STEPHEN KENNY SAYS his instinct is that he will not be offered a new contract by the FAI but insists he will respect the decision if they opt not to renew it.
It is expected that the Dubliner will be informed by the Association’s Director of Football, Marc Canham, that he will not be offered a new deal as Republic of Ireland manager.
“My dream is to carry on but my own instinct is that won’t happen,” he said in his post-match press conference.
This 1-1 draw with New Zealand at Aviva Stadium is now almost certain to be his final game in charge after Ireland finished fourth in their Euro 2024 qualifying group, missing out on a play-off place.
And Kenny admitted to RTÉ that it would be difficult for the FAI to stick with him for another campaign.
“There may not be the appetite for that and I respect that. Sport is ruthless and international management, people get impatient and I get that as they want to qualify for tournaments. And so do I.
“We will have to see. I’ve had amazing support from my staff and it’s been an amazing journey with the 21s and the last three years with the senior team.
“It’s an incredible group of people I’ve been privileged to get to know and be part of their international career and journey. It’s a really good squad now and potentially a lot of good players and good players not there tonight like Chiedozie [Ogbene] and Nathan Collins, and we didn’t play Dara O’Shea and Liam Scales tonight.
“If you put your best squad up there now, 90% of their careers are on an upward trajectory and they will only get better in their clubs. Not long ago I had eight players in League One and now we have none. It’s a very strong squad going forward.”
Kenny has yet to be formally told of the FAI’s decision by Canham, something he does not have an issue with.
“Listen, that’s the way it is. I have no complaints. I have spoken to the players about that. It may well be my last match, that has been well documented and if it is, so be it. I’ve had the privilege of managing my country, a huge privilege to see this group grow. When you see the depth of talent in the group, they are capable of having a really strong Nations League Group B.
“Nothing could ever [give more pride]. Irish supporters have been great home and away. Full crowds at home and big crowds away. We’ve had our setbacks but it’s been amazing to know every one of those players in the dressing room.”
