Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

YTM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122025732#Comment_122025732

Himself and Joey Barton can double as co managers.

keeponhurling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122025599#Comment_122025599

No it wasn't.

The announced that they had a manager already in place (so not nobody), but they couldn't start until beginning-April. That left them stuck for the March friendlies so they asked if O'Shea could help them out. When he announced his squad, people were asking genuinely if he had gotten input from the incoming manager.

Now it is clear that they have absolutely nobody and no plan, were rejected by all serious candidates - but still wouldn't consider O'Shea. That's why I think it's demeaning now but not so much in March.

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122025977#Comment_122025977

or they had someone lined up and they changed their mind. It happen. In the last few days Juventus had everything agreed with Felipe Anderson, until he had a last second change of heart and decided he wanted to go home to Brazil

And the only reason they gave April as a date was because of the whinging and moaning of fans and media who ‘had to know’ what was going on.

tigger123

Regardless of which way you cut it, virtually all of the speculation has come from the media and bookies. The media have nothing to write about, so instead they start writing click-bait-$h1te about who it might be. Then it's not that person. Then people are screaming about it all.

The FAI have done well to not put names out there, and for there to have been no leaks.

HalloweenJack

It really should have been as simple as them coming out with some non-commital "there'll be no comment while the recruitment process is underway".

The FAI really made a rod for their own back with the April appointment talk. Unless it was agreed, there's no logic to it. Trying to blame it on the fans and the media is quite obnoxious as well. They are well-paid grown-ups, surely they can handle a few questions without panicking?

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122026056#Comment_122026056

That is the ONLY reason they gave April as a date? Is there a press release on this?

Of course the fans want to know what is going on. It is the biggest football news story in the country. We would be in a worse position if none gave a crap. I don't think it is unreasonable to question the competence of the FAI in this regard.

artanevilla

They gave April as the date as they were certain Poyet was going to take it.

athlone99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122026156#Comment_122026156

Bang on there. They should have just said when we have something to report you will hear it from us, in the meantime we are working to get the best candidate. Once they started spouting dates etc and not being able to meet them it makes them look worse. I for one don't mind the wait as long as it ends up the best person for it and not just jumping at someone. Sweden took 9 months or so to appoint a manager, so there is no rush, yes it would be great to have someone who could bed in ideas in the friendlies but we are at a very low ebb and will take some more time to go in the right direction.

I just feel Delaney would have jumped at a Big Sam just to look good to the supporters.

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122025768#Comment_122025768

Of course, we can afford to snub our nose at Lennon. While you and a couple of others on here say the FAI should do nothing and appoint no one until after the Euros, that will mean we’ll be throwing someone in the deepend for the England game.

If they go to O’Shea and ask him to continue as caretaker he should tell them if you want me to continue give me a contract. I’d prefer John O’Shea to someone like Keith Andrews, that’s who’ll be caretaking then.

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122025561#Comment_122025561

Yep they should not be waiting until after the Euros for a miracle and some manager with pedigree to become suddenly interested in a gig with extra responsibilities but for 500k a year and then his first game is a competitive fixture v England. They’re nearing the stage where they’re kicking the can down the road for the sake of it. A ridiculous suggestion.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122026835#Comment_122026835

We can afford to snub our nose at Lennon if other managers are available come June. It's possible that Lennon wanted more money than they wanted to pay. Maybe he gave a shite account of himself when they did meet.

Him saying he'd love to do it and him being good at the process of getting it are different things.

Kerry_2008

This 'managerial search' seems to lurch from one misstep to another. Looking at it I think they had an agreement with Poyet but, wouldn't fork out for his son on the backroom team and Poyet called a halt. Then they went back around the houses once more but, there were no takers.

Fair enough if they want to wait to get the right man in; if they have an idea of who the right man is. Each month they don’t appoint someone they are also saving a salary. I can’t see JOS being caretaker once more unless he has been promised the gig or a role in the backroom staff of the next manager.

Unless they have decided they will wait out the Euros and see what becomes available afterwards. Even though I think any manger that got to the Euros wouldn’t like to take the Ireland gig. Or are they hoping Anthony Barry will be at a loose end by then? I cant think of any UK based manager that is seeing out their contract and be available in the summer. By ‘seeing out’ I mean still being paid as part of his settlement which will cease once he takes a new role. Make more sense to sit at home doing nothing for 2/3 million a year than take over Ireland for a fraction of that.

