Josh Cullen: 'We're fully behind the manager and what he is trying to do'

Republic of Ireland midfielder Josh Cullen believes Stephen Kenny enjoys the unreserved backing of his entire squad as the national team looks to end an unsuccessful World Cup qualifying campaign on a high

Mon, 08 Nov, 2021 - 18:57

Brendan O'Brien

Republic of Ireland midfielder Josh Cullen has declared that the entire senior square is in favour of Stephen Kenny being handed a new contract.

The national side completes its 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign this week with the visit of Portugal to Dublin on Thursday followed by the away trip to Luxembourg at the weekend and with the finals long out of reach.

However, an upswing in performances and results in recent months has eased the pressure on Kenny after a difficult opening year in charge. His current contract expires in the summer of 2022, halfway through the next Nations League campaign and before the next Euro qualifiers.

“Yeah, for me, 100 per cent,” said Cullen when asked if the FAI should offer him an extension. “As I mentioned before, the progression that the team has shown over the last year or so, working together has been really enjoyable.

“I probably speak on behalf all of the lads that we’re fully behind the manager and believe in what he’s trying to do.

“We’re enjoying the style of football we’re playing and we’re starting to see the rewards results-wise, from the performances we’ve been putting in. For me, it’s a pretty straightforward answer. Yeah, 100 per cent, I want the manager to stay.”

Cullen’s devotion to the boss is unsurprising given the Anderlecht player has become central, literally and figuratively, to the Republic’s cause. Another man to be given his wings is Derby County’s Jason Knight.

“Yeah, I’d just echo what Josh said, absolutely the same. On a personal level as well, he’s given me my chance, obviously with the U21s and he’s brought me up and given me eight senior caps so far. I’m grateful for that and I want to see him continue and hopefully me continue underneath him.”

Securing a positive result of some stripe when the Portuguese come to town would go a long way to securing Kenny’s future in the role and Ireland came desperately close to frustrating Ronaldo & Co. in Faro last September.

John Egan opened the scoring for the visitors before half-time that night and the clock was inching towards the red when the Manchester United superstar pounced for the first of two goals that broke Irish hearts and gave Portugal the win.

“He’s probably one of, if not the only, player in world football that could have scored those two goals,” said Cullen.

“We know what a special player he is and, yeah, we managed to do it for 89 minutes but we would have much preferred to have done it for 95 or whatever it was in the end. That’s what we’ll be looking to do Thursday night.

“We can take a lot of encouragement from the performance we put in out there and we’ll be looking to do a similar job on Thursday night, but turn a good performance into a good result as well.”