Kenny’s date of ascension to the top role depends on Slovakia result
DUNDALK, the heartbeat of Irish club football, welcomed a former Ireland manager, Steve Staunton, as well as the manager-elect, Stephen Kenny, to the National Football Exhibition on Thursday.
It’s all part of UEFA’s build-up to the Euro 2020 finals, which sees four games in Aviva Stadium in June, with or without the Republic of Ireland.
Standing between Ireland and the play-off final are Slovakia, a team Staunton was familiar with during his Irish stint between 2005 and 2007, overseeing a win in Croke Park and a draw in Bratislava.
It would have been good to stroll down memory lane with Staunton but the first 100-cap Irish footballer
declined to talk to a knot of journalists, which was a shame.
Perhaps ‘Stan’ still feels sore about the manner of his exit in 2007, which had nothing to do with the press, but far more to do with the public, and how former FAI chief John Delaney felt compelled to act after a home draw with Cyprus.
In contrast, Kenny was available for interview and had clearly been prepped as he politely, but firmly, declined any loaded questions. By now, it is clear that the date for Kenny to succeed McCarthy hinges on the outcome of the play-offs next month. If Ireland miss out, it’s a racing certainty that Kenny will step forward early and use the pre-finals window in early June to oversee three senior friendlies before the Nations League kicks off in September.
McCarthy, as is evident in these pages, has given every indication he also believes that’s the way forward should the play-offs go badly.
McCarthy has spoken to the FAI’s CEO Gary Owens and Deputy CEO, Niall Quinn, about the possible scenarios. It’s impossible to imagine that a similar conversation hasn’t been had with Kenny, the current U21 manager.
And the way Kenny stonewalled things on Thursday would suggest he is familiar with the contingency plans in place around the play-offs.
If McCarthy oversees two away wins in five days then all is hunkydory and he can set sail for the finals with a freshening wind at his back, before being piped ashore on July 31.
If McCarthy runs aground on the play-off rocks, there is no reason for the Kenny coronation to be delayed.
Asked on Thursday about possibly taking charge earlier than anticipated, Kenny played the straightest of bats. ‘The key thing is the senior team has a good chance of qualifying for the Euros. I don’t think anyone is thinking about anything else,’ he said.
‘I’m trying to qualify for the U21 tournament and the senior international team is trying to qualify for the Euro tournament. Why view it negatively? We’re focused on qualification.’
As it stands, Kenny has two U21 qualifiers in March, he’s a maybe for the Toulon Tournament in June and a non-runner for the final U21 qualifier in Italy in October.
Asked about his backroom staff for the senior job and who might take charge for the trip to Italy, Kenny kicked for touch.
‘These are things to be decided. Obviously, there is a new board, a new CEO (Owens). We’re in initial discussions. Everything will be judged in due course,’ he said.
Also to be ‘decided’ is the future of Robbie Keane, who is on McCarthy’s staff, while also assistant manager of Middlesbrough.
With Kenny set to stay loyal to U21 right-hand men Keith Andrews and Jim Crawford when he takes the senior job, it remains to be seen what role the FAI can find for Keane, who is under contract until 2022.
As it stands, there will soon be a vacancy for the U21 manager, and even though it’s a full-time job, Keane would regard that as a step down from his current role.
That could open the door for Damien Duff, the first team coach at Celtic, to come into the frame, possibly with a senior figure such as Brian Kerr riding shotgun.
As Kenny rightly observed, there are things to be decided.