‘I’ve never been one to speak about myself like this’ – Stephen Kenny’s unprompted 700-word speech as he fights for job

Kenny chose the aftermath of Monday’s win over Gibraltar to respond to criticism aimed in his direction after the humbling defeat in Athens which delivered a crushing blow to hopes of automatic qualification for the Euros.

It has raised fresh speculation around the Dubliner’s future with the long-term prognosis bleak even though it’s expected he will be given the chance to take Ireland into September’s games with France and Netherlands.

The 51-year-old listed the battles and achievements of his football life in an unprompted sermon that spun out into a reflection on his body of work in the Irish hot-seat which he feels will stand the test of time.​

“I wouldn’t have got to where I am in this job if I didn’t believe you can achieve extraordinary things,” said Kenny.

“The reason I took clubs from nothing, through divisions and into the Europa League group stages was because I believe you can achieve extraordinary things.

“I’m very strong and very resilient and I don’t really care. I don’t need to listen to anyone’s opinions to know what I want and what I am.

“I’ve taken on a lot and it’s a small community in Ireland and people are upset over a variety of things.

“But all of the decisions I made with the international team were with the best interests of Irish football.

“I’ve made brave decisions in the best interests of Irish football, OK? And I’ve made good decisions,” Kenny continued, with reference to the transition of the squad and handing out 18 debuts under his watch.

“We had nine years with nothing (no players) through, nothing. We brought 18 players through the system,” he added.

“The players are really talented, a progressive, young group. I know what I’m doing. I have a brilliant backroom staff. Keith Andrews is an outstanding coach, outstanding. John O’Shea has been a brilliant addition; Dean Kiely, these are top-level people; Stephen Rice has graduated and doing a great job, and all of the backroom team.

“So we will get better, we still want to qualify from this group. I’ll see out until the end of the campaign. I don’t know, after that, it’s other people’s decision. The objective was to qualify from this campaign, that is the objective, I’m not trying to hide from that.

“I’m not trying to build forever. We’ve been building a team over the past two years to try and qualify here. We’ve scored a lot of goals but conceded some that we shouldn’t have. We lost games 2-1 on the margins. I accept criticism for that. We need to win more games and I know that. That’s how I feel.”

Kenny wants his players to draw confidence from previous performances against top ranked sides for the “tough, tough games” in September. He is “not certain” if he will have the presence of skipper Séamus Coleman for those encounters but is hopeful he will be available.

The full transcript of Stephen Kenny's briefing with print reporters after Monday night's 3-0 win over Gibraltar

Have you had a chance to do more extra reflection on Friday night? In the sense that Greece looked way better than you and that’s probably not true at all, they looked like a stronger team on the night. Have you had a chance to put your finger on what went wrong?

No, we will reflect on that, we were firmly fixed on preparing for the Gibraltar game. We had to completely get ourselves ready for that you know, that’s what we focused on.

For September, is it almost easier to motivate yourself because you know you’re going to get a performance, is that something that’s easier or how do you look at September?

They are tough, really tough, games. Going to France, it does not get any harder but we have shown a capacity, we played exceptionally well against France here. Obviously Mike Maignan made a world-class save and that was difference between us getting a point.

But I think we’ve shown the capacity, we drew with Portugal here and they were one of the top teams in Europe at that stage. We played really well against them home and away, so we’ve got to go and get ready for ourselves, get ready in September, go to Paris and the Dutch come here but we will have tremendous support behind the team.

There is a great affinity between the players and the support, you can see that growing. It was great tonight that Adam Idah got his first goal for Ireland, that Mikey Johnston got his first goal for Ireland and that Evan Ferguson got his first competitive goal for Ireland, these are all landmarks for those players. That was good.

I know sometimes when you have two big games in close proximity, a coach might prioritise one to ensure they get a result out of one rather than tiring yourself out by targeting two. Can you do that or is your need for points too big? Can you say Holland is the one we need to focus on?

No, I am not sure that is always the case. We have to do our best in both games. Our attitude has to be to try to get a result in both games.”

Are you any clearer on where you stand with Seamus Coleman as regards September and how much was his leadership missed on Friday?

No I think John Egan is a great captain..

Not in the sense of captaincy, just in the sense of presence of pitch?

I think John is a great captain and I wouldn’t put it down to that but Séamus is a great addition to the squad, so if he gets back fit and back into the Everton team, and gets playing for Everton, and the injury clears up and he gets a good run at it, he would be a great addition to us.”

He’s in contention then?

I am not certain exactly where that injury is at the moment. I’ve been in contact with Seamus. Hopefully he will be back. It would be great if he is.”

How tall a task is it to get two results against France and Holland in the space of 72 hours?

