After Stephen Kenny's Ireland were defeated by Luxembourg on Saturday night at the Aviva Stadium, Stuart Byrne believes that the former Dundalk manager is under "huge pressure".
"I think pressure is inevitable. There’s been a lot of talk and debate about the team ever since he took charge," Byrne explained.
"You have got a situation now where the new chief executive wouldn’t know too much about Stephen and is probably looking at the situation from a different point of view.
"We’ve got a big gap now until we play Portugal and there are certainly a lot of questions to be answered. I think he’s in a fight to save his job."
Byrne explained how he always felt that this group of fixtures was going to be vitally important for Kenny.
"I think the honeymoon period was over and this week was always going to be a huge week for him. People were saying that we need three or four points from the two games and we've got none," he said.
"He’s under huge pressure now, there’s no doubt about it."
Byrne also discussed how the loss to Luxembourg is a major blow to the belief that many had in what Kenny was trying to do with the Irish international team.
"I thought Stephen Kenny’s Ireland team was something to get excited about but after tonight’s performance I’m seriously questioning that," he explained.
"We have been talking about the way that we want to play football and how we want to change the way Ireland approach games. What’s most disappointing for me is that that all went out the door tonight.
"I’ve even lost belief in it now."
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