FAI to select new Ireland manager from final five teams – Irish Times

It’s almost here. A four-year deal is pending and will reportedly pay the head coach €560,000 a year to prepare the Republic of Ireland for the 2028 European Championship, when group games will be held in Dublin. .

Expectations persist that third-seeded Ireland will be one of the 16 teams to qualify for Europe’s 2026 World Cup in North America.

But wishful thinking within the FAI has given way to a powerful reality. Gone are the days when Denis O’Brien paid half of Martin O’Neill’s €1 million annual salary for Euro 2016. Prior to O’Neill, it was understood that the €1.8 million was paid for the expertise of Giovanni Trapattoni. Mr O’Brien is said to have donated €10 million over 10 years to cover management salaries.

Also, the perception that Ireland was a mid-tier soccer nation disappeared. When Stephen Kenny took over as manager in 2020, the senior men’s team were ranked 34th, but less than four years later they had plummeted to 60th on the FIFA list.

“If the gist of the question is, ‘Do we accept funding that might come from outside the organization to find a coach?’ The answer is no,” FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill said. The Oireachtas joint committee on sport made the revelations in December after the UK-based chief executive dropped two key members of his leadership team following a chaotic parliamentary run and attendance.

Before stepping down as chairman of the board, Roy Barrett is seeking to take responsibility for payments to Mr Hill, which breached the terms of his government bailout from 2020, and Louise Cassidy, who served as director of marketing and communications for 19 months. After serving, he will retire to Aldi.

“We should be totally focused on spending the money at our disposal because it’s the right thing to do,” Hill continued. “Budget is clearly one of the issues.” [to appointing a new manager]. It relates to all the areas we have to consider for 2024 and beyond. That’s definitely a factor. We are quite confident in finding the right people. ”

Almost all pressing issues facing the FAI were shelved by Hill’s appointed director of football, Mark Canham, who successfully completed one of the most difficult tasks in Irish sport. That could happen as early as next week, but it will certainly happen before Belgium’s friendly against Switzerland in March at the Aviva Stadium.

short list

Lee Carsley (49)

Carsley still has regrets about his time in the green shirt, repeatedly stating that he was “not able to replicate my club form at international level”. I don’t know why it happened, but I think about it often. ”

To the crusher.

Carsley won 40 caps for Ireland from 1997 to 2008 without establishing himself in a midfield role alongside Roy Keane. His appearances in major tournaments were limited to a few seconds off the bench in his 3-0 victory over Saudi Arabia at the 2002 World Cup. However, during Steve Stanton’s brief stint as manager, he started nine of the 12 Euro 2008 qualifying matches.

My grandmother Jo Cambridge (née Wiseman), originally from Birmingham, came from Dunmanway in Cork before moving to the West Midlands in the 1940s.

A tough defensive midfielder, Carsley made almost 500 appearances for five English clubs, including 282 in the Premier League, including a spell at Everton where he qualified as a manager. Includes 6 years.

After a short stint as assistant manager at Sheffield United in 2011, he was given his first job as Under-18s coach at Coventry City. In between his interim stint as manager of Coventry in 2013, he had a five-game spell with England’s underage teams in multiple capacities. He made 10 appearances for Brentford in 2015, before spending a year in Manchester City’s academy under Josep Guardiola.

After a three-game spell as caretaker manager of Birmingham City in the 2017-18 season, he returned to the free agency and coached England Under-21s alongside Aidy Boothroyd.

“I’ve known Lee for quite some time. He was my captain at Coventry,” Boothroyd said in 2017. His integrity, drive and work ethic.

“As a coach, he has been in charge for a bit so he understands what it is like. He has worked at big clubs in Manchester City and smaller clubs in Coventry and Brentford. He’s very trustworthy and he’s honest and tells it like it is. He’s not a ‘yes man’ but I like that.”

Carsley, who replaced Boothroyd in 2021, led England to the European Championship title by defeating Spain 1-0 in the final last summer.

Despite lacking continued experience at club level, Carsley fits the FAI’s ‘head coach’ profile and will report directly to Canham.

Chris Hughton (65)

Hughton has performed internationally. Ghana’s success in the African Cup of Nations was supposed to close the door for Brian Kerr to return as Ireland manager when he was in charge from 2003 to 2005. The Black Stars lost their opening game to Cape Verde, a 73rd-ranked country. In the world before Thursday’s 2-2 draw with Egypt. A win against Mozambique on Monday looks essential if the career coach is to avoid losing his job.

The East London-born full-back, who was the first mixed-race player to win an Ireland cap and went on to go on to play 53 times, earned his place through his Limerick mother Christine Babs-Hughton (née Burke) rather than his Ghanaian father Willie. Obtained.

Initially the front-runner for the position, Hughton’s chance to manage Ireland lasted for five years at Brighton (2014-2019), particularly when the FAI looked to re-appoint Martin O’Neill and Mick McCarthy. In the meantime, it may have disappeared.

