Barry was an inspired pick by Kenny and his loss is profound
AND so to the next chapter in that pitiless tale, The Trials of Stephen Kenny. A pandemic and a cultural overhaul of the national team have been the two monumental challenges framing his term, but within those trials, there have been a succession of micro-dramas to test the Ireland manager.
And just when it looked as if he had charted a way through the turmoil, the man credited with implementing his vision, the young coach talented enough to make the Kenny vision flesh, finally succumbs to the lure of career progression.
The appointment of Frank Lampard as Everton manager was immediately followed by speculation around Anthony Barry’s role at Chelsea. He stayed, but it was one more indication of his skill and also his soaring profile.
The most important validation had come a year ago when Thomas Tuchel, on succeeding Lampard in the Chelsea job, kept on Barry and he has been an enthusiastic advocate since then.
Staying with the holders of the Champions League, a side practically assured of a place in the top four of the Premier League and in contention for the continent’s biggest prize again, does not appear a difficult decision.
But the part-time aspect of Barry’s coaching career has proven more susceptible to temptation, and there can’t be a reasonable supporter of the national team, even those who count themselves among Kenny’s fiercest defenders, who finds fault with the decision he has made to join the Belgium staff.
He will now go to the World Cup in 10 months’ time in the wagon of one of the tournament favourites. During international windows away from his Chelsea job, he will work with Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku.
There couldn’t have been much agonising in this decision.
Barry had specific charge of setpieces at Chelsea, but his effect was such that before Christmas, it was suggested Tuchel was keen on getting him to commit to a new contract amid speculation that a number of lower-tier clubs wanted to make him their manager.
His role in improving Ireland’s performance from corners and free-kicks has been identified as a sign of his influence, too, but the loss for Kenny goes beyond that.
Barry’s impact was important not merely in what it added to the national team, but also as proof of Kenny’s ability to think creatively and improve his staff.
Ruaidhri Higgins, who was Kenny’s chief scout before leaving to manage Derry City, knew Barry and was understood to have played a part in his arrival, and it was an inspired pick by the manager.
But with Barry leaving after just under a year in the role, it leaves Kenny with a major difficulty.
Barry was originally appointed last February to replace Damien Duff, but the loss of the former now feels much more profound than the departure of Duff had been.
The circumstances around his decision to go remain unclear, but it should be said that there seems no evident way this latest coaching loss can be pinned on Kenny.
He can’t pick a squad to compete with the dazzling spread of talent available to Roberto Martinez, and now Barry.
Ireland and Belgium operate in different spheres, and even if their golden generation is beginning to dull with age, they qualify for every tournament and anticipate them as viable contenders for glory.
No coach worth his salt could have turned away from the chance to work in that realm.
Yet it is also a fact that Barry follows Duff, Higgins, and Alan Kelly in leaving. None may have been a direct result of failings on Kenny’s part, but no manager wants to be engaged in near-constant repair jobs, either.
There was no controversy around Higgins’ decision to join Derry, a club he had represented, as his desire to manage was said to be known to Ireland manager Kenny.
The cases of Kelly and Duff have attracted more speculation, much of it dating back to the ill-conceived motivational video shown before the humbling loss to England at Wembley in November 2020.
To Kenny’s credit, he has recovered from that episode, as well as the more conventional failings that brought mortifying defeat to Luxembourg last March.
He gave a radio interview a week ago in which his confidence felt palpable.
His project was working: the team were improving, and showing that they could play a more adventurous, technically challenging style.
Now he must try to sustain that progress without the man many felt was central to initiating it.
Once again, Stephen Kenny must make what feels a definitive appointment.
His trials go on.
‘NO MANAGER WANTS TO BE ENGAGED IN CONSTANT REPAIR’