Stephen Kenny's timeline as Ireland manager
TIMELINE: Stephen Kenny’s tumultuous three-and-a-half year reign as Ireland manager.
A timeline of Stephen Kenny’s tumultuous three-and-a-half year reign as Ireland manager. The footnote could be brief.
Covid-19 presents the FAI with a managerial dilemma in their succession plan and Kenny prevails following letters issued on his behalf insisting the August handover date from Mick McCarthy isn’t extended by the pandemic.
Choosing Damien Duff over Mick McCarthy’s sidekick Robbie Keane was deemed fair game but Kenny’s decision not to inform the under-contract legend directly due to ‘time constraints’ was an ill-judged early pass.
Shane Duffy’s late header avoids the new reign starting with an embarrassing defeat in Bulgaria. Those would come later.
Drama unfolds on the eve of the Euro playoff semi-final against Slovakia when it emerges Aaron Connolly and Adam Idad are ruled out. They are adjudged to be close contacts of a person Kenny entitles a ‘non-essential member of staff’ who received what transpired to be a false positive Covid result. But it soon emerges the incident on the charter flight to Bratislava occurred because the pair were allowed to change rows and therefore breach social distance rules. Slovakia, equally impacted by Covid through the loss of Stanislav Lobotka and Milan Škriniar, knock Ireland out on penalties.
Kenny is subject to an urgent investigation by his employers following a UK tabloid story revealing an ‘Anti-English’ video was played before a friendly against the Auld Enemy. What became known as ‘Videogate’ should’ve been branded ‘Wembleygate’ for it was the thrust of the manager’s speech, rather than the historical video, that prompted a staff member to relay complaints from players about ‘inappropriate’ content. An internal FAI report would later conclude that his motivational ploy was ‘open to misinterpretation’. England coast to a 3-0 victory.
The manager ends the year with no wins from eight and starts the next one without his assistant and goalkeeping coach. Former club and country teammates Damien Duff and Alan Kelly clashed over the Wembleygate approach and Duff was known to be displeased with other aspects of the regime.
All the bluster from Kenny about his first year being exceptional due to three campaigns was obliterated from a competitive sense within six months. Defeats to Serbia and especially Luxembourg at home ended their World Cup qualification ambitions after 180 minutes. FAI Chairman Roy Barrett publicly backs the manager at a coincidental press briefing the morning after losing to the nation plunged at 98 in Fifa’s rankings.
At the eleventh attempt, and after a falling behind against lowly Andorra, the first victory of the manager’s stint arrives.
Credit from staying ahead in Portugal until Cristiano Ronaldo’s late brace disappears when Azerbaijan claim their only point of the campaign three days later. It would have been three, only for Shane Duffy’s last-gasp equaliser and his switch into attack also helped eke out a draw against Serbia. Kenny reveals in between the two home qualifiers that Euro ’24 qualification, not the World Cup, was his planned strategy from the outset.
A second-half blitz in Luxembourg earns the win to salvage third place in the group. Kenny ends the year with a friendly win over Qatar and declares his target of topping the Nations League group to earn promotion to League A and guarantee a Euro playoff before the qualifiers even start. His recovery earns a new contract, albeit containing a maximum severance clause from the FAI side.
That ambition perishes one game in, as lowest seeds Armenia inflict a 1-0 defeat in Yerevan. Ukraine’s second string repeat the feat three days later before the best week of Kenny’s employment unfurls. A 3-0 thumping of Scotland regains belief, as does the 1-1 draw in Poland against Ukraine remembered for a superb solo goal by Nathan Collins.
Scotland gain revenge at Hampden Park but the worrisome aspect of the window is Armenia cancelling out a 2-0 deficit. Robbie Brady’s stoppage-time penalty was a relief to everybody at Aviva Stadium, primarily Kenny.
No games but challenges nonetheless as another third-place group finish keeps them in that pot of seeds for the Euro 2024 draw. Kenny was in Frankfurt when Netherlands and France emerged as the top two seeds in their group. Greece was one of the least favourable fourth seeds too.
“We need to pick off big results over the year but we’re capable of big performances,” declared the manager.
Another scare against Latvia in a friendly is parked due to the elevation of star striker Evan Ferguson, a bona fide Premier League goalscorer at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Service is an issue though on his competitive debut against the French, who take the three points with a solitary Benjamin Pavard strike. Kenny cites France to be runaway winners, leaving Ireland, Greece and the Dutch to battle for the second ticket.
The eliminator, as termed by Greece boss Gus Poyet, goes the way of the hosts in Athens. Outplayed and outmuscled for the most part, the 2-1 defeat flatters Ireland but Kenny pins his hopes on results from a big window against France and Netherlands.
Familiar failings, long-range goals and concessions shortly after the restart for a fifth competitive game on the spin, account for Ireland’s 2-0 loss in Paris.
Judgement time. It meant the campaign Kenny pleaded for his reign to be measured by would hinge on winning a match against a top-10 ranked team. While Ireland led against the Dutch, they were soon swatted aside, Oranje crushing another campaign prematurely.
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