Soccer

‘Let’s wait and see’ - John O’Shea unsure of his future after Ireland interim duties

‘If my remit beforehand was “John, you are the full-time new manager” it might be a different situation’

Interim head coach John O'Shea. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

Gavin Cummiskey
Mon Mar 25 2024 - 12:59

John O’Shea’s pre-match press conference before Switzerland visit the Aviva stadium on Tuesday night focused on who will fill the Republic of Ireland manager’s job next month.

Without any clear information on the starting line-up and no injuries to report, it became the only topic for the media to pursue.

O’Shea was asked by FAI director of football Marc Canham to take the role on an interim basis for the March friendlies against Belgium (0-0) and the Swiss, with a permanent head coach seemingly lined up and to be announced in early April.

The FAI were unable to entice Lee Carsley from the English FA, where he coaches the England under-21s, so the person to replace Stephen Kenny, four months since the former Dundalk manager was cut loose by the association, remains a mystery.

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“My remit was to focus on these two games,” O’Shea explained. “If my remit beforehand was ‘John, you are the full-time new manager’ it might be a different situation. But the focus for me was these two games: ‘John, look after these games and see what happens then.’”

That could leave the door open for O’Shea to be appointed on a four year contract up until Euro 2028, or at the very least it led to more questions in the search for some clarity.

Question: “Canham recently stated that you are the interim boss, with someone else being appointed in April, has anything changed?”

“Not from my point of view,” said O’Shea.

Question: “So, what is next for John O’Shea?”

“See my family, see my wife and kids.”

[ Ken Early: John O’Shea’s Ireland on-trend with a healthy nod to Bayer Leverkusen ]

In football terms?

“In football, ha, let’s wait and see. Hopefully there will be a few things happening but hopefully I will be going back for Easter holidays with my kids, so we’ll do something with them, and then get back into the swing of things by hopefully going to watch games and have a few conversations here and there.”

The long wait continues.

In keeping with O’Shea’s managerial style, for the past week anyway, he gave nothing away about the team to face Switzerland although Joe Hodge and Andy Moran have been promoted to the squad following the Ireland under-21s 7-0 win over San Marino last Friday.

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey is The Irish Times' Soccer Correspondent

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