Who should Irelands next manager be?

pjohnson

Lets hear who people think will be the manager that will get us qualifying for all the international tournaments.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

Richard Hillman

Sam Alardyce, Tony Pulis, Alan Pardew or Martin O'Neill

razorblunt

Give it t'Giggseh.

pjohnson

I thought more people would have desired candidates given the backlash against MON. Strange how silent they are when it comes to a solution!

GLaDOS

Replacing MON is only placing a band aid on the bigger issues. If we continue to produce technically poor players, we're always going to struggle.

There are fundamental problems with the way we run football in this country and until they are addressed, there's only so much a manager can do.

Unfortunately it's hard to see anyone in a position to make a difference actually doing anything.

boardsuser1

Jack Charlton

HalloweenJack

It would be nice to give it to someone with some new ideas.

Stephen Kenny or Chris Hughton would be my choices.

However, as mentioned above, the overall footballing structure in this country is what needs to be worked on. That won't change 'til we're rid of Delaney and the fans are able to accept that a long-term overhaul will mean short-term pain.

Wheety

Pep Guardiola would be interested, I imagine.

Hammer Archer

pjohnson wrote: »

I thought more people would have desired candidates given the backlash against MON. Strange how silent they are when it comes to a solution!

You've waited 8 minutes from posting your thread at 9:40am on a Wednesday morning.....

For me, Stephen Kenny. The whole "we don't have the players to play decent football" excuse doesn't wash with me. Kenny had worse players get results against vastly superior sides (e.g. BATE Borisov, AZ Alkmaar, Maccabi Tel Aviv) while playing very good football. Also massively put it up to Zenit and gave Legia an almighty fright in the CL playoff (Legia then went on to come third in their group, drawing with Real Madrid on the way).

boardsuser1

HalloweenJack wrote: »

It would be nice to give it to someone with some new ideas.

Stephen Kenny or Chris Hughton would be my choices.

However, as mentioned above, the overall footballing structure in this country is what needs to be worked on. That won't change 'til we're rid of Delaney and the fans are able to accept that a long-term overhaul will mean short-term pain.

He was assistant one time I.I.R.C wasn't he?

Under Brian Kerr i think

gustafo

Give Keane a crack at it, he obviously has no say as No 2 under o'neill

pjohnson

GLaDOS wrote: »

Replacing MON is only placing a band aid on the bigger issues. If we continue to produce technically poor players, we're always going to struggle.

There are fundamental problems with the way we run football in this country and until they are addressed, there's only so much a manager can do.

Unfortunately it's hard to see anyone in a position to make a difference actually doing anything.

Nail on head really

weldoninhio

HalloweenJack wrote: »

It would be nice to give it to someone with some new ideas.

Stephen Kenny or Chris Hughton would be my choices.

I don't think Hughton would leave a Prem job. I think it'll be a few years before he takes it.

I'd give Kenny a go. Failing that Allardyce would be able to get the best out of the group of players we have. He'd also leave a decent defensive foundation for someone like Hughton to come in and build from. Neil Lennon is another one who seems to make a team greater than the sum of its parts. He did very well at Celtic and seems to be doing OK at Hibs.

Graham Potter would be a bit of a left field choice, but he is flying with Ostersunds and has built a strong team with few resources. Jurgen Klinsmann is currently available too afaik, he did good work within the US system and changed their way of playing completely. Bilic did well with Croatia too, and is available.

Thats off the top of my head. I'm sure some more will pop in during the day.

PhilipsR

MONs got a contract until 2020 no?! If so, this discussion is pointless. Who knows what managers will be free then?

HalloweenJack

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

He was assistant one time I.I.R.C wasn't he?

Under Brian Kerr i think

Yep. He has the experience managing "big egos" too, something which I'm sure would be used against Stephen Kenny.

I'm thinking of Irish managers who might be more interested in the job. I can't imagine it being a very attractive job for those from abroad, though I wouldn't mind going for someone from outside these isles if it they were given firm assurances that they would be able to have a bigger say in the development of Irish football. I hope that would lead to a change in our footballing philosophy that extends throughout all levels of the game here.

pjohnson

pjohnson wrote: »

I thought more people would have desired candidates given the backlash against MON. Strange how silent they are when it comes to a solution!

