POWDER’S STILL DRY
FAI won’t search while Kenny is in charge
FAI bosses insist they won’t be sounding out other managers while Stephen Kenny is still at the helm.
Ireland gaffer Kenny got the green light this week to see out the rest of the year, taking charge of four more games.
Ireland play Greece at home and Gibraltar away in Euro 2024 qualifiers next month, before closing out the campaign in Holland in November.
They will then host New Zealand in a friendly on November 21 and it could be Kenny’s last game in charge.
FAI chief Jonathan Hill confirmed during the week that Kenny’s contract runs until the end of Ireland’s “active involvement” in the qualification process.
But when asked if that also includes a Euro 2024 play-off in March should Ireland get one, Hill was non-committal.
He said Kenny would be subjected to a Vera Pauw-like review of his performance at the end of the year – with few expecting the manager to survive it.
But in the meantime Hill claims the FAI won’t be cosying up to potential successors even if a candidate could slip through their grasp.
“It’s a very simple statement, we will not be approaching or talking to managers in that period,” said Hill. “We will not. I can categorically confirm that.”
Hill continued: “Does that mean you miss someone who is available today?
“Tomorrow they may not be available, correct, but then someone else may be available when we come to the point in November. That’s the point of time where we have decided to sit down as a board and review the situation.”
Ex-ireland international Lee Carsley (inset) – the current England U21 manager – is the frontrunner to succeed Kenny.
But when Hill was quizzed about the former midfielder, he said: “I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about individuals.
“Our approach to the overall situation is to wait until November to review it. It’s entirely inappropriate to talk about individuals and we won’t be drawn into doing so.”
Kenny though will fight on and try to finish the year with a bang to convince his employers to table a new contract rather than swing the axe.
But he appears to be a lame duck manager and Hill was asked why it was the FAI’S preferred approach for Kenny to see out the year.
“It gives Stephen and the players the opportunity to play those three games, plus the game against New Zealand,” he said.
“Then we will have – and it will be ongoing from now – a review of the process and the whole of the qualification campaign.
“It’s entirely consistent with the approach we had with the women’s national team.”
While circumstances can change ahead of the next scheduled board meeting on September 26, Hill does not foresee a sudden managerial change before October
Before he and director of football Marc Canham faced the media in Abbotstown on Thursday, Hill sought the board’s opinion on leaving Kenny in charge for now.
“The board are aware of what was going to be in this statement, they have approved and supported that statement,” he said of Kenny seeing out the year.
“I’d be surprised if in the September board meeting there would be a different position taken. But I do not speak for the board, the board speak for themselves.”