Former Ireland defender Mark Lawrenson believes that it is only a matter of time before Ireland's current manager, Stephen Kenny, loses his job with the national team.
Kenny's Ireland have once again failed to make a major tournament and will now face the Netherlands in a dead rubber in November. Although there is still a possibility of making it to the Euro 2024 finals in Germany through the back-door route, that seems highly unlikely.
Kenny's future with the national team seems to be coming to an end, and many people believe it's a matter of when, not if, the FAI decides to make the decision.
The former Dundalk boss was asked about his future this week and responded by saying, "I'm not considering resigning. My contract ends at the conclusion of the campaign, and I will see it through. We want to finish the campaign strongly, and we are very determined to do that. After that, it’s completely out of my control. I have no control over the rest."
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‘We shouldn’t be losing at home to Greece, we know that’ – Stephen Kenny says the result was disappointing, but that his players gave everything in defeat #rtesoccer pic.twitter.com/OaJo5oYdYX— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) October 13, 2023
Lawrenson, who played 39 times for his country, also echoes that sentiment, like many who believe Kenny's tenure is at an end.
“Stephen Kenny has had a long time now, and he will tell you that the likes of Evan Ferguson and one or two other players coming through will make all the difference. I could understand if he loses his job because it's yet another competition that we're not going to qualify for, and how long do you go without qualifying with the same manager? It wouldn't surprise me at all," said the former Liverpool player.
Although he admits that Kenny's time is running out, the 66-year-old also thinks that Kenny's player pool wasn't the same as Mick McCarthy or Jack Charlton's. He cites this as one of the reasons for Kenny's failures in the role.
“He's a nice, honest man but he's been a little bit unlucky. When he took the job, unlike people like Mick McCarthy or Jack Charlton, they had lots of very good players to pick from, and you can't say that about the current lot.”
Ireland will play the Netherlands on November 18 in Amsterdam in their final qualifying game. They then welcome New Zealand to Dublin on November 21.
Mark Lawrenson was speaking to Paddy Power
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