Stephen Kenny: 'We can't feel sorry for ourselves'

Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny at half-time during the UEFA Nations League B match against Wales. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

It hasn’t taken long for Stephen Kenny to find himself receiving that rarest of emotions directed towards top-level football managers. Pity.

Anger is found easily enough. Supporters want results, and if you don’t deliver, anger can pour forth pretty readily. Love is much harder to earn. Big Jack got there eventually, Brian Kerr had it in gallons at the start of his tenure, and 2002 will forever keep Mick McCarthy in the good books of many Irish supporters, but Messrs Staunton, Trapattoni, and O’Neill found it much harder to come by.

Pity, though, is saved for only a select few. Yet here stands Stephen Kenny, his Ireland team playing plenty of decent football, but just not putting the ball in the bloody net.

Speaking on Sky Sports before yesterday’s 1-0 defeat to Wales, former Ireland defender Phil Babb suggested the knives are already being sharpened for Kenny. Few would agree with him. Calls for Kenny’s head don’t really extend beyond social media. For the most part, supporters just feel sorry for an Irish manager who hasn’t had an ounce of good luck since taking charge.

Yesterday he watched his heavily depleted squad chase, tackle, and press themselves all the way to a 1-0 defeat in Cardiff, but the post-game message didn’t change. Stay positive. It’s going to click.

“You can’t afford to feel sorry for yourselves — it’s not going to do anyone any good,” said Kenny.

“I’m not really one for focusing on the positives, but with all that we’ve had to contend with over the last week, I thought the mentality of the players was brilliant.

“They actually gave everything of themselves and it was just a very, very tight game, like the goal we conceded, just a deflection off Shane Duffy’s head, it came up in the air over Matt and just a header back across the goal, so it was a difficult one to take. Listen, what can you do? We’ll get ready for Wednesday.”

There is one clear and obvious objective for that midweek game against Bulgaria, with Ireland’s goal drought now stretching past the nine-hour mark.

It’s hard to know how that can be remedied any time soon. Adam Idah was industrious against Wales, but looked isolated up front, and for all Ireland’s determination in pressing their hosts and building play patiently, they struggled to create many clearcut chances, the head of Shane Duffy remaining Ireland’s most obvious and likely source of a breakthrough.

Kenny has clearly implemented positive change in terms of how Ireland approach games, but even he knows the tide needs to turn soon. Publicly, at least, he insists it will.

“I have no doubts I will be a success. Absolutely no doubts,” said Kenny.

“We have a clear vision of what we want. Between this camp and the previous camp, we have been in quite unprecedented circumstances, in modern times anyway. Certainly, it’s quite unprecedented. Nevertheless, the players have come out against a good Wales team today and put in a good performance overall.

“We didn’t create a load of chances, but you’re not going to against a good Wales team. We probably had the better chances up to the last five minutes, when they had two on the break. That’s how I see it. We have to dust ourselves down and get ready for Bulgaria.

“And for the World Cup campaign we will have Seamus Coleman, Enda Stevens, John Egan, and attacking options like Aaron Connolly, Alan Browne, an emerging Troy Parrott coming into what we have. James McCarthy as well.

“That will give us a lot of encouragement.”