having to payoff Kenny. We were never going to attract another Trappatoni or O'Neill on the budget the FAI had but whether we went foreign again or gave it to another former player on a low salary would have been better options than to have to potentially sit through another 2 years of this mediocrity.

sterz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158862#Comment_119158862

I think the reasons were some of the performances in the last eight or so games, that the players are behind him and that they probably know they're not going to get someone else in at that price.

pjohnson

The OTB crew are embarassing. Its hard to take any of them serious, someone needs to tell them goals win games not the possesion stat.

Mr.Nice Guy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158907#Comment_119158907

Agree with you on the OTB crowd. Seems like doubts are starting to creep in there too now:

https://twitter.com/JohnDugganSport/status/1533125836244672512

tanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158851#Comment_119158851

It’s always the next campaign he will be judged on, its a bit like tomorrow, it never comes.

glenjamin

The Armenian Premier League finished up on the 28th of May, 6 days after the English Premier League and over 3 weeks after the EFL Championship. This Armenian team was predominantly made up of home based players who each had less rest than the English based players coming into today's game. This is the same Armenian side who in the last 12 months lost 5-0 to Macedonia and drew with Liechtenstein both at HOME. The more you look at it the worse today's result is.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158449#Comment_119158449

That why Belgium were absolutely dire last night?

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158832#Comment_119158832

Our team now is far younger than that team vs Bosnia

athlone99

I have backed Kenny from the start and was delighted he got the chance to manage the team. I have supported him through the thick and thin and only after today am I starting to have doubts. I like that he put pressure on himself saying he wanted to win the group, it was nice to see the ambition but he now has to take the flack when you lose to the lowest ranked team in the group.

In saying that the overall quality of the team is improving but we are where we are because of John Delaney although thats no longer an excuse for Kenny as this is now his team and squad.

The performance today was simply shocking. The same old mistakes that I thought he had learned from slipped back in. The changes and subs I thought were very poor. Why he persists with Hendrick is beyond me, he has been robbing a living as a footballer for 4 years. Also why they refuse to close players down is beyond me, we keep getting caught with screamers and not learning from it. I like the 3-5-2 against the better teams bit against weaker teams with a low block we need a playmaker in there.

I wouldnt have taken Parrot off, i thought he looked lively. Even do Ogbene got MOM i thought he was found out technically where he had no space in behind. Robinson was poor as was Obafemi when he came on. Coleman needs to play right back or as part of the 3 at the back, doesnt have the legs anymore.

I would like to see Kenny have a real pair of balls and drop Hendrick, McCLean, Hourihane they just dont offer anything anymore. Id love to see Cullen and Knight as the 2 in the middle.

Kenny needs to show progress in the nations league and build on the positive momentum that was there until full time today. Today is a huge set back but i think the players are just as responsible as the manager for today.

Francie Barrett

Kenny got the tactics wrong today.

Playing three in central defence against a team that parked the bus put us at an instant disadvantage. Having Stevens and Coleman (neither of whom have the legs anymore) play as wing backs only compounded our difficulty in breaking down the opposition. Neither Cullen nor Hendrick are the types who are going to be making the driving runs to threaten opposition defenders. It's not hard to see how we struggled to pose an attacking threat.

What's worse is that when we went a goal behind, the wheels just seemed to fall off completely. Tactics went out the window and we resorted to playing defenders as strikers and pumping the ball up to them.

Kenny definitely got this one wrong today.

Mervyn Skidmore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119159591#Comment_119159591

I think you got it spot on. Pure desparation at the end sticking Duffy up front and hoofing balls up to him. I wonder how low we'll go because for me this is worse than the Luxembourg defeat. Luxembourg are a better team than Armenia. The sad thing is that I think the public don't really care anymore about the team. Probably the lowest point for Irish soccer for me in the 25 years I've been following the team.

Fandymo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158371#Comment_119158371

He just needs time…..

Fandymo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158480#Comment_119158480

Sorry skip, have you not seen our possession stats?? Or our completed passes?? We are going places!

Kermit.de.frog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158371#Comment_119158371

Hold on, it was Kenny himself who said the goal was winning our group.

So, by his own standard, we can expect his resignation next week. That shows you how utterly clueless he is at this level. No credible international manager is going to put a noose like that around their neck. He did.

Oh wait, we can't expect his resignation. You know why? Because Kenny has nowhere else to go remotely on the salary he gets now.

I don't blame Kenny. Why should he resign?

We're fcuked. Simple as that.

This is all the fallout of the wonderful legacy left to us by Delaney. A rubbish team, no prospects, no money, dud managers.

We are among the lowest of the low in Europe now. Our real competitors are Armenia, Luxembourg, San Marino...that's our level now and there is no hope of getting out of it. It's why no one cares any more. It's like being stuck in a tumble dryer filled with sh!t stained clothes.

The situation is grim.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119160098#Comment_119160098

Nothing wrong with saying the goal was winning the group. I mean, of course it was. Saying the goal is to win is not the same as unequivocally saying "we will win" or something.

I'd personally much rather that we set high targets and fall short, instead of going into it all with the opening mindset of making up the numbers.

glenjamin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119160012#Comment_119160012

We sure are. Heading for League C while our world ranking plummets.

Zico !

No creativity and set up with 3 centre halfs against some amateurs that were beaten 9-0 in their last game -we are in no man's land here crap players with a crap manager.

As someone said the interest in this team is at dire levels and let's be honest this team could lose to any of the fodder out there including the likes of the faroe islands .

