It's the Stephen Kenny Thread

9fingers wrote: colemanY2K wrote: It was very awkward at times. Hopefully he comes across a lot better with the players than he does when interviewed. As has been stated plenty of times, he’s always been like this with the media & he’ll no problems with the players

Its complete moonshine. It matters if he isn't doing well after Mick plays a blinder. It won't if he does ok. Speculating about how a manager to be appointed in 2 years will cope with the media is just looking for reasons to pick holes in him for the sake of it. It all comes down to the football and the results.

sid waddell wrote: 9fingers wrote: colemanY2K wrote: It was very awkward at times. Hopefully he comes across a lot better with the players than he does when interviewed. As has been stated plenty of times, he’s always been like this with the media & he’ll no problems with the players  But that's not how it works, I'm afraid.  Dealing with the media is a major part of the job. It's how people form their views of a manager, probably even more than with the actual football.  And it isn't just Joe Punters like me or you who form opinions from media performances. Players do too. On football matters, Kenny came across like I'd expect to had I just been appointed. Not confident.  There was a real awkwardness to his answers, with awkward silences, where the listener was getting awkward waiting for him to resume talking. A week later and it's obvious no proper party line has been agreed, Kenny didn't know how to answer questions about the deal. Now the FAI are probably more to blame for this than anybody, but it smacks of amateur hour. Kenny is obviously a man with loads  of really admirable qualities. There's a depth to him as a person and he comes across as a really top class guy, this came across particularly when talking about non-football matters. You'd have absolute trust in him to do a brilliant job with Irish youth teams and have the best interests of Irish football and young players at heart.  But that's not necessarily a major plus when it comes to being senior manager. The fact is, as of now at least, he just isn't used to this level of media exposure. He'll need to learn very quickly.   At the top level of football, you can't show any weakness on football matters in interviews. You have to display absolute confidence in yourself. Every single quote is endlessly deconstructed in media these days. It's brutal.  Kenny is going to need serious media training in this regard because if he doesn't get it, things could spiral out of control quite quickly for him as senior manager if he doesn't have early success. Mick McCarthy's media performances are the ideal. He never gets flustered, everything is water off a duck's back to him. Joe Schmidt's media performances are another gold standard.  Martin O'Neill's media performancces weren't ideal, but he always displayed total confidence in himself even if he was extremely spikey, confrontational and paranoid. You can get away with that stuff easier and it can even build a siege mentality in a team. It did for a while. On football metters, I just fear Kenny is going to look weak and nervous and that could spread. And if people think this stuff doesn't matter, I have three words - Moyes, Moyes, Moyes.

You'd have to be a complete dunce to form your opinion based on anything players, managers or media spout out. If you cannot form an opinion from looking at a match, you may as well cover yourself in mint sauce.

Cabra Hoop wrote: sid waddell wrote: 9fingers wrote: colemanY2K wrote: It was very awkward at times. Hopefully he comes across a lot better with the players than he does when interviewed. As has been stated plenty of times, he’s always been like this with the media & he’ll no problems with the players  But that's not how it works, I'm afraid.  Dealing with the media is a major part of the job. It's how people form their views of a manager, probably even more than with the actual football.  And it isn't just Joe Punters like me or you who form opinions from media performances. Players do too. On football matters, Kenny came across like I'd expect to had I just been appointed. Not confident.  There was a real awkwardness to his answers, with awkward silences, where the listener was getting awkward waiting for him to resume talking. A week later and it's obvious no proper party line has been agreed, Kenny didn't know how to answer questions about the deal. Now the FAI are probably more to blame for this than anybody, but it smacks of amateur hour. Kenny is obviously a man with loads  of really admirable qualities. There's a depth to him as a person and he comes across as a really top class guy, this came across particularly when talking about non-football matters. You'd have absolute trust in him to do a brilliant job with Irish youth teams and have the best interests of Irish football and young players at heart.  But that's not necessarily a major plus when it comes to being senior manager. The fact is, as of now at least, he just isn't used to this level of media exposure. He'll need to learn very quickly.   At the top level of football, you can't show any weakness on football matters in interviews. You have to display absolute confidence in yourself. Every single quote is endlessly deconstructed in media these days. It's brutal.  Kenny is going to need serious media training in this regard because if he doesn't get it, things could spiral out of control quite quickly for him as senior manager if he doesn't have early success. Mick McCarthy's media performances are the ideal. He never gets flustered, everything is water off a duck's back to him. Joe Schmidt's media performances are another gold standard.  Martin O'Neill's media performancces weren't ideal, but he always displayed total confidence in himself even if he was extremely spikey, confrontational and paranoid. You can get away with that stuff easier and it can even build a siege mentality in a team. It did for a while. On football metters, I just fear Kenny is going to look weak and nervous and that could spread. And if people think this stuff doesn't matter, I have three words - Moyes, Moyes, Moyes. You'd have to be a complete dunce to form your opinion based on anything players, managers or media spout out. If you cannot form an opinion from looking at a match, you may as well cover yourself in mint sauce.

