Gloves off as Vera Pauw criticises FAI over contract delay

The prospect of a contract extension appears further away than ever following the Ireland manager's comments in the past 48 hours.

Sun, 30 Jul, 2023 - 09:36

John Fallon

The standoff between the FAI and Vera Pauw over a contract renewal has escalated after the Irish boss openly criticised her employers on the eve of their final World Cup game.

Monday's meeting with Group B leaders Nigeria is officially Pauw’s last game under contract and the prospect of an extension appears further away than ever following her comments in the past 48 hours.

Her preference for concluding negotiations prior to the trip Down Under were ignored, as talks were parked around the same time at further allegations of misconduct from her spell in charge of Houston Dash.

Pauw vigorously denies the claims of weight shaming and controlling behaviour by the seven former players and staff, as chronicled in The Athletic publication.

That Pauw has been left in limbo is clearly grating with the veteran coach.

Gone is the stance deployed around the squad announcement of allowing the tournament take precedence.

Pauw’s displeasure about the inaction was borne out on Saturday when she spoke of awaiting word from the FAI, even sarcastically asking the journalists probing for clarity if they had heard first.

The association’s chief executive Jonathan Hill has refused media requests, despite a fortnight promising an update to reporters joining him on the trip to Australia.

Neither has public support been forthcoming from the players. All four squad members made available for interview on Saturday chimed with captain Katie McCabe’s non-committal when this latest bout of controversy.

Vera Pauw's future in doubt as players decline to publicly back her

The hot topic was raised again at the press conference on the eve of their last game, making for an uncomfortable watch.

Pauw kept her answers brief but pointed. Megan Connolly, deputising for captain Katie McCabe, was the latest player to pass off her manager’s future to the elusive FAI.

Asked if she felt that for the sake of the players and for herself, certainty should have been supplied by now, Pauw replied with an emphatic ‘yes’.

When invited to elaborate, she repeated her stance of wanting to continue for the Nations League campaign and Euro 2025 qualifiers. "That situation has not changed," she said.

The thorny issue of player backing was raised, leading Pauw to state only: "I think we have a fantastic bond in our team and that has shown all over the four years.”

Connolly – expected to remain in defence again on Monday stopped short of unloading an endorsement for Pauw’s continuity.

She said: “What we have achieved in the past three years under Vera has been amazing. She helped us get to this point and I can only speak on my own personal experience and Vera has been great for me. But that is not my decision."

Similar to Giovanni Trapattoni in Euro 2012 against Italy, Pauw will resist a clamour to rotate or plan for the next game, the Nations League opener against Northern Ireland on September 22 – a first women’s international at the Aviva Stadium.

Heather Payne could recover from the hamstring strain that forced her out of the second game against Canada in the warm-up.

“We have a huge responsibility to the tournament, to ourselves, to the nation, FIFA and the FAI to bring on the best performance ever,” she stressed.

“So if we put players on who haven’t had many minutes yet, the game will only show them. That is not the plan. It is to go with the strongest team, to compete and do our duty for the supporters in the best way possible.”

Co-hosts Australia and Canada face off simultaneously in the other match in Melbourne, the risk of one bowing out hinging on how Nigeria fare. Kick-off is 8pm local time, 11am Irish.

“The whole time we wanted to come away and progress from the group stages,” noted Connolly.

“Unfortunately we can’t do that but we still want to come away with the win and points, I don’t think the result affecting other teams is on our mind. We want to make everyone proud and prove to ourselves we deserve to be here.”