He lost 2 competitive games.
He didn’t get a full campaign first go.
Israel were unbeaten in that campaign drawing with France twice as well, they were no bad side
the French team we lost 1-0 to in that campaign btw
France got to a World Cup final (lost on pens) and Switzerland qualified out of the group (with France) going down to Ukraine on penalties.
Coupet
Gallas
Sagnol
Thuram
Boumsong
Dhorasoo
Makele
Vieira
Zidane
Henry
Wiltord
Boumsong was useless.
Strip out the friendly results. His results in competitive games was pretty poor though over 1 and a half campaigns. Draws with Albania and twice with Israel including throwing away a two goal lead, defeats to Switzerland and at home to France were all pretty shit performances. As was the goalless draw with the swiss when we needed to win to qualify and didn’t create a chance of note.
A draw away to France and a dour win away to Georgia were about the only notable results he got. The team was utterly reliant on Duff for creativity and once teams doubled up on him Kerr had no plan b aside from Gary Doherty. Our defence was far worse than the sum if its parts under him and we regularly ended up sitting back trying to defend leads before eventually giving away soft goals.
I have nothing against Kerr but his tenure was a big failure.
shit.
they had 5/6 genuine all time greats in that team though and got to a World Cup final.
The “style of football “ argument is utter tosh . International football is a results business . Jack’s teams played a fairly basic style and most people didn’t give a fuck as results were good .
The style of football argument is grand at club level where people go every second week .
France were a rabble coming out of euro 2004 though abd in the qualifying and the likes of Zidane had to come out of retirement to pull them through. The team which caught fire in the knockout stages of the 2006 WC was not the same side which Kerr faced in qualifying where they were a few notches below what they produced in the tournament.
I don’t think we’ve had a “progressive” manager, not in my life time anyway.
We don’t and never have played “progressive” football (possibly in Mick’s first term we tried to)
As a Country we produce very few technically gifted players, the players who are progressed are produced to be athletes first by the academies in England.
It always pisses me off when we play someone like Cyprus who are vastly technically superior. All their players are comfortable receiving a pass, turning left or right and passing left or right.
Our lads look like fellas playing a match in Junior, lump it down the wing, lump it in the box and hope for the best
That’s bolox. Irelands record when we get to international tournaments is usually very good bar 2012. The tippy tappy football the likes of Johnny ward want and think our 21s can deliver are in dream land. The last think we want to turn into is a Cyprus where we roll it around lose 4 nil. Ireland’s style is a means to an end.
so you’ve agreed with me. We don’t play progressive football. Never have (in our lifetime)
I agree with why we don’t. We need to get results.
It still pisses me off that we produce very few technically proficient players.
Once England sort out their academies in turn we’ll be sorted because that’s where the vast majority of our best young players play.
things need to improve on the coaching side of things here. Most decent sized junior clubs have academies for the young players, but they are mostly run by adults etc. who haven’t a clue.
The bigger junior/intermediate clubs have proper infrastructures now where coaches are developing the basics, outside of Dublin as well
In the 1998-2002 period under Mick it felt like something really good was building - there were good young players coming through, and the football was usually decent, with one or two mishaps along the way
Mick was still learning as he was going along, but you always felt that things were being done the right way and it just felt like something everybody could really get behind - there was a massive feeling of anticipation before all those qualifiers particularly for 2002
That feeling sort of came back for a while in 2015/2016 under O’Neill, particularly after Austria, but quickly evaporated - it was a false dawn
Paris 2009 was a great performance to be fair, and followed on from some other good ones against Italy that year, but it was as good as it got under Trap
Mick’s first tenure is as good as I can recall. He brought through a good few young players and there was definitely a paradigm shift in terms of the football we played, we tried to get it down and pass it, and it was very encouraging.
Maybe that’s what the journalist above was referring to with Kerr being “progressive”, bringing players through, he certainly didn’t play progressive football.
My memory isn’t that good that I can remember what players got their debuts under Kerr. Did Stephen Ireland? Even though Ireland hated Kerr.
There seems to be a demand there for results and beautiful football. Currently we don’t have the players for both. Mick is doing a good job getting results, the football is a bit better than under O’Neill.
Hopefully Kenny is given time to implement an overhaul, both in terms of players and style.
Personally, I don’t think he’ll get that time, because he doesn’t have the profile, very similar to Kerr actually.
I wouldn’t necessarily say Croatia are massively better now than in 1998. In 98 they had Suker and Boban. They lost very narrowly in the semis to a France team who were playing at home with unreal momentum, were an all-time great team and still needed heroics from Thuram to save them. (You know it all yourself) This time round they made the final because they got a mediocre England team in the semis, then France made complete shit of them in the final. The 98 Croatia team would have massacred the 2018 England team. The only real improvement is that they currently have Modric, who is their greatest ever footballer.
Also, a small contribution to the “progressive Ireland managers” debate - the performance away to France in the WC playoff only happened because the players rebelled against Trap, ignored his instructions and just went for it.
this happened on rare occasions under Jack Charlton, football broke out by accident at a time when we had the potential to play football AND get results
Oh and Sid is right, Ireland played lovely passing football under Big Mick in the run up to WC 2002. Most of the lovely football was played in friendlies but watch the first half away to Holland again. Imagine Ireland playing like that now. Just unreal.
Stan gave Ireland his debut
It’s sad thinking back on that period because Ireland (the player) showed serious potential during that Euro '08 campaign and then the bizarre Walter Mitty shit followed which ended his international career
Weirdly, there were a good few matches under Stan which were quite encouraging - the atmosphere and performance against the Czech Republic at home were better than anything under Kerr
The opening night friendly victory over Sweden
Then wins over Wales and Slovakia and a draw with Germany
The Slovakia away game was a good performance too but they blew it at the end
I really fear for Kenny, I think he won’t be able to handle the job and will be ripped to pieces
Whereas it’s like water off a duck’s back to Mick
I have a feeling Mick will get us to the finals by hook or by crook
It would be an outstanding achievement, which is why the Mexit and Kentrance fait accompli makes no sense when Mick clearly wants to carry on
Early was talking shit about Kerr being “progressive” in the article - revisionism of the worst order from him - I honestly think he’s just trying to curry favour with the LOI constituency by saying that stuff - which I’m very surprised at him for doing
how much influence would Sir Bobby have had on those early performances, he got sick early into the arrangement.
It seemed to go to pot for Stan in the media as well. He just wasn’t cut out to be put in front of the Irish soccer vultures. They tore him to fucking shreds
It depends on how we get there to be honest. It’s a 24 team tournament, so we are seeded to qualify. Qualifying directly looks like a tricky task and would be well earned unless one of the other two implodes. Scrambling through a lucky draw in the nations league playoffs would be less outstanding.
Even the Euro 2000 campaign which ultimately ended in failure, you look back on it and there were some great days and nights and very good football
Yugoslavia at home is right up there in the best three or four Eire matches I’ve ever attended
That was on September 1st as well, exactly two years before Mick’s greatest day
There was a lot to be positive about after that campaign
The difference was that Mick got the luck two years later that deserted him in the Euro campaign