Since I last penned a few lines, so much has gone on that it would be impossible to go back on everything, I don’t think I could remember anyway, the old memory isn’t what it used to be. Of course the two things that stick out were the rugby world cup, which can be summed up from an Irish perspective in one word - DISASTER. And of course the inevitable sacking of Stephen Staunton as Irish soccer manager. As I wrote here a long long time ago, the writing has been on the wall for a hell of a long time and John Delaney and all at the FAI knew that this couldn’t go on any longer, the home match with Cyprus was in the end the final straw.

To be honest I have mixed feelings on it all. Of course Stan should not have been given a job of this size with absolutely no managerial experience. Absolute madness. But then you could say on the other hand that Stan knew that he had no experience and still took the job, so you could blame him for accepting an offer that was madness from day one. But jobs like this don’t grow on trees so you can understand where he was coming from. Of course if it all worked out he’d be a hero once again, but in truth I don’t think that was ever going to happen. The sad part in all of this is that Stan will now forever be remembered for his failed couple of years as Irish manager and not for what he was above all, i.e. one of the best servants that Irish soccer has ever produced. An excellent player who played more times for the Republic of Ireland than anyone else. Hopefully when the dust has settled on all this that people will remember that. Stan the player and not Stan the manager.

So who’s going to replace him and lead us on the road to the next World Cup? Well that’s the 40 million dollar question. As usual the same names are being trotted out as were in the ring the last time and the time before, but this time around there are a few new names in the ring, and some interesting ones in my view. The one that I like is Paul Jewell, but with the possibility of him being a prime candidate for the newly vacated manager’s job at Birmingham, that might be the carrot that lures him back to the Premier League.

Before that happens I believe that the FAI should approach him and put the cash on the table that will persuade him to take us on and take us forward. I was always a fan of Jewell’s and I think he is a very good young manager. What he also is is a down to earth character with a good way with the media. And more importantly one of his most successful traits is that he gets the best out of the players at his disposal. That’s what we need. I don’t for a minute go along with this talk that we don’t have the players. We do. We just need to get the best out of them. Get a settled team playing to a system and fighting for each other.

I read over the weekend in one of the British tabloids that the FAI are preparing to approach the FA about prizing Terry Venables out of his contract with them and handing him the Irish reigns. No thanks. Please don’t say it’s true. How much would that cost? No. No. No.

Another thing that the FAI should do is speak to the players and ask them to refrain from giving their views on who the new manager should be to every paper you pick up.

That’s no help and will only lead to division amongst the players. At the end of the day it’s not their choice so just button it lads, in the nicest possible way. Please.

Of course if you have anything you want to get off your chest, drop us a line to Ger Lawton, Waterford News & Star, 25 Michael Street, Waterford or email me at sport@waterfordnews.com. Till the next time.........good luck.

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