Cult of Stephen Kenny

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119168682#Comment_119168682

I didn't say those teams we were beaten by were at a higher level, I said our players were at a higher level in the past/we had more of a higher standard/higher level player in the past....if you re-read my post.

I also said if we keep getting beat by the likes of Armenia there will be little point in having the argument as Kenny will be gone in any event.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119168683#Comment_119168683

A lot of other international teams are at a higher level now too though....

And we have less and less players playing at that higher level in the English league

Look its not as if I'm exonerating the guy from being beaten by Armenia, it's just I don't see much alternative bar ....10 men behind, give away possession, the main touches a lad gets is to hoof it out of his own half ....I think it won't be a debate with another one or two defeats to the likes of Armenia.......I just don't think things will pick up afterwards, I'd nearly think they might get worse unless irekand makes some sort of miracle appointment no one saw coming and some previously unheralded guy turns out to be the messianic figure that leads us out of the wilderness

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119168737#Comment_119168737

i dont think the armenian manager is necessarily a messiah.

getting down to brass tacks, hows he doing vs what he has to work with vs his peers- other international managers with similarly limited players?

id say not good, not good at all

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119168774#Comment_119168774

And perhaps you are correct....but if it was me I'd give it a bit more time to play out..........

Who would you have instead, I'm not asking in order to pick holes in them or criticise, just curious.

yeah im not for chasing him out, its a rather glum assessment of "more of the same" for most outcomes id probably agree- just wouldnt be defending him meself

kowloonkev

I'm just happy that we have a manager who trusts his players to play with the ball instead of in fear of it. I think it is a long road of learning ahead but I don't doubt that if we keep to this new philosophy whether that is with Kenny or someone else, eventually the players will adapt and better ones will emerge.

I just don't want to go back to not stringing three passes together, and the days of whenever we take a lead then it is backs to the wall in total terror of having the ball.

Patience is needed. A lot of the players Kenny wants to use don't even have twenty caps yet, which is really when you start seeing improvement at international level.

Strumms

With international football, patience and time is not something you have…

id rather we had players and a manager we trusted to win football matches then play a more ‘nice’ style…

We’ve won 4 out of our last 12 including being beaten at home by Luxembourg… all under the leadership of ‘Kenny’

an absolutely pathetic record….4 out of 12….

its a results business ..Kenny has overseen us fail for two years.

overall record, as we are here…

Matches : 23

Won : 5

Draw : 9

Lost : 9

A win rate of 21.74%

his drop points rate is 78,26 %

Yes, by all means, buy him his own island as a thanks and a 27 year contract to manage the Ireland soccer tea….

these LOI cultists, Jesus they’d melt your head.

if the above form was translated into league football the team is well on its way to being relegated.

id rather we play the dourest of long ball crap and WIN

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119162651#Comment_119162651

This idea that he has us playing good football is the biggest myth going. Yes, our goalkeeper doesn't hoof it anymore and our defenders don't hoof it as much but our tactics are basically swing in crosses. We seem to be only able score from a set piece, same as Mick or O'Neill.

Imagine if a Kenny team scored a goal like this, everyone would be raving about it claiming he's transformed us and has us playing great football!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPfBHDOhf_U

Pussyhands

I also find him very uninspiring. After the Qatar draw last year he went on a mini rant but he wasn't able to come out with it clearly and was pausing and thinking of what to say. "I'm used to winning every week!.... I won the league for 4 years in a row or whatever...I'm used to winning. I..uhh..em..you know I'm used to winning...ahh..eh...for about 5 years I lost...hardly lost any matches"

You were managing Dundalk ffs. You're meant to be taking us to the Euros or World Cup...not Head the Ball Park in Drogheda!

Here is the clip!

https://youtu.be/ZFkpszdUXds?t=245

CorkRed93

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169033#Comment_119169033

of all the things people complain about kenny for this is the one that i just dont get. who gives a sh1te if you dont find him inspiring because he takes a bit of time to respond of questions? players have already said how he makes them feel as both a team and individuals

make better changes in game when its not working please stephen. i dont give a toss about how long it takes him to respond to some media questions.

Pussyhands

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is free and has better credentials than "Steo"

Jim Crawford has the u-21s doing better than Kenny with the u-21s. Crawford has gotten 2.1 points per match while "Steo" only got 1.92 points per match.

Kenny's record is abysmal. This idea that it's a totally new system is rubbish. What do these players do at their club? Do they play possession football or hoof ball? If they play possession football then there's no adjustment needed is there? And if they play hoof ball then Kenny isn't going to transform them in the couple days he has them. It's a well known fact, international managers don't do much coaching because they don't have enough time.

robbiezero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119168626#Comment_119168626

What long term gain?

Hahahahaha did you miss irelands win against italy at the euros? Clueless

No, I didn't miss it. In fact, that was one of the 4 goals I mentioned.........Did you miss that? Also, that was only our second win EVER in the Euros.......Is that what you'd rather go back to? One win every 28 years?

Anyway, what's your point? Because if you're happy out with taking an odd scalp here and there, while watching the absolute sh1te that we were serving up at that time, then you're part of the problem.

And, the ironic part is, that rebuilding from the ground up would lead to us having a more regular appearance at major finals.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119168989#Comment_119168989

If you look at our style of play now vs when Keane/O'Neill were in charge and cannot see the difference in the styles, then you're a liar.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169168#Comment_119169168

We'll see in the long term.

Or not, if we get rid and install some other ex-Championship hack who can't land a spot on the managerial merry-go-round.

robbiezero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169207#Comment_119169207

How long more should we wait?

