Baku boost stalls Stephen Kenny's critics but November decision looms

Three of the 12 FAI board members who will decide Kenny’s future, along with chief executive Jonathan Hill, were present in the Caucuses to witness the win

Chiedozie Ogbene heads Ireland’s third goal during the World Cup Group A qualifier against Azerbaijan at the Olympic Stadium in Baku on Saturday. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

It wasn’t the prettiest, but the details of a thumping competitive win on a stadium scoreboard in Baku had to be savoured all the same. What’s rare is wonderful and all that.

The result in Azerbaijan is too little, too late to matter in the context of World Cup qualification, but it suggested the team under Stephen Kenny has the wherewithal to put to the sword inferior opposition while mixing it up in style.

That struggle over his previous 16-game stretch, including being eclipsed by countries of a similar ranking, constituted a major stumbling block for Kenny and his ideals, prompting whispers, leaks, and speculation over his continuity in the post.

Supporters may accept defeats to the elite tier of England and Portugal, once progress is evident against the others of lower standing.

A win of any shade and however ugly would suffice to buy the manager some badly needed breathing space in the wake of the Luxembourg disaster in March.

That Kenny finally managed it, even against a side ranked 117th in the world, could prove a watershed. That his team did so in Baku with plenty to spare despite nervy moments, suggests it isn’t momentary. Next month’s final pair of qualifiers against Portugal and, especially, Luxembourg, will deliver clarity.

Management success is defined by extracting the best from your players and, as Kenny noted in the bowels of the Olympic Stadium on Saturday night, having the best of them available is a start.

Callum Robinson’s return provided him with Ireland’s best forward of the current bunch. For a player accused of irresponsibility in the build-up, owing to his refusal to be Covid-19 vaccinated, he shouldered responsibility in taking the game to weaker opposition and exposing their shortcomings with a first-half two-goal salvo. His first was clinical and probably would have beaten Jordan Pickford or Rui Patrício. With defenders crowding around presenting scant back-lift to manoeuvre, he stuck a left-footer into the top corner with aplomb.

The second was aided by a goalkeeping howler; Shakhban Magomedaliev’s misjudging the flight of Robinson’s curler, and his own ability to stop it, by allowing the ball slip beneath his grasp.

The ‘keeper, a formidable obstacle in the Azeris’ rearguard in Dublin, was equally culpable for Chiedozie Ogbene’s late third. He botched his effort to keep out the header. On the sideline, manager Gianni De Biasi became similarly frustrated with his Italian translator as well as his players. His withdrawal late on of Emin Mahmudov — their midfield general who scored a wondergoal in the last meeting — underlined their malaise.

As is customary with bottom seeds, their near-misses on the giant-killing front tend to be followed by combustion. This was a second 3-0 home defeat since Shane Duffy denied them a famous victory and Serbia are capable of dishing out another hammering on Tuesday in Belgrade.

Kenny preferred to talk up the Azeris’ tighter contests to enhance his side’s accomplishment in his post-match summations, neglecting to mention Portugal’s identical winning margin last month.

It has developed into a predictable pattern under his reign and one he should ditch. For example, nobody apart from himself it appears felt Ireland didn’t deserve their Luxembourg humbling.

He was at it again on Saturday, much to the annoyance of Didi Hamann. The RTÉ pundit was flabbergasted that the manager made a virtue out of one defeat in the last seven (two wins, against Andorra and Azerbaijan, and four draws in the other six).

“Look at the table, Ireland have five points from six qualifiers, with Portugal and Luxembourg left to finish the campaign,” said the German. “Keep your feet on the ground.”

The distortions extend to facts too. When Aaron Connolly was supposedly denied a penalty against Serbia with “20 minutes to go”, a version Kenny is still repeating, he had actually been substituted. The incident occurred in the 52nd minute.

Brian Kerr refers to the manager’s such musings as “exaggerations”, an unnecessary trait he shouldn’t persist with following the milestone of his first competitive victory in 13 attempts.

As much as Saturday’s win was resounding, it must be kept in perspective. By any metric, Ireland have better players than the Azeris and just needed to prove their supremacy.

Indeed, if it took a “late” winner for Serbia to eke out a win in Baku — since when is the 81st minute late? — then why isn’t his side challenging them for qualification? He publicly waved the white flag on that one 24 hours before the Balkan battlers visited Aviva Stadium last month.

That game, of course, culled any notion of bad luck cursing his tenure. A comical own-goal, the likes of which would rarely be seen on a small-sided pitch in any underage league around the country, gifted Ireland a point at the end of a contest they were outplayed in.

A break came his way with 20 minutes remaining on Saturday. Espen Eskas, taking charge of his first World Cup qualifier, was advised by his VAR team to replay an incident for a potential Azeris penalty. Fortunately, after a few viewings at his monitor, the Norwegian disagreed with his colleagues but such stances are unusual since the tool was introduced.

In a frenetic and open game, where chances were plentiful at both ends, Ireland applied the veneer by grabbing the third and final goal.

Three of the 12 board members who will decide Kenny’s future, along with chief executive Jonathan Hill, were present in the Caucuses to witness the win.

They will keep their powder dry for now, assessing Kenny’s performance in the totality of the 20 games he’ll have overseen when the whistle is blown in the Grand Duchy on November 14.

What is now becoming clear is the board’s preference to make a judgement before Christmas. Kenny’s contract duration encompasses the March friendlies and first four games of the Uefa Nations League in June, but his plea to complete his project through the Euro ‘24 qualifiers in 2023 will be soon answered one way or the other.

Given the controversy it inherited, the new FAI board is not of a trigger-happy persuasion. And those directors who share Paul McGrath’s view that Kenny is not up to the job will now have one less bullet in their chamber at the November showdown.

For Kenny’s sake, usurping Luxembourg for third in the group is compulsory.