FORMER READING, SWANSEA and Derby manager Paul Clement is interested in succeeding Stephen Kenny as Republic of Ireland head coach.
Contacted earlier today by The 42, sources close to Clement confirmed the job interests him, though they declined to say anything further out of respect to the FAI and all of those involved in the recruitment process.
It is therefore unclear whether Clement has received any contact from the FAI, who said last week they are “getting closer” to a final decision.
“It’s a confidential process”, said director of football Marc Canham at the launch of the FAI’s football pathways plan last week. “We’ve run a very tight process, respecting all the people we spoke to and speak to, we respect their confidentiality, we know it’s an important role for Irish football. We are doing things in the right way and hope to complete that process.”
Clement completed his Pro Licence coaching course with the FAI in 2009, part of a class which included Packie Bonner – presently an FAI board member and involved in the recruitment of the next Irish head coach – and former Irish manager Brian Kerr.
Clement has worked for the FAI before, serving as assistant to Irish U21s manager Don Givens from 2005 to 2008. Among the players Clement worked with at that level was the current Irish captain, Seamus Coleman. He combined that role with at the time a coaching role in the Chelsea academy. Clement left the FAI when he was elevated to the Chelsea first team staff in 2009 by Guus Hiddink. Clement was then retained on the staff when Carlo Ancelotti took charge at Stamford Bridge. He went on to serve as Ancelotti’s assistant at Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich.
Clement struck out as a manager in his own right with Derby County in 2015, but was sacked despite the club sitting fifth in the Championship, only five points from the league leaders. Having returned to work with Ancelotti at Bayern, Clement took the manager’s job at Swansea, then in the Premier League. Having kept Swansea safe from relegation, he was sacked into the following season, with the club bottom of the league. He went on to manage Reading and Belgian side Cercle Brugge, while he most recently worked as an assistant to Frank Lampard at Everton.
Clement also worked briefly alongside Gareth Southgate with England’s U21s.
Elsewhere, the FAI are believed to be close to securing a new primary sponsor for the Association, with an announcement anticipated in early March. Sources in the commercial world have strongly rejected reports that sponsor will be the global payments firm Revolut.
The FAI have been without a primary sponsor since 2019, though have improved the value of their secondary sponsorships in that time, most notably with their kit manufacturer: the current deal with Castore believed to be significantly more lucrative than the previous deal with Umbro.