“The legacy? Jesus.”
Former Ireland star Kieth Treacy lays it all bare when summing up the ‘legacy’ that Stephen Kenny will leave as Republic of Ireland manager.
After losing to Greece last Friday, Ireland were officially rued out of qualifying for the Euros in the summer, and it seems like it is only a matter of time that Kenny will lose his job.
Speaking on the latest episode of the House of Football podcast, Treacy was asked to sum up Kenny’s ‘legacy’ as Ireland manager.
“The legacy? Jesus,” said Treacy.
“Look it was a difficult period, there was a lot of people, the likes of Robbie Keane, Shay Given, all of the older names, they all sort of went over the hill at the same time, and he was inheriting a group that wasn’t very good.
“He was going to have to blood youngsters, we all knew that he wanted to transform the way that we were playing – it was always going to be a very big ask, but his legacy is ultimately one of failure.
“He hasn’t won anywhere near enough games, even the teams we have beaten have been minnows, the likes of Gibraltar, but Greece was the game.”
Tracy also compared Ireland to Wales and how their players reacted when their manager was under pressure.
“I done the Welsh game on Sunday and Robert Page was under a little bit of pressure, Roy Keane has been thrown around for that job, and the way the Welsh played in that game – that’s a team that want the manager to stay in the job.
“You seen that Rob Page got a little bit emotional in his interview as well, but you can see that they are a happy, that’s a sound camp.
“I seen Mikey Johnson come out after the game and say ‘we wanted to do that for the manager’, but it’s Gibraltar. The chips were down on Friday night.
“The chips were down when we played Greece last month. That’s when the chips were down, that’s when you come out and play for your manager, and look, anybody can go and beat Gibraltar, I’m not doing cartwheels about that game whatsoever.
“There’s a 40-year-old customs officer play centre half, a 37-year-old right back, and we did what we needed to do, we went and we won the game, but ultimately Stephen Kenny’s reign is one of failure.”
You can watch the full episode of the House of Football podcast on all streaming platforms, or YouTube now.
Related links:
- Stephen Kenny’s strange analysis of defeat to Greece sums up his tenure perfectly
- Richard Dunne explains frank reality of Stephen Kenny’s time as Ireland manager
- Stephen Kenny to see out remainder of Euro 2024 qualifying campaign