Great way to give us some time to respond to a brand new thread! MON is the manager until 2020 to start.
All depends on who is available if he does do (unlikely)? Ancellotti, Big Sam?
Then it all depends on who is actually obtainable by the FAI. They have already made a dreadful financial decision by offering a new contract before a play off so I'd suspect the funds available may be limited.

boardsuser1

PhilipsR wrote: »

MONs got a contract until 2020 no?! If so, this discussion is pointless. Who knows what managers will be free then?

That could well change.

http://www.the42.ie/martin-oneill-ireland-denmark-second-leg-3697436-Nov2017/

pjohnson

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Great way to give us some time to respond to a brand new thread! MON is the manager until 2020 to start.
All depends on who is available if he does do (unlikely)? Ancellotti, Big Sam?
Then it all depends on who is actually obtainable by the FAI. They have already made a dreadful financial decision by offering a new contract before a play off so I'd suspect the funds available may be limited.

He was offered it by the FAI definitely but it was never announced he HAD signed it to the best of my knowledge so he could walk. The FAI nor O'Neill have ever said the deal was signed.

Laois_Man

pjohnson wrote: »

He was offered it by the FAI definitely but it was never announced he HAD signed it to the best of my knowledge so he could walk. The FAI nor O'Neill have ever said the deal was signed.

IF M'ON did go, Roy Keane would get the job

I'd rather just keep MO'N

chopperbyrne

It doesn't matter who the next manager is. We're not producing good enough players any more. Same as Scotland.

Used to be every top team in England had one or two Irish and Scottish players, but not now.

Until the FAI invest heavily in correctly coaching children, and having a national league that can regularly have teams competing in at least the group stages of the Europa League, we'll never improve.

You don't require any coaching qualifications to coach kids, just a child welfare cert, and Garda vetting.

http://www.fai.ie/domestic/news/are-you-coaching-under-18s

Idbatterim

I don't know if there is a point in O'Neill going. One of those two good chances we have after we scored the first goal go in and it cuisine have been them on the receiving end of hiding. Two poorly defended goals. One own goal and the other went in off the underside of the cross bar...

I hope we are second seeds for the euros draw... I'd expect us to qualify for that ...

Father Hernandez

GLaDOS wrote: »

Replacing MON is only placing a band aid on the bigger issues. If we continue to produce technically poor players, we're always going to struggle.

There are fundamental problems with the way we run football in this country and until they are addressed, there's only so much a manager can do.

Unfortunately it's hard to see anyone in a position to make a difference actually doing anything.

Absolutely dead right. I've posted this article before but it's a good read: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/08/iceland-stunning-rise-euro-2016-gylfi-sigurdsson-lars-lagerback

Iceland's rise as a footballing nation and how coaches need to have badges before coaching kids at a certain level. It makes sense for us to try this and especially for Ireland with a great history and passion of football. Granted, it takes time but IMO, it would be worth trying as I don't see a better solution to the problem that we don't have these technically gifted footballers rising through the ranks and playing at a high level.

Ferris_Bueller

I don't see the point in giving it to someone like Pulis or Allardyce, I would rather keep MON. If he was to go, Houghton would be the ideal choice but can't see him leaving Brighton, after that possibly Stephen Kenny or Mick McCarthy again. We don't have many great options to be honest, keeping MON isn't as outrageous as some might think.

weldoninhio

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

I don't see the point in giving it to someone like Pulis or Allardyce, I would rather keep MON. If he was to go, Houghton would be the ideal choice but can't see him leaving Brighton, after that possibly Stephen Kenny or Mick McCarthy again. We don't have many great options to be honest, keeping MON isn't as outrageous as some might think.

Why not?

GLaDOS

Main main issue with keeping MON is I'd worry if he's lost the players confidence.

If they don't play for him, things will fall apart badly ala Traps last campaign.

5starpool

Brian Kerr didn't really get a fair crack at it first time out, give him another shot at it.

