Former Ireland player Richard Dunne has admitted that it is difficult to say if Stephen Kenny is the right man to manage the Ireland team going forward.
Ireland's chances of reaching the Euro 2024 finals in Germany were all but ended last Sunday with the 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in Dublin. That result means Ireland now have one win from five in their qualifying group this campaign.
Ireland will now play Greece and Gibraltar in October, along with a reverse fixture against the Dutch in November, in what are essentially dead rubbers for Kenny and Ireland.
This week, the FAI confirmed that Kenny would see out the campaign, including the New Zealand friendly at the end of November.
Kenny, who has come under fire this week for his Ireland record, has also had his Ireland tenure questioned by former Ireland player Dunne this week.
“You have to be a successful manager to warrant staying in the job. I think it's three qualifying campaigns and two Nations Leagues at the moment, and we haven't really gotten past the third game without feeling like it's a dead rubber," said Dunne to OLBG.
Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny during the UEFA EURO 2024 Championship qualifying group B match between France and Republic of Ireland at Parc des Princes in Paris, France. (Photo By Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)“Based on that, it's difficult to say that he's definitely the right man for the job, but when we win, there are certain aspects to the game that you can look at, and you can see something."
Dunne also admits that the decision to remove Kenny from the post will come from the FAI and not the fans. He also admits that Ireland's games where they lost by a single goal might have been different if they had a more experienced international boss in charge of the national team.
“It's not my call if the manager stays or not; it's up to the FAI, but I think he's been given as many opportunities as any Irish manager in history, and if they feel like he's the right man, then so be it.
“If they feel that all of those games where we’ve lost by one goal or we've been close but not quite gotten the results we wanted, the difference might be a more experienced international manager or someone who has been around international football."
