Stephen Kenny

[tetsujin1979]

That's one of the reasons why I find it so difficult to comprehend the media love-in we've witnessed until recently.

For example, Brian Kerr also had a LoI background, had a far longer and more successful spell coaching underage Ireland teams, bringing them unprecedented success in the process, and of course is far more engaging and charismatic than Kenny has ever been (can you imaging Kenny having the successful media career Kerr now enjoys?). And yet the Irish media never afforded Kerr anything like the easy ride they do Kenny, whom they refuse to hold properly to account.
Not a bit of that! Kerr was given a welcome like no other manager ever got. The performances on his first campaign were dismissed at the time because Mick was in charge for the first two games, and it wasn't really until the 2-2 game against Israel that the coverage he got started to turn against him. By the time of the Cyprus-Switzerland double header at the end of the 2006 qualifiers, the support he had was all but gone, and there was little, if any, complaints from the press when his contract wasn't renewed

[Trequartista20]

Two defeats in eleven?

I don't know what what all the fuss was about... :p

[Bielsa´s irish]

when you watch the game for the 2nd time , you might learn that we got very lucky today, very lucky,. They missed two sitters, Sometimes you get lucky, wanna the Ukrania game tomorrow in Poland, didnt like after Obafemi left the pitch the game not a little bit, only McClean was still an attacking threat, ditto this Collins is some baller,

[sbgawa]

Watched the game back, its hard to say whether we were good or scotland bad. Like any game of ball the goals change everything (and misses I scotlands case). Kenny would be slammed if we'd hit the post 3 times instead of going in a d scotland had scored so only fair to give credit when we win. Still can't see him turning it around in the long run though. I can only assume he is a different with the players than he is on TV. Hard to imagine him rousing a dressing room. His record with clubs though imply he can.

[Stuttgart88]

It’s always about goals though, isn’t it? As daft as that sounds. Had Duffy not hit the bar against Ukraine we’d be joint top of the group. Had Ogbene not missed a routine header in Armenia we’d never have lost and probably won. Had Lux not had a goal harshly disallowed Kenny would be gone by now. Instead we went on to score some of the best goals we’d ever scored to win 3-0. Had Hourihane not missed a tap in very late in Slovakia we might have gone to the Euros. Had the ref not waved play on in Sofia when Gary Mackay scored…

I’m only citing the above as they’re examples of goals that could so easily have happened / not happened.

I’d rationalise the Scotland misses by saying yes, we were blessed but they were directly attributable to Duffy rather than Scotland earning the chances (ok, they pressed…) whereas I think we constantly put Scotland under pressure from good work.

[sadloserkid]

Can't believe you didn't add that if the ref had spotted the Henry handball we'd have won the WC Stutts! For shame!

[tetsujin1979]

Scotland shot just wide, then we went up the other end and scored the second.

[Eirambler]

It was a telling couple of minutes of play leading up to that goal. We tried to play out from the back, got ourselves in awful trouble and should have conceded a goal. Then we went long straight after that, won possession in midfield and scored.

For me that's a perfect example of what has been going wrong for the last two years and how we can fix it. We need to stop trying to get our players to do the fashionable play out from the back thing, unless there's an obvious and easy pass into midfield clearly on. Instead just get it into midfield, let Cullen, Knight and Molumby compete for it there and we'll create chances we can score from.

We're never going to outpass the likes of Ukraine so let's stop trying to.

[Stuttgart88]

Can't believe you didn't add that if the ref had spotted the Henry handball we'd have won the WC Stutts! For shame!well we’d have got to the final at least

[Stuttgart88]

It was a telling couple of minutes of play leading up to that goal. We tried to play out from the back, got ourselves in awful trouble and should have conceded a goal. Then we went long straight after that, won possession in midfield and scored.

For me that's a perfect example of what has been going wrong for the last two years and how we can fix it. We need to stop trying to get our players to do the fashionable play out from the back thing, unless there's an obvious and easy pass into midfield clearly on. Instead just get it into midfield, let Cullen, Knight and Molumby compete for it there and we'll create chances we can score from.

