TOP CANDIDATES FOR the vacant Republic of Ireland job could be put off by the country’s lack of quality players, according to Liam Brady.
The FAI is to meet in the coming days to discuss potential replacements after they parted ways with manager Giovanni Trapattoni “by mutual consent.”
Even before Trapattoni’s departure was made official today, former Celtic and Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill was the heavy favourite to succeed the Italian.
Brady feels that there is a lack of talent coming through to fill the gaps when David Forde, Richard Dunne, John O’Shea, Wes Hoolahan and Robbie Keane — all of who are 31 or older — retire.
That could be a major stumbling block in enticing O’Neill, who is as short as 4/7 with bookmakers to take the job.
“My worry is that our best players are getting old and the ones coming in to replace them are nowhere near as good as they were, and that’s not Giovanni Trapattoni’s fault,” Brady told Aine Lawlor on RTÉ’s News at One.
I am very, very worried about the future of Irish football.
If the FAI decide that O’Neill is their man, the Derry native would be available to start immediately and could be in place before the final two qualifiers against Germany and Kazakhstan next month.
O’Neill has been out of management since he was sacked by Sunderland in March of this year, 14 months into a three-year contract.
“There has been a lot of debate about the amount of money Trapattoni was being paid but I doubt that Martin O’Neill and his track record would want to accept the job for much less than that. That’s probably the going rate.
“I wouldn’t have any problem with Martin. I have my doubts he would take the job though.
For potential managers, looking at the squad of players at their disposal and the expectation of the media and other factors in Ireland might put them off.I think it’s going to be very, very difficult with the squad of players we’ve got.
