Anthony Barry's first game as Belgium coach will be against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on March 26th. The news that Stephen Kenny has lost another assistant coach, following the shock departure of Damien Duff in January 2021, is the latest blow to the 50 year-old Dubliner's efforts to revitalise Irish football.
“The opportunity to move on to Belgium and to have the chance in the World Cup finals was one I felt I couldn’t turn down,” said Barry of a surprise move to join Roberto Martinez’s backroom move ahead of the winter tournament in Qatar.
The highly rated 35 year-old will continue to double job as Chelsea first team coach, where he has presumably impressed Belgium's star striker Romelu Lukaku.
“I’d like to thank Anthony for the positive contribution he has made over the past year with the players and staff alike,” said Kenny, who has yet to sign a new contract to guide Ireland to the Euros in Germany in 2024. “Anthony had a great rapport with the staff and players, he was thought provoking, an exceptional coach and a joy to work with.”
Jonathan Hill, the FAI chief executive, remains in contract negotiations with Kenny and a backroom team that appeared to rely heavily on Barry’s expertise since Duff, the new Shelbourne manager, quit the coaching ticket after an internal investigation into a motivational video shown to Irish players at Wembley stadium before the 3-0 defeat to England in November 2020.
Barry, having linked up with Kenny’s squad 12 months ago, is credited with introducing a 3-4-2-1 system, similar to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, which had a significant influence on the upturn in results in the second half of 2021. Since defeat to Luxembourg last March, Ireland have lost just once in 10 matches, away to Portugal, to finish third in the World Cup qualification group.
The initial fear was that Ireland could lose Barry to Frank Lampard’s Everton but the chance to train Belgium’s golden, if ageing, generation could not be matched by Hill’s FAI.
“We respect the decision and he leaves with our best wishes,” said Kenny.
The association is also seeking candidates to apply for the vacant director of football role, to replace Ruud Dokter, and international football operations manager but Kenny's mind will be focused on unearthing a coach of Barry's calibre before March friendlies against Belgium and Lithuania. Hill is scheduled to speak to the media this week.
