Dan McDonnell from the Irish Independent joined Joe Molloy on Off The Ball to review Irish Football in 2020, with a focus on Stephen Kenny.

Not surprisingly, Stephen Kenny played a central role in McDonnell's review of the year. The transition of power between Mick McCarthy and Kenny was described as mostly smooth off the field but a disaster on it:

"If Connor Hourihane takes that chance [in Slovakia] we don't talk about [any of the other negatives]," McDonnell said.

"But obviously, that is missed, the penalty shootout is lost and then it just turns into a bit of a disaster...in the context of our narrow focus of Irish football, it was a disastrous international window."

While Hourihane making the net ripple on that night would have washed away all of the need for nuance, the fact he missed meant that a very complex situation developed for Kenny during the first stage of his management.

And that's without even factoring in the direct impact of Covid-19.

"Stephen Kenny came in with a wave of goodwill to some degree but I think obviously there would have possibly been some people within Irish football who maybe wouldn't have shared that," McDonnell said.

"All of a sudden he was elevated to the top, to a position of authority that you could argue that nobody in Irish football had been given before in a football context.

"He came in on the road to senior manager, was given responsibility over the under-21s, effectively an overlord figure in terms of the [other] underage managers funnelling up towards him.

"And given his position on the executive, whether that's a symbolic thing or meaningful thing has been debated but it is a position that's there."

McDonnell noted how Kenny was hired different to other previous managers and how that may have created resentment in some sectors, but he also recognised the need for that hire.

"There is a view out there that some people in the media are giving Stephen Kenny a very soft ride. He's getting an easy time of it here, [there's]almost a sense after seven or eight games we should be losing our heads.

"The Stephen Kenny appointment was an important thing to try, to try something different, to break away from the cycle of just appointing a manager, throwing loads of money at him and just qualify for the next tournament and that's it.

"There was a logic in putting your foot on the ball, trying something different that may take time. But having called for years for that approach to be tried, you're not after seven or eight games suddenly...results aren't going well let's lose the plot and say this is a disgrace.

"We always suggested it might take time."

File photo dated 24-08-2020 of Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny.

But McDonnell also understands that Kenny was trying something radical himself so it wasn't just the way in which he got the job that caused tension, but the way he went about it contributed too.

Kenny has had his challenges

Kenny wasn't turning up just to see out his contract and enjoy his time as manager:

"He also then came in in September and really decided to change his entire backroom staff, never mind the high profile stuff, he really cleared out a lot of people who were there a long time and brought in his own people.

"He'd made a decision to really go for it and try and create this new environment for the team.

"In doing that you really knock quite a lot of noses out of joint. That just happens.

"That leaves you vulnerable to the type of murmurs and whispers and stuff that happens in every workplace. That's normal but then when you don't win games those murmurs can lead to something else and what we then saw was definitely mischievous leaks in November...That's part of the growing pains of a regime change.

"If you come in and try and change a lot straight away you need to hit the ground running for that to happen smoothly.

"But because they haven't hit the ground running on the pitch, it left them open to some stuff off the pitch...some mischievous stuff.

"Even the coordination and timing and content of some stuff that came out afterwards...it has the potential to be a galvanising force if you use it the right way and maybe take stock of some things that happened over the last couple of months to see what you can learn from it.

"[Then] go into March with the players and everyone from the start and say 'Listen, there was a lot of crap there, what do we need to do?'"

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