The FAI’s shambolic search for a new Irish manager will rumble on for another few months.
Despite the FAI giving themselves an April deadline to hire a new manager, it has now transpired that John O’Shea will likely in charge as interim manager for June’s friendly fixtures, with the FAI now looking to have a manager in place for September’s crunch World Cup qualifier against England.
The glacier-paced FAI manager search has rumbled on since November after the FAI parted ways with Stephen Kenny.
The FAI claimed that pre-existing contractual obligations stemming from Kenny’s stint in charge were the main reason the manager search has rumbled on for 6 months, but it has now become apparent that all of the top choices to succeed Kenny – Lee Carsley, Gus Poyet, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Chris Coleman – have turned the job down and the FAI are scrambling through their contacts book.
O’Shea being left in charge for June’s friendlies is a tacit admission by the FAI that they had no clear succession plan in place, and the manager hunt is now likely to rumble on for the best part of 10 months.
In a statement released on Twitter on Friday, FAI Director of Football Marc Canham said the FAI “would like” O’Shea to stay on as interim manager with “a view to” hiring a manager for September’s World Cup qualifiers.
Another candidate for the Irish job, Willy Sagnol, will be out of contract with Georgia after their participation in Euro 2024, and it appears likely that the FAI are likely to wait until Sagnol is a free agent before approaching him.
Sagnol took Georgia to the Euros after beating Gus Poyet’s Greece in March’s play-off matches, and much like Poyet, his contract extension with Georgia was contingent on Euro 2024 involvement.
“We recognise and realise that is not necessarily the news that people wanted to hear today and they may be disappointed to hear. We’re absolutely committed and determined to find the best person for our men’s national team and for Irish football and that will continue to be our aim,” Carnham said.
FAI Director of Football Marc Canham issues an update on the MNT Head Coach position ?? pic.twitter.com/F4hFnbH3dz
— Ireland Football ???? (@IrelandFootball) April 19, 2024