When the press release was finally issued eight months after Stephen Kenny’s departure, most Republic of Ireland fans expected John O’Shea to get the nod. The former Ireland international had been in interim charge for four friendlies in the wake ofKenny’s November exit and had done reasonably well against nations off to Euro 2024. Kenny’s Ireland had not come within an ass’s roar of getting to that tournament having failed to take a point from opposition more exalted than Gibraltar in the qualifiers, and its final was played four days after the Football Association of Ireland’s big reveal: O’Shea had been overlooked in favour of a far-from marquee signing in the form of an Icelandic dentist by the name of Heimir Hallgrímsson, who many Irish people had never heard of.
An Icelandic what? Heimir who? The catastrophic state in which the FAI’s coffers were left after years of mismanagement by John Delaney, their former chief executive, meant the organisation he quit in September 2019 would always be shopping for Kenny’s replacement in the bargain aisle. Even so, the familiarity of many of the old faces who lined its shelves smacked of a serious lack of imagination. Although Gus Poyet, Roy Keane, Neil Lennon and Steve Bruce may never have been serious contenders, their names were linked and hugely underwhelmed most who heard them. The reported hot pursuit of Willy Sagnol and Lee Carsley left Ireland fans nonplussed, even if the former proved to be one of the great characters of Euro 2024 as he oversaw Georgia’s riotous white-knuckle ride to the last 16. Carsley, reported to be the FAI’s first choice, will also be standing in a technical area at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
