THREE GOALS, A clean sheet and, crucially, a first competitive win.
Ireland’s 3-0 victory against Azerbaijan in Baku on Saturday has certainly strengthened Stephen Kenny’s claim for his contract as manager to be extended for the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
After a challenging first year in charge for the ex-Dundalk boss, there are signs that this Ireland team is trending in the right direction under his stewardship.
Attention has now shifted to the friendly against Qatar in Dublin tomorrow night, but next month’s final game of the World Cup qualifying campaign could be particularly significant for Kenny and his prospects of continuing in the job.
Ireland have shown considerable improvement since a dismal night at the Aviva Stadium last March, when an 85th-minute Gerson Rodrigues strike gave Luxembourg a shock win.
“The really interesting game will be Luxembourg away,” said The42‘s Gavin Cooney on the latest episode of The Football Family podcast. “This qualifying campaign went to shit in that home game against Luxembourg. Nothing worked and it was a bad night for Kenny.”
Three days after hosting Portugal, Ireland can avenge that costly 1-0 defeat when they travel to Luxembourg for a 14 November fixture that may determine who finishes third in Group A.
“I do think that there has been enough in some of the performances overall to kind of justifiably say that Kenny has been putting a proper plan of action in place,” said football journalist David Sneyd.
“It’s just that he obviously needs those results to back it up. Getting a result against Luxembourg next month is going to be massive for him, I’d say.”
Hopes of World Cup qualification have long been relinquished, but there’s still plenty at stake for this Ireland team – and their manager, in particular – before the campaign concludes.
“I think the Luxembourg game will be an interesting test to see how much the team has actually progressed. If they win that, I honestly think [Stephen Kenny] should be fine,” Gavin Cooney added.
“There’s a real level of support for the team. The 200-odd Irish fans who travelled to Baku sang Kenny’s name throughout.
“He’ll be in a pretty strong position if November goes well.”
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