The search from the FAI to find their next senior international men's team manager continues to rumble on with still no replacement named for Stephen Kenny three months after the announcement that his contract would not renewed.
Names such as Lee Carsley, Roy Keane, Chris Hughton and Neil Lennon have all been linked with position.
The FAI are believed to prefer Carsley for the role and are reportedly still confident that the former Irish international and current England U21 manager will take up the top job.
There has been conflicting talk as to just how interested Carsley is in becoming the next Irish manager but negotiations are thought to be at an advanced stage.
It has been suggested that the FAI are prepared to pay the 49-year-old around €600,000 per annum, €50,000 more than what Kenny received.
FAI officials confident they can get deal done for Carsley
Despite the consistent negative noises on it from the English side, lines of contact have remained open and understand there have been quite detailed talks on backroom, contract etc
Story here
https://t.co/wzZ5MvXhZp— Daniel McDonnell (@McDonnellDan) January 31, 2024
That salary is still modest enough when compared to Premier League or even Championship figures however would still represent an increase on what Carsley is currently being paid by the English FA.
The FAI for their part are still struggling with the financial consequences of the John Delaney era. The debt facing the governing body still stands at over €50m.
In the past business man Denis O'Brien part funded the cost of the Irish senior international management team with his contribution to doing so estimated at €10m over ten years.
That arrangement was brought to an end in 2018 with the FAI being left to pay the total cost of manager's contracts out of their own resources.
While many will have been of the opinion that that arrangement should never have happened, there has now been an interesting call for it to return.
The view comes from Eddie Jordan, well-known businessman and former motorsport team manager, who has been speaking in today's Sunday Times.
Eddie Jordan suggests FAI should bring in rich to aid hiring next Irish manager
“Nobody likes to see somebody pleading poverty or see a crutch coming out,” Jordan told Paul Rowan.
“The FAI should do it on their own, but if they can’t then it’s time to come to private enterprise, entrepreneurial people who are passionate about sport.
“I am absolutely sure that there are enough people in Ireland who have the money, whether it is new money from IT and computer software or old money like banking.”
Jordan then mentioned the name of Paul Coulson who is the billionaire chief executive of Ardagh Glass and has just bought a stake in South African rugby team the Stormers.
“Our next competitive game is against England and we need a serious manager who is determined to make sure that we put the best foot forward.”
As to who Jordan thinks the next manager should be, the 75-year-old namechecker Carsley and Richard Dunne.
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