Trap steadied the ship (to start with a cliche)
He tidied up an awful mess, got us to a playoff for 2010, qualified for 2012
Trap is one of Europeās great football men, but the spoofers in the press box wanted him gone fairly lively.
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If we started playing nice football against the minnows, would we be able to change tack against the big guns and batten down the hatches?
Trap was consistent. In terms of how he picked his squads, his teams and the style of football we played. I think there is a fair argument that it was a reductive style of football but we were very well organised and had an excellent set piece threat and were solid, given what had gone before him I think he improved us over his first two campaigns but Euro 2012 came a year too late for a number of our key players who were in decline at that point.
While traps style may not have been to everyoneās liking I think the team was hamstrung by a lack of any real central midfield options. Steven Reid was a big loss in this regard as he looked very comfortable there in Traps first two competitive matches. Instead we had watery enough lads like Fahey, Gibson, Liam Miller etc who would fail to take the opportunities granted to them or honest but limited lads like Martin Rowlands and Paul Green who simply werenāt up to it. Some will argue that Andy Reid or Wes or whoever would have made an impact but I donāt think either was reliable enough or truly good enough for us to build a team around and switch from 4-4-2 which would have meant that we would have had Robbie Keane as a lone striker or on the bench.
If anything Trap got about as much as you could expect if not more from the likes of St Ledger, Whelan, Andrews, Lawrence, Cox, Keogh and a few others which he deserves credit for.
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Brian Kerr had the highest win percentage and lowest loss percentage of any Irish manager who managed for more than one game. He won 55% of matches and only lost 12%.
His face never fit unfortunately.
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He also put huge stock in winning friendly matches providing the players with detailed analysis of their opponents ahead of these games but they mean little in the grand scheme of things and the players found him an awful chore of a manager. Paralysis by analysis as it deemed by the players.
Has Kerr ever come out to say he has regretted that over analysis appraoch I wonder? I would imagine he hasnāt even though he may do things differently if given a chance againā¦ Or not.
I doubt it
He has a massive ego
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I remember not too long after he was removed the Sunday times had an excellent piece about his time as manager. Players had as much issue with Hughton as they did with Kerr and felt both were very prescribed in terms of prep and training and it was all too full on.
Trap probably had a similar style but I suppose he had the cv, reputation and authoritarian way which probably commanded more respect from the players.
I have no axe to grind with Kerr and would have loved to have seen him succeed but the throwing away a lead in injury time away to Israel and squandering a 2 goal lead at home to them along with the toothless scoreless draw against the Swiss when we needed a win did for him. If he had turned one of them into a win he would have kept his job.
That level of detail is standard now. He was just before his time
Like everything it is all about balance. Kerr could find the right balance between emotional intelligence and being school master.
Imagine professional footballers at the highest level complaining they were getting too much information
Iād say Kerr stopped the gowling, the boys used come home for a party with an international football match in between
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Whatever he did it didnāt work
It worked more than any Irish manager.
What?
Charlton got us to the world cup quarter final
The st pats prick didnāt even qualify
Kerr got a campaign and a half. His face didnāt.
2 unsuccessful campaigns
Kerr didnāt do enough with the squad he had
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The only irish manager to win a major international competition
It was fairly obviously that come that last match for WC 2006 against the Swiss where we had to win to progress that the players had stopped playing for him. We were flat as pancakes and barely mustered a chance of note from what I remember.
O Neil and Charlton did too