'Poyet has rejected Ireland contract offer' - Greek media

OUT OF THE PICTURE? Greece head coach Gus Poyet prior to the UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifying Group B match at the Aviva Stadium. Pic: Liam McBurney/PA Wire.

Greek media have claimed that Gus Poyet has turned down the Ireland job as he awaits news on a contract extension.

The former Brighton and Sunderland manager had expressed his interest in the vacancy, even before Stephen Kenny was dismissed in November.

He led Greece to victories over Kenny’s Ireland in the Euro campaign but their dreams of reaching Germany were ended on Tuesday night by losing in the playoffs to surprise packets Georgia.

The FAI have refused to comment on the claim, short of reaffirming their intention to reveal the manager’s identity in April.

A confluence of factors has kept the 56-year-old’s name in the mix to assume the Ireland job on a permanent basis.

His public declarations, closeness to interim manager John O’Shea from their time together at Sunderland, and the fact his contract ends has spiked speculation.

The FAI’s director of football Marc Canham appointed O’Shea as caretaker boss for last week’s double-header friendly against Belgium and Switzerland as he awaited the preferred candidate to complete “existing contractual obligations”.

According to reputable local media outlet novasports.gr., Poyet has spurned the FAI’s advances of a five-year contract. 

They claim he ultimately responded negatively to a demand for a final answer within two days and that “specific conditions” couldn’t be agreed upon.

The debt-ridden FAI have openly admitted they are constrained by budgetary factors, the head coach’s salary understood to be around the same as the €560,000 Kenny’s package rose to.

An overwhelming degree of support from his players despite their shock defeats has applied pressure on the Greek FA to offer Poyet a contract extension. A meeting of the federation is due next week to decide on his fate.

Much like his former nemesis Roy Keane, however, Poyet doesn’t seem to fit the profile laid out by Canham.

This was what he had to say on February 20, the last time the kingmaker set out the job specification for the chosen one.

“In terms of what we want from the new head coach, we want them to coach the team, to be on the grass coaching the team, to get the best out of them,” he said.

“We want them to get better performances, improved results, we want to be more competitive in all our games and have a really positive Uefa Nations League.

“We want to give ourselves the best chance to qualify for World Cup ‘26, we know it’s going to be really challenging.

“We are absolutely determined to be in Euro ‘28, which obviously we are going to have a number of games here in this stadium, which is going to be brilliant.

“They are going to be a key part to helping us achieve that potential and also a big part of what we are trying to achieve with the Football Pathways Plan.

“We want them to be an ambassador for Irish football and support everything we are trying to do in terms of player progression and player pathways in the game.”