No New Contract For Vera Pauw

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121132699#Comment_121132699

But again this line of argument does not make much sense. As back in June prior to the world cup. Caldwell explicitly said that the players had overachieved to get there. Pauw was in charge of the Irish team in 2019 where Ireland narrowly missed out on a play off spot.

Again Caldwell said that Ireland learnt from the Sweden loss in her interview in June - which implied progression.

As regards the expanded tournament. in the mens game tournaments have been massively expanded with lots of nations league avenues of qualification yet Ireland still cannot qualify.

Also you neglect to mention that Pauw's profile was instrumental in bringing in players such as Brosnan,  Quinn,  Carusa, Finn, Larkin, Mustaki, Agg, Walsh, and Sheva into the Irish squad etc. Would the non Irish born players have played for Ireland without a manager there of Pauw's stature?

That is 9 players developed/headhunted by Pauw.

Pauw gave all of them their Irish debuts. Pauw also brought Áine O'Gorman back from retirement.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/0628/1391674-meet-the-republic-of-irelands-womens-world-cup-squad/

Also your comments on McCabe and O'Sullivan. They did not suddenly emerge. McCabe made her Ireland debut 8 years ago, and O'Sullivan made her debut 12 years ago long before Pauw. If those two players were that good why did they not carry Ireland to success prior to Pauw?

The article is also notable in that it says of Caldwell (Pauw's most vocal critic) 'not always the first choice under Pauw'

donaghs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121133296#Comment_121133296

My thoughts exactly. Has a team of world-beaters been finally unleashed?

With a statement as strong as Diane Caldwell's, the only way is up. They'll easily thrash Northern Ireland for starters. Then Hungary, no bother to them. Right?

Water John

A national manager in soccer has very little influence on fitness, conditioning and training. The professional players are almost entirely dependent on their respective clubs in that area. The key job of a national soccer manager is, blending the talent available, in the short time frames of international duty. It's very much a men/women management skillset that's required. Then having the team players adapt to the format being applied. This would involve team shape, spacing of the defence and attack lines. Special attention would be given to all set piece plays, throw ins, frees and corner kicks.

That's what I would have expected from VP. Did we get that?

crusd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121134701#Comment_121134701

Pauw took over after 2019 qualifiers, where you correctly identified they narrowly missed out on a playoff, in a tournament with less spots available. The change in performance in the Irish team came around the 2015 qualifiers, with the emergence of higher quality players, there has been a pretty consistent level since.

How many here have actually listened to the full press conference that Caldwell gave and not just the one headline?

It was all about pushing for improvements in standards across the board and the stagnation the players felt under Pauw. The “in spite of Pauw” is the the headline that everyone is focused on, but the substance of her overall speech was thoughtful and nuanced. This clearly represented the feeling of a squad who are increasingly exposed to more professional methods in full time professional clubs and can see the contrast with Ireland. Caldwell at 35 likely also understands her career is nearing its end with younger players in her position , so won’t personally benefit from an improvement in standards. She could easily have gone off into the sunset with the glory of being part of the squander that got to the World Cup. Bit instead she spoke out and will forever be remembered as “that one who spoke out” while other players go on to hopefully benefit from an improvement in standards

And referencing her statements from June, yes , the players really were going to speak out publicly against the coach a couple of weeks before the World Cup. What she did relate though was the her and the senior group of leaders, identified by Pauw, repeatedly brought these same points up in private and were not listened to at all.

crusd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121135491#Comment_121135491

The complaints identified by Caldwell included fitness’s em strength and conditioning, but also coaching on the training pitch, opposition analysis, tactics, in game tactics and others

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121135518#Comment_121135518

I think your wrong, they became stagnant under vera they progressed under her ,she brought fresh blood into the squad,it's more than obvious certain individuals threw her under the bus , hopefully who ever comes next drops Caldwell permanently and any others of her ilk and age

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121134069#Comment_121134069

The she shouldn't be responsible for the fitness regimes of professional athletes as she is too incompetent. There's a reason you won't any sports scientist, physio or anyone with actual qualifications who would avoid that weightlifting should not be done by professional athletes due to its dangers.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121134525#Comment_121134525

A quote from the article..

However, regular weight training can improve knee strength and prevent injury—as long as it's done safely and with good form

Interesting that Vera takes the approach of an outright ban rather than teaching and educating her players.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121136965#Comment_121136965

That is up to her S&C as others have said that is not Pauw's job.