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122026915#Comment_122026915

That’s a big IF. So far in this saga that IF has looked unlikely.

In my view they need to appoint someone for the games in June so that they get those two games to have a look and have a chance to figure out their best team for the competitive fixtures in September.

If they can’t find anyone between now and June; give O’Shea a contract and let him learn on the job and prepare for the Nations Leagues campaign

Weepsie

3 months is a long time in international football and friendlies in June will have piss all bearing on September..

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122026981#Comment_122026981

Exactly, and it’s not just the Euros in June that’ll cause more managers to be available. The end of season managerial merry-go-round will also start next month.

McFly85

There’s no need to panic really. Having someone in for June would be nice but realistically it won’t have any bearing on the nations league game in September - anyone who could get us competitive against one of the best teams in the world after 2 games would be a miracle worker anyway.

It would be awful to miss out on someone because we decided to give the job to O’Shea too early, but conversely, If O’Shea got a job and took himself out of the running, I don’t think many would be too upset.

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122026981#Comment_122026981

So you think the manager’s first game should be a competitive fixture v England in September, that he shouldn’t get these upcoming friendlies to have a look at the squad and have those games to give him time to select his best team. You think that has “piss all bearing”?

There’s no guarantee that we’ll get “a better manager” at the end of the summer after the Euros. That’s a hell of a gamble to take.

Nope, they should appoint someone for these fixtures in June.

SaoPaulo41

Chris Hughton approached by FAI again as speculation mounts announcement of new Ireland boss will be delayed

https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/chris-hughton-approached-by-fai-again-as-speculation-mounts-announcement-of-new-ireland-boss-will-be-delayed/a1806943452.html

tigger123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027100#Comment_122027100

It's not really a gamble though. O'Shea would take the job now, and will most likely take it in June if he was offered it.

You're not gambling anything.

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027122#Comment_122027122

I’m saying he or whoever it is should be offered it in June, or just before it, someone should be offered it in June and should get the two games in June to work with the squad.

To leave it until after the Euros as some are suggesting, until the end of the summer basically, hoping for a miracle that some quality manager is suddenly going to be interested in a job that pays around €500k a year; that would be taking a ridiculous gamble.

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027103#Comment_122027103

The scene at FAI HQ amid all this feverish speculation

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027100#Comment_122027100

Neil Lennon might end up being the manager. We might end up getting a worse manager, but he absolutely shouldn't be made he manager just because he wants it and is available

England in September might be very different to England in June too. I'd hope any prospective manager would have some in-depth knowledge of our players too. Lennon certainly should.

The international manager cycle often sees plenty of new managers with no time in their first competitive games.

You just seem to have some fixation on giving Lennon the job

Brian?

I expect the FAI to release a statement saying “all managers are interim managers, in a philosophical sense. Existence is fleeting.”

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027460#Comment_122027460

No I don’t have a “fixation” on Lennon getting the job and of course he shouldn’t get just because he said he was interested. Why are you throwing comments like that at me as if I said them. If you’re going to start that carry on I have no interest in continuing with it.

Of those who have been linked and declared interest his CV compares favourably. I don’t think he is getting it as the FAI apparently ruled him out months ago. There is no “fixation”, bar maybe on your part.

In my opinion they should appoint someone, if it’s O’Shea or whoever it is, for the games in June and should not wait until the end of summer. I don’t believe that they’ll get “a better manager” at the end of the summer than they can get between now and June. They’ll just be continuing to drag the arse out of it.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027973#Comment_122027973

Toys out of pram.

It's arguably the most important appointment they're going to make and will have made for some time. The best thing that can happen to this group is to be relegated to league c if qualifying is the goal and use nations league as this year as a trying ground ahead of world cup qualifiers

2 friendlies in June, when most players are checked out anyway won't make a difference in the mid to long term, and that's far, far more important than looking ahead to just September

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122028007#Comment_122028007

toys out of a pram? So the goal is to get relegated now is it? Delay appointment in preparation for the Autumn Nations League games because it’s better to be relegated. LOL. Nonsense.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027973#Comment_122027973

I don't think they could get a worse manager than O'Shea though (someone who has only ever had short unsuccessful stints as 3rd or 4th assistant, and never managed a competitive game even at underage level), so I'm happier to go for the 'mystery box' of waiting. The fact we all know his name isn't grounds for legitimate candidacy imo.

