At this stage, Damien Duff’s feelings towards the prolonged hunt for a permanent Ireland head coach are no secret.
The Shelbourne manager took a swipe at the FAI in the (relatively) early stages of the hunt earlier this year, saying that the League of Ireland was the shining light of Irish football, not the national team.
He then went on to say that not even appointing Pep Guardiola could paper over the cracks of the Irish footballing pyramid, before saying that he found the circus around who would be appointed on a permanent basis “needless.”
It has been a farcical wait for Stephen Kenny’s replacement to be announced. Kenny exited his role over six months ago and, initially, the plan was to announce his successor in early 2024. That then became early April, and now it looks as though we will not have any word on the next manager until deep into the summer.
In the meantime, John O’Shea filled in as interim head coach for March’s friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland. It is a role that O’Shea will take up once again next month against Hungary and Portugal – and one which Damien Duff wishes his former Ireland teammate had turned down.
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Damien Duff says John O’Shea should not have accepted second go at Ireland job
8 February 2011; Damien Duff, Republic of Ireland, celebrates with team-mate John O’Shea after scoring his side’s second goal. Carling Four Nations Tournament, Republic of Ireland v Wales, Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE
Damien Duff is set to be the guest on Richie Sadlier’s podcast Episode this week, with the Shels boss set to give a typically fascinating interview. In an excerpt released on Second Captains on Monday, Duff spoke about his old friend John O’Shea’s role as Ireland interim manager.
Both Duff and O’Shea earned over 100 caps for Ireland, many of them shared in the 2000s and early 2010s.
Duff said that he was thrilled to see O’Shea earn the honour of managing his country – but said that the FAI had “left him out to dry” and that he should not have accepted a second go at the interim gig.
I was so, so pleased for him that he got to manage his country – something that I mightn’t ever do. It’s the pinnacle of any proud Irishman’s footballing career.
But the whole process has been absolutely embarrassing. We used to be a footballing power, we’re not anymore. How the FAI has been run, the whole organisation from top to bottom, I think they’ve to take the brunt of it.
John, if he goes and takes it again, okay great…I don’t know how many games are in June…he might get the gig full-time, absolutely amazing. I’d say he was so proud stood on the touchline of the Aviva.
But, and I hope he doesn’t take this the wrong way, if I was him I wouldn’t take it a second time. They’ve just left him out to dry, he’s just hanging around, ‘am I getting it, am I not?’ He’s too good a person, too good a coach, too good everything to be doing that.
The reality is that John O’Shea is firmly in the mix to be appointed Ireland head coach permanently, though the manner of his return to the interim role has left many disappointed with the FAI.
When announcing a further delay to the appointment of a permanent Irish coach in early April, FAI Director of Football Marc Canham said that the association “hoped” to have O’Shea back for the summer window. It is certainly hard not to sympathise with Duff’s comments that O’Shea has been treated poorly by the FAI as they cover a farcical search for a head coach.
Duff went on to say that he felt O’Shea had the potential to be a top-class coach, and that he would be best served taking up a job at club level to develop early in his career.
‘How do I learn?’ – not by bouncing into international camp once every three months to take one session on the grass every day…I’d love to see John take a club team now and not wait around to see what the FAI are going to do.
Richie Sadlier’s Episode with Damien Duff is released on Wednesday afternoon.
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