Stephen Kenny in interviews...

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119698794#Comment_119698794

I suspect most would see a nil nil with Georgia as a better result than losing to Armenia in June, and personally I do think we should have enough about us to beat the likes of Armenia comfortably, rather than having to rely on a late penalty.

dxhound2005

If (I know) we had won in Armenia we would have 10 points and they would have zero. Still not enough to get above our third seeding in the group, so we finished as expected. I think Germany 7 points and England 3 in their group was more striking. Especially the 0 - 4 result for England against Hungary.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119699728#Comment_119699728

You're missing the point. It's not about which one is better.....I mean, when they both mean we end up not qualifying for [Insert tournament here] then they're equally as bad. It's about everything else that goes along with and feeds into/out of the results. (That nil all with Georgia was a slog to get through, I remember there was something like 4 shots on target the whole night......criminally poor fare altogether).

Anyone can cherry pick results to try to back up their stance. Using one or two outliers (and they are outliers, despite what some would have you believe) is a one-sided myopic view of the whole multi-faceted issue. I'd rather lose to [Insert team A] personally, than draw with [Insert Team B] if the loss comes with lessons, improvements, indications of what works/doesn't work, blooding of new players, new systems being trialled etc.

We've been playing this same style of football for the guts of 25 years now. For ages now we can't pass the ball, we can't beat anyone one-on-one, we've nothing in terms of a recognised goalscorer, we're not comfortable on the ball, the players don't look like they even know each other's names......we used to get noticeably worse when we went 1-0 up, FFS. Hell, they used to look like rabbits in headlights because they didn't know how to behave, until the inevitable equaliser was scored.

Kenny is trying to change that, I think. He HAD to change it, given the shitshow he inherited. I'd personally sacrifice every match he is manager for, if it means that the groundwork for a full revamp of our football ethos is laid. The FAI have a lot to answer for, and he's starting to undo the decades of neglect. A lot of the naysayers are out for his blood because they never saw his name on the premier league manager merry-go-round every year, you can tell who they are by the alternatives they propose. Like we should be attracting the likes of a modern day Scolari or Mario Zagallo or Del Bosque.

People have an over-inflated sense of where the Irish team should be vs where they actually are. Scrapping about with the likes of Scotland, Georgia and Armenia is our level. We're third seeds for a reason.

I mean, someone on the previous page is suggesting that Kenny's the reason players won't declare for Ireland.

Complete lunacy.

erlichbachman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119700318#Comment_119700318

I'm afraid the lunacy started when John Delaney appointed Stephen Kenny to appease the FAI in an attempt to hold onto his job.

The bottom line is that Kenny is a less than average football manager, is completely out of depth in any league other than LOI, and he's also bereft of any miniscule grain of inspiration.

The last remnants of the John Delaney era, the sooner he's gone the better. We can pass the ball sideways with a much better manager.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119700353#Comment_119700353

No answer to the previous question, no?

Just straight in with the two-footed tackle, studs up and no attempt to even engage with others, repeating the same bollocks over and over again?

I mean, you're contradicting yourself all over the shop in the above post. Who would you replace him with today if it was your call?

We've had much better managers for the last 25 years, according to you. How come we couldn't pass the ball sideways under them?

erlichbachman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119700380#Comment_119700380

I did answer your previous question, <insert here any manager in the first 3 English leagues>

living in cloud cuckoo land if you think Stephen Kenny is the best manager out there that Ireland can obtain, the bollocks is believing it was in any necessary to pass the ball sideways for the past 25 years, or still is in any way necessary or productive

Bottom line, Kenny was the one talking about winning that league, and we were in a playoff for relegation, he has shown nothing, absolutely nothing to warrant keeping him on.

That wasn't the previous question. That was the current question.

The previous question was:

"When has anyone ever confirmed that's the case? Has anyone ever joined Ireland because of our manager? Has anyone ever made the decision on which country they'd play for based on the manager?"

veryangryman

I hear that once out, Kenny will have his pick of International teams to choose to manage, such is the lure an ex LOI manager can garner in the world. Look at Kerr and his behemoth appointment at the Faroes

erlichbachman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119699079#Comment_119699079

Is this what you are looking for?

If you mean when did any player join because of the manager, then you have plenty of examples when Jack Charlton approached players such as Ray Houghton, John Aldridge etc

dxhound2005

Wales bottom 1 point, England bottom 3 points, NI second from bottom 5 points, Ireland second from bottom 7 points. Only Scotland of the "Home" nations distinguished themselves. And only England have legitimate notions to expect much sucess in the longer run. Small countries like ours might dine at the top table for a while, but it never lasts.

Kenny is getting the best out of what is available, and as was pointed out he is on an upward curve after the lack of wins early on.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119700523#Comment_119700523

They didn't play for Ireland because of Jack.

They played for Ireland because they weren't good enough to play for England.

You're proving my point for me

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119701439#Comment_119701439

That is very disingenuous.

Charlton, though not everyone’s cup of tea, elevated the Irish team and actively sought out players who had Irish family connections and asked them to play. Would they have played if we hadn’t qualified in 88 or 90? Possibly not, but we did and they did.

No matter what spin you try to put on it, Kenny, though he seems a very nice guy, was at his level when managing LOI sides, not an international one. And any decent player who qualifies through family, and who would improve our team, cannot be blamed for thinking this manager is an amateur and the team is performing accordingly.

dxhound2005

It can be down to very fine margins. We matched Portugal away and led at 89 minutes, losing to a goal in the 96th. A win would have given us a chance of a playoff.

Charlton was very nearly just another in a list of hard luck stories. Except for the 86th minute goal by Scotland in Bulgaria which got us to Euro 88. That was Bulgaria's only loss at home, and they had a formidable home record. Had we not qualified then, the knives would have been out for Charlton from more quarters than just Eamonn Dunphy.

