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Yeah true, I've talked with some managers from England, Lithuania, Israel, they have strong teams, but they still look very serious into NT stuff and analysis. Also it is very important to have active u21 coach so you could have detailed and futuristic plans of how some players could be trained to reach NT level, but u21 is a first person and a step to lead that way.

Hi everyone
I'm happy with your contributions! In fact, being an U21 coach is demanding but I imagine that if one applies then he must give his availability and commitment. Not even replying to messages is not good in my opinion.
I'm not that expert to apply but if I can help I'm here!

Last edited by xrono at 5/22/2024 6:28:22 AM

Heyo, in my opinion loses and record in U21 is not a big deal, main reason for U21 is to get some experience and to create process of well trained youths who can reach for a space in main NT squad in near future. I know some guys tinka, most important to get us much wins as you can in U21 but it s not true.. as a quite small nation in BB we will never be in U21 TOP, BUT we CAN train some good players and try to compete with our main NT if we have material. :)


Last edited by DublinMan at 5/28/2024 5:56:06 AM

I'd just like to chime in, as the previous U21 manager, that the sentiment was expressed publicly and privately early in my second season that there was a preference for a domestic manager because a domestic manager would "care more."

I haven't seen this been expressed publicly in the Irish forums. I have seen it elsewhere alright for managers of other nations. I couldn't care less if our managers are in the Irish leagues or foreign leagues. In fact, some of our best managers weren't from the Irish league.

I certainly wasn't thrilled with some of the results

Results do not matter in U21.

Training and knowledge that can be passed on is really important. Also identifying players who've managers have left the game is important to raise awareness that this player is available or soon available so they can be "saved" and trained are the things that are important. All this is paramount for a small nation. Engagement with new managers might also help with retaining players in this game.

With that said, I responded to all messages and aided anyone who asked for help or assistance with training plans, I simply wasn't as proactive about it as some here seem to prefer.

Fair play to responding to people and helping them out.

As regards being proactive, again I'll stress this is important for a small nation, particularly for U21s in a small nation. We have limited players and a limited number of people who train them, or even sell them. Its counter productive to be proactive for a big team, as you cant deal with hundreds of people effectively. But we never really have more than 40 teams. That's 40 'hello here is my vision and how I can help you' messages. 25-50% probably wont respond. Straight away you know the 15-25 or so managers (if we have that many) that are interested in training players. Then its just regular upkeep (weekly, monthly - part of the vision, and some may not need much interaction), monitoring, introductions to managers who have bought a young player, or new managers to the game. Maybe a press release once a season (last NT press releases are season 59 (Senior) and season 61 (U21)) saying how you can help people?

If I have a player on a NT squad and do not receive even a "hello" message I can only assume that those who don't have NT players (especially new managers to the game) don't hear anything either. The manager of the NT should be proactive in introductions at the very least. Again we have a small manager base not hundreds. I would understand if this was the Spain or Italy - nations with over 1000 managers.

I just wish people knew these things before putting themselves forward to vote.

That being said, there was another foreign candidate with previous staff experience for a U21 (if memory serves -- it may have been a NT staff role) who announced his candidacy early for the position, explained his vision to me privately (this also played heavily into my decision not to even throw my name into the race for another term), and also shared some of his ideas in the U21 speech/debate threads prior to the election. He went on to receive one vote, losing to the current manager, who made no speech and offered no plan.

In all fairness, there were 2 managers who outlined a vision. I went with the one I knew and have talked to before, with NT XP. Unfortunately he pulled out while I was offline for a few days, and when I cam back the vote had taken place. I would have given my vote to the other candidate who campaigned if I had seen my preferred candidate had pulled out. But 1 more vote may not have even tipped the balance.

This is a small nation. If people are really serious about getting one of the NT positions, they could also PM everybody. If your really interested in an NT role here you can afford to send a copy and paste template to active managers via PM. Its less than 50 PMs (27 at the moment). Not everyone will use the forums. That could easily swing a

when will there be new elections for the U21 coach?

After next regular season.

Unfortunately not for a while. It is Senior NT elections this offseason coming. U21 elections are not until after next season.

Look, I was just trying to defend myself against unfair criticism. If you disagree with me not spamming folks to get them to train players in a certain way, that criticism is valid.

Who said anything about spamming anyone. If you see basic communication from U21 NT manager to managers of players in the game, those who develop the players you are using, as spam - why take the job in the first place?

Saying "Hello, I'm the NT boss, if you need any help I can help in areas x, y, and z" when you first take the job is just a basic introduction and not spam. It shows responsibility to the role at the very least. And as for checking in from time to time, its just general, "how are things, is there anything I can help with". Some people will need more help or attention than others. Some people you might only have contact with once or twice a season. Some might not even respond.

Personally I believe that not taking the initiative and sending 1 email to say "hello I'm the new NT U21 boss, I'm here if you need help" or even making a press release and saying in it "you can contact me for help" (although not everyone may read an NT press release), does demonstrates a certain lack of responsibility and interest in the role.

although maybe don't praise his results in the same thread where you say results don't matter

Results do not matter, they are a bonus at U21 level. However, can I not compliment someone on being able to do well results wise as well as doing a good job in communication and help to managers? The only time results will matter if you have a manager come in and say, "if you do what I say for the next 4 years we'll be winning 5 or 6 games in a season" and after that time you have 0 wins in 4 years. Somethings very wrong in that scenario.

At the same time, I'm not going to sit back and allow myself to be lumped in with the current manager, who seems to be making exponentially less of an effort, simply because of assumptions you made based on neither of us contacting you about Haverty and Bradley.

Sure, you helped people who asked. Yes you booked scrimmages. Congratulations. I complimented you on helping people by the way.

But how many people may have contacted you for help had you sent that one message to say "Hey I'm U21 boss, if you need help I'm here". Let me ask a question - Is it easier to ask someone for help if they have contacted you to let them know they are there to help you? It might have be only 1 or 2, or as high as 9 or 10, nobody knows, but at least you could have said that you let everyone know you were there for help, and helped everyone who asked - nobody can ask more than that.

In all fairness, if you have no interest in taking initiative in contacting a manager of players in your NT squad, then I see no reason why you would take time to take initiative and contact managers of players who are not in the U21 squad but on the verge of it, or especially new managers who don't have players near the junior NT level.

Being an NT boss is far more than just picking a team every week. Responding to mails for help is one level of improvement, but being proactive and making sure everyone knows you're there for help if needed means you are leaving no stone unturned in your job.

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The last thing I'll say, is this. People make mistakes. Whether its lack of communication or picking the wrong team or tactics. All these things help us learn and improve the next time we do them.