With all the financial difficulties the FAI are facing, it is a bit mad that Robbie Keane is currently being paid around €250,000 per year not to work for the association.
This is of no fault of Keane's, who signed a four contract to come on board as a coach at the beginning of Mick McCarthy's second stint in charge of the side.
However, the decision to hand Ireland's record goalscorer was a disastrous one when you consider he had no guarantee of a role under Stephen Kenny, a manager who they knew would be coming in during the summer of 2020 at the latest.
Kenny was assured that he would be allowed to form his own backroom team and saw no place in his staff for Keane. As a result, he has not been part of the senior setup for over a year but still has around 18 months left on his contract.
Brian Kerr believes it is a situation that urgently needs addressing.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, said the decision to hand Keane a four-year contract was a 'mad' one.
I'm disappointed that it’s taken so long.
Money is scarce. They (the FAI) have had no crowds at the matches, no season ticket sales and no major sponsorships announced. You can understand that because it’s a difficult marketplace; the international team isn’t winning games.
There’s a lot of doom and gloom. It’s been tough.
Within that, surely you’d think they’d get that one dealt with so that Robbie isn’t being paid for not working. I’m sure he’d prefer to be working.
Robbie was given a four-year deal by the previous maestro while the manager only had a one-campaign contract. That was a mad situation from the start.
It goes back to a lack of leadership and good decision-making around football. Hopefully the FAI are on the road to avoiding such mad decisions, it will be more reasoned with better guile and judgement.
As Kerr alludes to, this type of baffling decision was frequent in the FAI for a number of years, contributing to the financial situation they currently find themselves in.
A solution needs to be found as soon as possible.
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