O’NEILL DECISION MADE BEFORE DENMARK GAME
Derryman was out before a ball kicked
MARTIN O’NEILL was a dead man walking for his final match as Republic of Ireland manager. The decision to end his five-year tenure was taken by the FAI board the day before the final Nations League group game away to Denmark last Monday. Relegation to League C had already been confirmed and, regardless of the result in Aarhus, his fate was sealed.
‘The decision was made before the Denmark game. It was made on the Sunday. It was discussed by the board and only discussed with Martin on the Tuesday morning,’ John Delaney confirmed yesterday.
It was the catalyst for one of the most dramatic weeks in the history of Irish football. Mick McCarthy was unveiled as O’Neill’s replacement in Lansdowne Road yesterday, while the unprecedented move of naming Stephen Kenny as the heir apparent from 2020 onwards has left many stunned.
‘It makes sense, it makes sense,’ Delaney insisted, as he also confirmed that no compensation was required to get Kenny out of his Dundalk contract which still had a year to run.
‘The board met and the vision of Mick McCarthy managing Ireland for two years, and the vision of Stephen managing the Under 21s beneath and also Stephen taking the job in 2020, those discussions took place [last week].
‘The job I and [high performance director] Ruud Dokter had to do then was have those discussions, which we had this week, and get them done. And we got them done quickly and I think well. I think it sets out a great path and a vision for Irish football
‘There was no senior job available until this Tuesday, remember that,’ he continued.
‘So nobody was having discussions with anybody about taking the senior job until Martin O’Neill, Roy Keane and the backroom staff came to an arrangement. It’s only this week we would have sat down with Stephen Kenny about his ambitions to manage the senior team and through those discussions we’ve outlined the vision and the plan.’
Kenny will take over in 2020 after his spell as U21 manager on a twoyear deal, with the aim of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Some of the other details relating to the arrangement were also made clear. Underage managers from 15s to 19s will all now report to Kenny, who in turn will operate under Dokter.
Kenny will travel with McCarthy for senior team games when schedules allow and is set to embark on a tour around Europe over the coming months, picking the brains of various coaches as part of his remit to help shape the underage structures.
Aside from that, there were more pertinent questions for Delaney about the anatomy of the last week, the timeline involved and the growing sense of disquiet about his own position as chief executive — Liam Brady called for him to go last week while almost 20,000 people have now signed an online petition demanding his removal.
‘Everyone can have their opinions. There is a robust structure in the FAI, I report to a board with a broader council, when all this goes away, which it does, I, and the Association, have to manage 200 employees, big volunteers, loads of clubs that I visit when I can do, to help the clubs,’ Delaney added.
‘I do not want to get personal. We’ve got to get on and do what we do. I’ve a lot of respect for Liam Brady but I’m not going to get into name-calling.’
Instead, he heralded yesterday’s announcements as a ‘new dawn’ for Irish football but refused to accept it will be the defining moment in his stewardship as CEO.
He insisted the decision to part with O’Neill and Roy Keane was not made to take the spotlight off himself, and denied he asked stewards in Aarhus to prevent Ireland fans taking a banner that mocked him into the stadium last Monday.
‘I don’t know too much about that. I don’t. We get on very well with supporters’ clubs… the boys who support the Irish team brilliantly. I wouldn’t be happy that anybody would be negative towards the Association or the team. I think there is a time, when things settle down… If supporters want to voice their opinions, I’m not going to prevent them. There is a time now to reflect and look to heal some of the divisions.
‘I’m pretty sure we’ve made the right the decision for Irish football. There was a week in Irish football where decisions had to be made, and we’ve made them.’
Interesting times lie ahead.