Who The Next Ireland Manager Should Be According to Football Manager

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Tired of waiting around on Ray Houghton and Ruud Dokter to get back with a decision on the Irish manager's job we decided to take matters into our own hands.

We cut through the bullshit, downloaded the Football Manager 2014 data editor, put Mick McCarthy in charge of Ireland and watched how he got on. Then we did the same for Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane.

Take a look at how it panned out:

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 Mick McCarthy

Euro 2016 Qualifying

A nation waited on tenterhooks to see how our Euro 2016 qualification would shape up. Low and behold it was a case of starting as we finished under Mick, being drawn alongside Russia in Group D.

Indeed the first match of the group was an away trip to Moscow where McCarthy must have thought the post-Saipan nightmare was continuing a decade later, as Ireland slumped to a 1-0 defeat.

McCarthy went with an odd enough line-up, and an even more peculiar selection for his new captain; Alex Pearce was handed the armband at the heart of a revamped back four.

Joy and jubilation would soon sweep the nation as the Irish team bounced back from that first defeat to secure qualification with a second placed finish in the group. A 2-1 home victory over Russia was the highlight as McCarthy steered us to a comfortable finish.

Euro 2016

A kind draw was key if Ireland were to have any hopes of qualifying for the latter stages of the Euros but it was drama of all dramas as we were drawn alongside England, and our qualification rivals Russia.

The first game of the group was set for the Parc des Princes in Paris, and of course it would be against England. We travelled in hope more than expectation, with memories of Stuttgart '88 lingering in the minds as McCarthy readied his men to take the field.

Back in the RTÉ studio Eamon Dunphy was throwing pens everywhere as he took great umbrage to Simon Cox being chosen in the starting XI.

We did it! We feckin did it! Taoiseach Luke Flanagan declared a national three day party after hero Shane Long bagged a brace to beat the English 2-1.

In typical fashion, we drew our other two groups games but it was enough to see us safely through to the last 16. We drew Norway, and after a 1-1 stalemate, Simon Cox popped up in the last minute of extra-time to snatch a 2-1 victory!

Again we celebrated, as Eamon Dunphy waxed lyrical about how Cox would go down as one of the great players in Irish history.

Alas we were eliminated in the quarter-finals against Turkey. Deadlocked after 120 minutes, the Turks scored all five of their penalties while Joe Mason proved villain, missing the last of Ireland's five.

All-in-all McCarthy's Ireland provided us with great nights of drama, and he performed miracles in bringing the team to 16th in the world rankings.

Martin O'Neill

Euro 2016 Qualifying

So what will the future hold if the FAI go with O'Neill as manager? A tough Euro 2016 qualifying draw saw us drawn in the same group as Italy.

It looked as though we would be consigned to battling it out for second place with Bosnia & Herzegovina and Estonia.

And that even looked an impossibility when we slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Georgia in our opening match. It may have been a case of trying to change to much to soon, as O'Neill's new 4-2-3-1 formation encountered serious teething problems. RTÉ analyst Eamon Dunphy was already calling for Martin's head.

But O'Neill gathered the troops, gave them one of his motivational team talks and by God we did it! In fairness it was more to do with the Italian's ineptitude than our excellence but we got through top of the group nonetheless, despite only taking one point from our two matches against Italy.

 Euro 2016

It seems no matter who our manager is we can't escape old foes as O'Neill's Ireland ended up being drawn in the same group as Germany in the Euro 2016 group stages.

A tough group and an even tougher start as we were beaten 2-0 by the Germans. A defeat made all the worse by the loss of Celtic's Paul George to injury.

However we again would recover to qualify from the group, thanks to a 2-0 win over Slovakia and a draw with the Czech Republic. In the last 16 we were matched with Italy. Their new manager Manuela Spinelli was adamant she could beat the Irish again but it was the wise old head of O'Neill that would come out on top.

Just like McCarthy, it would require extra-time but this time round we had James McCarthy to thank for the winner. Eamon Dunphy danced around the RTÉ studio as he branded O'Neill the greatest manager of the modern era.

We fell again in the quarter-final stages after a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Switzerland. Ireland has rallied to come back to 1-1 thanks to a Tommie Hoban goal in the 71st minute but a 92nd winner from a chap called Khalifia (no relation to Whiz) sent us home.

Roy Keane

Euro 2016 Qualifying

A few people were surprised when the FAI chose Keane as the new manager but John Delaney promised the pair had put the past behind them. Keane's settling in period was greatly helped by the fact the new manager had a little more luck with his Euro 2016 qualifying draw when compared to McCarthy and O'Neill.

Switzerland and Slovenia would provide the sternest opposition.

We started things off in spectacular fashion, beating Luxembourg 6-0 with thanks in no small part to a Jon Walters hat-trick.

Keane placed a lot of faith in old trusted heads, such as Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne, and his faith was duly rewarded. Our next two matches would see us win 3-0 in both, away to Switzerland and at home to Belarus respectively.

We went on to go through the whole campaign undefeated, conceding only three goals along the way.

 Euro 2016

We may have gotten an easy enough qualifying group but our draw in Euro 2016 proper proved much tougher. With Italy and Spain in our way there seemed little hope of reaching the knockout stages.

We got off to great start though, beating Slovenia 4-1 in yet another thrashing. As you can see Tommie Hoban of Liverpool was given the centre-back slot, with Fulham's Aaron Doran starting on the right wing.

In typical Irish fashion we secured memorable draws against Spain and Italy, which was enough to safely see us through to the latter stages.

You'd have like to think that after successfully navigated that difficult group we'd catch a break in the last 16. Alas, we were pitched against Germany and it proved the end of the line for Keane and Ireland as we slumped to a 2-0 defeat.

Although McCarthy and O'Neill went further in Euro 2016 than Keane, we thought it would be a little unfair to write the Corkman off, considering he only actually lost one competitive match. We played on to see how our World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign would go under Keane.

Again we cruised through the qualification group, going undefeated until our last match. However at the World Cup we suffered a surprise defeat to Costa Rica and after another loss to Spain in the group we could only manage third place finish.

The verdict

It's hard to tell really. McCarthy and O'Neill trump Keane when it comes to how far we go in Euro 2016 but in fairness to the Corkman he had a very tough group and Germany went on to then win the competition out.

McCarthy's win over England provides us with undoubtedly the biggest night in the next few years but a loss to Turkey in the aftermath really leaves a sour taste.

O'Neill seems the worst selection even though he gets us to the quarter-finals. I mean you can't be losing to Switzerland. Roy Keane beat them twice in his qualification group, including a 3-0 win in Switzerland.

Meanwhile, I tried to simulate what would happen if Phillipe Troussier was put in charge and, hand on heart, my laptop overheated and cut out midway through his qualification campaign.

Anyhow, Keane or McCarthy? You decide.