Kenny will scout far and wide to get the best team
FOR years, especially when John Delaney was in tandem with Denis O’Brien, the Republic of Ireland manager’s job paid big dough.
In 2008, Giovanni Trapattoni started out on €2m a year, with assistants, Marco Tardelli and Liam Brady, on €600k each.
The sums were staggering and they couldn’t last. When O’Brien called time on his generosity, the FAI struggled to find the funds to match the high salaries in place.
It’s a blessing then that Stephen Kenny isn’t motivated by money. His salary is understood to be somewhere around the €500,000, or a little higher.
Indeed, it’s obvious the former Dundalk boss has signed up because this is his dream job.
Unlike Martin O’Neill who returned to club management in England shortly after his Ireland exit, or Mick McCarthy, who openly cherishes a return to the club scene before long, Kenny aches to be Irish manager – he doesn’t have another peak to conquer after this.
Asked on Friday about the drop in salaries compared to what McCarthy, and others were paid, he said, ‘I’ve no issue with any of that. It’s not my main motivation. It’s a huge honour to manage your country. You only get this opportunity once, unless you’re Mick McCarthy. Financial side? I’m not concerned about it.’
His focus is to be a success and to join the likes of Jack Charlton, Trapattoni, McCarthy and O’Neill, the only managers to lead Ireland to major finals.
He has a shot at Euro 2020, the 2022 World Cup and possibly the Euro 2024 qualifiers too, if the next 18 months prove positive.
‘I’ve absolute conviction in myself. I’ve no doubt in how I’ll do the job. I’ve a clear vision of what I want and I’ve a plan how I’ll get there,’ he said.
In the short term, the Euro playoffs carry huge currency and Kenny has already done his homework on Slovakia, with more cramming to come.
‘We’ve to win two games away from home. It’s been a long time since an Ireland team did, especially against two higher seeded teams. It’s hard to do.
‘We need everyone. It’s not about young players who’ve got great ability to learn. Age is not a factor. Involvement will be based on ability, not on age and what system we use in those games.’
As Under 21 manager, Kenny used either 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 depending on the strength of the opposition. He will not be changing much for the senior gig, and said on Friday that 4-4-2 was most unlikely.
‘I think you can only play with two strikers, either with diamond or a counter-attacking style,’ he said.
So what will Kenny demand from his players?
‘We’ve got to use the characteristics of Irish teams; to work hard, to press, to maintain our level of aggression and energy, we mustn’t ever lose that. We must keep that up.
‘While in possession, we must have a greater idea of how we can control the game.’
A shift in personnel and tweak in tactics is likely as Kenny prepares for nine games in the autumn, six of them in the Nations League.
By September, it will be 10 months since Ireland last played, time to look at things differently. ‘That’s what we did at Dundalk every year.
You look at your players, you assess, and you go again.’
Kenny’s doors to all eligible players will be ajar, including those born in Northern Ireland and those of Irish lineage in Britain.
‘I’m not into convincing people to be Irish but I do feel there is a great sense of Irishness in people whose mother and father or grandmother or grandfather have emigrated.
‘Sometimes players are not aware of their Irishness, I found that with some of the U21 players. You look into it and you reconnect with family and the town you’re from.’
As for more League of Ireland graduates in the senior ranks, Kenny has an open mind.
‘It helps if teams are competing in Europe, and it would be great for Shamrock Rovers or Dundalk, for example, to get back into the group stages of the Europa League. I won’t discriminate against anyone.’
Kenny never did which makes his journey to the summit of Irish football management all the more unique.