Emotions ran high at times in Abbotstown yesterday.
In the stuffy press conference room, located off the reception area of the FAI’s modern headquarters, questions about Stephen Kenny’s reign as Ireland manager sent the mercury soaring.
At first, Kenny was bullish.
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“Yeah, I definitely do,” he replied, when asked if he expected to remain in charge for the rest of the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
“My contract is up till the end of the campaign and whether it’s renewed will depend on how people feel the campaign went overall.
“But certainly I fully expect to be. We want a positive result tomorrow and that’s firmly what I’m focused on.”
Later, he was asked if he had been given an assurance about seeing out the campaign from the Abbotstown hierarchy.
“I haven't seeked any assurance. That's not something I do,” he replied.
And finally an exchange that, while not in the Charlton-Dunphy league of manager-media bust-ups, hinted at the pressure that the manager might be feeling in the wake of Friday’s defeat to Greece.
‘How do you think you are doing as Ireland manager?’ he was asked.
Kenny replied: “I’m not going to sit here and do a full press conference on an assessment of my period in charge or anything like that. I’m here really to prepare for tomorrow, the game against Gibraltar, it’s a big game for us, and I said to you like obviously, I’m disappointed that we lost against Greece.
“But we’ve got to bounce back against Gibraltar and I’m fairly sure we can do that and we’ll take that into September.”
Journalist: You said you believe in the players. We’re three years down the road, do you still believe in them?
Kenny: “It’s not… players have come in in that period. A lot of players have come in the last year. They are not all… you can’t say everyone has come in the last year.”
Journalist: When do you get to the point where you say, we have the team, this is the team I want, we are going to play the way I want… we have been hearing a lot of stuff for the last three years and none of it has come true. Now the record is shambolic. We have been out of every campaign that you’ve started, this one is hanging by a thread…
Kenny: “We were in the World Cup campaign and now we are in the Euro campaign…”
Journalist: Two Nations League campaigns…
Press officer: “You know, let’s be respectful with your question…”
Journalist: When are we going to see the end product?
Kenny: “It’s about time we had a bit of respect from you, to be honest. Your lack of respect at times in press conferences shouldn’t be tolerated, to be honest.
“It’s absolutely terrible at times.”
The paint was already peeling off the walls of the press conference room, so it’s hard to know if that spikey exchange and the tension afterwards added to the need for a spot of redecorating.
There is no doubt that the heat is on Kenny - from both outside and inside Abbotstown.
Rumours that influential figures are getting trigger happy are growing.
There is even talk that some within the FAI are unhappy with the cost of preparations for the Greece game, including stints in Bristol and southern Turkey.
Although criticisms of the manager for wanting to give his players the best possible chance should be swiftly dismissed.
But there is no escaping that he is more vulnerable now than at any stage during his reign.
He spoke of this campaign being the one that he targeted from the outset for qualification.
The bar was lowered in most fair-minded people’s views, from qualification to competitiveness, when Kenny’s men were handed the most difficult of draws.
However, the nature of Friday’s defeat was shocking to many, including some of his biggest supporters and admirers.
Criticism is coming thick and fast and even a positive performance and result tonight against Gibraltar will do little to stifle the dissent.
Kenny regained his composure after the two-and-fro with a member of the media and acknowledged that he had his detractors.
“We’ve had a lot of good performances,” he said, defending his record.
“Certainly our previous performance against France was excellent, against the previous world champions.
“It was a narrow defeat and we were disappointed with that.
“I think we’ve come out the wrong side of some epic games 2-1 and we need to obviously change that against the better teams.
“We showed here, beating Scotland 3-0, what we are capable of, but we need more of that. There is no doubt about that.
“I think our performances at home and away against Scotland were top-drawer, our performance (away to) Ukraine was top-drawer, if you are going back that far.
“I don’t want to sit here and justify, because we have had defeats, it wasn’t good enough in Greece the other night and I’m disappointed.
“I know that was an important game in the group and I know we lost it, and I know there is criticism of me because of that.
“I accept that, I accept the criticism. I don’t think I’m above that. I know that. I get that. I absolutely get it, I feel it, that’s part of it, that’s the job I’m in and I understand that.
“But I do believe in the players, I very much do, and we are going into a game against Gibraltar and we want to get three points and take that into the September window.”
It is highly likely that Kenny will still be in charge for the games in September in France and at home to the Netherlands - barring a disaster tonight.
But as yesterday showed, he is under more pressure as Ireland manager than ever before.
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