John Duggan writes that we need to think differently when it comes to evaluating Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny...
I had a decent Economics teacher in Secondary School and I did well in that subject in the Leaving Cert, but the only thing I remember about the classes was her barking constantly about 'the long run'. I think it had something to do with demand curves.
We need to think about the 'long run' when it comes to Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny. Otherwise, we will never break the boom and bust cycles of managers such as Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin O'Neill, who had qualities, but whose raison d'etre in the job was to get us to major tournaments. Of course, there were some great moments along the way, but ultimately their teams played functional football, Paris 2009 aside.
We tried to play football against Serbia in the opening World Cup qualifier in Belgrade last night, and at times, we did. We pressed, we passed the ball. Kenny was pragmatic enough to ditch a stated desire to play a 4-3-3 formation because he had players who fitted more naturally into a different system. Alan Browne's goal was beautifully worked and there was a moment in the second half when the Irish players moved with great fluency. Ultimately, poor positioning by young goalkeeper Mark Travers and the quality of Dusan Tadic and Aleksandar Mitrovic saw the Serbs home 3-2. Seamus Coleman produced a captain's display, and both Browne and Josh Cullen impressed.
There are green shoots here. It is important for Kenny's side to beat Luxembourg and Azerbaijan home and away in the Group, to continue to show progress. But does anyone believe we are going to the World Cup in Qatar? I don't think so. Portugal should be too strong, Serbia have the edge on us in the Group now and the playoff route has not been our friend. Qualifying for the Euro 2024 finals in Germany is a more realistic ambition.
Stephen Kenny has the biggest job in Irish sport, and it comes with scrutiny and pressure as a given. We live in a 24/7 news cycle and in a culture of frustration, accelerated by the pandemic.
There is a feverish expectation about the national team, rooted in Italia 90, and USA 94, and Korea and Japan. It's an expectation that is not in sync with the reality that ours is a population of just under 5 million, with competing sports for attention such as Gaelic Football, Hurling, and Rugby.
Kids have distractions and far more things to do than when Ireland was poor and football dominated every waking hour of a young Liam Brady or Robbie Keane. We don't have English League champions such as Ray Houghton, Roy Keane, or Damien Duff in our ranks. We now live in the shadow of the Premier League as a truly global league, which is why what Josh Cullen is doing at Anderlecht is important. There are alternatives for our good young players.
Yes, Stephen Kenny has no wins in nine, but Michael O'Neill, also a manager who came from the League of Ireland, had one win in his first 18 games as Northern Ireland boss. He was the best thing that happened to them since the 1980s.
What I would love is for us to be competitive in a major tournament sometime in the future. Greece and Iceland have demonstrated that success is achievable in such an environment, but Kenny needs time, space and he needs support to build. There are obvious concerns about the depth of talent that we have, especially in attacking areas. I am not a blind League of Ireland die-hard who will defend Stephen Kenny to the hilt. As media, we need to ask questions of the Dubliner and challenge his decisions. I am actually a Tottenham Hotspur fan, but primarily, I want the Republic of Ireland to do well and I want to see the game played the way it should be played. Kenny has that philosophy.
As the former Northern Ireland skipper and Tottenham double-winning captain Danny Blanchflower said:
“The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It’s nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It is about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”
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