New thread as the last thread seems to be broken.
in hindsight playing in Armenia in the second match of an international break is probably not a good idea. We had a tough match against Hungary on the Sat night, Sunday would have been a day travelling to Asia (3hr time difference) which gave us one full day to acclimatise and prepare for the match. Note that Portugal and Hungary both played in Armenia in their opening match of the international break which obviously gave them more preparation.
Lesson learnt - do not play Armenia in the second match of an international break.
3 red cards in those home matches helped a little bit.
Someone said it was good the campaign wasn’t over after 2/3 games so that is great progress. If we scrolled back on this thread after 2 games the campaign was over.
I think he should be given at least another shot at the euros. Can’t see how changing the manager would be beneficial at this stage. We won’t get better changing managers every campaign.
Fair enough, its progress within failure. But progress none the less.
But I preferred failure within SK philosophy then failure with hoof ball under HH.
But I cant deny the feeling after the Portugal win and a chance of a playoff spot and the build up to today. Its a tonic and a half.
But a loss today and its failure regardless of what POV youre coming from.
I don’t think that’s his broader plan plan though. I think we saw the way he intends to play in the Finland and Bulgaria wins. But when we fell apart away to Armenia and any margin for error was then gone, he went ultra pragmatic - results over performances, short group, get it done. And to be fair we’ve had two wins and the narrowest of defeats away to a top side since then. Probably the right decision from him to maximize our remaining games.
But I think if he continues in the job we’ll see him move back towards the plan he’d been working on, and continue to progress it.
feels a bit of a mad take to me to try to equate where we’re at in the group, with where we were if we don’t win today… as if there’s no difference between non-qualifying campaigns. Getting to the last day with 2nd in our own hands is a big difference. Getting 4 more points at home - in one fewer match no less - is a big difference. Going undefeated at home is a big difference.
I also like HH but the gameplan seems to be to play like the underdog no matter who the opposition is. That's why I'm not convinced, yet. But I'd give him another two years.
People have ridiculously short memories. We see this sh*t every single time. We play well against a big team and fans believe it's a sign of progress.
If we don't win today, we won't have another game against a big team for two years anyway.
I think regardless of todays result he should get another campaign.
We're a minnow, we're paying buttons relative to global football wages and hes brought us(the long way) to the ultimate game with progression in our own hands.
Absolutely.
Telling the ref not to let Ronaldo referee the match beforehand . . . We need more of that.
I like HH and admire his personality.
I thought the way he acknowledged Ronaldo - rather than ignoring or being animated - showed a steely resolve and a touch of class as well. To me it was saying 'I'm not rising to this, I'll stand my ground look you in the eye - with some respect - because I'm representing this team' (or something along the lines of that).
I thought it made Ronaldo's reaction all the more ludicrous and to me it seemed to be HH standing his - and his teams corner. Not confrontational but not cowering away from Ronaldo's theatrics. It just showed a quiet confidence I admired and that hopefully the team will also learn from. Just my opinion of course.
In typical fashion today could well be another day where we take steps backwards, but I would absolutely be giving him another campaign regardless of today's result.
We are still living with the after effects of SK's appalling record.
if we lose 3 nil today then the conversation changes again, we are a bit over eager to discuss the managers positions while the story is still being written or not even half way through
Completely agree.
I also think HH deserves another shot.
Both things can be true.
yeah, I think this is true…even if it shouldn’t be. It will be a factor in the decision.
The salary also seems to exclude many top candidates
No match thread for today? :/
Mmostly I think the FAI will be scared shtless of trying to find another manager after the disaster of trying to replace Kenny.
People can debate whether HH gets another contract or not (and I think he should), but the FAI will give him another contract.
He's brought us into the last game of the group with a chance of making the play offs. The FAI will back him.
Kenny got 1 big result in 5 campaigns and that was against Scotland. 1 goal in 2020 NL campaign. 1 goal from open play for Euro 2024 against the teams that mattered.
Today is big day for us and HH. Im not sure he is the guy to lead us. Today will tell a lot.
But Kenny got so many chances no other Ireland manger will ever get. He didn't take one of them. Thats on nobody but him. I wish him well. He seems good man and for him it was dream job. But it was not to be.
Thank god we found our actual level, splitting wins with Armenia.
We scored plenty of goals under SK?
Anyway im not looking for him to be reinstated. I've moved on, his detractors haven’t.
This topic was reignited by a detractor claiming one result for HH was a reason to throw $hit at SK.
I certainly was not "anti Sk" and every Irish fan wanted him to be a success.
Nobody was expecting miracles but we were awful especially for Euro 2024. Actually it was car crash stuff.
He was given a free pass for Euro 2020, the nations league that followed and World Cup 2022. No other manager would have got that.
We created so little chances under Kenny. Truly demoralising stuff.
How much more time do people want give him?
Yeah right.
I for one will gladly eat my hat with salt and vinegar if HH pulls off a miracle.
The anti SK brigade are the ones that brought him up here not the fan bois.
One swallow does not make a summer. SK had decent performances, ironically against Portugal as well. It never amounted to anything as wed lose to weaker opposition afterwards.
A decent performance today and ill happily call it progress. Anything more and ill kneel at the HH alter. Anything less and its business as usual.
That's 11-1 on Coral 🙂
Until we find a midfield there are no alternatives. We would look ridiculous getting rid of a manager who somehow engineered a clean sheet win over Portugal with this team no matter what happens tomorrow.
We will win 2-1 tomorrow. Going be a great day
In the last game at least, Heimir managed to get Ireland to play as they need to play, which is being defensively solid/ compact, and dangerous on the break. And that against good opposition: #5 in the world.
My view is we needed to see demonstrable progress, even if we don't actually achieve anything in this campaign - we need to have performances or results that show things are going in the right direction and the team are improving, and we have that now.
As fans and supporters we needed something, some hope.
Qualifying for the world cup is probably too great an ask at this stage, and we have had some horrible results in this group (notably Armenia), but we are now improving and going in the right direction
A win away to Hungary will be difficult, but we now need to see another spirited and competitive performance. If we get that, it may be enough to allow Heimir more time - what are the alternatives?
I see the Stephen Kenny disciples are still going strong on here. The ones that told us after Luxembourg beat us at home, that this was our level and we were too ambitious if we expected more
Also is there any hope our bankrupt dump of an association will get someone better. I hope he stays. There's just something about his kinda grumpy depressed demeanor that suits us. Jack, Mick, Martin and Giovanni all had it.
I don't think we will win tomorrow yet HH deserves a contract extension to Euro 2028. We are heading in the right direction. Both performances against Portugal were excellent and tactically sound.
