‘We haven’t had any players come through in nine years,’ believes Kenny

STEPHEN KENNY says he wants to use his newly created role at management level of the FAI as a voice for a football community which has suffered years of austerity that contributed to the loss of a generation of young players.

It was announced last month that, for the first time in the Association’s history, the senior international team manager would have a say at board level with the title of International Football Director.

Kenny says his main focus will be on managing the senior side but he will address wider issues at all levels of the international game, Kenny noting the talent gap between the emergence of Jeff Hendrick and Aaron Connolly as an example of lost years.

“My job is international team manager with the eight games ahead in the autumn, which is a big challenge. If I can contribute and give my experience and my views, not with the board of directors but with the senior management at the FAI, I’ll do that. I do that anyway, I think this just gives me a seat at the table if I require it,” Kenny said.

Austerity

“I don’t intend on attending all of the meetings, that’s not what I’m there for. It’s important, because of austerity at the FAI over the last number of years, some of the international teams at underage level may not have been resourced in the ways they might have wanted.

“That has a knock-on effect, as it affects how they do in qualifying for tournaments and how players come through.

“We haven’t seen players come through. We have Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady at 28 who have come through, and nobody for nine years until Aaron Connolly came through, aside from the two Cork City players, Alan Browne and Seán Maguire.

“We haven’t had players through. I’m talking about competitive games, not friendly games. We have a lot of players with potential, we have to work with them to realise that potential. We need to identify players earlier, and understand the talent they have and the way we want to play. It’s been well-documented we have players like John Egan and Matt Doherty who are 28 now, and they’ve only played three matches each.

“They’ve been good enough for quite a few years. They are terrific players. John Egan went for £4 million three-and-a-half years ago to Brentford, he was probably ready then,” Kenny added.

“Football needs to be at the centre of the decision-making process, particularly with the international teams at all levels. I articulate my views, and we have a great Technical Director in Ruud Dokter, and he’s doing a very good job behind the scenes, along with all of the underage managers,” Kenny added.