Will the real Irish manager candidate please stand up?

With the FAI taking their sweet time hiring a manager, an ensemble cast of managerial candidates has come and gone.

John O’Shea is the man in the hot seat, at least temporarily, and an okay result against Belgium and a dour loss against Switzerland has led to some sectors of the Irish fanbase for the former Manchester United man to be given the job on a permanent basis.

Lee Carsley was considered the frontrunner, reportedly meeting with the FAI before Christmas, but formally ruled himself out of the running in March.

Carsley is a manager who at the bare minimum could walk into a job with a team in the Championship in English football, if not a lower-end Premier League club; it is not hard to see why Carsley turned down the job.

With the FAI indicating they’re waiting until April to make a final managerial appointment (for context, they parted ways with Kenny in November) we’re taking a look at the main candidates still in the running.

The manager: John O’Shea

CV: Few assistant manager stints here and there, put in charge for March friendlies 

Reputation: Much-loved player, jury still out on managerial chops

A mainstay of Irish football since his debut in 2001, O’Shea needs no introduction.

118 caps, a bucketful of trophies during his time at Manchester United, pretty well-respected, it is not hard to imagine the FAI giving O’Shea the job on a permanent basis.

There is still the question mark over his lack of managerial experience – a few coaching stints at Reading, Stoke and Birmingham, a bit of assistant manager work with Ireland doesn’t scream confidence – but hiring O’Shea could be a sorely needed PR win for the FAI.

The FAI may well hit and hope by hiring O’Shea, hoping that because O’Shea is so well-versed and experienced in Irish football he will instantly click as manager.

A draw against a second-rate Belgium team and an uninspiring 1-0 loss to Switzerland does not scream “manager potential”, but then again those friendlies were stat-padding to begin with.

Throwing an untested manager in at the deep end is a huge gamble; Ireland missing out on the 2026 World Cup or Euro 2028 on home soil would be another unwanted blemish on the FAI’s reputation.

It has been argued the Stephen Kenny era was a difficult growing process for Irish football and we are only seeing the fruits of that labour now.

If O’Shea is the man to lead Ireland into the next tournament cycle, we just don’t know.

The manager: Gus Poyet

CV: Some Premier League experience with Sunderland, helped sow seeds of Brighton’s revival, missed out on getting Greece to Euro 2024

Reputation: Globetrotting manager with a varied CV

Gus Poyet has not exactly been subtle about wanting the Irish job.

Poyet has waxed lyrical about the “special” atmosphere at the Aviva when he managed Greece there last September, and now that he is out of a job with the Euro 2004 champions, the FAI have a chance to snap up a manager for a good price.

The FAI have delayed hiring a new manager until April because of some contractual loophole with Stephen Kenny’s original contract, but the timing could work out well.

A manager with some Premier League and international experience but still within the realms of possibility for Ireland is mighty tempting.

Poyet’s managerial career is mixed; with a disastrous stint at Betis in La Liga, a payday in the Chinese league, a messy spell in charge of Bordeaux and a jolly in the Chilean premier division making Poyet’s CV very eclectic indeed.

Poyet’s globetrotting CV might be appealing for the FAI and would show the FAI have some imagination instead of hiring the next candidate:

The manager: Roy Keane

CV: One of the best players Ireland has ever produced, better known for TV these days, turbulent spells at Sunderland and Ispwich and assistant of the national team for a bit

Reputation: Great player, mediocre manager, terrific TV personality

FAI bosses have reportedly met with Roy Keane three times about the vacant managerial job and would be an extreme version of the O’Shea nostalgia buzz: if they can’t hire Jack Charlton, why not hire someone who was in the same room as him?

Hiring Roy Keane would be the FAI admitting defeat and deciding the best way to lift Irish football out of the doldrums is to hire someone who hasn’t managed a team since January 2011.

Keane was the bad cop to Martin O’Neill’s good cop during the 2010s so Irish football fans are used to the idea of Roy Keane being involved with the national team.

Keane’s actual managerial chops are somewhat lacking; he won Sunderland promotion to the Premier League in style in 2007 and managed to keep them up but his man management chops left a lot to be desired.

His most noteworthy moment as manager of Ipswich was giving the trademark death stare to a journalist who had their phone go off during a press conference.

With that said, people thought the German FA were crazy for hiring Jürgen Klinsmann in 2004 but he got them to 3rd place on home soil in the 2006 World Cup and built the spine for what became their winning World Cup team of 2014.

Hiring Keane would be a total gamble, but maybe an unorthodox gamble is what the FAI needs?

If Roy Keane does become the next Irish manager, you can be guaranteed it would be very funny at the very least.

The manager: Janne Andersson

The CV: Got Sweden to the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup and got Sweden into the knockouts of Euro 2020, before failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Euros. Decent career in Swedish domestic football.

Reputation: Steady hand at the wheel (until he isn’t)

If the FAI are serious about hiring a manager with actual tournament experience, Janne Andersson could be a solid option.

Andersson was hired by the Swedes immediately after they finished at the bottom of their 2016 group and guided them, in some style, to the 2018 World Cup quarter finals without the talismanic Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Andersson and Ibrahimovic had a hot and cold relationship, but Andersson managed to stand his ground and craft a Swedish team that thrived in his absence.

Dealing with a planet-sized ego and getting decent results in the process would make Andersson a great shout for Irish manager, but question marks have to be raised over not getting Sweden to the World Cup in Qatar or this summer’s Euros.

Andersson had the likes of Dejan Kulusevski and Alexander Isak at his disposal and couldn’t get a tune out of them; he won’t have the same luxuries as Irish manager.

The Swede turned down the Latvia job which implies he has his eyes set on bigger things; perhaps he could be tempted into molding Evan Ferguson into the next Zlatan?

The manager: Chris Hughton

The CV: Over 50 caps for Ireland, years of experience managing decent English teams like Newcastle and Brighton, most recently took charge of Ghana at the African Cup Of Nations

Reputation: Plenty of managerial experience, a more pragmatic choice

Hughton’s most recent managerial gig – a shambolic group stage exit for Ghana at the African Cup Of Nations – shouldn’t take the shine off a strong CV.

Hughton would tick a lot of the FAI’s boxes; he got Newcastle and Brighton promoted back to the Premier League, has a connection with the Irish fanbase, and despite his spell in Ghana going horribly wrong he has some international competition experience.

Hughton would make an awful lot of sense as Irish manager.

He’s out of a job and Ireland needs someone with chops who can build a team quickly.

Hughton did admirable work with Newcastle following their shock relegation in 2009, bringing them back up to the Premier League in style and bringing dignity back to an institution that had fallen a long way – sound familiar?

Hughton’s biggest managerial achievement is getting Brighton to the Premier League and helping them stay there, and better yet, this is all in recent memory.

For the more romantically inclined football fan who hasn’t had their soul broken by VAR and hasn’t been conditioned into thinking that XG is an important part of football, the appeal of a former star player coming back to rescue his old country is mighty tempting.

Yes, the same could be said of O’Shea and Keane, but their managerial abilities are unproven in the case of O’Shea and the glory days in the rearview mirror as far as Keane is concerned.

Hughton is the most sensible, smart appointment the FAI can make; of course, that means they won’t hire him.