Kieran Shannon: Sacking Stephen Kenny now would be an act of stupidity

After the tyranny of the John Delaney era that is much more responsible for the senior team’s current woes than Kenny is, the last thing Irish football needs now is to discard a progressive manager just to placate the money men and any baying mob

Manager Stephen Kenny speaks to his players during a Republic of Ireland training session at the Aviva Stadium. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

At a time when Stephen Kenny apparently could be sacked only a year after his first competitive game, it’s worth recalling how another manager fared in his initial 12 months in the job.

In January 2017 John Kiely began his first campaign over the Limerick senior hurlers and nearly right off the bat had to endure a chastening defeat. In only his team’s second game in the Co-Op Superstores Munster Senior Hurling League, Limerick were hammered by Cork, 7-22 to 1-19, in their very own Gaelic Grounds, prompting a section of the crowd to hurl abuse at him and his players.