I agree with everything you say bar the first sentence. Iceland are qualifying for tournaments and giving a good account of themselves and we've a bigger pool of talent than they have. Wales were without their two most important players last night and still showed the courage to try and live up to the identity Giggs is trying to instil in them and it doesn't even come down to playing football any one particular way.Our best times with Ireland were under Charlton and that wasn't what you'd call conventionally attractive football,but it was never submissive and we had an identity. In international football its tough to adapt tactics game to game which is why you decide on a way of playing,get everybody on board and stick to it. If the manager feels direct football is the best way to get results then fine,but own it so everybody can believe in it. Supporters will be more accepting of bad results if they feel everybody is pulling in the same direction. How the manager transmits his message to the supporters is very important too,we know that more than most but O'Neill coming out like a fucking baby in interviews and taking no responsibility for anything while collecting over a million a year is poison to what we should be trying to achieve. The FAI need to stop putting the cart before the horse and choose a manager who's ego doesn't stop him looking at the big picture. Results by hook or by crook can't be the plan when you don't have enough talent,in this day and age you need to be willing to accept the short term pain that comes with making a team greater than the sum of its parts and the right manager could make a big difference to Irish football,even if the structures above and below him are a shambles.
You're probably right in all of that Babbs but I'm at the point now where I'd rather the whole thing fell apart completely that we might find a new start from the very top down, a new manager with a small turnaround probably papers over the cracks for another while, I'm ready for the walls to come in at this point. The Irish fans deserve more and more importantly our own developing young players deserve more. I hate this idea that the English will hopefully sort us out with a few players on a grandparent rule that might improve us and then watch the meltdown when an English player like Jack Grealish or Declan Rice eventually declares for the nation of their birth as if they're the ones at fault and the public outrage about them again misses the overall point that they are English and only playing for the FAI as they've tried to pull a bit of a fast one to get them to declare for Ireland.
I was never Davy Keogh but I haven't seen a minute of any of our last 3 games. That says it all for me, zero interest in watching what O'Neill pretends to be football.
As honest a player as a you could meet but with poor luck and his injuries crippled him. I had the pleasure of seeing him play in that Ireland team in the early 80s as a kid. That was a great team and so unlucky. I read Eoin hand's book recently and the decisions against them were shocking. It was a really good team that should have qualified for Spain 82 and France 84. By the Mexico 86 campaign, we were on a slide and I was in Lansdowne Road for the last game v Denmark along with only about 15,000 others. It is a shame because that team beat that great France team with Platini, Giresse, Tigana etc that won euro 84. Good article on him here. https://www.independent.ie/sport/co...pths-to-deliver-refreshing-tale-26898364.html
The problem with developing talent goes much further than the FAI because the same level of talent just isn't there any more.A good friend of mine has been scouting for 30 years and he says the volume in terms of talent has fallen off a cliff. From what I can tell with all these schoolboy clubs having to set up shop with a LOI club,the priorities still haven't changed either...winning,getting players to England,making money out of it, and we lose a lot of later bloomers that way.We have to make massive changes down the ladder but it doesn't stop the senior team manager doing his job well,even if well is a relative term because of a lot of those issues. Competing for lads with other nations is not something I think we should or can ignore. Somebody whose parents or grandparents left here to build a life are entitled to consider themselves Irish even if they are just as comfortable with being English,Scotish etc.Of course it should mean something to them to play for us but I understand that some players will consider their career if put into the situation to choose and wouldn't be too harsh on anybody for it.The Rice situation crosses the line for me though,with 3 senior appearances for us he's taking the piss and should be told to fuck off. If I was an England fan I wouldnt want him either. I also dont want anybody who just sees Ireland as a chance to play international football with no feeling of being Irish(Mark Lawrenson) but that's pretty hard to establish.
Great Danish team kicked to bits in Mexico 86. Laudrup, Sivebaek, Jesper Olsen, Jan Molby and Preben Elkjaer (spelling?). better than their team that won Euro 92. I remember that it was bitterly cold and that I couldn't wait to get home to warm up!!
