Kenny places trust in youth
Ireland boss believes in system
TWO years after his first sit-down with the press corps, Stephen Kenny held court in the Midlands yesterday with 26 games under his belt as Republic of Ireland manager and a contract to continue through to the 2024 European Championships.
Kenny has the FAI chiefs, the players, and the fans on his side, including the 130 youngsters on call at the Intersport Elverys Summer School at Tullamore Town FC. And yet, after taking time to encourage the potential stars of tomorrow, Kenny reflected on the ‘risk’ he took as Ireland Under 21 manager in 2019 and revealed fears he may not have got the top job if results at that level had gone belly-up.
While the Dubliner had a bulletproof contract to step up to the senior post two summers ago, it didn’t prevent him from shaking the U21 cage, irrespective of any potential pitfalls.
‘When I was appointed U21 manager, and Keith Andrews was my assistant and Jim Crawford was an assistant, we looked at the squad that we inherited,’ recalled Kenny.
‘We radically picked players who were five years out of their age group in Gavin Bazunu and Troy Parrott. Then, the 2001 players such as Jason Knight, Nathan Collins and Adam Idah who had just turned 18. We identified the players with the greatest talent.
‘We did it because it was the right thing to do. It was a risk because if I had not done well as U21 manager I may not have got the senior job. You know the way things happen. In life, you can’t be certain.’
One of the players Kenny thrust forward at U21 level was striker Aaron Connolly, who exploded like a meteor in a green jersey but has since fizzled out.
Only 22, Connolly regards himself as ‘the forgotten man in Irish football’ and is desperate to shine on loan at Venezia in Italy’s Serie B.
‘Aaron has a lot of talent, a lot of good attributes. I know it’s a bit leftfield going to Serie B but it will be interesting to see. You can’t close the door on anyone, especially someone who is 22 and has his best years ahead of him.’
Kenny said he’s had a private chat with Connolly about what he needs to do to rekindle the flame which ignited after his Premier League brace for Brighton against Spurs in October 2019.
Should Connolly play regularly, and recapture his scoring touch, he would come back into consideration as Kenny places a huge emphasis on players getting minutes in their legs.
With that in mind, Kenny intends to take in Spurs versus Southampton on Saturday to see if Matt Doherty and Gavin Bazunu start and he was mightily impressed by the form of Josh Cullen, who starred on debut for Burnley last weekend.
It’s unlikely Shane Duffy will play for Brighton against Manchester United on Sunday.
‘Ideally we want all our players playing, and Shane is no different. He found it difficult to get into the team in the second half of the season. Ideally, we would want him playing whether that’s at Brighton or elsewhere.’
Ahead of the Nations League games next month, and the qualifying draw for the Euro Championships on October 9, Kenny will continue to trawl for new talent.
As he only has six Premier League players to call on, three of whom are goalkeepers, Kenny can’t afford to close off any route. Ironically, one player eligible for the Republic of Ireland who appears to have thrown in his lot with Northern Ireland is Kenny’s Derry-born son, Eoin, who played for the North’s U18s against Manchester United last week.
When quizzed yesterday about Eoin’s international leaning, Kenny explained that he is ‘very much his own man’ and stressed he had exerted no pressure on his son to declare for the Republic.
A member of Dundalk’s academy, midfielder Eoin played for Foyle Harps, the schoolboy club of Paddy McCourt, James McClean and Duffy.
“Doing well with
U21s may have got me this job”