Cult of Stephen Kenny

Removed as post wasn't quoted properly

"How do you know Kenny's job was to win football matches?"

😂😂😂😂😂😂

Absolutely delighted with the firm break in managers having no long-term view and belittling us into playing long ball because that is all we could possibly play. And many (maybe all) managers are stunted in their viewpoints. Never seemed like they wanted to evolve with the game and came up short so many times to any manager who had half a modern tactical brain.

Kenny brought youth, a positive brave approach to playing, and is watchable. But it's time, he's short tactically, seems to lack game management and all seems a little bit overwhelmed by it.

Bumbling in front of the media using stupid tropes, and edging into the annoyingly irritable habit of some managers (Martinez, Rodgers) to always find a positive no matter the loss or result. You're on a losing streak Kenny and what would help is if you showed dissatisfaction and faced up to reality that it isn't good enough. Saying "we go again" isn't a rallying cry it's just annoying.

But if the next manager builds on what Kenny has put in place he will surely deserve the credit coming to him.

Builds on falling over 20 places down the World rankings with 6 major failures while having a squad who almost qualified for Euro 2020 added to by our most exciting talent to emerge in a generation?

I really hope the next manager doesn't build on that. Kenny has left some mess for the next guy to clean up.

Giles having a shocker on otb. " duffy came in and was outstoung at centre back"

Refers to the dutch and french game

Ffs

Kenny has lost 4 of his last 5 in charge of Ireland.

Giles is a soon to be 83 year old who for quite a while has been irrelevant and hasn’t exactly had his finger on the pulse of international or domestic soccer.

he claims United went backwards under Ten Hag, however, results and the table tell differently.

Eamon Dunphy was nearly crying talking about Duffy on his podcast. Blabbering on about what a 'great man' he is as well as a player. Very bizarre.

We are much better than under O’Neill. We play better football. we back ourselves.

It is 100 times more preferable than the previous 2 managers.

The reactions on Dunphy (and you could include Giles) regarding their support for SK are entirely self-serving. Dunphy, in particular, launched attack after attack on the style of play used by Trap and O'Neill - both managers with vastly more managerial experience at a higher level than the LoI than Kenny. Dunphy basically thought Ireland could play like Brazil 1970 if only we didn't have dinosaurs like Trap/O'Neill. He used the other O'Neill, Michael, at Northern Ireland (who admittedly did a very good job with limited talent at his exposure).

So Dunphy/Giles got what they wanted in the form of Kenny. Kenny got the plaudits from the media for supposedly changing the style of play but he really did nothing of the sort. For sure he encouraged a passing game yet most of that passing was among the back four and going nowhere. As Martin O'Neill has stated ..... as an international manager your time is very limited with the players to introduce anything and he is, of course, entirely right.

This is not to state that Kenny didn't deserve encouragement and, indeed, plaudits for having the courage to introduce a different style. But his weakness was not to realise he needed to change approach when it clearly wasn't working (as it didn't in many matches). I also believe that Kenny is placing more belief in players who are not as good as he thinks they are.

So the situation with Dunphy/Giles is that they're now left with egg on their faces. The Kenny project hasn't worked and he needs to be replaced and left to rebuild his career. Like the brexiteers still believing in the failed project. . . they are still very much members of the cult of SK.

How much is he paying dunphy and Giles, they still are messianic in their support

That comment above is completely delusional.

He is managing the senior team , senior football is about getting results.We qualified for tournaments under Trappatoni and O'Neill.

Also the style of play isn't much better it's just some people think an Irish team playing 3 or 4 short passes is revolutionary, some people are easily impressed.

During O'Neill and Traps time it was also much more difficult to qualify as the number of countries in the Euros has now increased by 50% and even with all that help Kenny can't get us close.

To be fair, the football is better to watch and we are trying to play a more possession based game.

But you have to be honest about it, results are a lot worse than under O'Neill and Trapattoni. I think a lot of people thought "better football will equal better results". There isn't necessarily a correlation between the two. Sometimes, if it's results you're after, ugly football is a better option. Which is why managers like Allardyce or Bruce aren't necessarily to be sniffed at. They are actually pretty good at what they do...it's just not my cup of tea.

I had hoped Kenny would do well but unfortunately it hasn't worked out. I really hope we don't go for a manager such as Bruce who has never done much at club level.

One thing that really bugs me is that some retired players (now pundits) had it in for Kenny because he came from a LOI background. That attitude, which was shared by some players at the time, did for Brian Kerr. His international success at under age level was disregarded. I think he could have been successful if he wasn't dumped so quickly because he didn't get on with Delaney.

Yeah there’s clearly a cohort of media and fans who see Stephen Kenny being manager as the endgame in of itself.

Having a LOI man in charge, who is committed to trying to play and will not be adverse to picking LOI players / in form young players in England covers off their key objectives. Results and qualifying for tournaments are secondary because - for this cohort - Ireland winning and going to tournaments in the past was external to their view of football. Foreign managers with some foreign born players playing utilitarian football cheered on by fans who would never go to their local LOI game.

It is clear to me that a hard edge to this group would keep Kenny on for another tournament process or two, and the idea would be that eventually we’ll just fall into a tournament and that joy can be “theirs”. If Kenny is sacked and replaced by a non LOI man with a different background then their control of the whole entity is lost once again.

Roy Keane likely wouldn’t select LOI players, or be present at LOI games, or regularly attend U21 games. His view of the playing pool will be different to Kenny’s, his focus will be on how to best get results, and how he will interact with the media and discuss the Senior Team and its objectives will not have any philosophical / ideological component to it. Therefore a manager like Keane must be opposed at all costs, and reasons will be found to oppose all such candidates. The manager must be pure LOI stock, ideally Irish, ideally living in Ireland, ideally with an intention to try and pass the ball - practicalities be damned.

These people are simply lunatics and have had far too much air time the last three years. Because they are a minority. Most people who think about the Irish Senior team want us to win games and qualify for tournaments and aren’t ideological about how we do it. The “silent majority”, as it were, needs to come back into focus again.

The Newstalk stuff is comical as they twist and turn, try to rewrite narratives as they speak. They must feel like fierce eejits altogether.