Kenny needs time to make his mark
ROME WASN’T built in day and transforming the Irish team into a side that can play effective football on the ground is another grandiose job that won’t be completed in such a prohibitive time-frame.
Stephen Kenny may have made a less than auspicious start to his tenure as boss of the Republic of Ireland senior side, but those already sharpening the knives really need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
In the modern attention-seeking world of social media, everybody wants instant gratification and there’s an over-reaction to pretty much everything, whether good or bad. Indifferent doesn’t seem to exist anymore.
There’s those already labelling Kenny’s appointment as a disaster, and you can be pretty sure the same folk would be shouting from the rooftops about our bright future had we chalked up two impressive wins in the past week.
Of course, neither would be true - as managers, and players, need to be judged over a longer period of time, rather than kneejerk reactions.
Jack Charlton’s first game in charge was a home loss against Wales, while Steve Staunton oversaw a 3-0 drubbing of Sweden in his opening match in the hot seat, and we know how things worked out in the long run.
That said, a core group of players have already had time, and continue to look well off the standard of international football, so no blame can be apportioned to the manager for that.
Seeing as I’m in a forgiving mood at present, I’ll allow the players to get fully back into their stride with their clubs in the coming weeks, before making any definitive judgement on that front.
There’s no doubt that they should all be more match sharp when they return to the international scene for the crunch European Championship play-off against Slovakia.
Kenny has said himself that he experimented in the games against Bulgaria and Finland, so hopefully we’ll see a side with a nice balance of experience and youth for the big match in Bratislava.
The biggest problem for the manager is that he’ll be scratching his head after two pretty flat performances, with not too many putting their hands up as automatic starters.
Sunday’s game against Finland had all the hallmarks of a pre-season friendly, and even though the players should be well used to behind-closed-doors football at this stage, an empty Aviva Stadium, devoid of any atmosphere or colour, just didn’t feel right, and maybe that translated to the lack
of energy and ideas on the pitch.
Having started his reign with a 1-1 draw away to Bulgaria, followed by a home loss against Finland, the former Dundalk manager could be forgiven for feeling down on his luck.
However, he was quick to say that, while disappointed with results, their eyes have always been on the bigger picture of next month’s play-off.
Even if things go horribly wrong in the Slovakia game, and we have to forego our place at the delayed European Championships next summer, I would accept that if it means we’re not subjected to another decade or more of hoofball and can watch Ireland playing the game how it should be into the future.
Mick McCarthy had the opportunity to earn automatic qualification and failed, as we struggled to score against minnows, so
surely Kenny deserves a chance and plenty of time to build from a very low base without too much criticism, even if he fails to get us through the back door of the play-off route.
One of the biggest problems was the unfounded optimism that was floating about before Ireland had even kicked a ball with Kenny in charge, suggestions that we were suddenly going to morph from long ball merchants into a footballing outfit that would rival the likes of Brazil or Spain.
We now have a manager who will allow players to express themselves and play an expansive style of football, so things were expected to change overnight.
The truth is Kenny has only had a few days to work with the players, so you couldn’t expect him to fully get his ethos across and have Ireland performing seamlessly in such a short space of time.
Most Irish football supporters, similar to fans the world over, don’t seem to be able to put things into perspective; like a fully settled pint of Guinness, it’s either black or white with nothing in between.
Like waiting patiently for a creamy glass of stout to settle, time is needed before any definitive assessments can be made.
It could turn out to be the sweet taste of success, or a beverage that promised so much might have a sour tang and ultimately be unsatisfactory.
I’m willing to give Kenny the time to prove he’s the former, so hopefully there won’t be a bitter end.
Of course, the jury is still out on whether he can make a success of such a big job, or not.
But at least give the man a chance to build a decent case for himself, before finding him guilty of being a failure.