My thoughts on the Ireland situation

For anyone who didn't see the game the other night. The performance and the result (yes the result) was unacceptable. Heaven forbid we are in a tie for 2nd place and it comes down to goals scored/goal difference. 2-1 against San Marino ain't gonna cut it. Mourning and calling for heads is justified in my view. But in reality, John Delaney is going nowhere, and Stan will be given the Croker games at least I'm sure, and even then I would be surprised if he doesn't last through qualifying.

I know we may not be world beaters any more, but I feel that the standard of football has dropped and we should be doing better. Why shouldn't we beat San Marino convincingly? Why should we concede 5 goals to Cyprus? Is there any reason why we shouldn't feel confident about playing the likes of Cyprus, Wales and Slovakia at home? And getting at least 2 draws away from home against those teams?

And remember, it's not like the team is trying hard or having a bad run of luck. If that was the case, there wouldn't be so much anger.

The truth is, that aside from Given, Doyle and possibly 1 if not 2 of the Reids (S&A) that was close to our 'best' team. You could argue that Hunt would push out Kilbane, but who else out there could seriously say they should be starting? Of the 11 that started against San Marino, all bar the goalie are Premier League (en Espanol in Ian Harte's case) players and should be good enough to put 5 or 6 past the likes of San Marino (and keep a clean sheet).


Some want to blame/fire the players-who would go out of the current starting 11 and squad? Who would come in? Maybe they should get 'a severe kicking', but can you see 'The Gaffer' doing a credible job given his coaching background? Yes, the players should take some of the blame. Against Cyprus I felt that Steve Finnan was a disaster and he's one of our best. Paul McShane was proclaimed the next Kevin Moran after one game but looked like the next Titus Bramble the other night. Damien Duff was nominated as FAI player of the year-you have got to be joking!

But does anyone seriously believe that the manager is getting the best out of these players? What was he thinking saying that Lee Carsley had no part to play and then having to climb down a week later? Who decided to make Robbie Keane captain? Who ignored Shane Long for meaningless friendlies against Sweden and Holland where the price of failure was zero?

Oh yeah, and losing the feckin' rag like a spoilt child against Germany? What good did that do the team? There's nothing wrong with passion, but that was just idiotic.


I'm not a fan, but I think that David O'Leary was probably the best qualified Irishman the last time out. I don't think that the likes of Hiddink, O'Neill etc. would have seriously considered the job. I kinda felt sorry for Kerr, but he too failed when it counted-let's not forget the tactics employed against Israel.

Re. John Delaney-he failed his first test-appointment of a manager/management team IMHO.

Let's see how he does with the League of Ireland. I'm sure that Dundalk fans would say he's failed at that already! But lets give him a year anyway.

And yes, the media are a joke-over hyping friendlies (no matter who we beat) is an old favourite of theirs. And we shouldn't get too carried away after a draw against a fairly lethargic Czech team. Israel, Cyrpus, San Marino, Switerzerland. Those are the results/performances that are killing us.