Only results will define Kenny’s legacy
AFTER the fallout from evoking the Great Famine, the 1916 Proclamation and some rebellious rhetoric in Wembley, Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has had hi s card marked by hi s FAI bosses.
No matter who Ireland get drawn against in the World Cup draw on December 7, Kenny will hold fire on dipping into the historical archives f or prematch fire and brimstone.
Thierry’ st hi every? No. Spanish Armada? No. Viking invaders? No.
Rather, he will be expected to provide what all players require before big games — concise, clear, instructions as to how they can affect the game in a positive way.
Kenny has emerged bruised from ‘ Videogate’, in spite of a cluster of keyboard warriors rushing to his defence.
Curiously, t he angst wasn’t directed towards the content of Kenny’s video or his 23- minute speech, or that a number of staff and players were taken aback by what they saw and heard.
Rather, many Kenny protectors were aiming their ire at the source of what they assumed to be a ‘leak’, and seemed put out that the story should have appeared in our sister paper, the Daily Mail.
Where have these innocents been hiding? Don’t they know that dressing-room disquiet is a regular source of stories in all sports?
As for the Daily Mail getting first wind, would Kenny’s defenders rather it was an Irish paper that broke the yarn?
The irony is that Gary Owens, the FAI’s interim CEO, had become aware internally of a level of disquiet about Kenny’s video and speech more than 24 hours before it broke.
On one level, Kenny could take heart that he has so many media influencers ready to saddle up their high horses and gallop into battle for him.
Some supporters remain in thr all to Kenny’ s appointment, and refuse to countenance suggestions that he won’t lead the senior team to a promised land, with football that is pleasing to the eye.
It’s as if the wretched results and poor performances he’s had so far are down to Covid, to injuries and to rum luck. I fervently hope they are right.
Because judging on what we’ve seen on the field of play and what has trickled out of life inside ‘Camp Kenny’, all is not hunky-dory within the Republic of Ireland ranks.
As part of the ‘Videogate’ enquiries, FAI’s interim CEO Gary Owens got the chance to talk to senior players who were asked how they felt the Kenny project was going. Broadly, the players continue to back the manager, but concerns were noted.
The sands have shifted among the FAI board whose membership is not as f our- square behind Kenny as it was in August.
There is an urgency that Kenny improves results, starting in March where Ireland could have three World Cup qualifiers in a week. How those games unfold c could have a significant signif impact on Kenny’ s po position, as I Ireland don’t pp lay again until September.
Kenny n needs to en ensure Ireland ki kick off on a rob robust footing and su sustain a competitive titi edge through to the finish.
In two of the last three World Cup qualifications (2010 and 2018), Ireland were second in their group and reached the play-offs. Nothing less will do under Kenny.
While Owens and FAI chairman Roy Barrett authorised Kenny’s elevation as manager, his overhaul of the backroom staff, and appointment as the FAI’s international football director, the new CEO Jonty Hill has no such ties.
Initially selected on September 17, Hill’s official appointment was held up until October 15.
Six weeks on, his arrival in Dublin to start work on Monday is overdue. He needs to meet staff and deal hands-on with urgent matters of FAI business, on and off the pitch.
From this remove, it will be fascinating to see if Hill backs Kenny as a member of the FAI executive, a position of power no previous senior international manager has held.
Hill may feel Kenny is better off focusing on one job — that of improving the lot of the senior team.
It is results that will define Kenny’s legacy, not dressing room nationalistic zest, or Twitter torchbearing on his behalf.