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.

No, it’s not Stephen Kenny’s job. The nature of international management dictates assessments are confined to the cycle of campaigns.

The new football director that the FAI is to soon advertise for will require time and space to deliver their charter.

Even half of the eight years granted to the new appointee’s predecessor Ruud Dokter — under the title of high performance director — is an ample period to make waves.

When Brian Kerr placed charisma high on the wish list of traits necessary for the newcomer, he wasn’t wrong. The successful candidate has to not just show they care about Irish football, as the FAI’s slogan promises, but prove it. Irish football is far too fractured for risks to be taken on this. A safe pair of hands, one capable of navigating the political landscape of the game while respected in the professional ranks, is the only show in town.

Arise Curtis Fleming. Kerr is deserving of a role in the rebuild, given his knowledge was discarded by John Delaney from his removal as senior manager in 2005, but 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.

Nothing came easy for Fleming. Growing up within inner city Dublin as a black teen in the early 1980s was a different experience to the modern era of diversity and he fought hard, sometimes literally, to map out his life and that of a footballer. Trials at Manchester United and Tottenham didn’t convert into a contract offer and it was on the domestic scene of the League of Ireland that he utilised as his springboard. Kerr at St Patrick’s Athletic saw his potential, supplanting Fleming as his right-back for the 1990 league title success, and he finally got his move to England at the age of 22.

Middlesbrough was his posting for the next decade, a dramatic phase of the club, primarily under Bryan Robson, when they tasted the big time of the Premier League and reached three cup finals at Wembley. Fleming won 10 Ireland caps.

A player career, though, doesn’t entitle anyone a ticket into management and he has spent most of the last 14 years on touchlines assisting managers. It is notable that four of his team-mates at Boro, Craig Hignett, Marc Proctor, Dougie Freedman and, most recently, Nigel Pearson at Bristol City, have leaned on him as their primary sidekick. His qualification to earn the right to be employed at that level, the Uefa Pro Licence, was attained through the FAI on only their second such course in 2011. He studied alongside former Ireland colleagues Kenny Cunningham, Jeff Kenna, and the likes of Paul Cook and Liam Buckley, as well as serving a short tenancy on the Ireland U21 staff.

In between his jobs in the UK was a stint as boss of I-League side Punjab FC, a tenure only cut short last due to the catastrophic effects of the pandemic in India.

Fleming, through his personality and credentials, ticks the boxes necessary for filling a complex role. That he is a person of black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) background is merely coincidental. It is an area proven to be underrepresented across UK football, prompting the English FA to decree a quota for their internal coaching staff.

Moreover, the 53-year-old understands the Irish footballing culture. Like the FAI, Scotland went Dutch in their pursuit of excellence, headhunting Mark Wotte as their first performance director in 2011. He has since been succeeded by Scots Brian McClair, Malky Mackay, and Andy Gould, the latter’s role recast as chief football officer. Sounds familiar.

Similar patterns emerge in our nearest neighbours. Aaron Hughes was appointed as elite football development consultant at the Irish FA, shortly after ending his 112-time capped international career with Northern Ireland. Wales didn’t veer far from their unique fabric either by entrusting Osian Roberts with the tools to frame their future. Known as the most “influential man in Welsh football”, it was through his structured syllabus, a 90-page document called “The Welsh Way” that underpinned their player development success and strides at reaching the knockout stages of successive Euro finals.

Roberts is currently assistant manager to Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace, the same role Fleming once fulfilled at one of his former clubs.

Whether the man who invented the ‘Ballybough Shuffle’ in his St Pat’s heyday would depart his position in the Championship for the FAI isn’t certain but he’s aware of the precarious nature of top-level management.

He’s only as safe in the job as Pearson is at Bristol City, and the lure of giving the country he cherishes some national service in their time of need is a temptation worth tabling by the FAI.

Cabinteely-Bray merger makes perfect sense

When Damien Duff refers to arcane facilities in the league, Stradbrook comes to mind. It’s not only a rugby stadium but an old rugby venue, a stopgap venue Cabo required to expedite a licence to operate in the First Division. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

In the case of Bray Wanderers and Cabinteely, surely together is better?

Derision greeted the latter’s elevation to the League of Ireland in 2015, not on a personal level, more due to the proliferation of clubs already based in Dublin. They arrived armed with grand plans, chairman Larry Bass expressing a desire for Cabo to become “the biggest brand in Irish football” but, despite a thriving underage section, their growth has been modest.

That challenge, undoubtedly, is connected to their infrastructural deficit. When Damien Duff refers to arcane facilities in the league, Stradbrook comes to mind. It’s not only a rugby stadium but an old rugby venue, a stopgap venue Cabo required to expedite a licence to operate in the First Division.

Relocating elsewhere has consumed Bass and his successor Tony Richardson, naturally bringing them to Bray all of six miles just over the Wicklow border. The Seagulls have the heritage, principally two FAI Cup wins, to boast but will remain a yo-yo club under their current budgetary limitations.

Pooling resources may be unpalatable to a cohort of diehards, yet by acting alone both clubs are in danger of getting left behind. With a huge catchment area between Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and the whole of Wicklow, harnessed by bright minds, an opportunity exists to make something special happen.

Peas and Shels battle for WNL supremacy

Tiegan Ruddy of Peamount United reacts after her penalty was saved by Eve Badana of DLR Waves during the SSE Airtricity Women's National League match between Peamount United and DLR Waves at PLR Park in Greenogue, Dublin. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

November is the pivotal month for women’s football, starting with Saturday’s decisive final round of league games.

Peamount blew their chance of racking up their third title on Saturday by drawing against DLR Waves and now need a point at home to Galway to be sure of getting over the line.

Otherwise, Noel King’s double-hunting Shelbourne are waiting to pounce. They have a trickier tie against third-placed Wexford Youths at Tolka Park, where three points are essential to apply pressure on Peas.

Shels and Wexford meet on Sunday week in the FAI Cup final at Tallaght Stadium, the last game before international matters take centre-stage.

Ireland have two home World Cup qualifiers, also at Tallaght, on November 25 and 30 against Slovakia and Georgia respectively, completing the first half of their campaign.

Victory away to Finland recently puts Vera Pauw’s side in control of their route towards finishing second in the group and a spot in the convoluted play-off system for the 2023 World Cup.

TG4’s live coverage of the national league has improved its profile and a stirring finale in front of their cameras again on Saturday would be an ideal way to set the tone for a frantic four-week blitz.

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