sid waddell wrote: Cabra Hoop wrote: sid waddell wrote: 9fingers wrote: colemanY2K wrote: It was very awkward at times. Hopefully he comes across a lot better with the players than he does when interviewed. As has been stated plenty of times, he’s always been like this with the media & he’ll no problems with the players  But that's not how it works, I'm afraid.  Dealing with the media is a major part of the job. It's how people form their views of a manager, probably even more than with the actual football.  And it isn't just Joe Punters like me or you who form opinions from media performances. Players do too. On football matters, Kenny came across like I'd expect to had I just been appointed. Not confident.  There was a real awkwardness to his answers, with awkward silences, where the listener was getting awkward waiting for him to resume talking. A week later and it's obvious no proper party line has been agreed, Kenny didn't know how to answer questions about the deal. Now the FAI are probably more to blame for this than anybody, but it smacks of amateur hour. Kenny is obviously a man with loads  of really admirable qualities. There's a depth to him as a person and he comes across as a really top class guy, this came across particularly when talking about non-football matters. You'd have absolute trust in him to do a brilliant job with Irish youth teams and have the best interests of Irish football and young players at heart.  But that's not necessarily a major plus when it comes to being senior manager. The fact is, as of now at least, he just isn't used to this level of media exposure. He'll need to learn very quickly.   At the top level of football, you can't show any weakness on football matters in interviews. You have to display absolute confidence in yourself. Every single quote is endlessly deconstructed in media these days. It's brutal.  Kenny is going to need serious media training in this regard because if he doesn't get it, things could spiral out of control quite quickly for him as senior manager if he doesn't have early success. Mick McCarthy's media performances are the ideal. He never gets flustered, everything is water off a duck's back to him. Joe Schmidt's media performances are another gold standard.  Martin O'Neill's media performancces weren't ideal, but he always displayed total confidence in himself even if he was extremely spikey, confrontational and paranoid. You can get away with that stuff easier and it can even build a siege mentality in a team. It did for a while. On football metters, I just fear Kenny is going to look weak and nervous and that could spread. And if people think this stuff doesn't matter, I have three words - Moyes, Moyes, Moyes. You'd have to be a complete dunce to form your opinion based on anything players, managers or media spout out. If you cannot form an opinion from looking at a match, you may as well cover yourself in mint sauce. You can be very convincing and sure of yourself in interviews, yet be an absolute spoofer and an uttterly useless manager. There are loads of people who have done that not just in football management, but in loads of other walks of life, such as politics - see the hard Brexiteers and the US president right now. But conversely, it's very difficult to achieve managerial success at a high level if you come across as very nervous and unsure of yourself with the media.  Has anybody ever done it?

No doubt being a savvy media operator is a great advantage in the modern world but no attempts at distraction however cleverly tried can disguise a poor performance. 

I think the appointment of Stephen Kenny has to be viewed as a long-term cultural type change. The fact that he will be the U21 manager and head of all the underage teams points to the long-term nature of the appointment. In my opinion qualifications for the 2022 World Cup should not be make or break for Kenny. The 2020/21 Nations League and World Cup 2022 qualifying campaigns should be judged on the style of play, an Irish identity being created and the introduction and development of young players. By the 2022/23 Nations League campaign the results should be positive. Stephen Kenny should be expected to qualify for Euro 2024 and we would hopefully be entering the 2024/25 Nations League and 2026 World Cup qualifying campaigns full of confidence !

Edited by AonSceal19 - 02 Jan 2019 at 11:54pm

enjoyed that interview and don’t think kimmage does anything wrong.   He asks probing questions.   

I found Kimmage to be quite abrasive, and some of his questions quite intrusive. I don't see why Kimmage wanted to pinpoint exactly when Kenny  found out he was adopted, almostto the point of being opressive. Don't think we get a deep insight Into the man from the interview either.Interestingto read but it tells me more about Kimmage as a person than Kenny 

Baldrick wrote: enjoyed that interview and don’t think kimmage does anything wrong.   He asks probing questions.

+1. Enjoyed it.  If anything Kenny seems to keep things close to his chest. He’s not exactly an open book,and PK was trying to get as much out of him as he could. It’s what you expect from PK in these interviews,and what the reader wants.