THE RESULTS have not been good enough and will likely result in Stephen Kenny’s departure in November, however, Ireland’s players remain steadfast in their public support of the embattled manager.
When asked about the situation, Chiedozie Ogbene — one of 20 players to make their debut under Kenny and Ireland’s man-of-the-match winner in the Greece defeat on Friday that ended their hopes of automatic Euro 2024 qualification — expressed sympathy for his boss.
“I actually feel sorry for the manager,” the Luton winger told reporters.
“We were not sharp in our decision making and overall it is disappointing — the result.”
Ogbene echoed Kenny’s post-match comments, expressing the view that Greece won because they were more clinical than the hosts.
“Had we scored those chances [at the start of the match] then the game would be different. We would have been 2-0 up. But we didn’t take those chances and a positive start ended up negatively.
“Goals change games and we certainly feel we created enough chances.”
Ogbene also admitted to his frustration with the opening goal.
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Kostas Tsimikas, aided by a fortuitous bounce of the ball, managed to get by him, before delivering a pinpoint cross for former Celtic star Giorgos Giakoumakis to head powerfully home.
“I feel I could have done more to stop their player getting past me before he got the cross in, from which they scored their first goal. I need to look back on it again. But I left a trailing leg. I wish I had stopped him because the game was scoreless at that stage and if I had stopped him getting the cross in, then they wouldn’t have scored.
“Maybe the people who choose the man of the match are fans of me. Overall I could do better. In some cases, I should do better.”
Jason Knight, who has won 23 caps since Kenny handed him a debut in the November 2020 Nations League clash with Bulgaria, struck a similar tone.
“Goals change games and we certainly weren’t ruthless enough,” he said. “As a collective, as a team, they got their opportunities and scored. And we had good moments, we had chances, obviously, we hit the post, we had a good few chances in both halves, but it’s just about being ruthless, especially in these games, international games.
“It’s been a tough campaign. We definitely think as a group of players that we should have performed better. It’s not over yet.
“We’ve just got to focus [on the present] and international caps are hard to come by and gold dust, so we need to take every chance as it comes. That’s hopefully for me and everyone else as well. That’s all we can focus on now.”
Asked about what has been a difficult week for Kenny with all the speculation regarding his future as manager, Knight responded: “We’re all going to have a tough couple of days. We’re a group. We win as a group, we lose as a group. He’s put a lot of us young lads in. I owe him a lot personally. I can only speak for myself but we’re definitely fully behind the manager and the staff so there’s no talk about that in the dressing room at all. It’s disappointing as a group and it’s going to take a group to fix it as well.”
