Brian Kerr, 71, doesn’t foresee the nomination of Lee Carsley as the manager of the Irish football team in April. After a gap of 19 years, Kerr made a comeback to the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to provide support to John O’Shea’s provisional management team for the forthcoming friendly matches against Belgium and Switzerland. Nonetheless, Carsley wasn’t in line to fill the space left by ex-manager Stephen Kenny.
According to Kerr, in the aftermath of his discussions with Carsley who is a one-time Everton midfielder, he expects Carsley to retain his position as the England U-21 coach. Speaking on the Ray D’Arcy Show, Kerr indicated his doubts regarding Carsley’s return, but affirmed that he could be wrong.
The process of finding Kenny’s replacement is being overseen by Marc Canham, Jonathan Hill and Packie Bonner who, up to this point, have kept their cards close to their chest. Kerr admitted his obscurity regarding their potential choice for the managerial role, but they appear confident in their selection who will take charge before the June friendly matches against Hungary and Portugal.
Kerr bolstered Canham’s Monday statement saying that a specific candidate is already pinpointed but can’t be revealed until April because of the ongoing contract commitments.
Kerr also indicated that O’Shea might be retained as an assistant coach but his own tenure as a technical advisor is likely to cease in the following month. Following Canham’s previous day’s announcement that a new candidate is in the pipeline, Kerr affirmed his belief that his association with FAI will end after roughly a month.