I would have thought we might be managing to get draws off the likes of Armenia and Luxembourg by this point.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169225#Comment_119169225

Depends. I would gladly forego qualifying for the next two or three tournaments if we established and improved upon a better and more effective playing style.

Two years is SFA, in the grand scheme of things.

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169207#Comment_119169207

If Steo is so radical and transformative then why is he still persisting with the one trick pony McLean? How can you play "nice football" with that lad? All he does is whips in crosses.

CorkRed93

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169353#Comment_119169353

if you play wing backs you need at least 1 of the wing backs to be whipping in lots of crosses...

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169207#Comment_119169207

He had a long term opportunity and failed. He can’t be or should not be allowed continue…

put him in front of a microphone after a defeat as above and you see the man’s pedigree… zero clue.

better get an ex-championship hack then a LOI merry-go-round hack.

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169383#Comment_119169383

I don't see Blind or Dumfries heading for the byline whipping in crosses all night for the Netherlands?

ArnoldJRimmer

There's an awful lot of revisionism in this thread in the clamour to point out that anyone that gives Kenny any credit at all for the job he has done so far is 'part of a cult.'

Trappatoni had us playing the worst football from an Irish team in my lifetime, anyone who didn't fit into his rigid 6-4-0 formation or tried to show any kind of creativity was frozen out. Yes, we were drawn into the most difficult group at Euro 2012, but the performances were a national embarrassment. A legend of the game, but he did nothing to advance Irish football

O'Neill did well to get us to Euro 2016, but benefitted from the increase to 24 teams, and Scotland managing to lose to Georgia to open the door to a playoff. We were decent at that tournament though. What followed was absolute rubbish, but overall a very good two years, and a very bad two years in charge.

Mick was extremely fortunate to escape with a 1-0 win in Gibraltar, with a total of 7 goals scored in that entire campaign. Enough said

None of this screams that we were some sort of footballing powerhouse before Kenny took over. Pointing this out, or acknowledging that Kenny has done a very good job in blooding a ton of younger players, and have us playing some actual football again, does not mean that someone is some sort of LOI fanatic who doesn't want any criticism of one of its most successful managers. I find the crowd that have been willing him to fail since day one as more perplexing, particularly with the 4 years of abject failure that preceded his appointment. He needs to start delivering a lot of good results, and quickly, but if it doesn't work out, he'll still have left the team in a much better place than where he found it.

tastyt

People saying they rather this than scraping qualification with defensive 1 nil wins . Do they think that magically Ireland are going to become a super power playing wonderful football and blitz through qualifying just because Stephen Kenny tells them to pass the ball to each other ?

Irish footballs issue is with the domestic league , no money , no full time academies , not enough coaches . It will take 30 years to fix all this if ever and having Kenny at the top losing games and losing people’s interest which in turn loses the FAI even more money. Get someone else in , the experiment failed . Play to our strengths , try to qualify and earn the millions you get for doing so , plough it into domestic football and maybe then , in 30 years time we can try to play sexy football with a philosophy from a young age .

This is cart before the horse nonsense

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169399#Comment_119169399

Here is a prime example of everything wrong with Irish football fans. In the eyes of the Olé Olé brigade, two years is 'long term'.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169588#Comment_119169588

Do they think that magically Ireland are going to become a super power playing wonderful football and blitz through qualifying just because Stephen Kenny tells them to pass the ball to each other?

Nope. Next question, please.

Fandymo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169534#Comment_119169534

Credit for the job he’s done??? He’s been a spectacular failure. Spectacular!! There is zero credit to be given. None. He wouldn’t get credit in the Celtic Tiger era for the shitshow he’s running.

He’s played some younger players is the bar we’ve set to make Kenny a success. How many of them have made an impact? Parrott? Connolly? Knight? Obafemi? (oh wait, he refused to pick him until this squad).

Pumping the possession/passing stats by going sideways and backwards when under no pressure is not a strategy. It’s a farce.

Gusser09

I'd rather be in with a shout of at least playoff going into the last round of games. With Kenny it always seems we are out of it before the group has started.

All other teams will beat Armenia home and away. So we are on the back foot straight away like the last group.

And the coherent, communicative aspect is massive as a manager. If he is going into the players like that and trying to get his message across we are rightly screwed. I don't know if he is doing purposely though. I bit like Bertie did it. He is getting an easy ride at this stage.

The players are there to beat Armenia, Luxembourg, Qatar and Azerbaijan. Anyone who tells you they are not is a spoofer of the highest order and regardless of whether Kenny loses every game from now until 2024 will defend him anyway.

bucketybuck

Its amazing, people actually do think that if Ireland changed manager that they would be winning any of these games and qualifying for tournaments! I thought it was just a wind up but no, they actually do think it.

Sure lads, play to our "strengths", lets bring in somebody else and see how that works out.

tastyt

No , what’s amazing is some people are so dug in on their Kenny wagon and “ philosophy “ that they can’t see what’s hitting them straight in the face or just refuse to see it .

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169776#Comment_119169776

Regardless of the manager I expect to beat Luxembourg, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169801#Comment_119169801

I think the team are in an extended period of transition.

Back at and pre euros we were poor but had better options. Holohan could pick a pass, walters was a decent target man with a good work rate, back then we also had a younger Coleman + Brady + MacClean + Long

The amount of space on the flanks that was available at the weekend. Armenia were knocking balls in to the corners and getting serious joy. There are a few positives like ogbene. In the second half chasing a draw Ireland regressed to full back thumping balls forward

The under 21s look good, a better build up through midfield.