The Republic of Ireland men’s manager Stephen Kenny will be supported by the FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill to finish out the current European Championship qualification campaign.
Ireland face Greece and Gibraltar in October before their final Group B match against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on November 18th.
Kenny’s team have lost four of their five qualifiers, only beating Gibraltar 3-0 last March.
“Indeed I am [confirming Kenny position is secure until the end of the campaign],” said Hill at a press conference in Abbotstown this morning.
“All international windows are to be reviewed as normal at end of month board of directors meeting. There will be a full review after the campaign, same as the women’s World Cup.”
Marc Canham, the FAI director of football since June 2022, made it clear that the long term success of Irish football will be dependent on a 10 year pathway plan that he intends to publish by the end of 2023.
Getting Irish football into schools and even making it part of the education system is one of his stated goals.
“The first point to mention is that of course we want success for our national teams and we want results, we want to qualify,” said Canham. “If you do look at world football, though, over many years, and look at really high ranking teams or teams with similar sized populations, there is a direct correlation between the talent development and education system in terms of achieving that success.
“This long term vision will be about the pipeline of talent we will be developing in our systems across grassroots, academies, and international football.
“It’s very clear that the quality and volume of depth of the high performing countries has a direct correlation to quality of the talent development system.
“We still want success here and now but we also have to look into that. Just look at Belgium and Croatia who are two countries that often get compared with us – similar size population. Belgium had a clear vision 20-25 years ago and they’ve been number one ranked team in the world for many years. That’s because of a development system not by chance.
“You need the coach to come in and work with the players and try to develop and achieve that success.
“On Stephen, we are supportive of him completing the campaign and we hope against all odds that we still have a chance of qualifying for the Euros. We know that’s very difficult and Stephen will be the first to admit that, and has done, but we are very supportive of him finishing the campaign.”
Hill also confirmed that former women’s manager Vera Pauw’s decision to speak to The Athletic last April, about the controversy surrounding her 2018 season at Houston Dash, coupled with the Dutch coach’s refusal to change her preparation methods – which she had used for the previous four years – played a part in the board voting not to give her a new contract.
Hill recommended that the association go in a new direction. Eileen Gleeson is the interim Ireland women’s coach for this month’s Nations League fixtures against Northern Ireland and Hungary.
Pauw has denied any wrongdoing during her time in Houston. Her four year employment as Irish manager ended in August. She subsequently accused the FAI, and specifically Hill, of interfering in preparation for and during the World Cup.
Hill denied this was the case, stating that the timing of The Athletic article, which was published on July 2nd, prompted him to make contact with senior players to check on their well being.
“In the past the FAI have been accused of not engaging with players,” he explained. “It was done in an appropriate manner.”
Hill did state that Pauw’s decision to speak on-the-record to The Athletic led to contract negotiations ending pre-World Cup.
“You saw that press conference before France with Katie McCabe.”
Hill rejected Pauw’s belief that she was promised a contract extension offer before the World Cup.
The FAI director of football Marc Canham revealed that the player and staff review, conducted immediately after the World Cup revealed fundamental disagreements about how an international team should prepare for games and a major tournament.
“The findings are confidential but there were issues around training methods, the silo nature of sessions and conditioning issues,” Hill continued. “Not to criticise Vera, but we do feel it is important to recognise that in professional football there were disagreements around style and preparation.
“A number of the players and Marc Canham had different views. It was clear that Vera was not going to change her approach.”
[ Vera Pauw’s unforgivable sin was to stand up for herselfOpens in new window ]
Canham said, “the big thing that came out of the review was sporting – coaching methods,” which were not aligned to where the FAI intend to go in the future.
Hill added: “It is really important to acknowledge Vera Pauw’s contribution to football in Ireland. She has been a pioneer in the women’s game. She will always be one of three managers to get Ireland to the World Cup.”
The 60 year old former English FA commercial director revealed that the association’s revenue target of €50 million is set to be exceeded by €5 million in 2023 but he conceded that the search for a title sponsor for the men’s senior team remains ongoing after three years.