Redo91

I think we need to be very careful what we wish for when it comes to getting rid of O'Neill. At the end of the day we managed to come ahead of Austria and Wales in our group which is no mean feat. Prior to O'Neill we hadn't beaten a team ranked above us in god knows how long. Since then we've beaten Germany, Italy, Wales, Austria and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

At the end of the day who do people propose replacing him with. I'd love to get Hughton as others have suggested but we haven't a notion of getting him. He has a job in the Premier League and he isn't going to leave that for International football. Just look at the managers in place at some other countries. England had to settle on Southgate who wouldn't get near a job in the PL. Argentina went for Gerardo Martino after he had been sacked by Barca. Similarly Spain appointed Julen Lopetegui who had been sacked by Porto in his previous job. Also Martinez became manager of Belgium just after Everton sacked him. If those football superpowers can't attract the big names what hope to we have.

Fact of the matter is managers don't want to be involved in International football until maybe later on in their careers when they are slowing down and don't mind the lighter workload. Club football is where they want to be. Off the top of my head Michael O'Neill is the only realistic candidate that I'd be interested in but would he be brave enough to leave NI for us with all the stick he'd get? I've seen some suggesting Stephen Kenny but it would be a massive risk to put someone in charge of the National team who's only experience has been managing in the LoI.

At the same time something has to give with the style of football being played. Yes we aren't blessed with the greatest talent pool but we are still capable of fielding an entire starting XI of PL based players. There are far inferior teams out there that play better football than us. We were played off the park by Georgia FFS. Players like Hendrick and Arter have performed much below the level they have shown for their clubs and I think the management and style of play have a lot to answer for that. So far he has been able to point to the results achieved to deflect attention from the quality of football. He no longer has that luxury and hopefully last night will serve as a wake-up call.

However, I do think there are things to be positive about. Our Under 21's have made a good start to qualifying despite losing to Norway last night. We also have youngsters like Rice (West Ham) and Molumby (Bighton) who are making the bench regularly in the PL. Further down the age groups Connolly (Brighton) and O'Connor (Man United) are very highly rated at their respective clubs. We saw first hand last night what a difference having that one world class player can make. Hopefully one of our own can come along soon.

Sorry for the rant. This is just my opinion on the situation. To summarise I'm not sure there are better options available than O'Neill but in saying that the football has to change as it is barely watchable at this stage.

Ferris_Bueller

weldoninhio wrote: »

Why not?

Because I think we will have roughly the same chance of qualifying for Euro 2020 and that we will end up having an exact same discussion as this in another 4 years. Surely the criticisms of MON would be the same for the above two?

Rumpy Pumpy

O’Neill is a good manager. The problem is that Ireland have really poor players. Soccer is in trouble in Ireland, and has been for quite some time. The talent simply isn’t coming through.

Agent Coulson

Michael O'Neill.



So we can all still us MON.

bucketybuck

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Michael O'Neill.



So we can all still us MON.

Could have the same whinging about defensive play as well.

Billy86

Wheety wrote: »

Pep Guardiola would be interested, I imagine.

Seriously, what's up with the likes of Houghton being bandied about? Nobody is leaving a Premier League job to manage Ireland. Allardyce would be a huge, huge steal but given he's basically guaranteed a mid/late season job each and every year and is likely going to get a longer term placement at some point this season, it would be a miracle to get him here... to play similar football to what we have under MON & Trappatoni.

I don't think this is the end of MON given he only signed a new contract about a month back, but if it is then I would be quite happy to see Stephen Kenny - he's our best realistic option in my opinion, it would be a great stepping stone for him (because Dundalk is incredibly obscure for a manager), and with his background and ageing players might even overhaul some aspects to get in LOI players, the odd guy like Sheridan playing abroad, etc. Now that's not to say we've got anything near the quality to get the ball on the ground and start running rings around teams, but it at least might act as a bit of a catalyst (ah who the f*** are we kidding with that clown at the helm...).

weldoninhio

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Because I think we will have roughly the same chance of qualifying for Euro 2020 and that we will end up having an exact same discussion as this in another 4 years. Surely the criticisms of MON would be the same for the above two?