I'm surprised people are shocked we lost here

Brock Turnpike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119157909#Comment_119157909

This is why this guy should never be listened to, really doesn't know what he's talking about.

Armenia's winless streak coincided with Mkhitarayan's return to the squad. Before that they were in great form.

Mushy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119160221#Comment_119160221

Would've been in league C until uefa changed up the way the league works.

But yeah, id be a supporter of Kenny, but if you don't get the results, can have no complaints. Just no idea who will follow him whenever the time comes.

elefant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119160098#Comment_119160098

By this logic, I'll keep an eye out for Jurgen Klopp imminently resigning.

Azatadine

I assume all of the OTB crew are blaming everything else except the useless Kenny and his philosophy? Someone posted a tweet by John Duggan alright though and it wasn't as strongly supportive as he usually is.

Those lads have a lot of power. Those lads and the media in general have a lot of responsibility for the disastrous situation we are in with Kenny and his philosophy now.

Weepsie

We should've been I league c anyway but the system was changed.

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119160098#Comment_119160098

If the team is rubbish, every manager will be a dud. You could get the 'best manager in the world' to coach the Ireland team, and they'd be criticised for being too defensive. Why? Because that manager would invariably reach the same conclusion that Trapattoni reached and that Martin O'Neill reached, which was that in order to be competitive, in order be in the running to qualify for things, the team of (by international standards) average players will have to prioritise defence and just try to nick a goal here or there, from set pieces or a counter attack or something.

The FAI appears to be committed to The Kenny Project right now and probably can't afford to replace him with someone much better right now. Also, I think we're finally hitting that point where there is no longer a real expectation of qualifying for things among the public, so there's less pressure from the public to 'get someone in' and less of the likes to Dennis O' Brien to help. So, this is why I say he's not going anywhere. In addition to that, I just find it funny the way in football land it seems to lurch between "Ah, yeah, happy with that" to "SACK HIM", like supporters just don't see anything past the last game or into the next one. It truly is a case of 'you're only as good as your last performance', I guess...

The only real progress will come when a few really quality players come through. It's not a coincidence that the highs of the Charlton and McCarthy mk.1 eras came because of the resources at their disposal. So, get cracking, FAI academies, and if a mad billionaire wants to pump in a load of money, I'd suggest putting it into domestic clubs.

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119160098#Comment_119160098

I didn't realise the group positions were completed yesterday.

Brock Turnpike

In my view, Kenny got it badly wrong yesterday.

We played 3 at the back while Armenia didn't even really have a recognized striker on the pitch. Fair enough he wanted to stick with the system that had done well in recent games, but there was no need for 3 CBs, and it should've been switched up at HT.

He compounded that further by picking Coleman and Stevens as the wing backs. If you're going to have a huge amount of possession, against a team in such a low block, then you don't need to worry about the wing backs being defensively sound. Matt Doherty was missed massively at RWB, his intelligent runs would've been far more effective in getting in behind/creating space in attacking positions. Coleman just didn't have the legs yesterday. At one point there was a well worked move down the right which ended with Coleman being free with a huge amount of space to run into. Yet he was easily caught by the Armenian player running back, outpacing him, and nicking the ball from him. I thought Ogbene showed at RWB that the approach of an attacking RWB with pace and ability to get beyond the defender, was much more effective. It was too late at that point though.

i have no idea how Hendrick, yet again, stayed on the pitch for the full match. I acknowledge he has played well under Kenny in the last few games, but he was terrible in the second half yesterday. I feel that Kenny doesn't trust Knight to play as one of the two in the middle though so it'll be Alan Browne or Hourihane coming into the midfield possibly. Or maybe it was just the necessity of needing a goal against Luxembourg and Armenia that meant Knight was brought in further forward? Either way, we really lack a creative midfield player.

Higgins5473

Just an observation but even the most staunchest of Kennys defenders are very quiet after yesterday across all the media and forums I would follow, that’s not a told ye so or a criticism as I would’ve been one of his supporters on what he was trying to do. But I’ve had enough now, seems I’m not on my own.

Mushy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119161211#Comment_119161211

Exact same as how many anti-Kenny folks were quiet after previous games

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119161211#Comment_119161211

Not staunch but willing to give him a chance. Let's look at the 3 games overall as a barometer of how things are progressing.

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119161211#Comment_119161211

What do you want people to say? We have come off a good run with good signs of positivity and run into another Luxembourgesqe disaster of a result.

Yesterday is not going to change my mind just yet but it does give pause for thought that the strategy we have might be a bit one dimensional and now teams have figured it out.

Either way Kenny is here until after the Nations league so I might aswell stick with it for now. Either way I am glad we decided on a Poland trip instead of Armenia as I can only imagine how down all the travelling fans were after that display

Azatadine

Listening to OTB today and nobody really questioning Kenny at all. No big surprise I suppose given their history of regarding him as the messiah.

Francie Barrett

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/8965387/scott-brown-celtic-luca-connell/

Luca Connell being linked to Fleetwood.

Mr.Nice Guy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119160266#Comment_119160266

I shouldn't be listened to because I'm not aware how many games Armenia's one decent player featured in? That's a take, I guess. Brock here presumably is an expert on Armenian football. Pity yourself and others didn't listen to me months into the Kenny reign when I predicted to you where this regime was going.

Fromvert

25% win rate with the fixtures he's had is awful. There's just not enough positives for this to continue after the Nation's League but it will because the mess the FAI are in.

He's cooked, everyone knows it, some just won't admit it yet.

RedCardKid

Lads the bigger problem here is the FAI do not have the cash to replace Kenny. They would have to pay up his contract and then pay someone else.