Carsley and O’Shea interest to determine FAI’s Duff plan

LEE CARSLEY and John O’Shea are the leading candidates to replace Damien Duff in Stephen Kenny’s Irish backroom staff but there is no guarantee that they will be in a position to accept the job if offered it.

The former internationals are the outstanding options to replace Duff with Kenny looking for a well-regarded coach with high-level international playing experience to fill the void left by the Dubliner’s shock departure.

O’Shea has unsurprisingly been linked with the job given that he is already involved with the Ireland set-up at U-21 level which in theory would make things more straightforward.

However, that is a less demanding role than involvement in the senior set-up would be – in terms of scouting tasks and weekly meetings – and the Waterford man is currently first team coach at Reading who are chasing promotion from the Championship with a busy schedule ahead.

Carsley (pictured) would have to be lured away from a steady job with the English FA to take the position but he is believed to be on the radar.

The 46-year-old is in charge of England’s U-20 team and also oversees the professional development phase (for U-18 to U-20 players).

He was previously assistant to U-21 manager Aidy Boothroyd.

English-born Carsley won 40 caps for Ireland and had expressed an interest in working for the FAI at the beginning of his coaching journey but the Abbotstown response was lukewarm ith High Performance Director Ruud Dokter going in another direction.

Carsley has served as interim manager of Brentford and Birmingham but the English hierarchy rate him highly so convincing him to give that up would be a challenge.

Kenny may have to look outside the box if that duo are unavailable.

A potential left-field candidate is Mark Kennedy, who is out of work and has a strong relationship with Keith Andrews. Kennedy was close to being appointed Dundalk boss in August but negotiations broke down.

The only possible option from Kenny’s time at Dundalk would be Ruaidhrí Higgins but he will not be moved from his role as chief scout.