The FAI will give Stephen Kenny a new contract when his current deal expires as Ireland manager, according to a report.
Mark Tighe of the Sunday Times reports that Kenny only needs to avoid disaster against Luxembourg to assure his future.
Tighe says that the FAI won't rush the contract extension. They don't fear losing Kenny right now so they're not going to rush the decision, but they don't want his contract to run until July next year either. Kenny's current contract expires in July.
Assuming the final two games aren't disastrous, Kenny will be in a job this time next year.
His new deal will run through Euro 2024. Kenny will be in charge for the Nations League games next year and the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. This is significant because Kenny previously said that Euro 2024 was always his priority.
Tighe suggests that FAI director Packie Bonner will be a key decision-maker.
It's unclear if Bonner was part of the group that traveled to Baku last week. Tighe reports that trip was impactful for Kenny in more ways than one.
"The FAI’s leadership, who decamped in large numbers to Baku for the game against Azerbaijan last week, were not only impressed by the result but by what they saw behind the scenes about the way the manager and players conducted themselves in training and elsewhere, which has only strengthened the resolve to stick with Kenny. And, incidentally, the blazers behaved themselves as well."
This detail is consistent with everything we've heard from the players.
Callum Robinson praised Kenny months ago before Matt Doherty explicitly referenced how impressive the camp is together behind the scenes.
"If you saw the way we were in camp, the way we were run, the way we were set up, the way we were coached, if there was a camera there, there would be no problem from anybody with how things were going," Doherty told Irish Football Fan TV.
After the last two Ireland performances, Kenny's job should be safe. But that doesn't mean this news will be welcomed by all. Many Ireland fans are still hopeful of reverting back to the styles of previous managers.
Ireland face Portugal in the Aviva Stadium on November 11th and travel to Luxembourg on November 14th. A good result or performance against Portugal could make the Luxembourg game irrelevant.
Kenny became Ireland under-21 manager on November 25th, 2019. He became the senior manager in April last year, replacing Mick McCarthy, and coached his first game in September last year. Ireland's playing style has dramatically changed since he took over. The age profile of the team has also dwindled in that time.
The new playing style, recent results and emerging young players are arguments for Kenny's new contract.
New Ireland starting to excite under Stephen Kenny | Johnny Ward.
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