~Rebel~

<edit>

posted in wrong thread

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122028197#Comment_122028197

Bouncing around that division with no hope of qualifying is pointless if the goal is to qualify via the nations league. It's not happening.

The best thing that could've happened is relegation years ago

I also didn't say it was better to wait because it's better to be relegated, they were 2 separate points. Genuinely see not much appointing for June will achieve for july. You'll have a handful of players for a week in 2 friendlies with teams prepping for a tournament and it will tell the sun of f all about the squas.

but well done on your wonderful comprehension skills.

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122028410#Comment_122028410

So are you now saying we should deliberately get relegated? What difference does it make who we appoint if that’s your argument? Might as well appoint O’Shea in the morning and if it works out fine and if it doesn’t for the upcoming Nations League according to you even better. A win win appointment. Ha

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122028251#Comment_122028251

You don’t think we could appoint anyone worse? I think the last appointment was probably worse, and leaving him there till the bitter end even worse again.

Maybe we should appoint O’Shea because it might help to get us relegated out of our current Nations League division, which would be a good thing as another poster there suggested?

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122026692#Comment_122026692

Switch Poyet with Sagnol. They were hoping that Georgia would lose the playoff as Sagnol said he was off after Georgia's involvement with the Euros. I'd say they only sussed Gus out to gage his interest. But he wants a long term contract and specific backroom team.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122028470#Comment_122028470

I think we'd be hard pressed to find a serious option who is worse, yeah. Like, he is only being considered because of his playing days, he should be way further down the pecking order even in relation to other inexperienced assistant managers. In his club coaching gigs, he's never even been the 'right hand guy', he's always just been an extra body on the coaching staff in unsuccessful teams. Which is fine at this stage of his career - he's only a baby in the coaching world yet, plenty of time for him to develop. But imo it's just waaaay too soon for him to be considered for a job like this.

If we were going for someone that inexperienced, i think they at least need to have coached some U21 reserve sides or something, so they've at least a bit of a feel for making changes in game - probably the most important aspect of the job, and something O'Shea looked particularly poor at in those two friendlies. As mentioned, even Paddy McCarthy is far more experienced and far more highly rated, I'd have him in the job far quicker than O'Shea.

It was good to give O'Shea the few friendlies for a bit of experience and exposure, but he needs to go off and learn his trade with a bigger team's U21's, or a ~League One level first team now.

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122028496#Comment_122028496

Yeah.

YTM

Bad news for Bazunu as he picked up an achilles injury in the warm up tonight.

Ferris_Bueller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122028496#Comment_122028496

Agree 100%. O'Shea should not even be in the conversation for the role and the fact that he is and many pundits are saying he should get it shows how much of a mess the FAI have made of this thing. The only reason he is in the running is because the FAI need a plan Z, at this stage we are getting close to that being the likely outcome. If you wanted to go down the ex player route there are numerous people out there who'd be more suitable - Duff, Keane, Steven Reid.

How can someone even say that O'Shea would be a better appointment than our last manager? Maybe in hindsight you could say he won't do any worse - but a better appointment not a chance.

Back in January I didn't want any of the likes of Lennon, Houghton, Coleman or whoever getting the job. Right now I would take any of them as I fear the alternative is O'Shea. Nothing against the man BTW and would support whoever gets the job but he does not have the credentials for it.

TheCitizen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122028802#Comment_122028802

I’m going to finish up with this for now until something actually happens with this because there are several posters on here going around in circles and some of them “thanking” each other for going around in circles for months.

O’Shea is in the conversation because nearly all of the other names you mentioned in your comment quoted have either been ruled out by the FAI or have ruled themselves out or are regarded as too expensive. Keane, too expensive. Duff has ruled himself out after initially being ignored by the looks of it. Lennon and Coleman apparently ruled out by the FAI. Houghton was never mentioned, maybe you meant Hughton? Steven Reid also never mentioned IIRC.

O’Shea is the only one standing right now for various reasons and that’s why he’s in “the conversation” whether you like it or not.

Waiting until the end of summer for a credible candidate to suddenly appear interested in a gig that pays around €500k a year and delay until then to make a call on this will not help matters in my opinion, it will make it worse if anything.

keeponhurling

Although loads of people have been linked with the job, from what I see the only people who have actually straight out said they want the job are John O'Shea, Neil Lennon and Steve Bruce.

