Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

The English FA have invested a phenomenal amount of money in their youth game; academy structures; professional development structures and in licensing coaches at all levels of the game. 20 years ago the England U21 gig was an after thought for a team that embodied all of the flaws in the English development system, and enjoyed a lack of success relative to their peer nations in Europe that highlighted same.

That Lee Carsley has the U21 job today is a validation of his technical chops when it comes to coaching and management. In order to be appointed to that position he would require a high degree of mastery in modern coaching, tactical approaches and process.

And yes, the England u21 team were the favourites for last year’s tournament but ‘Homer beat their brains out’, as it were. The one thing Ireland have not had in our lifetimes is a coach on the cutting edge of best practice. Charlton has been correctly reassessed as innovative in his approach; but he was rigid with his player selection within that tactical prism. Aside from that we’ve had good people who proved somewhat limited (McCarthy, Kerr); good coaches who had their best days in management before they arrived with us (Trapp, O’Neill); or managers not up to the task (Staunton, Kenny).

Carsley ticks boxes of price, availability (if he takes it), appropriate experience and gravitas (former International). But the thing that makes him exciting is finally having a coach who is current in his thinking and has implemented that thinking with elite players. I’ll be excited about that it nobody else will!

I'm also very excited about it. For me it would be him or Anthony Barry.

Kenny didn’t achieve anything tangible with the u21 side, although he had some success in Europa League that was notable.

We should not underestimate the drastic difference between u21 manager here and in England, or the quality of players Carsely has worked with successfully.

It will be a tough step up, but we can be excited about it. We can expect Carsley to be technically a lot sounder than Kenny and with a gravitas and credibility as a former International that Kenny lacked.

Any link?

So not a guarantee then

Nice to see Robbie go out on a high before arriving back to Abbottstown

Delighted for Robbie. Would love to see him lift the league title this season. Can't remember the last time an Irishman won a foreign league title (excluding the EFL Championship).

Why?

I wouldn't give too much merit to what Robbie is doing domestically as they are arguably the biggest club in the country but the European run they are on is impressive.

He's got more senior management experience than Josh (or Carsley, for that matter).

Got to laugh at that last part. You wouldn't support the team because he was taking money that he was entitled to? Sure.

It was a cock-up by the FAI and I was angry at the cheek of him as well. I doubt he needs that money. But he was entitled to it and I'm sure countless others would have done the same in that position. If it wasn't illegal, I can accept it.

Did he not have a contract? Or was he just using the FAI as his personal ATM?

Iirc, he was contracted to the FAI. When SK took over, he wasn't interested in keeping Keane on. Keane didn't want to cancel his contract so he continued getting it paid until it ended.

I hardly find it endearing but I don't see what he did that was illegal. And I don't see how that would affect his performance as a manager.

Well if the FAI were just giving him money for funsies then yeah Robbie is at fault for keeping at it.

If he was under contract then of course he was entitled to be paid per said contract.

He had been hired as part of McCarthy's team but he had a contract (worth €250k a year) until 2022, even though McCarthy was going to handover after Euro 2020.

When Kenny took over, he wanted to bring the team he'd had at the U-21s and didn't want Keane. Keane still had two years to go on his contract and didn't accept a pay-off, iirc. He was not involved under Kenny but still fulfilled his contract.

Now, he could have just walked away or Kenny could have just added him to the coaching team. I don't think either of them come out too well but he had a contract and expected the FAI to honour it.

The FAI should have given him a contract in line with McCarthy's and then let Kenny decide if he wished to keep him on when the handover took place.

That whole McCarthy for now and Kenny later deal was complicated to begin with and Covid didn't help but they should have clarified things like that from the outset.

Anyway, it doesn't paint him in the best light but I don't think its grounds to never hire him, especially when the poster who had beef with him didn't even know what it was about.

He fulfilled his contract in that he was willing to be part of Stephen Kennys backrooms team. The fact Kenny didn't use him isn't Robbies problem.

Absolutely nothing forcing Keane to take a pay off. He was entitled to be paid that amount until the end of his contract. The FAI simply shouldn't have offered him such a stupid contract in the first place. Madness to lay any blame on Robbie.

It was Keanes buddy John Delaney who gave him a 4 year contract.

It was all about the here and now with Delaney and to hell with the future. Signing Keane up to a 4 year deal with a manager that was only going to be in place for 2 years epitomises the way Delaney operated.

Do you not understand how bookies odds work?

Given the situation the FAI has found itself in in recent years, for me it doesnt matter what was in Robbie's contract. He should have done the decent and just walked away from it, rather than continue to take payments from a struggling organisation for doing nothing. He's minted either way.

Just because it's legal, doesnt mean it's ethical.

They don’t want a coach based in Ireland working 9-5 in abbotstown. They want a coach WITH A BASE in Ireland. Which is totally different. The person will likely come over and work out of the offices a few days a month, which makes total sense since part of the stated remit is to help modernize the underage international structures too.