Axe set to fall on judgment day

IT’S D-Day for Brian Kerr. This afternoon at a Dublin hotel, the ten-man FAI Board of Management will meet to review the performance of the out-of-contract Irish manager, and the expectation is that he will not be given the second chance he craves.

The meeting takes place against a fevered backdrop of speculation about his likely successor, but Alex Ferguson has again insisted that he is not about to become the new Irish manager, after newspaper quotes attributed to Denis Irwin, claimed that the FAI had already had discussions with him.

According to Ferguson, Irwin has denied making comments to the effect that “very reliable sources say there has been contact between the FAI and my old manager. Of course he’s denying it, he’s under contract to United, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be Republic manager when our next competitive game comes round in September.”