In a choice between those three, I'd probably go for Lennon.

HalloweenJack

Looking at the last WC and the Euros, roughly a third of all managers left their jobs one way or another within a month of those tournaments.

Then you have the batch of club managers who will leave their teams at the end of the season.

With a bit of patience, more options could soon become available. They might not be any good or they might not be interested and we could very well end up with JOS in the end, so be it. However, there is no real urgency to get someone in right now. Why rush into a decision just because?

If there's no manager by August, I'd be concerned.

I should actually commend the FAI. Whether by choice or financial restriction, they aren't rushing in to an appointment. If the story about Poyet's son is true, at least they are showing a bit of backbone. If they are also insisting on a manager who is more involved as opposed to just the senior team then that's also to be commended if they're sticking to those conditions.

Again, who knows if its because of the budget forced on them or by design but it is a good sign despite them making a mess of it in terms of communication.

Guaranteed there are plenty of spoofers about happy for a payday, whatever the amount, and it'd save the FAI a lot of hassle to just get them in and get on with it.

The Rooster

Carsley’s offer was €700k and FAI said his decision was not money-related. I’m sure that’s what whoever gets it will be on. Still not massive in terms of what could be got at some Championship clubs, but 40% more than the €500k some are quoting.

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027100#Comment_122027100

It’ll probably be the new England managers first game too.

keeponhurling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122029178#Comment_122029178

How do we know this about the 700k ?

keeponhurling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122029033#Comment_122029033

Re the August comment.

We had 4 friendlies between Kenny's departure and our next competitive game (v England).

Was there not a value in having a new manager ready to hit the ground running in the Nations League ?

I feel there is/was. In fact, the FAI's initial self-declared timeline was to have a manager in place by March for the Belgium and Switzerland friendlies.

HalloweenJack

I agree wholeheartedly but there's also merit in taking the time to get the appointment right. The fact is there was a ten month gap between competitive fixtures.

We can speculate all fay as to why thr FAI have taken so long, and what has emerged doesn't paint them in the best light, but they also have the relative luxury of time and whether they appointed someone in November or on the 30th of August, their first competitive game was always going to be in September.

Sure, having someone in for those four friendlies would have been beneficial but if the FAI aren't sure that an appointment is the right one then I'm happy to wait.

LowOdour

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122029405#Comment_122029405

A manager doesn't just turn up on the day and start coaching the team! If it's a manager that isn'tfamiliar with all Irish players it's going to take time to look at them, speak to them etc.

If we wait, then that is grand but its means new manager is at a disadvantage straight away

HalloweenJack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122029647#Comment_122029647

I agree. Of course, the ideal situation would have been to get someone in early in the year but that didn't happen for whatever reason.

JOS was appointed interim manager and he still is interim manager, i.e. he's not the permanent solution the FAI are (currently) looking for and that round of friendlies hasn't changed the matter.

That situation may change as more options are assessed but we still have time to find someone else before competitive fixtures come around. It would be great to have someone in place for the next friendlies but so far the FAI aren't convinced by what's on offer and are opting to wait for more options to appear.

Now, I'm no fan of the FAI and the current board haven't done much to inspire confidence but, in this case, I can support them.

Whether intentional or not, they haven't panicked and given the job to just anyone who's interested. They seem to be taking their time and thoroughly assessing what's available. They have a profile they are looking for and have specific criteria to be met (if the more expansive role within the FAI is true). It may cause us to miss out on additional preparation, which is not ideal, but if it ends up with a manager coming in with a better record than JOS then I'm all for it.

They also need to learn from the Robbie Keane debacle and not making any commitments to interim staff when a new permanent manager might want to bring in their own team.

tigger123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122029865#Comment_122029865

Agree with this; probably best to have an interim for a few months, then hopefully have a permenant replacement that's up to the task for a number of years.

tigger123

I wonder woudl Robbie Keane's name come into the mix during the summer. Apparently he's on 400k in Israel, and on a two year contract. Would be within budget.

vid36

I think Robbie has some history with the FAI.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030010#Comment_122030010

Would be a PR nightmare if the FAI hired Keane straight out of Israel. Don't think him being paid less than the €560k would be enough to entice him either given the backlash towards working in Israel and his €250K a year he got paid to sit at home.