We're never going to outpass the likes of Ukraine so let's stop trying to.There was another in the second half when Molumby only just kept the ball under pressure but having eluded the press he had the whole pitch to attack and we had options either side. We made a ****** of it (of course) but it shows the logic of taking risks like that, it draws the opposition forward, opens up the pitch and opens up the game. I like that we have the balls to do it, I just don’t always enjoy watching us do it!

[seanfhear]

The Siege is lifted for now anyway.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

I can't get away from the similarities between Kenny's reign and Steve Staunton's reign. We had the embarrassing defeats, poor media performances, lots of talk about the assistant managers. This Scotland win now reminds me of Staunton's spell post Cyprus and San Marino. We beat Wales, we beat Slovakia in euro qualification games, we beat Denmark 4-0 in a friendly and the talk was that the corner had been turned. That didn't last long and it eventually it had to be accepted that Stan was out of his league. Let's hope Kenny can actually turn things around. He needs a result Tuesday night for sure.

[youngirish]

People have short memories. The main reason for that great performance yesterday was because Obafemi started and played the first 60 minutes. Remember that only a short time ago this was a player Kenny had written off as not good enough for the team when he was regularly experimenting with the likes of Aaron Connolly, Adam Idah, Troy Parrott, Will Keane, Callum Robinson, Chiedozi Ogbene and James Collins instead. At the time it was clearly obvious to anybody with a clue, even before Obafemi started his great run of form at Swansea, that he was worth at least a shot over many of the above, none of which were performing miracles at any of their club teams either. Yet Kenny continued to pick from the selection above in a side that consistently struggled to score.

The quicker we are rid of this fool the better. Irrespective of the manager you will always get the odd good result if you have a player in your team that can turn the game with some moments of brilliance like Obafemi did yesterday.

[Stuttgart88]

It wasn’t clear to me. I thought he was underwhelming at club level before he found his feet at Swansea.

[Nesta99]

I suppose comparisons could be made in the specific results mentioned above, but thats as far as it goes imo. Results and performances are gradually improving under SK considering that it is a complete rebuild. Staunton didnt really have that gradual improvement. SK has bags more experience than Stan in coaching and Im not sure what Bobby Robson contributed. The players Stan had were generally playing at a higher level and were more experienced. SK has a development strategy, Stan was winging it game by game. As a Dundalk man I respect their respective achievements, one as a player and one as a coach. The Kenny project will not happen overnight but you can see incremental improvements even if results are undermining things somewhat. But look at Michael O'Neills results with NI before he got them to qualification. The Scots game is a lot more like where we are at compared to the way we let Armenia damage us on the break. Against Ukraine we put phases together but not for 90mins but that 90min performance is on its way as the side develops.

As an aside, if SK was to lose his job, who is available to step in never mind someone who is not purely going to pay for short term gain as we ultimately slide down rankings with no development plan to build back again?

[passinginterest]

It wasn’t clear to me. I thought he was underwhelming at club level before he found his feet at Swansea.

Not only that but he was underwhelming at under 21 level and he was injured at various points too.

[youngirish]

It wasn’t clear to me. I thought he was underwhelming at club level before he found his feet at Swansea.

So it wasn't clear he at least deserved a chance in a team that Troy Parrott was playing in who couldn't, at the time, get a goal or often even a game in the Ipswich or Millwall teams? Or James Collins, who wasn't scoring in a struggling Cardiff team? How about Aaron Connolly who was consistently struggling at both club and international level for performances and goals? Or Ogbene who is a League 1 winger with a poor goals to games ratio? What great strikers were keeping Obafemi out of the squad, never mind the team?

[pineapple stu]

Kenny's first game as Ireland manager was September 2020. In the 20/21 season, Obafemi made four sub appearances in the league for Southampton and that's it. He played far more U23 football than senior ball. I think he was injured for a few months too. That's not the form of someone who deserves a chance.

