Kenny wants to see flair and skill

STEPHEN KENNY has cited a ‘disconnect’ between the Irish public and the national soccer team for ‘well over a decade’ and has promised a more progressive style of play that fans can identify with.

Kenny was named the Republic of Ireland Under-21 boss last week and will take over the senior job from Mick McCarthy in the summer of 2020.

‘For well over a decade there’s been a disconnect with the Irish public in how the team plays and the style of play,’ Kenny told The Marian Finucane Show on RTÉ Radio 1.

‘There has been a disconnect, there’s no doubt about it. I don’t think I’ve been appointed because Dundalk have won four league titles in the last five years.

‘It wasn’t so much the numbers of trophies won, it’s the style in which it was achieved.

‘People want to coach their schoolboy teams to play in a progressive way and then come and see the national team and relate to it.

‘We want to see individual flair, we want to see skill, we want to see a team playing in a cohesive way.’