People are sick performance is
IRELAND v HOLLAND KENNY NEEDS A NEW PLAN TO DELIVER WIN
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IF WE were not thumped in Paris, we were definitely Deschampsed.
And it is really time we learned that French lesson.
Stephen Kenny has to appreciate he is still in a job — his dream job. All the begrudgers and the knockers and the ‘experts’ who put the boot in, well, they are entitled to their opinion. That comes with the territory when you are Ireland manager.
But isn’t it interesting that some of the ‘experts’ with the answers have never won anything as a manager? That is because they have never been managers.
Opinion
It is also a little predictable when ex-managers such as Brian Kerr and Martin O’Neill do not appear to be big fans of Kenny, because anyone who has done any job normally feels they can do it better than their successor.
But guys like Kerr and O’Neill are definitely entitled to their opinion — they have been there; they have seen it and done it. Just like Didier Deschamps.
That is why tomorrow’s performance from Ireland has to be new, fresh and imaginative because people are tiring of hearing that performances excuse poor results.
Trust me, only those speaking double Dutch will fail to understand that winning
is the only show in town tomorrow evening.
The truth is winning always has been, and always will be, the No.1 issue.
It is so tempting for managers to talk about style. But that shows a degree of insecurity.
Every manager wants to see stylish football. Every manager wants his team to play with style.
But the history of management dictates that you can only keep a job based on results.
Clearly some people want Kenny out. That is why I really hope we get a match-winning performance against my old mate Ronald Koeman.
The one thing I know for sure is that Kenny has a love for Irish football which is very noble and his contribution to the beautiful game in our country will be there in the history books forever.
In contrast, Deschamps does not talk about style and yet his team are so stylish.
Winners don’t have that insecurity of trying to convince critics with their words. The best managers convince them with results.
I gave Kenny his first job in professional football when I appointed him Under-21 manager of St Pat’s way back in 1997. I know he is one of the good guys.
Positive
I tell you what is completely ludicrous is when experts criticise him for always trying to put a positive spin on developing this team. What is he supposed to do? Give up?
His life right now is managing Ireland. You see it in his face, his body language, and he is giving everything to try and prepare the team to get to where the public needs it to be.
I am not surprised that after another defeat, he is trying to look at things with the ‘glass half full’ because the alternative is to become a negative person. And we all know where that leads to.
That is why if I was beside Stephen today, I would be advising him to come up with something different, fresh and imaginative.
And don’t mind the naysayers, of course it is difficult but it is not impossible for Ireland to get a result against the Dutch.
If people were criticising Kenny, I would respect them more if they asked why Scotland were top of a group that includes Spain and Norway’s Erling Haaland. That is worth looking at.
I know their manager, Steve Clarke, well. He is a man who likes to do his talking by getting his team to be at their best on the pitch rather than in the press conference.
A few weeks ago, we were all hoping that the Netherlands would fall into trouble but Thursday night’s convincing win over the Greeks suggests that Koeman has weath