Future

O’Neill and Keane to re-ignite pride in green jersey?

/ Alan Keane / Leave a comment
A new era for Irish football
So it’s official, Ireland is under new management. Messrs O’Neill and Keane, appointed to pour petrol on the dying embers left in Giovanni Trappatoni’s wake.
 Martin O’Neill was always going to be in the reckoning following the departure of Giovanni Trappatoni a few weeks back. He has a strong managerial record, is from these shores, and has an infectious passion for the game that could just be the spark needed to breathe life back into the international set-up.
Roy Keane as his assistant, on the other hand, was a bit of a curve ball. Sure, many talking heads mooted the idea of Keane taking up the position of manager if he could just get over his rift with the FAI. However not too many people expected the former midfield general to be content to take a secondary role.
It remains to be seen exactly what role Keane will play in the management team, and whether or not O’Neill will bring in Steve Walford, who was his right-hand man during his tenures at Leicester, Celtic, Aston Villa and Sunderland. If the latter occurs, Walford will almost certainly assume the day-to-day coaching role, with O’Neill and Keane getting involved when it comes to the tactical nuances.
Noel King’s last act (thankfully) as caretaker-manager was to name the squad for the forthcoming Latvia and Poland friendlies. Meaningless up to last weekend, these games have taken on a certain weight as the public awaits the first press conferences of the new regime. There may even be a semi-full Aviva for the Latvia game. While both O’Neill and Keane are charismatic in their own right, it’s probable that the initial media clamour will surround Keane’s first utterances.
And that’s where problems may lie in this partnership. Brian Kerr wrote an interesting article in the Irish Times this week where he spoke about the role of an assistant manager. He noted that a lot of an assistant’s time is spent staring at the manager’s back. Will Keane be content to take a back seat while O’Neill dishes out the words of wisdom before games and at half-time. It’s unlikely, but then perhaps it’s just as improbable that O’Neill hired Keane to sit there quietly.
The old adage that two heads are better than one will hopefully ring true in this arrangement. Can you imagine the amount of Irish players Keane and O’Neill will run the rule over on an average weekend of football across the pond? More than Trappatoni managed in a full year of his tenure probably.
Footballers are human after all. Knowing that your managers have taken the time to come and assess one of your games will surely give any of the Irish players a morale boost. There will presumably be less communication difficulties between management and players given that they’ll all be speaking the same language.
People may question the recent managerial records of both men, with Keane out of football since he left Ipswich in January of 2011, and O’Neill restricted to tv appearances since his sacking from Sunderland in March of this year. Keane has also had some high-profile fallings out with players at the clubs he’s managed (some current Irish internationals included). However both men, and in particular O’Neill, have much to commend them on their CVs.
Keane took Sunderland from relegation danger to Championship winners in his first season, and kept them afloat in the Premier League in his second. O’Neill was mastermind of one of the best spells of success Celtic have had in recent memory, including an appearance in a UEFA Cup final in 2003. He also led Aston Villa to three consecutive top 6 finishes in the Premier League. While it was an above average Villa team he had at the time, it was still no mean feat.
It will be interesting to see the first starting XI named by the new management team, however of much more importance will be the teams named early next year. As mentioned above, Noel King picked this squad. O’Neill and Keane have yet to put their stamp on it. If Keane has his say, for example, could we possibly see a return to the Ireland fold for Stephen Ireland? Keane has spoken about his admiration for his fellow Corkman during Ireland’s international exile, and there have been constant murmurings from the Stoke City midfielder to the tune that he may welcome a return to the green jersey under new management. It shouldn’t be up to a player whether he plays for his international side or not, but if O’Neill and Keane deem his form good enough, Ireland could be a useful addition to the squad.
This managerial partnership has the potential to either end in tears or establish a solid platform for the Irish international side for years to come. Odds have been slashed already on Ireland’s qualification for the next European championships, with the draw for the qualifiers not set to take place until the 23rd of February next year. Whatever happens on the field, Ireland games won’t be dull again for quite a while.
Rep. of Ireland squad for forthcoming friendlies vs Latvia and Poland:
David Forde (Millwall), Keiren Westwood (Sunderland), Rob Elliot (Newcastle), Sean St Ledger (Leicester City), Marc Wilson (Stoke City), Seamus Coleman (Everton), John O’Shea (Sunderland), Alex Pearce (Reading), Stephen Kelly (Reading), Joey O’Brien (West Ham), Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa), Stephen Ward (Brighton & Hove Albion), James McCarthy (Wigan Athletic), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City), Paul Green (Leeds Utd), Andy Reid (Nottingham Forest), Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Anthony Pilkington (Norwich City), James McClean (Wigan), Robbie Brady (Hull City), Stephen Quinn (Hull City), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City), Shane Long (West Bromwich Albion), Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy), Jon Walters (Stoke City), Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Anthony Stokes (Celtic).