Maybe Pulis. He seems to be of the same dinosaur mould as O'Neill. Agricultural tactics that are being found out in the modern game.

Allardyce has consistently been forward thinking in his career. He was one of the first British managers to realise the benefits of using Prozone etc. He sets teams up to be tight at the back and to get the ball into the POMO(Position of Maximum Opportunity) i.e. not just launching it, but actually knowing where the ball has to go to give you the best chance of scoring.

"He is very specific in his details, there is nowhere for you to hide. He will show you everything in terms of stats and I think he prepares his players in the best possible way.

Some people might criticise him for being a bit direct but you also have to think of the players he has got to work with.

It is all about knowing the quality he has got to try and bring the best out of them.

I never thought I would be able to play for him because he is too direct but he managed to find a way to accommodate me." - Jay Jay Okocha


"It is very hard to find people like this - people who will listen to you and not just talk to you, the last time I had a manager like Sam was Aime Jacquet back in 1998.

It is true that I am happy and it is because of Sam, I have worked with some great managers in my life but Sam is different.

"I don't like to talk about my manager but he is a real person and in this job it is very difficult to meet real people, I speak a lot with Sam but all the time it is in confidence, what I tell him and what he tells me is between us." - Youri Djorkaeff.

weldoninhio

Billy86 wrote: »

Seriously, what's up with the likes of Houghton being bandied about? Nobody is leaving a Premier League job to manage Ireland. Allardyce would be a huge, huge steal but given he's basically guaranteed a mid/late season job each and every year and is likely going to get a longer term placement at some point this season, it would be a miracle to get him here... to play similar football to what we have under MON & Trappatoni.

I don't think this is the end of MON given he only signed a new contract about a month back, but if it is then I would be quite happy to see Stephen Kenny - he's our best realistic option in my opinion, it would be a great stepping stone for him (because Dundalk is incredibly obscure for a manager), and with his background and ageing players might even overhaul some aspects to get in LOI players, the odd guy like Sheridan playing abroad, etc. Now that's not to say we've got anything near the quality to get the ball on the ground and start running rings around teams, but it at least might act as a bit of a catalyst (ah who the f*** are we kidding with that clown at the helm...).

Anyone that thinks Allardyce plays the same style of football as O'Neill or Trap has a very basic understanding of the game of football.

Yellow pack crisps

Redo91 wrote: »

I think we need to be very careful what we wish for when it comes to getting rid of O'Neill. At the end of the day we managed to come ahead of Austria and Wales in our group which is no mean feat. Prior to O'Neill we hadn't beaten a team ranked above us in god knows how long. Since then we've beaten Germany, Italy, Wales, Austria and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

At the end of the day who do people propose replacing him with. I'd love to get Hughton as others have suggested but we haven't a notion of getting him. He has a job in the Premier League and he isn't going to leave that for International football. Just look at the managers in place at some other countries. England had to settle on Southgate who wouldn't get near a job in the PL. Argentina went for Gerardo Martino after he had been sacked by Barca. Similarly Spain appointed Julen Lopetegui who had been sacked by Porto in his previous job. Also Martinez became manager of Belgium just after Everton sacked him. If those football superpowers can't attract the big names what hope to we have.

Fact of the matter is managers don't want to be involved in International football until maybe later on in their careers when they are slowing down and don't mind the lighter workload. Club football is where they want to be. Off the top of my head Michael O'Neill is the only realistic candidate that I'd be interested in but would he be brave enough to leave NI for us with all the stick he'd get? I've seen some suggesting Stephen Kenny but it would be a massive risk to put someone in charge of the National team who's only experience has been managing in the LoI.

At the same time something has to give with the style of football being played. Yes we aren't blessed with the greatest talent pool but we are still capable of fielding an entire starting XI of PL based players. There are far inferior teams out there that play better football than us. We were played off the park by Georgia FFS. Players like Hendrick and Arter have performed much below the level they have shown for their clubs and I think the management and style of play have a lot to answer for that. So far he has been able to point to the results achieved to deflect attention from the quality of football. He no longer has that luxury and hopefully last night will serve as a wake-up call.

