Stephen Kenny: We want our best players to fulfil their potential

The next generation of Irish footballers have been warned in no uncertain terms by new U21 manager Stephen Kenny that their international futures rest firmly in his hands.

Kenny has left behind Champions League football with Dundalk to serve his country, initially overseeing the FAI’s underage structure before progressing to the senior job in 2020.

His first match, the opening Euro U21 qualifier against Luxembourg, is scheduled for March 24 and the 47-year-old considers it a plus to have players with senior ambitions at his disposal.

If they are distracted by the trappings that the riches of football bring, especially by putting club over country, they’re in for a rude awakening from the new ringleader.

“The one thing I can’t stress highly enough to the players in all the age groups is the importance of playing for your country and never missing that opportunity,” he pointedly said.

“They should never treat it lightly. As someone who will become senior manager, I’ve got an advantage over previous U21 managers in stressing that.

“I intend maximising it by telling every player ‘don’t ever consider for any age group not turning up and don’t ever consider not applying yourself and dedicating yourself 100%’.

“Anyone coming into the U21 team can see, not only am I in control of their immediate destiny but also their future. That’s the way I view it.

“We’ve seen a lot of talented players going by the wayside. We want our best players to be nurtured and fulfil their potential.”

Sceptics of the FAI’s succession planning experiment have highlighted Kenny’s lack of playing career and top-level managerial experience as posing a risk to him being respected in the senior dressing-room.

The Dubliner feels the new reality for the Irish players’ club status means they’re more likely to absorb his patriotic mantra.

“I don’t see that as an issue, whereas maybe it was when Irish players had Champions League games every week,” he asserted.

“Traditionally, down through the decades, we had Irish players operating at the elite level in England. I don’t see them playing regularly in the Champions League anymore.

“Still, I wouldn’t be negative. I don’t share that view in relation to the future of Irish football that there are no players coming through.

There has to be a way of collectively being very good and players still playing to a level that they need.

The hottest prospect in Irish football right now is Tottenham’s Troy Parrott, and Kenny will have an influence over his trajectory on the international circuit.

Still eligible for Ireland’s U17s, who host the Euro finals in May, but currently representing the U19s, his exploits for Tottenham have rendered him a candidate for fast-tracking into Kenny’s U21s.

Moreover, should Parrott’s expected first-team call-up at Spurs arrive in the FA Cup next month, McCarthy may consider granting him a meteoric senior call-up.

Kenny is pleading caution in the case of a player who only this week was name-checked by Mauricio Pochettino as being ready for first-team action.

“It’s early days, he’s still very young at 16, so it’s unfair expecting too much from him,” Kenny reasoned.

“Tottenham must think highly of Troy to bring him for the first team’s training in Barcelona this week but that’s all it was. I wouldn’t put too much stock in that.

“He’s also performed very well in our Ireland underage teams, most recently in October for the U19s in their win over the Netherlands.”

Kenny intends using the six-month gap in competitive fixtures between the visit of Luxembourg until Armenia arrive in September to arrange a series of friendlies.

The prestigious Toulon Tournament in early June, a 12-nation event at which the cream of global teams join World Cup holders France, is his target.

“As we’ve never qualified for the U21 Euros, facing the top teams in Toulon would be a great barometer of where we are.

“That’s a priority for me, as it would give us a minimum of four matches in 14 days, providing perfect preparation for the chunk of six qualifiers between September and November.

I’ve only started in the job and have a lot of work to do.