Republic of Ireland General Discussion Thread 2024 [use match threads for games]

the aviva be pumpin out ja ja ding dong if we score!!

He has more relevant experience, though. Club and international football are quite different, too.

Lennon's biggest success came at a club with infinitely more resources than their rivals. At Bolton, when the club was in turmoil and he had to make do with what was available to him (i.e. like international football), he struggled.

Hughton only had one spell in international management and he struggled. It is worth pointing out that Ghana's status in African football is far greater than Ireland's in European football, i.e. they would have been expected to do well as a minimum and he failed to deliver that.

Coleman had experience in the same vein as Halgrimsson (small country, punching above their weight) and I would have taken him over a lot of the other names mentioned. However, apart from second-hand rumours in the papers, I can't see anything definitively saying he was approached nor can I see him publicly commenting on it, though I'd be open to correction.

The fact is, the FAI have been doing their business behind closed doors and we can only speculate about who was approached and why people were ruled out (iirc, Lennon was told a lack of international experience and Roy Keane wanted more money).

It has been far from ideal but the end result is certainly better than what it seemed like up until recently. It's over now so time to get behind him and see what he can do.

Purchased tickets for the three Nations League games anyway. Optimistic we can get a couple of results for the first time in ages.

Watching press conference - I like the sound of Hallgrimsson already.

Emphasising getting the basics perfect, organised, compact, and structured. No point in worrying about the fancy stuff and forgetting the basics. As in international football you get limited time with a team.

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Plus he has an Irish looking head on him. Seems extremely comfortable in front of the media, especially as English is his second language.

The tone of your posts was that you weren't happy about it. Apologies if I misjudged, and you are in fact good with it.

As for some of the other names mentioned… I'd have been grand with Lennon, but for whatever reason they clearly very actively didn't want him. I'd have been grudgingly ok with Coleman, but I'm happier with Hallgrímsson. And I'd be taking Hallgrímsson over Hughton every day of the week - I mean, even just in direct comparison, Hallgrímsson did far better with lowly Jamaica against the same teams that spanked Hughton's far far better Ghana. Hallgrímsson got draws in competitive games with the US and Mexico, who battered Hughton's side, and Hallgrímsson recently beat this excellent Canada side over two legs. Against any side within 50 places of them, Hughton's Ghana really really struggled, and indeed struggled against quite a few minnows too. Hallgrímsson's international sides have consistently matched or outperformed their expectation.

I think the FAI have been a joke for years - but I would say they set out that they wanted an experienced international manager, and after a far-too-long process, and a lot of rejection, they got one that actually fits our needs and current situation quite well. I'm sure a better funded, better staffed FAI could've gotten the job done sooner, but i'd rather a decent result late than the wrong result in a timely fashion.

If you believe he's who they wanted in March or April I've got some magic beans to sell you.

First off they were going to give a manager a 4 year contract back then and announced him imminently, they've given a 17 month one to Hallgrimsson.

The new "head coach" was supposed to oversee youth development as well. Not much chance of that when he could be gone by the winter of next year.

There's a few very valid reasons to start it off as a lie. Makes the FAI look less incompetent and would help take a huge amount of heat off the FAI. It would also be nearly impossible for the media to proof it is a lie as well.

Canham is a spoofer and he`s lied every step of the way of this. There`s no argument to the contray. Hallgrimsson isn`t going to throw his hands up in the middle of his first presser and say "No lads, actually I was 3rd or 4th choice at best".

It doesn`t matter all that much at this stage. There`s somebody in charge of the national team now and we move on. The FAIs handling of this whole saga, which should be a routine excercise for any national association wouldn`t fill anyone with confidence in their ability to sort out the other issues facing Irish football.

Lied? He’s barely said anything about any candidate. Good Christ.

Yeah it's clear Canham is a spoofer, he says a lot without saying anything of meaning, but there is not a chance that this was a master plan from day one to get Hallgrimsson in as manager. Too many holes to poke in that theory. But feck it, doesn't matter now and we need to move on because it's done.

The more I hear from and read about our new manager the more I like him. That initial press conference was a joke, because it was essentially a load of journalists trying to have pot shots at journalists to get a headline or soundbyte. But in some of the ones he did later, particularly the one with Virgin media, he comes across very well and almost Klopp like in the way he just seems like a very down to earth, normal guy with no bullshit about him.

Read somewhere that while managing in Iceland he used to meet fans in the pub before the game to explain his tactics and plan for the game ahead so they would understand why certain decisions were made. I've a good feeling about him, if not necessarily the team.

Someone on here said something about the English sounding guy (FAI employee) interviewing the new manager yesterday and was called racist but can you imagine some guy with say a strong cork accent interviewing the new England manager? its ridiculous.

I don't really get why that means we should have an English guy interviewing the new manager. surely there is an Irish person who could do the job.

Maybe that's just that chaps remit? And he's just doing his job? This is a weird conversation, I'm a bit wary about any discussion like this where there's no issue around the guy's performance, or him being understood, but purely that he's a foreigner.

Glad we have appointed a manager. Like most I don't know much about him apart from what I've read online. I think he is a good fit for us at this moment in time. We badly need someone to put some organisation and structure on the team. Make us hard to beat and take it from there in terms of style etc.

I say "we" when referring to my employer. If I move to a company, i refer to them as "we".

Fella's literally working for the FAI. Will Hallgrimsson not be allowed say 'we' either?

<edit> just saw note.

I'm not sure why that proves it wasn't Hallgrimsson? That matches what they said in the presser today. And, there was no mention back then of a 4-year deal - they didn't mention terms at all.

Also, you can say a thing, and fully believe in the thing you're saying, and then have circumstances change. I've said I could go out, but then had things come up afterwards, and so couldn't go out. I didn't fulfill my expectation, for sure, but I was still telling the truth when I initially said I could go out. I don't know if that is the case or not here, but it's a bit mad to think all people's latterly unfulfilled expectations are automatically lies.

I know we've been told to move on, but just to let you all know, I've worked freelance with the FAI and know a few of the staff.

The fella doing the interview is one of the heads of communications and does all media with the senior men's team, he's been with the men's team since Kenny got the gig, but has worked with the FAI in other roles previous, it has always been his job. Anyone giving out about it has literally not been paying any attention for the last 5 years, he's at every press conference and does tons of interviews.

Considering folk couldn't hack Hendrix, McLean, Obamadele or Molubmbfphy, Hallgrimsson will see some extravagant attempts I'm sure

I'm going to stick to calling him Heimir like we're pals

impressive press conference, the fact he is confident and clear in his communication very refreshing after the torturous nature of Kenny’s interviews