However, I do think there are things to be positive about. Our Under 21's have made a good start to qualifying despite losing to Norway last night. We also have youngsters like Rice (West Ham) and Molumby (Bighton) who are making the bench regularly in the PL. Further down the age groups Connolly (Brighton) and O'Connor (Man United) are very highly rated at their respective clubs. We saw first hand last night what a difference having that one world class player can make. Hopefully one of our own can come along soon.

Sorry for the rant. This is just my opinion on the situation. To summarise I'm not sure there are better options available than O'Neill but in saying that the football has to change as it is barely watchable at this stage.

Michael O'Neill had no real experience before taking over the NI job!

We need a youthful manager willing to overhaul the whole system and stay at least ten years doing so. We need to understand results will be inconsistent in this period and enjoy progress rather than results. Such is life that neither will happen.

ballsymchugh

maybe Mike Walker will apply again. is he still alive??!!

Billy86

weldoninhio wrote: »

Anyone that thinks Allardyce plays the same style of football as O'Neill or Trap has a very basic understanding of the game of football.

Allardyce adapts to what he has, and what we have is very, very little. We'd be far more early days Bolton or Newcastle than we would be West Ham under him.

weldoninhio

Billy86 wrote: »

Allardyce adapts to what he has, and what we have is very, very little. We'd be far more early days Bolton or Newcastle than we would be West Ham under him.

We wouldn't be punting balls aimlessly under Allardyce. I think our players would do well under him. We've no superstar, but the team work hard and aren't afraid to put in the hard yards. He'd have them moulded into a tight unit with a proper gameplan on how to get the most out of us.

aidz

Martin O'Neill without a doubt

Have got more massive wins in the last 3 years than the previous 20...Germany, Bosnia, Italy, Austria, Wales

brevity

Like others have said, getting rid of O'Neill won't make a blind bit of difference if the quality of players coming through isn't good enough.

As I was watching the analysis after the match everyone was saying that we don't have the quality to match the opposition. Nobody asked "Why don't we have the quality?"

I personally think the system isn't set up to train kids properly or parents are unable to bring their kids to training.

There is the issue of how they train the kids and what it takes to bring a child up to speed. Do children and their parents have the patience to continue with the training? Is there an issue of helicopter parenting thinking that the know more than the coach?

It's a complicated issue that requires buy in from a lot of people...

loyatemu

Hughton seems the sort of manager who does a lot of work with the players and takes time to get his ideas across - I'm not sure that would work well at international level.

MON has his faults, and he didn't cover himself in glory last night, but I'm not convinced a more technical manager would get better results. We might play more attractive football and score more goals against the minnows, but that could be cancelled out if we can't cope with the intensity of playing the better sides, which MON has generally been good at (last night aside). It also wouldn't solve the problems of having no decent strikers and only one real playmaker who's a 36 year old squad player in the Championship.

Billy86

brevity wrote: »

Like others have said, getting rid of O'Neill won't make a blind bit of difference if the quality of players coming through isn't good enough.

As I was watching the analysis after the match everyone was saying that we don't have the quality to match the opposition. Nobody asked "Why don't we have the quality?"

I personally think the system isn't set up to train kids properly or parents are unable to bring their kids to training.

There is the issue of how they train the kids and what it takes to bring a child up to speed. Do children and their parents have the patience to continue with the training? Is there an issue of helicopter parenting thinking that the know more than the coach?

It's a complicated issue that requires buy in from a lot of people...

I don't think it's as much to do with the parents, and possibly not even the coaches so much, but the overall structure - what the f*** are little kids doing playing 11 vs 11 on a full sized pitch for anyway? Teaches them sweet FA except for how to run faster than the other kid, and for longer.

PGE1970

Redo91 wrote: »

Players like Hendrick and Arter have performed much below the level they have shown for their clubs and I think the management and style of play have a lot to answer for that.

