Higher expectaion=better results???

Denmark won the Euros with no expectation. They had no self inflicted pressure.  They played with freedom. The Irish rugby team expected to win the rugby world cup in 2007 and failed under the weight of expectation. While I did think we had a loser mentality over the last few years conceding defeat before kick off, having inflated expectations of our ability will not lead to a significant improvement in results in my book. In fact it may make things worse. Look at England. Maybe not 2012 but in previous tournaments they had inflated expectations and failed well below their goal. Many teams who are already relegated tend to relax in their final games and beat teams who are under pressure. Again they play with no expectations and no pressure.  Basically my point is that if we raise our expectations beyond reality (which Roy has been known to do) then I believe you can expect a bunch of mediocre results.  I believe we are capable of beating many of Europes bigger teams with the right approach but theres a delicate balance in mentality to produce the best results I believe.  Saying Ireland are going to win the Euros or get to a semi final will set us up for a big fall.

RogerMilla wrote: we cant do any worse , the players need some self belief, i refuse to believe that we could actually go overboard here you are confusing self belief with expectation too.   maybe the fans will expect too much , but i cant see it , we will need to see results first...

Trap junior wrote: RogerMilla wrote: we cant do any worse , the players need some self belief, i refuse to believe that we could actually go overboard here you are confusing self belief with expectation too.   maybe the fans will expect too much , but i cant see it , we will need to see results first...     I remember Keane took over Sunderland and some people (including Boylesports!) were tipping them to win the Champions League within 5 yrs!  Some people get carried away with Roy and think he can turn water into wine.   I would bet that after 2 wins in these 2 friendly games talk in some quarters will turn to 'a new Ireland under keane and how we should now be looking to win the euros.   Is belief not intrincally linked to expectation Roger?? I mean if I believe I can do something then I expect to do something.  You could well be correct though.

 

I like TJ, he always looks at things with a sideways look.  Great poster on here in my view and I love the way you challenge the conventional wisdom. You certainly have a point. 

Baldrick wrote: I like TJ, he always looks at things with a sideways look.  Great poster on here in my view and I love the way you challenge the conventional wisdom. You certainly have a point.

Cheers Baldy

@citizen

Boylesports didnt just have odds on it, the chief of Boylesports started sponsoring sunderland for the 07/08 season (no doubt because he was in awe of Keane) and said publically at the press conference that Sunderland under Keane could win the champions league within 5 yrs. I kid you not this happened! I remember it well. Keane smiled at it but Ireland was swept up in Keane Mania at the time.

If you read my post lads you will se ethat I said we need to raise our expectations but theres a balance to be had and not going overboard. I said we are capable of beating most of the top teams in europe. Theres that danger though of making ourselves too tight under the weight of expectation. This country is Keane mad and I fear a couple of good results and the whle sports press and followers will lose the run of themselves.  Players will be daunted by the prospect of anything less than very high results will lead to villification. If they read the papers and are sensitive souls they will be terrified of making mistakes on the pitch. From the little I know of management the managers job is to take responsibility to an extent off the players and just get them to go out and play and express themselves and not worry too much about making mistakes. Before Citizen or Kerrzy chime in no this doesn't mean being reckless or lazy or not trying out there or expecting someone else to do the work. It just means freeing the players up to perform.


Edited by Trap junior - 07 Nov 2013 at 4:30pm

We all had high expectations (delusions?) going to Poland last year!

Citizen wrote: are expectations higher now? they are the same when trap was manager. Qualify, and then be competitive at the tournament. re your comment about people expecting sunderland to win the champions league within 5 years, get the boat! boyles might of had a market on in, but they sunderland sponsors at the time. Paddypower had Mr Tayto at 500/1 to be next ireland manager, does that mean there were people out there that thought it could happen?!

My expectations for the team is to compete for 2nd spot. I'm not too concerned about the in's and out's of how we get their - that is up too the manager.

Not sure really what to expect at the start but all depends on what our group is like then take it from there for the Euros .