Take The Pieces And Build Them Skywards

/ Alan Keane / Leave a comment
The Future? (Pic: munsterrugby.ie)

Tomorrow the 24 year wait for Webb Ellis will end for a deserving New Zealand side. France at their best would find it difficult to beat the All Blacks in the form they have been in all tournament, and indeed since the last World Cup four years ago. And France are not at their best. Not by a long shot.
In any case, Irish eyes may be on tomorrow’s match, but they won’t be smiling. Instead there will be a sense of what might have been. France don’t deserve to be in the final, and if Ireland had beaten Wales then surely with 15 men they could have defeated France. If, if, if.
Once McCaw walks off the Eden Park clutching the trophy his career richly deserves, then it is time for Irish rugby to disengage from the World Cup proper and start picking up the pieces of this nation’s shattered dreams.
There are issues that need to be addressed between now and the Six Nations, some more pressing than others.
Lets start with the most important issue. Brian O’Driscoll will not be around for the next World Cup, and even though he is making noises about the next Lion’s tour in 2013, that is probably a step too far for even the world’s greatest ever centre. Therefore, before the next World Cup, Ireland need a new captain, one who is firmly established by the time England 2015 comes around. Would the next Six Nations not be the perfect place for Declan Kidney to bed one in?
The question that has to be asked is who fills O’Driscoll’s shoes? Of course O’Connell comes to mind, but in reality has he much more time left than O’Driscoll on the international stage? Kidney has to be bold and pick one of the younger generation as his leader. Jamie Heaslip would have been a shoe-in perhaps eighteen months ago, but now his mantle as the driving force of the back row has been usurped by the Tullow Tank, Sean O’Brien. Other candidates such as Rob Kearney and perhaps an in-form Jonathon Sexton spring to mind, but one look at world rugby’s greatest captains (at present Dusautoir, Parisse, and McCaw) would suggest that the rightful place for a leader is in the back row.
Which brings us to the next issue to be addressed. Ireland need a bona fide number 7. For all his qualities, O’Brien belongs either at 8 or 6, because his main threat is his ball carrying ability which is nullified if he has to scavenge for the ball in the ruck with the likes of Pocock and Warburton. Unfortunately a number 7 isn’t just going to magically appear, but it is imperative that before the next World Cup one emerges. In the meantime, how about experimenting with O’Driscoll at 7 as a stop-gap? Given his supreme ball-winning ability in the ruck, it’s not as radical a suggestion as you may think. Ferris could be slotted into the second row to give another option there, with O’Brien reverting to 6. This won’t happen of course, and the back row that finished this World Cup will probably start next year’s Six Nations. It is a solid back row, but when it comes up against a back row with a proper 7 cracks will appear.
The next issue is that of the half back partnership. O’Gara and possibly Reddan will not make it to the next World Cup, and as such the youthful partnership of Sexton and Murray must be given a chance to develop at test match level. The question is, if Sexton has an off day such as he is prone to, who comes off the bench to change the game? Ian Keatley has been given a chance with Munster with O’Gara in New Zealand and Warwick gone to Stade Francais, and he, along with Ian Humphries, must be blooded fully into the Ireland set-up in the coming years. Kidney must not be afraid to experiment.
It is lamentable but inescapable that the two O-Apostrophe’s in the second row are unlikely to make the short hop to England in 4 year’s time either. O’Connell and O’Callaghan have been great servants to the Munster and Irish cause the past decade or so, and whoever replaces them will have much to do to dispell their giant shadows. Donnchadh Ryan is the most likely candidate to replace one of the veteran locks, but who will join him?  Ian Nagle has shown great potential, not least in his man of the match performance for Munster versus Australia around this time last year. Dan Tuohy of Ulster and Devin Toner of Leinster are others who deserve the chance to prove themselves worthy.
Kidney needs to don his white coat and goggle and experiment at centre too. He said during the World Cup that he sees Earls as the long term replacement for O’Driscoll, but there is doubts about his suitability for the physical nature of outside centre. Kidney for the next few seasons must pick and mix between Bowe, Trimble, Earls, Fitzgerald, McFadden, and heretofore uncapped players such as Danny Barnes and determine what combination will be potent enough to take on the world’s best once more in four years time.
There is no need for Irish rugby supporters to panic if Kidney experiments and results don’t go Ireland’s way for a while. The time for panic will be if the manager fails to experiment, and lets the squad stagnate until its vital parts fall away.