John Fallon: Curtis Fleming the perfect football director figurehead for FAI

Brian Kerr is deserving of a role in the rebuild but Fleming, a disciple of his methods possessing a consistent track record at the cutting edge of coaching and management, is the right man in this context

Curtis Fleming ticks the boxes necessary for filling a complex role as Ireland’s new football director. Photo by Jacques Feeney/Getty Images

Decision time in the FAI boardroom is looming, a choice that will form the blueprint for the future of Irish football.

This appointment threatens to be a game-changer, the person around whom the entire ecosystem, as chief executive Jonathan Hill calls it, is to orbit. Get it wrong and there’ll be no excuses. Unlike anyone they inherited, this one is on the new regime. He’ll be their man, the eyes and ears, the front of house personification of what the FAI of 2022 represents.