This season he had one goal in the league by mid-Feb, but at least was getting more game time. He was called up in March when his form warranted it, but he pulled out through injury.

You can maybe say that he wouldn't have been much less effective than some other options, but there's nothing there to indicate he'd have been capable of a performance like yesterday's during the WC qualifiers.

[joey B]

If we lose on Tuesday,which is very possible it’ll be 3 defeats out of 4 and it will be a terrible window,the Scotland game and performance won’t change that,I’d say Kennys biggest regret will be not changing the team more between the Armenia and Ukraine games,that was a big mistake IMO….

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

I suppose comparisons could be made in the specific results mentioned above, but thats as far as it goes imo. Results and performances are gradually improving under SK considering that it is a complete rebuild. Staunton didnt really have that gradual improvement. SK has bags more experience than Stan in coaching and Im not sure what Bobby Robson contributed. The players Stan had were generally playing at a higher level and were more experienced. SK has a development strategy, Stan was winging it game by game. As a Dundalk man I respect their respective achievements, one as a player and one as a coach. The Kenny project will not happen overnight but you can see incremental improvements even if results are undermining things somewhat. But look at Michael O'Neills results with NI before he got them to qualification. The Scots game is a lot more like where we are at compared to the way we let Armenia damage us on the break. Against Ukraine we put phases together but not for 90mins but that 90min performance is on its way as the side develops.

As an aside, if SK was to lose his job, who is available to step in never mind someone who is not purely going to pay for short term gain as we ultimately slide down rankings with no development plan to build back again?

Kenny has been in the job for over 2 years and 25 matches. Stan only had 17. Kenny's results have been worse than Stan's. The 'complete rebuild' excuse is nonsense. He inherited a squad who were on the verge of major championship qualification, plus numerous youngsters with large potential coming through. The facts are that results and performances have been terrible for the majority of his reign. He should be fired but if he gets positive results for the remainder of the nation's league, he will remain in the job. If he doesn't then he will be shown the door.

[SkStu]

So it wasn't clear he at least deserved a chance in a team that Troy Parrott was playing in who couldn't, at the time, get a goal or often even a game in the Ipswich or Millwall teams? Or James Collins, who wasn't scoring in a struggling Cardiff team? How about Aaron Connolly who was consistently struggling ay both club and international level for performances and goals? Or Ogbene who is a League 1 winger with a poor goals to games ratio? What great strikers were keeping Obafemi out of the squad, never mind the team?

All you’ve proven there, if anything, is that all those players were struggling equally as badly as Obafemi was at the time.

[paul_oshea]

He's such a warm and likeable man

Ya after reading that you just want Kenny to do well for that reason alone. Then have them qualify for something and have oneill on the panel on say ITV and see what he says then : )

[passinginterest]

Safe to say his job is secure for another while? Has this window provided more questions than answers? What's our best formation? Does he know? Does it need to be flexible depending on availability of players? E.g. Matt Doherty at wing back is a must, but if he's not available are we better with regular full backs where Coleman and Stevens can still do a solid job? Is it time to go all in on the younger players and ditch the old guard? It feels like some of them have played themselves back out of the team (maybe even the squad). If you look at the current squad and recent call ups there's 45/46 players listed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_national_football_team). That's a lot of depth before even getting to the under 21s who might push on. So with everyone available in September and a full squad to chose from who do you pick and what formation do they start in? I'll have a go at a 23 of;
Keepers
Bazunu 20
Kelleher 23
Travers 23
Pick themselves in fairness, other options; O'Leary 25, Talbot 25, Randolph 35.

Wingback/fullbacks
Doherty 30
Coleman 33
McClean 33
Stevens 31 (32 in July)
Arguably where we have most experience but are potentially weakest in depth. Options wise; Manning 26, Christie 29, McNamara 23, Browne 27, O'Connor 21 (22 in July), Festy 19 (20 in Aug), Ogbene 25, Adaramola 18, Bagan 20, we'll be hoping some of the young guns start the season well. Bagan maybe prime position to push on and McNamara must be close to a call up.