Former Republic of Ireland international Andy Townsend believes the problems facing Irish football should not lay at the feet of Martin O’Neill and that big changes are needed in the game in the country. Ireland slumped to 1-0 defeat to Wales on Tuesday night at the Aviva Stadium and face the prospect of relegation in the UEFA Nations League after a disasterous 12 months. Townsend feels that there should be a focus on the governance of Irish football. He told RTÉ 2fm’s Game On: "There needs to be a regime change at the very top of Irish football. That is the area that needs to change; the powers that be that run our game here. Clearly there has to be a different mindset coming from those people. "That will ultimately take time to develop and time to implement. "Whether indeed it ever happens, because that is a boys club. It's a job for the boys that run the game here. If you try to get rid of any of them, you are doing well. "All I know is when I look at David Brooks, Harry Wilson, and some of those [for Wales], it shows there are other nations able to produce and find players. "There will be some that argue that we don't integrate them fast enough into the senior team in order to develop them." The FAI said they wouldn't comment Townsend's claims. The former captain added that he doesn't think removing O’Neill from his position would guarantee a positive change and the lack of quality in attack is holding back Ireland. "That's not a performance from a team lacking any courage, heart or commitment. They gave everything. We don't have enough at the top end of the field. Honestly, in world football, you have people paid fortunes to make the difference in the top third of the field. That is what usually happens. "When we talk about the very best players playing Premier League or international football, the best make the difference . We have nothing in that area. With the greatest of respects, we have a lot of guys who are prepared to give their all, effort, but not one of them looks like they have a goal in them. "If we had something in the top third, we would always have a chance to win more games. "With this particular group, there isn't anything there. I hear what is being said but my own opinion is you can change the coach, you can change him every six months, but you're not going to change those boys into goalscorers." The decision to play full-back Cyrus Christie in a midfield role has been severely criticised but again Townsend thinks such scrutiny will materialise when there is such a lack of goals in the team. "You'd have to ask Martin [why he plays Christie there]. "Cyrus, to be honest, gave everything. He didn't look completely out of sorts. The one time we had a good chance in the first half was the one time you wanted a midfield player on the end of that. "Martin will have a reason [for playing him there], he'll tell you that. In tight football matches and that was one, Wales weren't great, but they scored first. "Once they scored they then looked like a dangerous outfit and probably should have won by maybe another goal. In a tight game on your own patch, you need to have more in the top third and the truth is we have guys that don't even play for Championship teams. "We're looking at them and hoping they will make the difference. They are not up to it, it's simple. If we had pace, confidence and a little bit more ability and at the top end of the field, I think we could get in front in a game. "At the moment we don't look like we can score. We're not playing with any confidence. But I do feel we have to be realistic of what our boys are capable of here. I didn't think that was a performance of a team that isn't playing for the manager."
I agree with Andy Townsend. We know that the FAI is run as a closed shop. There is no scrutiny and the AGM is held behind closed doors with no access granted to journalists. All this with a CEO on over €400k p.a. Shameful.
I remember when Roy Hodgson was Liverpool manager and the media defended his performance based on what was happening at board level.I think we've been seeing similar for a while with O'Neill and like with Hodgson the correct thing to do is accept the FAI is a basket case,but also judge O'Neill on his performance relative to the situation.The only defence for O'Neill now is to lump it all in together but fans are already sick of his it's not my fault,lowering already low expectations and exagerating positives(remind you of anyone?)and the media buying into it will not just irk fans more,but force the FAI to act because if they accept its their fault and not his,they have to start justifying why heads arent rolling at their level.
I think that the cost of getting rid of MO'N & his staff might be considerable Babbs. I would be confident that this, bar a resignation, will keep him employed for some time. Our CEO is at the top table of UEFA now - he is firmly enjoying the gravy train and exercises so much control that there isn't anyone at home dare try to deal with the manager behind his back.
Yep,that could be what saves him alright pal but I've never seen so many free tickets available for Ireland matches as there have been lately and an empty ground hits the finances so many different ways.Could be a false economy.
