STEPHEN KENNY'S new contract is richly deserved and that his approach to football and methods are the right ones, says Preston North End's Alan Browne.
Kenny, a former League of Ireland manager was brought into the Irish senior set up after spending time with the Irish-21's and after a turbulent start to his Ireland career Kenny has managed to steer the ship in a more positive direction at the backend of 2021.
Ireland lost out to a last minute Cristiano Ronaldo header in Portugal in September, but turned their fortunes around when they drew with Ronaldo's side in the Aviva in the return fixture.
They then beat the likes of Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and Qatar, scoring ten goals in those three victories.
With Euro 2024 in Germany on Ireland's radar, Brown believes that Ireland are heading in the right direction under Kenny.
DUBLIN, IRELAND - MARCH 27: Alan Browne of Republic of Ireland s. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)"I think credit to the manager, he stuck to his guns," said Browne, speaking to the media on Monday.
"He stuck to what he wanted us to do and it was a long process. He came under a lot of criticism at first but he is starting to look up now with performances and results, which is the most important thing. Long may that continue.
"It looks like we've turned a corner. Every credit to the manager, and getting the fans back onside with us, that connection there amongst ourselves and the fans has been evident with ticket sales going through the roof, you can see that.
"So hopefully they’re taking to the new brand of football and the way that we’re trying to do things, and things are looking good for us.
"I think it’s always important to have fans on our side because they’re the ones going through the gate to pay the money to watch the football."
The Preston North End captain also admits that he would love to play at England's top level one day after making 300 appearances for the club.
The 27-year-old told the Irish Examiner
"For me personally it's an ambition of mine, to one day get there,” Browne told the Irish publication
“I'd like to do that with my current club, Preston. If it's elsewhere then so be it.
I'd give anything to play at the top level, that's where every player aspires to be.
“I haven't done it yet. I'm 26, pushing 27 and there's not a lot of time left. It's not something I have focused too much on, just stay in the moment, play my current football, which is in the Championship, do my best for my club and see where that progresses.
“I've probably been more unfortunate at international level. I mentioned before about Covid and injuries and stuff like that and I probably fell out of favour.
Ireland play Belgium this Saturday and it will be interesting to see if Brown can add to his 17 caps and two goals for his country when the two sides meet.
On 24 March 2021, Browne scored his first competitive goal for Ireland, a header to give them the lead in a 3-2 defeat away to Serbia in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Alan Browne headed Ireland in front after getting on the end of Callum Robinson's cross - Serbia drew level five minutes before the break when Dušan Vlahović fired past Mark Travers.
Half-Time | Serbia 1-1 Ireland#WEAREONE | #COYBIG | #SRBIRL pic.twitter.com/PQwhx8q262— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) March 24, 2021
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