Nevertheless, Hughton has all the qualifications. He spent 14 years at Tottenham Hotspur, working under 11 different managers and briefly held the role twice before moving to Newcastle United, where he was assistant to Kevin Keegan and Joe Kinnear, before becoming the final He eventually took up the top job at St James’ Park.

“It was invaluable and formed the basis of all my philosophy as a manager,” he said of coaching at Spurs. He played 297 games for Spurs. “Such a long apprenticeship isn’t for everyone and while some people may be able to go directly from player to manager at a young age, I wouldn’t have been ready for that.”

In between helping Newcastle and Brighton return to the Premier League, leading Birmingham City to the Europa League group stage in 2011, Norwich City made what proved their two seasons at Carrow Road were a failure. gave it to him.

Another memorable period at Nottingham Forest led him to Ghana. He has been widely admired throughout the England game, and while the timing may be off, managing the country of his mother’s and father’s birthplace is another milestone in an extraordinary life in football. Dew.

Neil Lennon (52)

Lennon is made of tough stuff. For proof, think back to the 1989 Ulster minor final when he appeared alongside current manager Kieran McGeeney for Armagh.

During his seven years as a Celtic player, under Gordon Strachan’s captaincy, he earned 41 caps for Northern Ireland, but his international career ended in 2002 after receiving a death threat call to the BBC. Ta. Lennon, who was only 31 at the time, never played for the North again.

As manager he led Glasgow Celtic to five of their seven possible league titles, conceding two to Rangers. His record in European competition (34 wins and 30 losses in 75 games across three clubs), coupled with concerns about his temperament during spells with Bolton Wanderers, Hibernian and recently in Cyprus against Omonia Nicosia, has led to him leaving Canham apart. may lead you in the direction of

However, bookmakers disagree and have recently lowered Lennon’s odds, making him the favorite to be named ahead of Carsley.

“Managing the Ireland national team is another ambition of mine and I would love to try that,” he told Premier Sports in November. “This is Ireland, a place that means so much to me as a human being. I would love to talk to you if I have the chance.”

Chris Coleman (53)

In theory, Coleman, who holds an OBE, would tick all the boxes to replace Kenny. His father Paddy, who won 32 caps for Wales, was from East Wall in Dublin and had his ashes scattered in the River Liffey in 2013.

“There was a story that [declaring for Ireland] “When Jackie Charlton was manager at Republic, I got a phone call,” Coleman revealed in 2017. [my father] He always encouraged me to play for Wales. ”

His ties to Ireland remain strong, as his uncle Michael Coleman is an award-winning painter formerly based in Temple Bar, and Irish international Ronan Curtis is his godson.

Importantly, Coleman offers experience in major Irish football tournaments. Aided immeasurably by Gareth Bale at his peak, Wales reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016, but lost 2-0 to Portugal. Under Coleman’s watch they rose to 8th place in the FIFA rankings.

Following the death of friend Gary Speed ​​in 2011, the international role fell to the former Crystal Palace and Fulham centre-half. His five-year, 50-game spell with Wales ended with James McLean’s victory over Cardiff sending Ireland into the 2018 World Cup play-offs. , where they lost to Denmark 5-1.

But Coleman’s accomplishments in club football cannot be ignored. Six of his eight managerial jobs were for two years or less, but he never broke the 30-game record during his spells at Real Sociedad, Greece’s AE Larissa, Sunderland and China’s Hebei FC. There wasn’t.

Anthony Barry (37)

When Barry’s name resurfaced in connection with Irish football last month, Hill refused to confirm or deny that the Liverpool player was a target, but Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel quickly dismissed the idea. I denied it. Asked about the set-piece specialist manager whom he rates highly enough to take him from Chelsea to the Bundesliga, Tuchel said: “It’s not true. You can forget about it.”

There is a pattern to Barry’s career rise. Roberto Martínez plucked him from Kenny’s management to assist Belgium at the Qatar World Cup and immediately appointed him Portugal manager when Martínez swapped roles last year.

Ireland’s players have been raving about Barry’s expertise in training throughout 2021, and the results have stood him in good stead as Ireland went unbeaten in six matches since adopting Chelsea’s 3-4-2-1 system. It confirms the influence of

Like Carsley, he lacks experience, but the FAI is looking for a hands-on coach.

best of the rest

Penney appreciates the thinking of Barry’s predecessors in the Ireland camp, Robbie Keane and Damian Duff, but both have made impressive inroads into management, so what will happen if he is appointed?

Keane has had an excellent first season with Maccabi Tel Aviv, topping the Israeli Premier League and reaching the last 16 of the Europa Conference League. The Irish goalscorer’s record helps Shelbourne qualify for European football in Duff’s second year in charge, while they could lift their first trophy when they face Maccabi Haifa in the TOTO Cup final later this month. There is sex.

Maybe next time.

Rumors inevitably slipped through Roy Keane and Jose Mourinho being sacked by Roma, but they will have to accept significant pay cuts and both will be required to do the job required to revive Ireland’s fortunes from 2024 onwards. Does not meet specifications. Unlike Kearsley, who is a finely tuned coach, and Barry, who is clearly unavailable, he feels too much of a traditional manager.

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