Wage isn’t why taking such an
FAI SAY NO CANDIDATE’S BEEN PUT OFF BY SALARY
FAI chiefs claim none of the candidates to succeed Stephen Kenny have baulked at the salary on offer.
And they are adamant that the three-month process to unearth the next manager is finally nearing an end.
Kenny was paid in the region of €560,000 a year to manage the senior team and, with finances tight in the cashstrapped association, a similar package is believed to be on the table.
But FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill has denied the wedge on offer has turned off any potential candidates.
“We talk to the board in relation to the financial parameters that we have been looking at,” he said in Paris last night, after the Nations
League draw.
“I think it is reasonable public knowledge as to how much we paid our previous manager and, as everyone knows, we have a tight budget for 2024 and beyond. But that wasn’t going to be the defining criteria in relation to the search and we have been open in relation to that.
“That hasn’t been an issue with any of the people we have spoken to up to now. We don’t want salary to be the defining issue in relation to it.
“It’s correct that nobody has been offered and nobody has turned the job down. As with everything in life, it’s a negotiation. We have an idea of our parameters, so that’s forming part of our discussions now.”
The FAI had wanted the new manager to be in the French capital for the draw, alongside the Abbotstown delegation.
Director of football Marc Canham said: “I’m not going to comment on specific numbers or names of people that we have spoken to.
“No contract has been offered, no decision has been made and we’re still in the process.
“We’ve been doing that for a little while now and we’re hopeful we can conclude that process as soon as possible.
“We don’t want to put a specific timeline on it but hope to do it as soon as possible.”
Asked if the managerial hunt had taken longer than expected, Canham added: “Not necessarily. We knew that we had a period of time to go through the process and, like we did with the women’s team, we wanted that to be a thorough and robust process.
“We’re absolutely confident that we’re following a similar process to what we did with the women. We don’t want to put a specific timeline on it, to hold ourselves to. We just want to make sure we get the right person who is going to take us forward.”
According to Hill, no contract can be offered or appointment made until the FAI board are briefed and then sign off on Kenny’s successor.
Hill also staunchly defended the FAI’S policy of not commenting in public during the process.
“We said from the start that we wanted to keep the process tight and we wanted to respect the confidentiality of those people we are speaking to,” he said.
“We’re getting to the back end of our process. We’re clearly at a point where we have an idea of who it might be from the people we’re speaking to.
“We started the process and were careful in how we dealt with Stephen and did it the right way in respect to the board. It’s a thorough process and we’ve spoken to a good number of people, we think good people.
“We are comfortable with the process, we just want it to be the right person at the end of it. Simple as that.”
But Hill insisted the hold up in appointing a manager had nothing to do with the preferred candidate waiting to see what fixtures Ireland would land.
Ireland will play March friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland, before further games with Hungary and Portugal in June.
And after last night’s Nations League draw, they will have six games against England, Finland and Greece to come later in the year – the only competitive fixtures.
But Hill said: No, that wasn’t an issue. I’d imagine any head coach who may become our head coach would look at that draw and be excited by it. Who wouldn’t be excited by it?
“It’s a tough draw but I don’t think there’s any professional in the football space who wouldn’t look at it and say, ‘That looks great, it’s what we’re here to do, let’s rise to it’.”