O'Neill has created this narrative that he has nothing to work with. Definately a limited squad compared to the last 30 years with probably only Coleman the quality to be a top 8 regular in the Premier League. Lets go through the pool of the first XI that is available Randolph - Not a world beater but don't think he is a problem, no worse than Hennesy for wales (Part of team at Euros) Doherty - Been a revelation for Wolves this season, as good as anyone in Wales squad Coleman - One of the better Right backs in Premier League - did not realise he was 30 though (Part of team at Euros) Duffy - As good if not better than Williams at this stage of career or Championship man Chester (Part of team at Euros) Keogh - Consistently one of the better defenders in the Championship, probably a similar level to Chester (Part of team at Euros) Long - In and out of Burnley, in that bucket of defenders that are low level Premier League or top of Championship similar to Wales McClean - Been one of Irelands best players in last few years, although again is bottom tier PL or Championship , similar to Allen/Lawerence for Wales (Part of team at Euros) Christie - Baffling position for him although somehow got man of match in first game and was best chance of a goal in both Arter - Been a consistent Premier League player for years now, lower level, however he would be in with a shout of Wales team Hendrick - Again been a consistent Premier League performer, has dipped this season however probably our best player at Euros (Part of team at Euros) Now we get to the hard part which is striking department. somehow Shane Long (Part of team at Euros) has gone for a huge amount of money throughout his career and then you have a couple of unknown quantities in Robinson, Hogan, Maguire and O'Brien at this level. I certainly think if you have Eriksen out of the Denmark side and Ramsey/Bale out for Wales and played postively with that group of players, you would have more possession and similar level of quality of playing wise. Both lower end PL/Championship outfits and you would think it was France or Brazil we were taking on. He went negative against Wales and Austria and that cost us top spot in last qualifying when in complete control of the group. O'Neill is not going to change in his safety approach and at the moment it means little of no attacking and we dont know of the lads at the front end are any good. All the pundits are saying we are lacking quality but also saying it looks like there is no method or pattern of play. He is constantly talking about constraints, blabbing about size of the pitch. Not that long ago we players like Kilbane, Whelan, Andrews who were steady eddies like Arter and Hendrick in the middle. You'd think we had League One players everywhere like Northern Ireland who got to last Euros. Get Denis O'Brien to pay the two of them off after we get a 0-0 in Denmark playing 6-4-0 and get a manager on 200k a year who will at least play on the front foot and try build a pattern of play. Brian Kerr would probably take it for a 1/3 of the current assistant managers salary. Plenty wrong above the current manager, Delaney is a joke, however O'Neill is already creating his exit strategy narrative and people are buying into it.
Declan Rice claims that he has yet to make up his mind on his international and that it’s ‘one of the hardest decisions’ he will make in his career. Rice, born in England, has been capped at underage and senior level for Ireland, but those three senior caps came in international friendlies, meaning he is still free to change his allegiance. England manager Gareth Southgate has been working to try and convince the West Ham midfielder to make the switch while Ireland boss Martin O’Neill is eager to give the 19-year-old the time and space to make a decision. A report two weeks ago in the Daily Star claimed that Rice had come to a decision and had opted to play for England but the midfielder insists that he has not decided and it still struggling with his choice. Speaking to The Times, Rice said: "Without doubt it is not an easy decision. "It's one of the hardest decisions I will have to make in my career. Martin (O'Neill) was excellent when he came to my house and Gareth (Southgate) was excellent with me and they both understand the position I am in. "I said I just need some time as if I am going to be playing for the rest of my career I need to make the right decision, what is best for me and my family. "They were both great to be fair. I told both managers that I am just focusing on playing for West Ham at the moment as that was on the back of a good season. "Being 19 and playing as many games as I have, I never thought I would be in a position to make such a hard decision." Meanwhile Rice has a similar decision to make at club level. The midfielder is still on a youth team contract and negotiations between a new long term deal with West Ham have been on-going for some time, but Rice is confident that the end is in sight and he is adamant that he wants to stick with the Irons. "I want to sign for West Ham and I think it is going to happen," he said. "Playing every week is what is best for me at the moment and hopefully the contract can come soon."
Michael Obafemi has committed to playing for the Republic of Ireland at international level according to a statement issued by his representatives. Martin O'Neill said yesterday that Obafemi would not travel to Denmark for the Nations League game with Denmark as he would allow the player more time to make up his mind on which country to commit to. He said "there will be no real pressure on him to make that decision in the next couple of days." But today Playerworks CSM, a football agency that represents Obafemi, released a statement on his behalf saying he has chosen Ireland over England and Nigeria. It read: "Due to current speculation surrounding Michael Obafemi and as Michael's representatives, we would like to go on record to say that we are not in talks with either Nigeria or England, nor is it something we have ever pursued. "Since Mark O'Toole spotted Michael early on, he, along with the other staff at Ireland, have given Michael a great opportunity, which he has enjoyed immensely. "Michael was born in Ireland, so this is the country he naturally wants to play for. "Martin O'Neill has shown great faith in Michael and he wants to repay that faith by helping the team achieve success. "Michael is 100 per cent committed to Ireland and is looking forward to an exciting future with the national team." All in☘️ pic.twitter.com/R00hcfFn9a — Michael (@michaelobafemi_) November 15, 2018
I see sum other fella is in the news..the north are after him Jimmy dunne. Maybe it's s nothing story