IT IS ALMOST two months to the day since Stephen Kenny’s departure as Ireland manager was confirmed and the public are still no closer to knowing the identity of his successor.
Certainly in the media, it seems the popular choice is Lee Carsley.
Liam Brady, Eamon Dunphy, Kevin Kilbane, Shay Given, Damien Delaney and Richard Dunne have been among those to suggest the England U21 boss would be the right fit.
Aside from his status as an ex-player, Carsley has another link with the current Football Association of Ireland too.
FAI Director of Football Marc Canham has previously worked with the former Ireland international in the much-acclaimed English Elite Player Performance Plan.
Carsley is currently on a rolling contract with England U21s, but if for one reason or another, it doesn’t work out, obvious alternatives seem thin on the ground.
Beyond Carsley, the list of talked-about candidates is largely a mixture of ex-Ireland internationals and former Premier League coaches, many of whom are without a managerial job at present.
Neil Lennon, Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce are among the names to have publicly declared an interest.
Others being mentioned in the conversation as possibilities include Anthony Barry, Gus Poyet, John Eustace, Roy and Robbie Keane, Chris Coleman, Damien Duff and John O’Shea.
And just how realistic some of these names are is debatable. Barry, for instance, is one of the most highly-rated coaches in the sport and is currently assisting Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich. Would he risk giving up the stability of that role for a job in which no manager has emerged with an enhanced reputation arguably since Mick McCarthy during his first spell that ended in 2002?
For the most part, the list of candidates seems a little unimaginative, particularly when you consider some of the biggest managerial success stories of recent years.
Ange Postecoglou is one of the most highly regarded coaches in Europe on the back of what he has achieved at Celtic and Tottenham in a short space of time.
Yet as recently as 2021, he was unknown to most football fans in England and Ireland, as he was serving as coach of Yokohama F Marinos in Japan.
Like Postecoglou, Roberto De Zerbi was far from a household name, with his previous three roles seeing him employed as coach of Benevento, Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Now, the Italian is being spoken of as a potential candidate to replace Pep Guardiola when the Catalan coach eventually leaves Man City.
The late Diego Maradona infamously criticised the appointment of the similarly then-unheralded Lionel Scaloni as Argentina’s boss, before the latter ultimately guided his country to a spectacular World Cup triumph.
“Scaloni is a great boy but he can’t even manage traffic,” Maradona told Clarin. “How can we give the national team to Scaloni?! With everyone who has passed through that team, who got their teeth and heads broken, you’re going to put Scaloni in?
“Now Scaloni says ‘I am prepared’. I’ve never even seen you score for Argentina.
“No offence. As a person, let’s go and share a barbecue. But as a coach and in the national team, no.”
This type of dismissive attitude was also to an extent shown towards Postecoglou and De Zerbi from certain quarters when they were initially appointed to their respective positions.
By contrast, there was far less palpable criticism within the game of the hiring of big names like Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard who were swiftly elevated to good jobs largely as a result of their stellar playing careers, with all three subsequently struggling to live up to these great expectations.
Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, some in football still seem to believe that a high-profile name is preferable to a more under-the-radar individual with a strong background and a good track record in coaching.
Some people may insist the next Ireland manager should be someone who knows what it’s like to represent the country. Yet the last ex-Republic of Ireland international to get the job was Steve Staunton, who struggled badly during his ill-fated reign.
Others may suggest it needs to be someone who knows Irish football inside out, but Stephen Kenny certainly cannot be accused of falling short in this department, yet still, his tenure was largely a disappointment.
What is key is that the FAI don’t settle on an emotional choice — someone with name recognition but a lack of managerial acumen to back it up.
Roy Keane would be the perfect example of a prospective candidate who would generate excitement and be popular among many fans, yet despite being arguably Ireland’s greatest-ever footballer, there are surely others available with more impressive managerial CVs. After all, it is just over 13 years since the Corkonian’s last job in management concluded — a forgettable spell at Ipswich Town.
The Man United legend would be an instant serotonin hit amid an environment in dire need of a good news story, but the long-term prospects would be less promising.
Instead, the FAI should be thinking outside the box.
They did so in 1986 by choosing Jack Charlton, who at the time had no obvious connection to Ireland — unlike two of the other candidates shortlisted (Liam Tuohy and John Giles) nor did the English World Cup winner have anywhere near as strong a coaching reputation as the man he pipped to the job (Bob Paisley).
The Charlton news initially was not unanimously popular with the Irish public — ‘Go home Union Jack’ read one banner during his first game in charge against Wales at Lansdowne Road — but it proved an inspired choice, as he remains to this day Ireland’s most successful ever manager.
The current FAI consequently would do well to follow the example of their ’80s predecessors in this regard.
They must be brave if necessary and prepared to risk criticism as opposed to purely opting for the candidate least likely to provoke a public backlash.
It does not need to be someone with name recognition or who has managed at international level or the Premier League before.
The main requirement is a candidate who has at least shown coaching promise and tactical intelligence — as Charlton had at Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday.
It does not matter if they are obscure or unheard of in most Irish fans’ eyes, as those issues are unimportant when it comes to selecting the right person for the role.
It is a crucial decision and one that should take more time if required, despite the expectation that the new boss will be in place by the time of the Nations League draw on 8 February.
For all the mistakes he made along the way, Kenny left the job in a better position than he found it with the plethora of caps awarded to several gifted but inexperienced players.
Whoever comes in next will ideally be able to help take these youngsters to the next level and turn potential into results.
