Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

Well that is silly and incorrect. No matter how it is pitched, or how it is argued: the job of the Senior Manager is to manage the Senior Team. That’s it.

In parallel a holistic youth development plan is required including qualified coaches for all International teams and a technical director.

Mark Canham and the OTB media consensus that says a senior manager has responsibilities in this regard are wrong.

The money isn't that big of an issue but more the fact that the FAI are a basket case and are messing with the criteria of the managers job at a **** time.

Janne Andersson was paid €200K less than Kenny to do the Sweden job so can't see money being an issue but he turned down Latvia because they want the manager to have a say on the underage.

Stephen Bradley made a great point when asked about the manager search. He said one of the first things I look at when I'm offered a job is who I'm working for and who I'm answering to. When I think of that and then think of the FAI the first thing that comes to mind is the Benny Hill theme music.

Very interesting debate on Newstalk about culture of FAI and how fractured and divided the whole set up is.

Szmodics with his 31st goal of the season to draw Blackburn level against Sheff Wed.

It's not an endorsement of the FAI to suggest it doesn't matter if the manager is in now or for September.

At this stage, we know they'd just be picking the next fella to walk passed the window in Abbotstown. It would be better to wait and reset the search in the summer when more able candidates could become available.

Is there any evidence at all that results are better in the first competitive game if a manager has had a couple of friendlies beforehand?

There are likely to be more managers available come mid-July between managers who leave at the end of the club season and those who leave after the Euros.

Right now, they can't find anyone they deem suitable. They need to wait for more people to become available. They have set out their criteria and, for now, seem to be keen to stick to it. Better that than getting desperate and giving the job to whoever because some people are impatient.

It would be ideal to have someone in place for the next set of friendlies and have a chance to get some idea of the players before September but it is not the be-all and end-all.

It isn't a good look but anyone they hire now is going to be a reaction to bad press. They should take their time if they feel that's the way to get the right candidate. They should also improve their communication and stop setting themselves up to fail.

Evidently, the FAI think they can get someone better.

To give an example: Sagnol was a name being heavily linked. If he decides to quit Georgia after the tournament, he'd be a decent candidate. Managing a smaller country and recent experience in a major tournament. If he were available, given he has been linked to us and the profile, would it not be worth waiting around?

This is probably one of the worst times of the year to be looking for a manager. Club teams are very unlikely to be sacking anyone and international teams are preparing for a tournament or the next campaign. Between the end of the season and the Euros, there will be more out of work candidates in July. Especially considering the FAI's money woes, there is the potential to get someone who is currently unavailable. I don't see any reason not to wait around for a potentially larger pool of candidates just because of some end of season friendlies.

I'm not dismissing their importance and the obvious benefits for the new manager to be in place for them. However, if we just wait a bit longer, there'll be more candidates available. Given the clear lack of candidates currently, it makes perfect sense to wait until more become available and I think getting a better calibre of candidate trumps two friendlies.

Theyre stealing a very decent living is what they're doing

Poyet wasn't a preferred target and talks with him were talking for the sake of talking after Sagnol's stint with Georgia got extended for a couple of months. After his comments about African players they might as well cross him off the list.

Luckily we don't have any African players;)

Lennon wanted the job

That's fine, and quite normal as an interim. Kinda by default an interim in that position HAS to be someone who's already in the organisation, so the day to day can keep going without interruption, while you search for the permanent replacement. Bringing in an outsider as interim would be insane.

An in-house interim football manager is usually the way to go alright, but an outsider in that context isn’t even the end of the world really I think, in contrast to something like a CEO position.

In a corporate setting, bringing in an interim CEO from outside defeats the purpose entirely as it would take months for an outsider to get even remotely up to speed on all the processes, relationships, facilities, accounting mechanisms etc etc. An in-house interim appointment makes total sense while they recruit the permanent replacement.

As did Steve Bruce.

The issue here is the current FAI want a Senior Manager willing to spend a few days a month working as a youth development officer. And the OTB media consensus seems to have brainwashed loads of people into thinking this is a fair and normal requirement for the job.

If the FAI's insistence on these alleged conditions is impeding an appointment then they should consider ditching them.

But Jesus Christ, do you have a source for that waffle in the latter part of your post?

