In an Irish role, an Irish trainer is needed. We have painfully realised that overseas managers, even those residing in England, won’t be lured to navigate Ireland through the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. It’s anticipated that by July someone will step up. We’ve ventured into folly.
Much information is yet to unfold over Marc Canham and former CEO of FAI, Jonathan Hill’s, lengthy hiring process. Canham’s choice to push a nebulous reason for the constant postponements on FAI’s social media is an illustration of an individual taking the most inauspicious method. One can’t help but wonder about his thought process. He can’t continually dodge the media, at least not if he desires to retain his position as Football Director.
The enigma of “existing contractual obligations” pertaining to an early April appointment remains unresolved. How can he persist in his daily duties at the association when the same question keeps surfacing: what’s the status with the Irish manager, Marc?
The FAI seems to be overlooking the apparent solution. Perhaps it’s premature for Stephen Bradley or Damien Duff to assume the most challenging role in Irish sport, however, they are undeniably the future. In reality, they are the immediate future.
If the torch gets passed to Chris Hughton or John O’Shea, both being ardent contributors to Irish football at varying stages of their coaching careers, that would be acceptable. Regardless, under the current FAI formation, I fear it may not yield success. However, advocating for Hughton and O’Shea together, is a plausible notion, certainly above Gus Poyet and Willy Sagnol.
If Stephen Kenny’s track record over 40 international games hadn’t complicated matters, Bradley, with his four consecutive league titles and still being in his thirties, would have been an obvious choice. A homegrown coach doing well, should be given a chance.
Duff, on the other hand, has accomplished a commendable job in rejuvenating Shelbourne’s fortunes. But the FAI seems to have put him off, and Bradley too should be wary about jeopardizing his stellar reputation by collaborating with the association. In my view, neither of them have been taken into consideration. Yet another blunder.
Despite refusing to even consider him for a permanent position last December, the FAI are now turning to O’Shea for the friendly matches in June, that is, if he agrees to their proposal. It’s a deplorable state of affairs we find ourselves in. A public address from Canham was what we needed, not communication through internal channels. This smacks of an amateurish approach, reminiscent of the worst times.
Kevin Kilbane’s view is clear-cut: if John O’Shea steps into the role of Ireland’s manager, it’s a clear indication that the selection process was a fiasco. To find our path forward, we could learn a few things from Welsh and Scottish football.
The Welsh FA over the past two decades has tapped into talents like Mark Hughes, John Toshack, the late Gary Speed, Chris Coleman and Ryan Giggs. Scotland, with the exception of two years under Berti Vogts, has never appointed a non-Scottish manager. They always kept faith in their own, from Matt Busby to Jock Stein, Alex Ferguson to Gordon Strachan, and all the way up to Steve Clarke.
The decision-makers at FAI seem to have this misplaced idea since the tenure of Jack Charlton, believing an Ireland manager to be a football tutor for the Irish, gearing us towards transformation, as opposed to vice versa.
Now, we’re left to our own devices.
The roles of the CEO and possibly the director of football seem slated for the Irish, or at least those who comprehend the local game and understand the urgency to further cultivate the domestic scene.
The task of revitalising Irish football after John Delaney was no mean feat, but the public entrusted this responsibility to CEO Jonathan Hill, who has just taken leave. The void he’s left is profound, particularly when it comes to soliciting additional government funding.
O’Shea’s in a pickle here – anything he says could jeopardise his coaching career in Ireland. By linking his reputation to a seemingly impossible task, Canham may have tied his own hands too.
I sympathise with O’Shea. The FAI has landed him in a shameful scenario. When all other options are depleted, the job might fall into his lap, unavoidably.
It’s known that Lee Carsley and Gus Poyet were sounded out. Also, at least four others were interviewed.
It’s evident that the leaders of FAI have completely bungled this. It’s pretty clear they’ve lost their touch; if they even had one to begin with.
The only glimmer of hope is that following the Euros, there’ll be more variety in managerial options.
I firmly reject the belief that only Neil Lennon and John O’Shea are interested in the job; though it seems that Canham doesn’t want either of them, if rumours are to be believed.
The questioning spotlight is now firmly on Canham. People are asking whether he is actually qualified to be the Football Director of FAI. There are speculations that his current position might be more than he can handle. After all, he only served as the Director of Football in the Premier League for a year. Why was that the case? And why does he seem to find solace in the shadows of FAI TV?
Should the news be that Sagnol was touted for the Ireland role, with the assumption that Greece would conquer Georgia in the Euros play-off and thus would be accessible come “early April,” then it seems we’ve been deceived in Irish sport.
This is quite absurd. It points to the likelihood that the FAI administrators were either dishonest or are uncannily incompetent.
Under any circumstance, Canham must not continue business as usual without properly accounting for the recent occurrences, particularly why he was so assured that an Ireland manager would be announced in early April.
Regrettably, the interviewer from FAI didn’t query this.
Currently, it’s crucial that the succeeding Ireland manager has a heightened emotional bond with the team. I recognise this impacted Kenny – his despair was visibly etched on his face after every defeat – but I’d lean towards someone passionate about our own rather than an opportunist looking for results before jumping ship to brighter prospects.
John O’Shea undoubtedly warrants uncompromised backing from his employers. Yet, even that seems to be a task too daunting for them. He has the right to demand it. He presently holds the upper hand.