Yeah, it is a tough task, it is (pause)

Sorry can you all just step back. Alright.

The reality is this: this is the way I view it, right? And I don’t mind saying this, right? I am - I’ve never been one to speak about myself like this, in this vain – but I started as a young manager, successful. I failed and then I failed better. I went on again, had set backs and built a resilience and a determination.

I have been in 16 cups finals. I was in eight FAI Cup finals. I have been in two Scottish Cup finals. I won six league cups. I won more trophies (in Ireland) than anyone in modern history. I won five league titles. 46 Champions League and Europa League games; I beat Maccabi Tel Aviv, BATE Borisov, Gotenburg home and away, Hajduk Split and others, drew with Paris Saint Germain , drew with Legia Warsaw.

That’s why I got the job because I am the most successful Irish manager at this time.

I went on from that, managed the under-21 team, got good experience, took the radical approach of taking all these 17 year olds and putting them in the under 21 team which never happened before. We had an exciting time and were leading the group and might have qualified, alright.

Obviously because of Covid, Mick McCarthy is a good man, a good manager, a great man, obviously Covid interrupted the succession plan, and I had the play-off and the subsequent Covid games which were a bit of a farce because we had nine or 10 missing out of each camp. We lost the play-off on penalties.

It’s been said I’ve been three years in the job. So realistically I have been two years building this team, since March when we lost here [against Luxembourg], and in the opening game in Serbia. All of those players have come in over the last two years. We’ve given 18 players their debut. 18 players their debut through our own system. We’d nine years with nothing through, nothing, we brought 18 players through from the system. We finished third in the group which was probably parity. Obviously there was a bit of pain, a bad defeat against Luxembourg and so forth.

This is the campaign that I’ve built for. Obviously we had a right setback with the game against Greece. That was an important part of the plan, to beat Greece, to try to do that because we got sort of a group of death. But I think, you know, I’m very strong and very resilient and I don’t really care. I don’t need to listen to anyone’s opinions to know what I want and what I am.

I’ve taken on a lot and it’s a small community in Ireland and people are upset over a variety of things but all of the decisions I made with the international team were with the best interests of Irish football. I’ve made brave decisions in the best interests of Irish football, OK? And I’ve made good decisions.

I have a brilliant backroom staff. Keith Andrews is an outstanding coach, outstanding; John O’Shea has been a brilliant addition; Dean Kiely, these are top-level people; Stephen Rice has graduated and doing a great job, and all of the backroom team. So we will get better, we want to still qualify from this group. I’ll see out until the end of the campaign. I don’t know, after that, it’s other people’s decision. The objective was to qualify from this campaign, that is the objective, I’m not trying to hide from that. I’m not trying to build forever. We’ve been building a team over the past two years to try and qualify here.

I think we’ve created a very, very vibrant coaching environment. We’ve completely transformed the way the team plays – not in every game – but it’s now assumed that you play that way, in terms of building and playing the way we have.

We’ve scored a lot of goals but conceded some that we shouldn’t have. We lost games 2-1 on the margins. I accept criticism for that. We need to win more games. We need to win more games and I know that. That’s how I feel.

Has the fallout to Friday been the toughest weekend in the job, the toughest part of the job so far?

No, no, actually, no, the first few months, the whole Covid period, dealing with that, was really, really tough. I can’t tell you how tough that was. Certainly that [this weekend] hasn’t been the toughest period, I know what I’m doing. The players are really talented, a progressive, young group, a lot of whom have come through together. There are some great senior pros, not all of them available, as we said, in this camp, we’ve a couple of injuries but we’ve to get ready, we’ve tough games in September, France is as tough as it gets, in Paris, but we’ve got to get ready, prepare and try and win.

I wouldn’t have got where I got, into this job, if I didn’t believe you can achieve extraordinary things. The reason I took clubs from nothing, took them through division and into Europa League, because I managed in the group stage of the Europa League, and the reason I done that was because I believe you can achieve extraordinary things. That’s what I believe.

It is a young group as you say. Do you think it’s possible for a young group to find the consistency that’s needed?

Well, it’s a big setback losing the other day and we’ve got to recover from it and, in order to do that, we’ve got to pull off a couple of big results.

Do you find yourself still evolving as a coach then?

Yeah I am still learning.

In terms of winning games and a new combined approach, is that the future? In terms of putting it all together, do you think results will follow? Some more direct stuff with Evan? Different options with different players?

Listen, we have to work harder to get better. We definitely have to do that. We have to work harder to get better.

Why have you made this declaration now, Stephen? Why have you reminded us of your CV?

It’s not because…I speak openly…it’s not like me to do it.

Why now?

Because I just felt right, it just felt right

(FAI press officer wraps up the briefing)