Damien Delaney joined The Football Show to discuss Stephen Kenny ahead of Ireland's games with Portugal and Luxembourg.
Stephen Kenny's Ireland welcome Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal on Thursday night.
It's a meaningless game for Ireland, or at least as close to a meaningless game as Stephen Kenny can have. Kenny won the two games he needed to win to keep his job. He still has to win over some members of the FAI and the Ireland fan base, but his job should be secure.
Ireland can't qualify. But they can continue to grow as a team. A victory over Portugal or even a strong performance in a draw will build on the performance in Faro. Losing to Portugal won't change anything. Losing to Luxembourg at the weekend might.
Damien Delaney thinks the Luxembourg game is crucial because of Ireland's success in the last window. Kenny needs to prove it wasn't a once-off.
"I think a win against Luxembourg will absolutely be enough," Delaney said.
"A draw and a decent performance, he'll still not convince a certain portion of the Irish public. So I just think it's a huge window for him...Was that a once-off against [Qatar]? I know they're ranked reasonably high in the world but you need to go and do that now in a qualification game or show signs that it's happening."
Kenny's players have repeatedly come out in support of him. Callum Robinson, John Egan and Matt Doherty did so in interviews over the last six months. Kenny is receiving more backing from former Ireland players now too, with the likes of Kevin Kilbane coming around to his approach.
But Delaney knows that results ultimately make decisions.
"All the signs coming out of camp have been take your time, we're building the process. This is still professional sport. A process is a process, you need to start showing results. Nobody gets carte blanche for as long as what Stephen has had. He has had an awful lot of backing, an awful lot of people want him to succeed.
"I want him to succeed. But you have to be realistic too."
Stephen Kenny and his coaching staff are brilliant | John Egan
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