Kenny concerned by young stars’ shattered dreams

There’ll be bigger fish to fry for Stephen Kenny during his tenure with the FAI but the first 10 weeks have been an eye-opener and not all for the right reasons.

International football is a different ball-game to the club sphere inhabited previously by the 47-year-old. His dealings with players are limited in time, restricting the influence he can have over their careers.

As a man renowned for assessing the bigger picture beyond the level of skill a player possesses, the typical career trajectory of an Ireland player has caught his attention.

In the absence of a proper football industry here, most of the player pool Kenny is responsible for up to U21 level try their luck at making it in England.

He spent three days this week with a home-based squad, a chunk of whom are only operating in the League of Ireland after returning to Ireland.

The collateral damage caused by dashed dreams is a syndrome which doesn’t sit well with Kenny.

“Of the squad we had in for the training camp and match against the Ireland amateurs, five left St Kevin’s Boys in their teens to join English clubs,” explained the man who will replace Mick McCarthy as senior boss next year.

“All of them were back in Ireland by the time they were 19. It’s not a good model because they have dropped out of education.

“If they didn’t make it at their first club, dropped down a few divisions to return when they’re 22, then I could understand that. But 19? That’s stark.

They’ve not come back any more advanced than the players who stayed in Ireland. And yet they were deemed better in the first place. I find that observation interesting.

Kenny is learning all the time, especially from the amount of games he’s watching in England. Last weekend, he attended four, including an FA Cup tie.

Last month, his attempt to see Troy Parrott perished when the teen sensation only got a minute on the pitch for Tottenham Hotspur’s U23s.

“Spurs had the first-team striker Vincent Janssen playing instead that night,” he said, reflecting the frustration of an Irish manager seeking games his players are guaranteed to start in.

“Troy is an excellent player, someone I’ll definitely be considering. There are players in Ireland but others all over Europe.

“Southampton had five Irish-eligible players in the U23 match I saw against Manchester United on Friday. Make that six because Michael Obafemi is out injured.

“Then we’ve Connor Ronan, the Wolves winger who has gone on loan to Slovakian club Dunajska Streda. Norwich City’s Simon Power is at Dordrecht in Holland and there’s Ryan Johansson of Bayern Munich.

“I’ve to pick my squad in four weeks for our first Euro qualifier against Luxembourg and there’s a lot of games to be watched before then.”

As well as Johansson, still eligible for Ireland U19s next season, Kenny has been reassured of commitment by a couple of other dual-eligible players.

Only two months ago, Michael O’Connor had spoken about defecting to Northern Ireland but the arrival of his former Dundalk manager into the U21 post seems to have halted that move.

Then, there’s the curious case of Neil Farrugia, the UCD winger who impressed in Tuesday’s workout at Whitehall.

“Michael says he wants to play for us and is desperate to do so,” affirmed Kenny about the Linfield forward.

“Neil does too. He’s an exciting player, one of the few left-wingers you see these days beating their man on the outside.

“He qualifies for four countries - France, Malta, Spain and Ireland. Malta approached him to declare but he wants to stay with Ireland. I told him that I hope not to get a call from Didier Deschamps!”