The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has broadened John O’Shea’s terms as stand-in manager for the Republic of Ireland. He will now command the team for friendly matches against Hungary and Portugal in June. O’Shea successfully led the team in their performances against Belgium and Switzerland at the Aviva Stadium in March and now will welcome Hungary to Dublin on June 4th. Afterwards, a training session in Aveiro will culminate with a match against Portugal, managed by Roberto Martinez, on June 11th.
Although O’Shea is keen on securing a more long-term role, FAI football director Marc Canham has prolonged the search for a successor to Stephen Kenny until the Nations League in September. The 7th of September will see England visiting the Aviva, giving the incoming manager (unless it’s O’Shea) no preparatory period for six matches in 2024.
Despite technical advisor Brian Kerr’s departure from the team, Assistant coach Paddy McCarthy of Crystal Palace and former Irish midfielder Glenn Whelan, capped 91 times, will persevere as O’shea’s deputies with Rene Gilmartin as goalkeeping coach. O’Shea and Whelan are keeping tabs on Irish players in England as a replacement for Kenny, whose contract was not extended by the FAI in November last year, hasn’t been found yet.
Kenny’s principal analyst, Stephen Rice, and workout coach, Damien Doyle, will also continue backing the team’s preparations this summer. According to O’shea, he’s eager to proceed as stand-in head coach for the exciting games against Hungary and Portugal in June. “Both matches provide significant opportunities. I was quite satisfied with the team’s performance in March and we aim to harness that momentum in June while also striving to secure a much-deserved win”, says O’Shea.
In a statement, Canham expressed his delight in prolonging the tenure of John and his coaching and performance team for the fixtures in June. Nonetheless, he hasn’t clarified why the FAI missed three deadlines to designate a new manager for Ireland. It was affirmed last week that the recruitment for the senior men’s team head coach will be finalised prior to the kick-off of the Uefa Nations League.
In other news, the under-21s Irish team is set to engage in two friendly matches against Croatia and England in Zagreb in June. Jim Crawford’s squad will encounter the hosts on Friday, June 7th and will then play against England Under-21s on Tuesday, June 11th.