I agree with 99% of what you say Redo. But Hendrick & Arter are playing with better players at their clubs. Leaving aside that they play a different system with their clubs, they are not playing with David Meyler, Cyrus Christie etc who, with all due respect, are not international nor PL class. Throw in the likes of McGeady, Murphy etc, we have a Championship standard squad at best.

And yet we beat Germany, Wales, Italy etc and some people are howling at the manager and his tactics

brevity

Billy86 wrote: »

I don't think it's as much to do with the parents, and possibly not even the coaches so much, but the overall structure - what the f*** are little kids doing playing 11 vs 11 on a full sized pitch for anyway? Teaches them sweet FA except for how to run faster than the other kid, and for longer.

I've a feeling there are so many vested interests that unless a whistleblower comes out with some real information, nothing will be done.

PGE1970

Yellow pack crisps wrote: »

We need a youthful manager willing to overhaul the whole system and stay at least ten years doing so. We need to understand results will be inconsistent in this period and enjoy progress rather than results. Such is life that neither will happen.

Whilst I agree, the manager can only work within the parameters of the organisation in which they work.

The problem is not the manager. He has gotten the results. The problem is the FAI and those running it and those nodding dogs happy to feed from the scraps of the table.

Don't worry, the gravy train will get them to Russia next summer even if we won't be there.

Redo91

Yellow pack crisps wrote: »

Michael O'Neill had no real experience before taking over the NI job!

We need a youthful manager willing to overhaul the whole system and stay at least ten years doing so. We need to understand results will be inconsistent in this period and enjoy progress rather than results. Such is life that neither will happen.

I know I didn't say I'd be totally against Kenny getting the job. I just feel there would be serious risks involved. Just because O'Neill worked out for NI doesn't mean Kenny would for us. You also can't ignore the fact that every group NI have been drawn in under Kenny has been piss easy. I better they wouldn't have the play-offs had they been drawn in our group.

Scorpion Sting

John Giles.

Yellow pack crisps

Redo91 wrote: »

I know I didn't say I'd be totally against Kenny getting the job. I just feel there would be serious risks involved. Just because O'Neill worked out for NI doesn't mean Kenny would for us. You also can't ignore the fact that every group NI have been drawn in under Kenny has been piss easy. I better they wouldn't have the play-offs had they been drawn in our group.

I agree! I think kenny is not the man, was just stating that experience can be overstated sometimes. I'd like to see some like Eddie Howe take over and see it as a long term transformation of the footballing mentality in these isles. I also think a united Ireland team would benefit us too.

Edit: would absolutely love Brendan Rogers given a ten year contract to have complete control of football strategy from youth and above.

CSF

Think it’s a case now of tweaking the formula rather than massive alterations. If the idea is that we should be going for someone like Eddie Howe or a Central European alternative with the intention of having us play expansive football then that is nonsense and out of touch with the reality of where we are as a footballing nation.

With that said, things have to change. Martin O’Neill is excellent at turning limited players into an effective defensive unit that are really tough to beat. But he has been fairly awful at turning limited players into any sort of attacking threat. I think we lucked out in a big way getting where we did, that luck only carried us so far, and can only carry us so far in the future.

We’re badly in need of someone who can take the defensive base that has been built and give us some sort of attacking threat. Maybe we’re going to become more effective on the counter, maybe we need to figure out how to use a target man effectively. But right now for 4 years we’ve had nothing.

O’Neill doesn’t seem like the type to add that. Pulls and Dyche seem similar in that they’ll avoid relegation on a frequent basis but hard to imagine them getting in the top 2 of anything decent.

If we could get Big Sam I think he could add that. He would be tough to get, and if we can’t get him, then I think it’s about finding the next best similar alternative because his strengths are a perfect match for what we have available in terms of talent, on paper at least.

Iused2likebusts

Billy86 wrote: »

I don't think it's as much to do with the parents, and possibly not even the coaches so much, but the overall structure - what the f*** are little kids doing playing 11 vs 11 on a full sized pitch for anyway? Teaches them sweet FA except for how to run faster than the other kid, and for longer.

I think its u12s before they play 11 v 11 on a full size pitch. Kids football is moving in the right direction.