Jason McAteer has spoken with brutal honesty about his perception of former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr during the twilight of his international career.
McAteer enjoyed a career that spanned 15 years, making 100 appearances for Liverpool, while also enjoying a decade of appearances for Ireland from 1994-2004.
Speaking as a pundit on Bein Sport ahead of tonight’s Champions League action, McAteer, Nigel De Jong and Andy Gray were discussing the subject of manager's earning credibility from their players. McAteer discussed his experiences with Ireland, and was full of praise for his previous managers Jack Charlton and Mick McCarthy during their time in charge of Ireland.
However, the former Ireland midfielder said he had a difficult time taking Kerr seriously, because of his lack of achievement in English football.
"I'm looking at this fella thinking, what have you done in the game?!"@MCATEER4 with a brutally honest assessment of former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr. pic.twitter.com/GtuiSqpH8A
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) October 11, 2022
“'I’m looking at this fella and thinking, what have you actually done?' We were having words with each other, and you are trying to tell me to do this and to do that.
'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 these things and talk down to players.”
During Kerr's time in charge, McAteer only made on appearance, a substitute in a friendly against Brazil in 2004, with injuries disrupting the end of his career.
Following the well-documented spat at Saipan at the 2002 World Cup, McAteer claimed in his autobiography that Kerr wanted Keane and McAteer to hold a joint press conference as a way of moving forward from the incident, a claim that Kerr strongly denies. In that interview, Kerr also calls McAteer 'a great fella'.
After a difficult start to the 2004 European Championship qualifying campaign, Kerr replaced Mick McCarthy, but failed to qualify. Despite positives in the qualifying campaign for the 2006 World Cup, but they once again failed to qualify that saw Kerr leave his position as manager.
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