Plus I would argue ball work and drills on small pitches would be far more beneficial to this Irish team than weights. McCabe for all she was lauded, her first touch seemed really poor to me, was great at winning possession full of energy - fit, but would lose the ball just as quick.

There is one Irish women's footballer who is obviously overweight - Amber Barrett. The super-sub from the Scottish game. Her issue would not be solved by weights, but diet lifestyle and tailored exercise programs. Maybe if she lost weight she would be starting - a clinical finisher, but without the fitness for a full 90?

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121138541#Comment_121138541

Vera is the strength and conditioning coach and also the nutritionist. She does everything. At this stage the technique for most of players isn't going to significantly improve. That needs to happen when they are younger.

The fact is for a manager of an elite sports team to hold the view that weightlifting is bad and football players don't need to do squats is bizarre. The Irish womens team should be going in a direction that takes a modern and professional approach to all aspects of being an elite athlete. Vera's approach takes players in the opposite direction.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121140111#Comment_121140111

They don't need to weight lift ,

Change the record

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121140866#Comment_121140866

Strange that you know more about the players need than the players themselves.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121140878#Comment_121140878

But , but, but...

Lifting weights 😄

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121140866#Comment_121140866

You don't think professional athlete needs to lift weights though. Clearly this topic is well beyond you.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121140914#Comment_121140914

No I don't think it's necessary.

Topic isn't beyond me ,but i do think your not here for anything

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127268#Comment_121127268

Indeed. That’s shocking behaviour really. Totally unprofessional, totally mean spirited and completely disrespectful….. just ultra bitchy.

she isn’t sitting in that seat at the press conference representing herself she’s representing her teammates and Irish Football too….

she’s done a real poor job.

a failure at the vast majority of her clubs ….

FC Köln, .Manchester United and Reading, 3 of her many clubs who cut her loose without making even 10 appearances for them.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121141281#Comment_121141281

Yeah I noticed all of that when I looked at her record. In fact the only thing of note Caldwell has done during her career as a footballer is marry her partner (Mona Lohmann) who she met while at Sand in Germany.

She also did a masters in PE teaching in Hofstra University (NY long island) in 2006. As her eligibility was up in the college based on soccer alone. She then did a Masters in Sports Science just as a reason to stay there in 2010.

Reading between the lines Caldwell is sore because Pauw dropped her from the Ireland starting team. Diane is 33 years old 'no clocking hen' as my auld fella would say. That is no surprise in soccer.

Because Caldwell has done some PE and Sports Science study. It seems she feels that she is Pauw's better and now can stick the boot in? Caldwell never made any of these complaints prior to the world cup and she is only doing so when it suits her agenda IMO.

In fact back in June her demeanour was happy and jovial. Full of praise of the performance of Ireland overachieving to get there, and how Pauw accommodated her wedding to Mona prior to the World Cup.

Caldwell is basically kicking a woman while she is down - a coward IMO. In order to feel better about herself she had to belittle Pauw's soccer achievements, after the fact

kksaints

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121143149#Comment_121143149

Think you forgot to mention the 97 caps she got for Ireland for some reason and she made her debut as a 17 year old. Also a regular starter in the German Frauen Bundesliga for a number of years which is one of the strongest leagues in Europe. Good record in Norway as well which was a good women's league at the time also.

Strumms

Agreed, and judging by her club merry go round… 10 clubs in 13 years… she tends to wear out her welcome pretty swiftly, not surprisingly.

She now has both ex playing colleagues and respected media coming out in the press criticising her comments regarding Pauw…

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121143205#Comment_121143205

Fair enough but Caldwell started playing in 2006 - what was the standard of women's football like then and how easy was it to get caps at international level?

It seems common in women's football that they start very young and get an enormous amount of caps as a result. There are a few in the 300's and 200's of the all time lists in international football. Even from supposedly much stronger sides. With a plethora of the very high 100's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women%27s_footballers_with_100_or_more_international_caps

Viewed in that prism 97 caps does not seem as impressive?

