McAteer fears 'perfect partner' Carsley may end up out of FAI's reach

Ex-Ireland midfielder takes no pride in being proven somewhat correct in his early fears about Stephen Kenny's reign

GREEN LIGHTS: Former Irish international footballer Jason McAteer ahead of Ireland’s match against Canada which takes place at lunchtime on Wednesday. As an official partner of the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team, Carlsberg 0.0 has teamed up with former Irish international footballer Jason McAteer to encourage fans to continue their support for the Girls in Green and watch the game.

Jason McAteer didn’t need much prompting. The first mention of Stephen Kenny’s Republic of Ireland team yesterday took him back to August of 2020 and his take that the gig was a big ask for a man with a CV built in Irish football and with one brief stint in Scotland.

Kenny’s reign has since delivered just ten wins in 34 games. Ireland finished eight points adrift of qualification for the 2022 World Cup, the prospects of making Euro 2024 are bleak, and two Nations League campaigns have been, well, more or less disastrous.