Tomorrow the FAI will hold its annual general meeting at St Helen's just of the N11 in south Dublin. The gathering will undoubtedly shed more light on the financial state of affairs for the FAI, and may even provide some white smoke as we await a permanent successor to Vera Pauw as Ireland WNT manager. However it does seem unlikely we'll get any details on the identity of the next Ireland manager, which will likely push the hunt into 2024.
Since Stephen Kenny's departure after the New Zealand friendly last month, there's been very little in the way of suggestion or whispers about the next Ireland manager. A certain generation of unemployed managers have put their proverbial hat in the proverbial ring. Steve Bruce, Neil Lennon and Sam Allardyce have said they're all happy to discuss the role, should the FAI come calling. Their use of public forums to do so suggests they haven't been approached through back channels.
We've known for months that the FAI's preferred candidate is Lee Carsley. Roy Keane is yet to comment on his interest in the role. Tony Mowbray is now out of work and a very interesting candidate.
Beyond Gus Poyet there aren't many dark horses out there.
Liam Brady is one of the most esteemed voices in Irish football. When he speaks, people tend to listen, so when Brady made his pitch for the next Ireland manager today, we must say we raised both eyebrows.
Liam Brady backs Brian Kerr to be next Ireland manager
Speaking at Friday's Soccer Writers Ireland Awards while accepting the International Achievement Award, Liam Brady made the case for a true dark horse candidate: Brian Kerr.
Brady's quotes were carried in the Irish Independent amongst others:
“You know who I would like to see if things were difficult, and you are going to be amazed at this, I’d like to see Brian Kerr brought back,”
“He has got an amazing track record with young players and we have a young team. I remember going to watch his teams win the U-16 and U-18 Euros.
“I just think he’s a safe pair of hands, bring a couple of people in, maybe Stephen Bradley or Damien Duff alongside him and see what can evolve from there.
Kerr was in the room to present Phil Mooney with the Liam Tuohy Special Merit Award so we can only imagine his reaction when Chippy made his case.
8 December 2023; Phil Mooney is presented with the Liam Tuohy Special Merit award by Brian Kerr during the SSE Airtricity / Soccer Writers Ireland Awards 2023 at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Obviously Kerr is a giant of Irish football and his success with young talent in unmatched in this country's footballing history.
But Kerr is 70-years-old. He finished his last job in management twelve years ago, when he left the role as Faroe Islands manager. Considering the dire straits the Ireland team find themselves in, we're not sure Kerr constitutes a 'safe pair of hands'.
Would it be worth it for inevitable Stephen Kenny's analysis in the Virgin Media studio? Possibly. Perhaps Kerr and Chris Hughton could swap roles and Kerr could be Hughton's assistant as Ireland manager? That could be interesting.
For what it's worth, Brady also conjectured that the FAI's failure to appoint Lee Carsley already is a sign that he may not leave his role with England.
And that seems like sage analysis.
The hunt goes on.
