“Step back,” Stephen Kenny told the written press after Monday’s 3-0 victory over Gibraltar at the Aviva Stadium.
Everyone obeyed. The Republic of Ireland manager had something to say about all the noise. The results. The growing number of doubters.
“The reality is this. And I don’t mind saying this. I’ve never been one to speak about myself in this vein, but I started as a young manager, successful. I failed and then I failed better. I went on again, had setbacks and built a resilience and a determination.”
It’s 11pm on Monday night and the Aviva has almost emptied. Just a few souls remain. Reporters, cleaners, security, FAI staff and the like. The players and their families are tucked away somewhere celebrating Jimmy McClean’s 100th cap and first international goals for Adam Idah and Mikey Johnston.
Kenny stands in the small space between the press conference auditorium and changing room corridor, polishing off the last media duties of a marathon international window that spanned from Bristol to Turkey and Athens to Castleknock.
The reaction to Greece beating Ireland at the Opap Arena last Friday has proved unforgiving, especially on live television where Tony O’Donoghue’s straight line of inquiry left the Ireland manager struggling for words.
He cannot hide from the damaging 2-1 loss to Greece. He knows this. He also knows the tide is turning against him and a management team whose livelihoods depend on Kenny cajoling results from a willing yet callow group of Irish players.
No Séamus Coleman. No Chiedozie Ogbene. Little consistency of selection, confusion over tactics and formation as twice Kenny tore up his own script at half-time, hauling off Idah in Athens and Nathan Collins on Monday to leave everyone wondering what formation he intends to employ against France and the Netherlands in September.
A potentially disastrous night against Gibraltar finished with a smidgen of redemption as Evan Ferguson, Johnston and Idah scored “milestone” goals as, interestingly, the Aviva crowd continued to row in behind the manager. The majority of the 42,156 attendance did not boo despite the 0-0 scoreline at the interval. Instead, they patiently waited for McClean crosses to translate into headed goals by Ferguson and Idah.
[ Stephen Kenny has depleted his benefit-of-the-doubt reserves with fansOpens in new window ]
Kenny believes that some of the commentary since Athens has been disrespectful, so before signing off he told a huddle of middle aged reporters to “step back” and listen. Not a natural orator, suddenly he sounded like Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, his voice rising to crescendo as he tackled a three-year narrative about who he is and how he became the Ireland football manager.
“I have been in 16 cups finals. I was in eight FAI Cup finals. I have been in two Scottish Cup finals. I won six league cups. I won more trophies than anyone in modern history. I won five league titles. 46 Champions League and Europa League games; I beat Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bate Borisov, Göteborg home and away, Hajduk Split and others, drew with Paris Saint Germain, drew with Legia Warsaw.
“That’s why I got the job. Because I am the most successful Irish manager at this time.
“I went on from that, managed the Under-21 team, got good experience, took the radical approach of taking all these 17-year-olds and putting them in the Under 21 team which never happened before. We had an exciting time and were leading the group and might have qualified.
“Obviously because of Covid – Mick McCarthy is a good manager, a great man, obviously – Covid interrupted the succession plan, and I had the [Euro 2021] play-off [against Slovakia] and the subsequent Covid games which were a bit of a farce because we had nine or 10 missing out of each camp. We lost the play-off on penalties.
“It’s been said I’ve been three years in the job. Realistically I have been two years building this team, since March [2021] when we lost here [against Luxembourg], and in the opening game in Serbia. All of those players have come in over the last two years. We’ve given 18 players their debut, through our own system. We’d nine years with nothing coming through, nothing!
“We brought 18 players through from the system,” he repeated. “We finished third in the [World Cup] group which was probably parity. Obviously there was a bit of pain, a bad defeat against Luxembourg and so forth.
“This is the campaign that I’ve built for. Obviously we had a right setback with the game against Greece. That was an important part of the plan, to beat Greece, to try to do that because we got a group of death. But I think, you know, I’m very strong and very resilient and I don’t really care. I don’t need to listen to anyone’s opinions to know what I want and what I am.”
Clearly, Kenny has heard the widespread reporting about England Under-21 manager Lee Carsley being lined up as his potential successor.
“I’ve taken on a lot and it’s a small community in Ireland and people are upset over a variety of things but all of the decisions I made with the international team were with the best interests of Irish football. I’ve made brave decisions in the best interests of Irish football, okay? And I’ve made good decisions.”
The FAI recently gave Kenny a new contract up to July 2024, even as former Ireland manager Brian Kerr noted that the past three years have produced “the worst set of results” by any Irish manager. To qualify for next year’s Euros Ireland must take something off the French and Dutch or both in September.
“I wouldn’t have got where I got, into this job, if I didn’t believe you can achieve extraordinary things. The reason I took clubs from nothing, took them through division and into Europa League, because I managed in the group stage of the Europa League, and the reason I done that was because I believe you can achieve extraordinary things. That’s what I believe.”
