YESTERDAY NEWS broke that Stephen Kenny, the Republic of Ireland manager signed a contract extension to keep him in charge until Euro 2024.
The 50 year-old is tasked with getting Ireland to the tournament, but will now have to do so without left lieutenant, Anthony Barry.
Ireland will face Belgium on the 26th of March in two weeks and Barry will sit on the opposition sideline after he left to join Roberto Martinez's backroom staff.
Kenny has indicated that he will have Barry's replacement in place before the sides meet each other in two weeks.
Barry is one of the most sought after coaches in football and is seen as a major cog in Ireland's good form in 2021 at the back end of the last campaign.
The Chelsea coach is part of Thomas Tuchel in London and has been linked with the Everton role alongside Lampard.
The Football Association of Ireland is delighted to announce an extension to Stephen Kenny’s contract as Ireland manager to the 2024 UEFA European Championship campaign
➡️ https://t.co/QMwaPQFRj6#COYBIG | #WeAreOne | #WeAre100 pic.twitter.com/Dgg7L14pBv— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) March 9, 2022
Speaking at a press conference Kenny said he was hopeful of confirming Barry's successor in the near future.
“It’s quite possible that we could have another coach in before Belgium but we’ll deal with that in due course,” he said according to the Examiner
There had been speculation that Barry's move to Belgium delayed Kenny's contract extension, but this was denied by Kenny.
“That’s probably not accurate because he made his decision to go to Belgium. It was a professional decision and we respect it. I’ve a great relationship with Anthony.
This is not unusual across international football. With England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, all their assistants have moved over in the last 18 months. That’s part of international football.”
The delay is said to be a severance package deal if the FAI decided to cut tie during his new deal.
The manager, whose deal was due to expire in July, will remain on his €550,000 salary but will be paid far less than that annual wage should, for example, the board feel the Nations League campaign starting in June doesn’t meet expectations.
“From Christmas to March is only a minor delay,” reasoned Kenny. “We're here now and it's signed.
“It's not just myself. We've a whole backroom team that we've got to address and so forth.
“It's a good thing, we're not looking back saying why did this take three months rather than a month?
“A lot of things have to be managed in a big organisation like this, so I think it's irrelevant really.”
"I think that's probably not accurate. He made his decision to go to Belgium. We respect his decision."
Stephen Kenny feels the delay in negotiating his new deal had no impact on Anthony Barry's departure.— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) March 10, 2022