I wouldn't say it's a strange choice to want your senior manager to have input into youth matters. Basically the goal is developing players for the senior team. If say the next manager wants his FBs to bring pace and athleticism then senior manager should be allowed have talks with the underage coaches about what FBs meet the criteria for his needs and maybe fast track certain players in the youth teams or certain players should be prioritised.

Example: new manager could go to Crawford and say if Adaramola is fit to play then he should be prioritised at LB over Roughan because Adaramola fits my system for the seniors better than Roughan who plays CB at club level.

Another example is Bosun Lawal. Senior manager should be allowed go to Crawford and say Bosun Lawal should play in midfield and not CB for the U21s because he feels that Lawal would offer more to us at senior level playing CM than CB. Now do think this can also be done by the senior manager having a go-between him and youth coaches.

Canham is DOF so surely it can be his job to report stuff to the senior manager and get some feedback from senior manager to pass back onto the youth coaches. Or John Morling if he's open to coming back if they move Canham on or even if they don't.

Some said a player development role would be good for Kenny but can the FAI afford a DOF and a youth development coach or technical director that oversees all the youth teams and liaisons with the senior manager . If they can then that would be a great gig for Morling and actually surprised Canham got the DOF job ahead of Morling. Always wonder if that was Hills call to have more allies working with him at the FAI. New interim manager that is COO is another ex FA guy.

Maybe this is why the FAI are wanting the new manager to have a base in Ireland so these talks can happen with all coaches in the room at once. Now if they want the new manager based in Dublin fulltime then that's stupid but if they want the senior manager to be in Dublin for a few days once a month that's acceptable.

”We have a young team with a lot of potential so we want someone on the pitch with them, helping them to get better and help improve our results ultimately" - Hill in February

You post reads like you interpret that as saying he should be out on the pitch with the kids teams, when i'm pretty positive that comment actually refers to be being out on the pitch as a hands-on coach for the senior team - as opposed to the types of managers who leave their staff take training. They've made that point very clear a number of times, repeatedly specifying that distinction between 'manager' and 'coach'.

<edit> I see you've now just deleted that quote from your post. I don't think they want someone anywhere near as involved in active youth coaching as you suggest. I think they want this person to have a say in the structure - the type of system they play etc - but not an ongoing active involvement.

FAI desperately hoping we gets something out of the games in June so they can appoint Sheasy with international experience full time. Mightn't even need results at this point for him to be announced as permanent manager two weeks before the September England game... Would have loved it John had told them to shove it for June. Our Mark coming out in his update video last week indicating that they hadn't even spoken to John about taking on the June fixtures was outstanding really. The local corner shop probably has a roster done out 3 months in advance.

Hope England's U21s were busy and that the FAI haven't asked to play the U20s instead to avoid playing against a Lee Carsley team.

If JOS was gonna get the job full-time he would have gotten it by now imo. Hungary and Portugal will be going through the motions in Junes games because they've got more important things to worry about. Could win both games 1-0 and shouldn't really change a thing.

Only thing more meaningless than March friendlies before a tournament is friendlies in June. We play Portugal a week before their opening game. They'll give less **** than Belgium did in March as their main worry will be pre-tournament injuries. Once again begs the question why the FAI left Stephen Kenny see out the last qualifiers and not appoint an interim mid qualifiers.

Whatever long term plans the FAI have drawn up for deciding their next manager they should shelve them for the time being. Have a short term plan for NL and WC Qualifiers. Decide which candidate they feel stands the best chance of improving our seeding and getting a possible top two finish in qualification.

It's clearly obvious that Lee Carsley was their number one target. Would believe it's safe to say that Anthony Barry was their second choice. If you're now down to trying to convince your third or fourth choice you need to start over from scratch. Draw up a simple plan on what's needed to improve us short term. Get the candidate you feel could achieve that.

Maybe they were thinking like that which could be why Sagnol then came into the frame. If they think Sagnol is the guy then they need to get something sorted pre Euros. Can't wait to see whether he has a poor tournament or not to judge the level of interest around Sagnol.

I'd say at this stage Stephen Bradley was spot on when he said first thing he looks at with any job is who are the people that I will be working for. That people are put off by working for the FAI rather than the work needed to make us better for the pay that's on offer.

Travers also starts for Bournemouth.

Don't know if it was mentioned here but Fabio Cannavaro is now head coach at Udinese. Ebosele hasn't played a minute in the two games under the new boss.