Could we go English again? Big Sam to redeem himself and show what England missed out on? Flash Arry' after he does a marvellous job of keeping Birmingham up. Maybe El Tel to come out of retirement like a phoenix from the flames if Eamon doesn't scupper him again, or one of the 'young' turks, Sean dyche certainly plays our kind of football.   

Maybe Arsene would take a 7 million pounds pay cut if he decides to sack himself at Arsenal. 

 

If he can't handle the pressure of being behind Cork in the league, he's not fit to be international manager.

 

As you said if we qualify, Keane should get the opportunity. If not, Hughton or Mick McCarthy for me.

Kenny; Became a bit of a media darling in the last few years as results with Dundalk showed he could do no wrong, unfortunately has shown real weakness this year, attacking referees and trying to create a personal spat with Caulfield to deflect from poor results. While I don't think the option of a left-field appointment from the LOI should be ruled out, this one has all the hallmarks of disaster and there is currently nobody else suitable.

Hughton; Has to be first choice. He seems to have developed from the 'negative manager' the Norwich fans saw him as and finishing ahead of a Newcastle side  expected to walk the league is a fine achievement. A lot would depend on what his position is in 12 months time, how much he fancies international management and what sort of salary the FAI can offer.

McCarthy; Much maligned at Ipswich, wrongly in my eyes as he has got them ahead of where their budget would suggest having consistently lost key players. I feel if he left that Ipswich fans would be looking for him back quicker. Regarding Ireland, he may be a good short-stop for a campaign, a safe pair of hands who would keep us competitive. Far from ideal though.

McDermott; A star that briefly shone bright, at one stage I felt his appointment was inevitable, his spell in the Leeds madhouse has derailed his career and it wasn't helped by an uncomfortable second spell at Reading. His earlier achievements at the latter can't be forgotten though and it will be interesting to see what happens for him in the summer. I expect a make or break appointment at a lower-league club where a good performance would have him as a less expensive alternative, something the FAI will certainly take into account.

Sheridan; I take it we were running out of names? If we hire John Sheridan he will end up back at Oldham within six months, probably after another rant at a referee, like this one;

Bielsa; Really running out of names. Insert block capital words here and generic SUDAMERICANA nicknames.

Some Obscure French Lad; Which one and what has he done? Not Troussier or Houllier though.

If we can keep MON for another two years, with Roy by his side, I think that would be the best option. Providing, of course, we at least make a playoff.

 

Leeds are like the manager destructors. Present incumbent apart, for the moment!

Yeah, I was definitely running out of names. 

You haven't followed Ipswich much this year then, their fans main issue is the game is played in the sky.

He is very much a pragmatist and will play the football that gets the most out of his players. I don't think thumping it high all the time would have suited the 2 Keanes, Duff, McAteer, Holland etc.

 

Normally I would agree but unless we are getting somebody of a very high calibre we would be better off sticking to someone who knows the British and Irish game , this time around at least. For 2020 we will have another few key retirees in forward positions and we might need someone to be picking out gems in the lower divisions and hoping they can fill the void, unless one or two lads  decide to declare for us.

As for Lennon; no chance. Since he has left Celtic it has been very up and down and this year he has achieved the bare minimum playing awful football in a weak division, of course a win tomorrow makes the season look very good indeed but he will be taking them up with less points then the got for coming third last year.Next year will be a big one for him, Hibs will be expecting to be in and around the European spots and competing with Hearts, anything less than that, even with another cup win, and he won't be there in 12 months.

I don't think international management would suit his personality anyway, he seems to be the type of guy who very much enjoys the daily routine of club football. I think international management, in general, suits an old, experienced head.

That is brilliant.

Agreed. I think most have voted in the poll for who they want to get it and not who they think will get it. If we qualify for Russia and then MON leaves after the finals, the only way Hughton will be available is if Brighton have been relegated/started disastrously and have sacked him, and as someone said earlier then his stock will have fallen.The keane double act could certainly be interesting.

I like others said would really like to see us play good football as the last time an Ireland team did was probably in 2002 under Mick? We played some good stuff under Brian Kerr with Andy Reid pulling the strings in midfield, but not enough as Kerr was much too negative in his one campaign. Good football is probably the one thing that would be guaranteed under Stephen Kenny, but his lack of top level experience and the risky nature of his appointment is probably too much. Still surprised he's got no votes.

If the poll had taken place just after Dundalk went out of Europe, or before the start of the domestic season I think that would be different.

Size and solidity are both factors but mainly that mild sense of pride you get when you look in the bowl.

Kinda Catch 22 mind you as we only get rid of managers due to failure. I dont remember a manager retiring for us.

Anyway, Roy has previous experience, and so far has successfully served as No 2. Who knows he may even play what is seen as more attractive football.  He probably would always be able to call on MON for advice. ( I think his bridge is well and truly burned with Ferguson)

Finally I reckon it will always be hanging in the air until He actually does take over. So it may as well be following on from O Neill.

 

 

If he does any sort of decent job in EPL then we could be waiting a long time.Might have no interest either having already worked for the FAI.

However money probably changes everything

Even if it all goes wrong at Brighton he will have plenty of options in the Championship.

The time off in International management is not always appealing. Almost suits an older fella. 

He is on around 2.5 million a year at Celtic, I doubt the FAI would fancy that. Things could be different when the time comes of course but I am not sure he would fancy international football yet.

I'm going through a few McLaren Irish accents as we speak but all I keep getting is his Dutch one 

What was Trap on? It was circa €2m if I remember correctly but I could be wrong there. 

Trap was on about that alright, but times have changed and this would be more as you would have to buy him out and then entice him to leave, the latter being the hardest part as I doubt he has any interest in it.

Like Rodgers, has pedigree, so wait and see. I can honestly say, one of the nicest guys in football.

Spot on.. he'll manage either  North or South internationally. If it's North well and good, South bonus. If we get him for 2020, and Dublin is a venue, c'est la vie.

Ballymena  GAA man

Not saying he would never manage us, but he's definitely no James McClean.

Couldn't stand listening to him and we'd concede left right and centre. We need a more cautious pragmatic manager to replace O'Neill.

I've great time for McCarthy but would prefer a manager who makes us difficult to beat especially away from home and O'Neill has done that. We're also managing games better under O'Neill in that we may be flat in the early parts of matches but we generally seem to finish strong and look more likely to score. I don'rt ever remember an Ireland team doing that. We were always the more likely to concede a late goal after a good battling performance.

even tho i am a celtic man no thanks

Royston of Keane please but get to Russia and have a good tournament Martin might just give us the Euros in 2020

Honest question but where's the evidence he's a sh*t manager?

Sunderland's most successful in recent times, struggled at Ipswich alright but look at Mick Mac, does that also make him a sh*t manager?

There's a good interview recent from Galway's Ronan Murray about what he's like as Manager, he's really, like really strict with Irish players but it's more of a wants them to do well rather than act like a twat but actually more lenient with other players of different nationalities.

Massive difference between Roy's time at Ipswich and Mick's, Mick has one of the smallest budgets in the division and has them above where their budget would place them. Keane had a far bigger budget there and was able to bring in the players he wanted and keep his best ones, they were expecting a promotion challenge and he was no nearer than Mick was.