Central Defenders
Collins 21
Omobamidele 19 (20 in June)
Egan 29
O'Shea 23
Duffy 30
Some huge calls to be made, but hard to imagine Duffy being an automatic first choice now. Options obviously are pretty extensive with; Lenihan 28, Dunne 24, Long 31 (32 in Aug), McGuinness 21 etc.

Midfielders
Cullen 26
Hendrick 30
Molumby 22 (23 in Aug)
Browne 27
Smallbone 22
Knight 21
Still feels like we're lacking a bit here, there's quite a lot of options but few have really impressed. If Hendrick is getting games he's still going to make squads, Hourihane might be coming to the end of his time. I'd bump Smallbone up if playing regularly. Plenty of options still; Hourihane 31, Taylor 23 (24 next week), Arter 32, Kilkenny 22, Coventry 22, Sykes 24 (25 in Aug), Ronan 24, McGrath 25, O'Dowda 27. Some of them maybe options in the forward positions also so it's a hard call.

Forward/Wingers
Obafemi 21 (22 in July)
Parrott 20
Ogbene 25
Robinson 27
Idah 21
Again, there's plenty of options and the first choice three are probably now Idah, Obafemi and Parrot, form at the start of the season will probably decide this one more than any of the other positions. Options include; Connolly 22, Keane 29, Hogan 30, Hamilton 27, Collins 31, Curtis 26, Long 35, Ferguson 17, Odubeko 19

Plenty to ponder!

[Trequartista20]

John Eustace reported to be taking over from Lee Bowyer at Birmingham.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/breaking-birmingham-sack-lee-bowyer-27381976

[paul_oshea]

Working for Ireland really is a great career move, within months you can get a promotion.

Worrying how we can't hold onto our assistants/backroom staff for very long.

Which title are you?

[seanfhear]

Any chance Stephen Kenny would give me a Job ? = = Great for the Auld CV.

[TonyD]

Working for Ireland really is a great career move, within months you can get a promotion.

Worrying how we can't hold onto our assistants/backroom staff for very long.

Which title are you?

Or maybe - Stephen Kenny has a great eye for spotting up and coming coaching talent 😛

[Trequartista20]

John Eustace reported to be taking over from Lee Bowyer at Birmingham.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/breaking-birmingham-sack-lee-bowyer-27381976

Confirmed.

https://www.bcfc.com/news/club/john-eustace-appointed-as-blues-head-coach

[Eirambler]

He really needs to find someone this time who is willing to commit to the job for two years. Constantly chopping and changing the coaching staff can't be helping things.

[pineapple stu]

We didn't even have time for BOOMERS to credit him with our upswing in form.

[John83]

There's still time if it doesn't last.

Please let it last. I am so tired of Ireland being rubbish.

[TonyD]

We didn't even have time for BOOMERS to credit him with our upswing in form.

Nah, he had to go after the Armenia and Ukraine games. ;)

[Razors left peg]

He really needs to find someone this time who is willing to commit to the job for two years. Constantly chopping and changing the coaching staff can't be helping things.

So in order to make sure that someone stays long term do we take a worse coach? Kenny is obviously picking ambitious, highly qualified coaches for the job. His core team of Keith Andrews and Dean Kiely are there long term so I dont think there is too much problem with others changing. Ideally it would be better if they stuck around for more than a couple of games but Id rather he still go after top class coaches than settle for the likes of a Terry Connor.

[ontheotherhand]

Stephen Rice is in the set up already and might be a good mix of talent and career stage in that he is probably a few years away from getting a top coaching or mgmt job.

[Trequartista20]

Stephen Kenny's son Eoin called up to play for Northern Ireland:

https://www.the42.ie/stephen-kenny-son-5821185-Jul2022/

[Eirambler]

As tenuous qualification links go, that's about as tenuous as it gets. Was only born in NI because his dad was managing a club at that time that is geographically located in the jurisdiction but doesn't even play in that jurisdiction's league!

