Stephen Kenny’s decimated squad drew 0-0 with Bulgaria on Thursday, which marked the end of what has been a wretched year of results for the Boys in Green. Ronan Curtis missed a glorious chance, James Collins “should have had a couple”, and Robbie Brady hit the woodwork, in a game that had many questioning whether it should have gone ahead at all. Refusing to be discouraged by the recent misfortune, and his side going 11 hours without a goal, Kenny told the press, “The players won’t shy away from it, they are men and they play at the highest level for their clubs, they know what is required of them to win games, and that’s to score goals.” Up front, the talent of Idah, Connolly, Parrott & Obafemi will be much needed come March.
In November 2018, when it was announced that Kenny would eventually take over from Mick McCarthy, the ex-Dundalk boss probably had images of a loud, packed Aviva and a few wins under his belt by now. 0 wins & 1 goal in his 8 games in the midst of a global pandemic wasn't meant to be part of the script. “It’s been very difficult, but you just have to manage it, the team that wasn’t available tonight would be stronger than the team that was, and that’s not being disparaging, we just had so many frontline players not available tonight,” Kenny explained.
Kenny’s squad misfortune has been well documented. It began with Idah & Connolly missing the Slovakia play off, only for the result to be a false positive. Further positive results & injuries ruled many key players out of England, Wales & Finland, and on Thursday, Kenny found himself without 14 of the original 26 man squad he had named last week. Covid cases, injuries, retirements and personal circumstances have all debilitated Kenny’s best laid plans thus far. “There were a lot of issues in the last two camps, having to deal with Covid-related issues nearly every day, it’s very unsettling for players, very unsettling for their lives and all their families, it’s been a very difficult period over the last two windows”, Kenny said. Whilst remaining generally upbeat, Kenny has encountered problems that no Irish manager ever has, and this fact should be taken into account when discussing Ireland’s 2020 campaign.
In a further blow, Thursday’s result means that Ireland will be in Pot 3 for the Qatar 2022 draw on December 7th. Without a kind draw next month, it will be extremely difficult to qualify for the World Cup. Ireland must either win the group, or hope to be 1 of 3 teams who qualify through a tricky play-off semi & final series. With typically 24 European Championship places up for grabs, only 13 European countries will be heading to Qatar in 2022. While we have done it through the playoffs before, here's hoping for a gentle draw next month.
On the face of it, Ireland’s winless 2020 has been poor, and at times painful to watch. However, if you look a little deeper, there are positives to be found amidst the gloom. Although Ireland face a daunting task in qualifying for Qatar 2022, we are arguably in a better position to do so now than ever before, for three reasons.
In Stephen Kenny, Ireland have a manager who is positive & ambitious in his approach, is eager to see his team keep possession, take control of games and play the type of football that reminds you of why you fell in love with the game in the first place. Never before have we seen an Ireland team attempt to play the way Kenny wants, and this should be encouraged.
Secondly, in 2020, never before have so many up & coming players been called up in such a short space of time. In the past 8 games, the likes of O’Shea, Connolly, Idah, Molumby, Parrot, Curtis, Knight & Cullen have all been played by Kenny. “We’ve used the Nations League to blood a lot of players, some by design & some because we’ve had many players ruled out, that will stand us well in the future and gives us more options”, Kenny told the press this week. By next March, some older squad members may decide to retire too, making way for those mentioned. Hopefully the days of players like Doherty & Stevens winning their 1st cap at age 27 & 28 are gone.
Lastly, as of September 2019, the period of John Delaney’s tyranny is a thing of the past, and years of deplorable governance & almost criminal activities have ended. The FAI, with its new CEO Jonathan Hilland board members can finally attempt to climb out of the hole that Delaney put the association in, and plan/invest for the future. These three reasons are ones to be hopeful as we look ahead to next month's draw, and Ireland’s qualification campaign commencing next March. The future of football’s future is looking brighter than it has done for years, although the 0 wins & 1 goal in 2020 may overshadow that.