Charlton actually underperformed in the Irish job, given the talent at his disposal. I'd argue he held us back, in certain respects. That 1990 squad was full of top class talent.

Either way, if any of the granny rulers had a shout at making the England squad, we'd have been left behind in the dirt. No ifs, ands or buts.

osarusan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119700536#Comment_119700536

Kenny is getting the best out of what is available.

He isn't. Certainly not consistently.

Our pool of players isn't great, but it is good enough that we should be comfortably beating teams like Qatar, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Luxembourg. Those dreadful results are down to Kenny.

erlichbachman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119701439#Comment_119701439

Unsurprisingly you are completely missing or ignoring the point, it was Jack that approached them, it was Jack that persuaded them, so the manager has a great influence when a player has to decide if they want to play for Ireland. You have to realise that even if a decent English player cannot get into the England squad and can qualify for Ireland, that player may still hold aspirations of playing for England and therefore hold out, so ultimately whoever is manager and approaches them will need to have influence, which is where Stephen Kenny fails miserably.

Whether they were or weren't good enough to play for England or other nations is not relevant, we are talking about decent International level players. Ray Houghton was good enough to play for Scotland and would have played for them but for a bad experience with their manager at the time, others would have been on he fringes of their native International squads.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119703272#Comment_119703272

Jesus wept.

Ireland qualified for three major championships. In the first, we lost to the eventual winners and a team widely regarded as amongst the best in history. The second, we lost to the hosts in the quarter final, and the third, we lost in searing heat to a Mexican team who play in those conditions all the time, having beaten one of the finalists in the group stage. How on earth is that underachieving?

Patrick2010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119703384#Comment_119703384

Ah ffs, give us an example of an English born player who opted for England instead of Ireland since Kenny took over? He’s getting the best out of he’s got to manage.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119703844#Comment_119703844

By not qualifying for the other tournaments in between.

By not using the players available to him to the best of their abilities.

By utilising tactics that hindered our players instead of complementing them.

By not getting farther in those tournaments than he did.

"Amongst the best teams the best teams in history".....FFS, they're not even near the best Dutch team ever, never mind the best ever full stop. Jesus wept is right.

Anyone who knows anything about football will tell you we should have played better, won more matches, qualified for more tourneys and gotten more out of that team than Charlton did. Anyone.

Edit: don't forget, we scraped into Euro 88 with outside help, we needed a coinflip to get out of the group in Italia 90, and scored 1 (wonder) goal in the group stages in USA 94. You can try to rewrite history all you want, but we were lucky to get as far as we did in all three tournaments, when we should have been better organised and playing to our strenghts.

Edit 2: Excluding penalty shootouts.....

2 goals in USA in 4 matches

2 goals in Italia 90 in 5 matches

2 goals in Euro 88 in 3 matches

That's 6 goals in 12 matches, how can you not call that underachieving, with the players he had at his disposal?

erlichbachman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119703877#Comment_119703877

Can you give us an example of a quality English born player that committed to Ireland since Kenny took over? No, you cant

Therefore, other questions are raised

Are we not approaching players with dual option?

If we are then why are they rejecting Ireland?

Furze99

All very well not being slick at the PR and being genuine. That's fair enough.

But not if you don't answer the questions that are asked and just sort of waffle in an unconvincing way.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119704188#Comment_119704188

How do you know that players are not being approached?

Declan Rice and Jack Grealish played at underage for us but declined to play at senior level, is that Kenny’s fault too?

erlichbachman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119705731#Comment_119705731

Well, if you agree that we don't see any decent players here, then you have to ask why not, and then the answer is either they aren't being approached, or they are being approached and are rejecting - its basic logic derived from the primary question.

cal naughton

Lizz truss another one terrible in interviews. And we all know she is a spoofer just like sk.

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119698794#Comment_119698794

You've totally articulated all my thoughts on the national team situation as it is now, well done. Last straw for me was being played off the park by Georgia away in I think 2017 where they looked like Spain 2008. I think Glen Whelan got an undeserved equaliser.

Also Georgia have that Georgian kid playing for them in Napoli who they're saying could be the next Maradona for them. When will we ever get a once in a generation talent again? Or will we ever again?

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119705937#Comment_119705937

Or there just aren’t any who are qualified to play for us.

erlichbachman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119709741#Comment_119709741

That’s possible, the point I was making in line with the context of the thread title is that the manager is expected to do more than just apply team tactics, there is some appeal required from an International manager, especially Ireland as we are so close to a pool of possibly available players.

dxhound2005

The ....... in the thread title was followed by:

"I can't put my finger on it but he seems to have some disability. He can't just be a stuttering eejit.

Not really a leader of men vibe coming from the guy.

Anyway... is there a medical term for it?"

I answered that with it being the style of interview I observed in his club management career, and that I can't see any medical condition or disability. The discussion has ranged a lot further since.

Ferris_Bueller

What a ridiculous thread. It is true that he is not exactly a natural in front of the camera, I'd argue that the majority of people aren't, but I find him much more interesting than most football people who are clearly overly media trained and just lash out the same cliches over and over again. I actually enjoy listening to Kenny, I think he thinks carefully about what he says. On live television it is probably not something that comes across brilliantly, plus the results definitely have not helped - what can you say after you lose at home to Luxembourg for example?

Here is a more in depth interview with him which might show another side to him: https://soundcloud.com/user-914121770/loi-central-s06e29-live-from-lost-lane-with-stephen-kenny

The results and his future as national team manager is another argument, but asking if he has some kind of disability because he is not completely at ease in front of the national and international media is idiotic.