Search for a saviour begins

THE search for the new manager of the Republic of Ireland has begun in earnest with the first meeting of the FAI sub-committee which has been charged with scouting out contenders and making recommendations to the board.

Chief Executive John Delaney, President David Blood and Honorary Secretary Michael Cody held their first formal get-together in Merrion Square on the day after the Board of the FAI decided not to offer Brian Kerr a new contract.

John Delaney yesterday declined to comment on the names of any individuals being linked with the post but did offer an insight into the kind of qualities the new man will require.

“We need somebody who can get the best out of the players we have, who can make tactical adjustments when required at the highest level and when things need to be changed during matches, and who is committed to managing the side.”

In terms of their record of success and proven man-management and motivational skills, the likes of Martin O’Neill and Alex Ferguson continue to featured strongly in speculation about a possible successor to Brian Kerr. But a candidate from the ranks of a rising generation of English club managers who would be deemed to have the right stuff - the likes of Paul Jewell, Stuart Pearce, Ian Dowie and Alan Curbishly cannot be ruled out. Similarly, a former leader on the pitch for Ireland - Steve Staunton has been mentioned - could be fast-tracked into the job, accompanied by a highly qualified coach.

Meanwhile, Republic of Ireland players have expressed their disappointment at the passing of the Kerr era.

Graham Kavanagh said that despite all the speculation that Kerr would not have his contract renewed, the official decision came “as a bit of a shock.”

The Wigan midfielder went on: “He [Kerr] demanded the best and he got the best from us in training. Maybe we didn’t give it to him in games, for whatever reason I don’t really know. But Brian has lost his job as a result of that and that’s hugely disappointing.

“I got on fine with Brian. I found him incredibly passionate for Ireland. There were a lot of stories made up about fellas falling out with him. The media have come up with this thing - that players didn’t get on with Brian - but I never saw anything like that.”

Kavanagh pledged his commitment to Kerr’s successor, ruling out any question of retiring from the squad.

“It might not be in my hands,” he conceded. “A new manager might come in and not like the look of me - but I won’t be giving up.”

Blackburn midfielder Stephen Reid said: “When I saw on TV that the FAI had not renewed Brian Kerr’s contract as Republic of Ireland manager I felt sad for him. I never won as many caps as I would have liked during his time in charge of the national team, but I still felt he was doing a reasonably good job. Everything hinged on us qualifying for the World Cup and sadly we couldn’t quite manage it. I texted Brian to send him my best wishes and he in turn replied to wish me luck for the future. He is a good man.

“It would have been nice if the FAI had given him one more qualifying campaign, but unfortunately it’s not meant to be. I only feel disappointment for him. We only lost one qualifying match in the latest World Cup campaign and during his entire reign we can only have lost two or three matches in total. When you see that, it’s not the worst record ever, so it’s wrong to say he did a bad job.

“In terms of the Ireland job, it’s a mystery as to who will take over. Roy Keane would be a popular choice within the dressing room, but I can’t see it happening just yet. Even though he’s retired from playing for the Republic, Roy’s still got plenty of football in his legs with Manchester United.”

Packie Bonner, the goalkeeping coach, declined to comment on the decision to dispense with the manager, but he did clarifiy that his work as the FAI’s Technical Director is unaffected. And he underlined the importance of the Technical Development Plan - a blueprint for the game in Ireland - which was substantially shaped and driven by Brian Kerr.

Said Bonner: “We have a clear vision of what we have to do and it makes it all the more important, because we haven’t qualified, that we do the right thing here as an association as regards the technical side of things.That’s full steam ahead as far as I’m concerned.

“People don’t have the full knowledge of what’s there at the moment. We have a young team, all the right side of 30, and down below we’ve got very good young kids coming through the system. The U-17s won their group out in Ukraine and the U-19s are currently top of their group.

“We have a lot of good kids in the system. What we have no control over is getting those kids into first teams in England or Scotland or indeed here in Ireland. All we can do is make them as good as they can be and people might take the chance on them. That’s our aim and that’s our focus for the next three or four years. I’m just delighted that, after all the work that Brian and ourselves put into getting the plan up and running, that it’s there now.

“If it wasn’t there people would probably wonder where we do we go from here.”