The currently active most-capped women's international football player is  Christine Sinclair of Canada, with 326 caps!

kksaints

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121143283#Comment_121143283

It looks better when you see that she was dropped for 2 years by Noel King because of a dispute (weirdness over the student world games and her club at the time). Also while it's fair to say that there's a higher number of Internationally capped players in women's football to mens that's because in the early days of women's football (pre 2010 roughly) there was much more international football for women than club football due to the much smaller clubs seasons in Women's football so there was much more space for international football. Even today most Women's leagues have much less clubs compared to Men's leagues in the same football. For example there's 12 teams in WSL in England compared to 20 in the Premier League and 12 in the Frauen Bundesliga compared to 18 in the men's.

Fotish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121140914#Comment_121140914

It seems ridiculous to me that lifting weights during the short window when the international team is together will make any difference.

When are they supposed to lift these weights, on the morning of the match ? Maybe the evening before the match ?

if they are not match fit going into camp , they should not be called up.

TokTik

So it looks like we don’t need Vera. And Tyler Toland with player of the match. Vera must be spewing. Excellent game, excellent performance.

Patrick2010

Unlike the big wins we’ve had in the past under Vera, eg Georgia, was that 9 or 11 nil? Wonder how the weight training is going now?

Larbre34

So refreshing to see a pattern that allows the dangerous players to get up high and amongst it. The Norn defence looked frazzled.

Well done Eileen and the women, I do hope this will be our Women's manager on a permanent basis.

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121146631#Comment_121146631

The issue is that she pushed the players to not do it full stop, even going as far as trying to force the players to ignore the training regime their own clubs had placed them on.

The difficulty for the Irish players was that Pauw was their international manager, her rigid fitness and conditioning instructions was often at odds with their regimes at club level – and their clubs were their employers.

That was an issue that raised its head in Pauw’s very first Irish camp, when she challenged Tyler Toland – who she ultimately banished from the international scene, despite all her promise – about her fitness programme at Manchester City. For the then 18-year-old, that was a horror of a dilemma: follow your Irish manager’s advice and risk the wrath of your club, ignore it and face international exile.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2023/09/14/why-did-vera-pauws-training-methods-suddenly-only-become-an-issue-in-the-summer-of-2023/

Also, before a major tournament like the world cup, the squad come together a long time before the tournament starts. Having a proper, modern approach to strength and conditioning when leading up to a major tournament is essential to maximise their performance.

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121147013#Comment_121147013

That's the clubs job surely or in their own time

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121146939#Comment_121146939

That’s 126th out of 186 places ranked Georgia.

All you’re doing is confirming you’ve no idea about women’s football. The performance was miles ahead of anything Vera played. Player of the match was a young girl Vera ostracised. Roll on the Euros.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121147193#Comment_121147193

Lol.....

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121147193#Comment_121147193

Northern Ireland ranked 47th out of those 186 places - and the lowest ranked UEFA side to qualify for the Euros in 2022.

https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/women?dateId=ranking_20230825

Also Northern Ireland a team who failed to qualify for a world cup that other posters have said that was supposed to be easier to qualify from than previous years because of more places?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_FIFA_Women%27s_World_Cup_qualification

Did you see the second goal Northern Ireland conceded?

https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status/1705576628678459480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1705576628678459480%7Ctwgr%5E9fd1197f12d6436f1ab23ce97d1d425a9d5b13d5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boards.ie%2Fdiscussion%2F2058192078%2Frepublic-of-ireland-team-talk-news-rumours-2023-mod-note-in-op-26-mar-23%2Fp626

I agree that Eileen Gleeson is a good coach and as served her time, she is one of few women to have a Pro Licence. Gleeson was also praised by Pauw as one of the best Assistants she worked with. Because Pauw's method in coaching in a foreign country is to use an assistant from that country. As she did in Scotland, South Africa, and Russia etc.

https://extra.ie/2023/08/31/sport/soccernews/who-is-eileen-gleeson

From the above article -

'Wherever I have worked, I've always wanted an assistant coach from the country, who knew the local players and had a strong understanding of the football culture. In that regard, Eileen has been one of the best I've worked with.'

--

But let's not re-invent reality by talking up Northern Ireland's woman's team as if they world beaters or something. The depth of the women's game is not very strong beyond a certain level.

kksaints

Was very much Vera who amongst the fans at the match yesterday. Didn't quite realise how popular Katie McCabe was with the younger fans until yesterday, some amount of noise everytime she got the ball. Great reaction to all the players in fairness but McCabe and Abbie Larkin were definitely the fan favourites. Very good win although the Nordies weren't up to much. Hayes the new player from Celtic played very well.Next match in Hungary should provide another challenge.