[Diggs246]

Obefemi is the same
I wouldn't read anything into it
Probably not good enough for our U18s i guess?

[Paddy Garcia]

Stephen Kenny's son Eoin called up to play for Northern Ireland:

https://www.the42.ie/stephen-kenny-son-5821185-Jul2022/

One for the Kenny the elder: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/collections/persuasion
Develop persuasion skills for the workplace

[liamoo11]

I hope his son is genuine about been prepared to represent the north at senior level and not just waiting to jump to us if he gets a call up for one of our sides. Otherwise it's just messing the north around which isn't right and which always annoys me when lads like the rangers youth player 3 or 4 years ago do it to us.

[Diggs246]

I hope his son is genuine about been prepared to represent the north at senior level and not just waiting to jump to us if he gets a call up for one of our sides. Otherwise it's just messing the north around which isn't right and which always annoys me when lads like the rangers youth player 3 or 4 years ago do it to us.

That's exactly what he will do if the opportunity arises

[nigel-harps1954]

As tenuous qualification links go, that's about as tenuous as it gets. Was only born in NI because his dad was managing a club at that time that is geographically located in the jurisdiction but doesn't even play in that jurisdiction's league!

And never actually lived in NI. They lived in Fahan, just outside Buncrana in Donegal.

Quite a lot of north Donegal people were born in Altnagelvin hospital in Derry.

[Olé Olé]

Obefemi is the same
I wouldn't read anything into it
Probably not good enough for our U18s i guess?
Obafemi was born in Ireland to Nigerian parents and grew up in England but still has family here. Kenny was born in the North to Irish parents, one of whom has stated on numerous occasions how proud he is to manage Ireland, and grew up in Ireland. I think it is a little different. Obafemi and his nationality is a lot less clear cut than I'm sure young Kenny's is.

[liamoo11]

That's exactly what he will do if the opportunity arises

Yeah it's awful messing. Very disrespectful to the north if no intention to stay in the system

[Olé Olé]

Yeah it's awful messing. Very disrespectful to the north if no intention to stay in the system

Disrespectful by who? Do you really think that NI are not aware that if he has half a chance of an Ireland cap that he won't jump? It is an absolute charade on both sides and NI have instigated by giving him the call up in the first place.

[liamoo11]

Disrespectful by who? Do you really think that NI are not aware that if he has half a chance of an Ireland cap that he won't jump? It is an absolute charade on both sides and NI have instigated by giving him the call up in the first place.


Disrespectful of the player to the north. The north can ask him in good faith it's then up to him to say thanks but it's not for me if he can't see himself as a senior player for them. That's the players responsibility to own.

[Olé Olé]

Disrespectful of the player to the north. The north can ask him in good faith it's then up to him to say thanks but it's not for me if he can't see himself as a senior player for them. That's the players responsibility to own.

I can't get on board with this. The North are selecting him and are fully aware of the risk here. They crib and cry about having put resources and effort into the likes of McClean and Sykes are underage level but this lad is more of a flight risk than both of them - there can't be any doubt in their minds about that.

[tetsujin1979]

does put some pressure on the kid as well to make any decision, even if it's just to accept the call up, which he doesn't really need.

[pineapple stu]

Surely they've spoken to him about it in advance; they've hardly sprung it on him as a surprise?

I've no real problems with underage players using their options to get a chance at international football or to experience something different. How many NI U18 internationals are actually going to make a career in the game anyway?

[Diggs246]

Is he any good? surely he is more likely to get senior international football with the north then the republic?

I've no beef once he doesn't play a game for their seniors and then defect to us

[JR89]

Big whoop if the lad goes in to train and gets minutes but then turns them down if they ask him down the line about switching. Tons of players are invited into training camps like these by countries with the intentions of the host country getting a better look at the player.