Many ex players, fans and more have had their say over the past day on Jason McAteer's comments on Brian Kerr. It's safe to say that the majority of the public have sided with Kerr, with McAteer certainly not holding back with his views and opinions on his former Ireland manager.
McAteer was speaking on beIN Sports alongside Nigel De Jong and Andy Gray for Tuesday's Champions League games. The 52-time Ireland international compared the difference in the dressing room when Brian Kerr was appointed after the squad had been working under the likes of Jack Charlton and Mick McCarthy.
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Jason McAteer on Brian Kerr
The former Liverpool man said:
I know what footballers are like, I did it. I'll be brutally honest here and we were talking with Brian our director before about Brian Kerr. I played for Jack Charlton, (he) won the World Cup, who instantly had the respect of the whole dressing room. We looked up to him. Jack's tactics weren't great, but they worked for us and we looked up to him, we played that way and we got success.
The Mick McCarthy come in, he'd managed his country in a World Cup and you know he was a big figure in the Republic of Ireland, he'd then become our manager and we looked up to him. We did what he wanted to do and we would have run through brick walls for him, we got success, we got to the World Cup.
Then Brian Kerr took over and I've got to admit right, I'll say it now. I'm looking at this fella thinking what have you actually done. You're trying to tell me and we were having words with each other and I'm thinking you're trying to tell me to do this and do that and what have you won in the game? What have you done in the game, Where have you played? Who have you played for? You're trying to implement thing and talk down to players.
Jason McAteer talking about his former Ireland manager Brian Kerr on Bein Sports: "I'm looking at this fella thinking, what have you done in the game?!"
I wonder what Brian Kerr makes of this pic.twitter.com/5g8k83M6ap
— Seán Hussey (@SeanHussey00) October 11, 2022
Twitter quick to defend Kerr
McAteer's views clearly haven't been shared by some of his former teammates, with a some of them taking to Twitter to share their opinion on Kerr's stint as Ireland manager.
Very strange comments. There’s a whole load of us that worked with Brian from when we were kids and we’d have run through brick walls for him and Noel O’Reilly. Even the ones that didn’t work with him from young respected him. https://t.co/aXwUsSxyOZ
— Andy Reid (@AndyReidXI) October 11, 2022
Cringe. Honestly what a statement this is. Embarrassed for him to be honest particularly as he won the square root of fuck all in his own playing career & coached nowhere. 😖🤦🏼♂️ https://t.co/1pisbm40sd
— Tam McManus (@The_Tman10) October 11, 2022
This says a lot more about Jason McAteer than it does Brian Kerr… https://t.co/P6ye1qktRk
— Dale O'Donnell (@ODonnellDale) October 11, 2022
Stephen Cluxton and McAteer
One thing that nobody would have expected to arise from McAteer's strong words on Kerr, would Stephen Cluxton's name to start trending on Twitter.
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Former Mayo forward Conor Mortimer clearly sided with Kerr, tweeting this in response.
Brian Kerr knows more about football and Irish football to be precise that most. Successful u16-u18 Irish youth teams plus LOI winning manager with pats. Cluko must had knocked the brain cells out when he thumped you. #mcateer https://t.co/neiZxq89g1
— Conor.mortimer (😷)⚽️ (@Conmort) October 11, 2022
Back in 2011, during a charity football match, the then Dublin goalkeeper hit Jason McAteer after an altercation on the pitch.
Many fans and former players like Mortimer, have put McAteer's comments down to the punch he received from Cluxton.
Batter him again Cluxton bleeding spoon https://t.co/jtG6WZZpn4 pic.twitter.com/GtTdwfxaWe
— Shane O’Connell (@ShaneOC2) October 11, 2022
It's undoubtedly an incident which we didn't expect to start trending 11 years later, but it has only added to the entertainment value in the Twitter thread.
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