St. Patrick's Athletic manager Stephen Kenny has once again taken a swipe at the FAI for not helping the Pats and other Irish clubs with their games in Europe.
The Inchicore side earned a brilliant result against Istanbul Basaksehir in the first leg of the Europa Conference League play-off. The game ended 0-0, but the comments made by Kenny before the game have become a big talking point.
Pats have had no European games shown on Irish TV because of the Olympics and other sporting programmes. Kenny also took issue with the fact that the FAI has not moved domestic games aside to help Pats in their quest to make the Conference League group stages.
Kenny claimed that their Turkish counterparts were given ample time to prepare and said that if the FAI were serious, they would do the same to help Irish clubs.
“It’s difficult,” said Kenny after the 0-0 draw to RTE and other media outlets
“I’m led to believe, and I stand to be corrected, that the Turkish league has cancelled all of the games for their European teams this week. They prioritised the teams qualifying for the group stages. If you are serious and ambitious, that is what you do.
"I know [this] more than anyone, because I've been involved in more [European] games than anyone as a manager." - Stephen Kenny
Should certain LOI games be postponed for those teams competing in Europe? ⚽
Football on OTB, with @williamhillire. pic.twitter.com/nlNZ27HA7J— Off The Ball (@offtheball) August 23, 2024
“Even with Dundalk [in 2016], we would not have qualified for the group stages, but only [former director] Fran Gavin made the decision to cancel one or two matches for us at that time. That was pivotal for us in qualifying for the group stages."
Pats will now play Dundalk in the league this coming Sunday. They will then head to Turkey for the second leg of the tie. Kenny, who is clearly frustrated, admits there is little they can do despite how much he speaks about the subject.
“They have a rest. We have a game against them in five-and-three-quarter days. We’ll have our boots on at 4:10 Irish time on Wednesday, but we have a game in between. Even apart from the game, preparation time is zero.”
“There is nothing we can do,” the former Republic of Ireland boss added. “I have made the point, and some people view me as some sort of complainer, but I’m not."
Pats' game against Dundalk kicks off at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
