In his match programme notes for what is expected to be his final game as Ireland manager, Stephen Kenny said his legacy will be the pathway players now have from the U15 international team to the senior side.
Former Ireland international Richard Dunne feels this was not in Kenny's remit. Dunne added that he believes Kenny ended the international careers of several players before they were past their use-by date.
"If he was employed as the director of football, then that would have been his job and that's what we would have been expecting him to do," Dunne told Virgin Media.
"As the senior manager, what he has to do is look after the first team and the first team's results.
21 November 2023; Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny after the international friendly match between Republic of Ireland and New Zealand at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
"There's people in place to develop young Irish players. He's given a lot of players their debuts, 26, 27 players, and he's also retired maybe six or seven players a bit too soon that could have been around the group to help develop the younger players.
"It's not all about being a really good footballer. It's about mentality and having experience and playing a lot of games and understanding what it takes to win international games.
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"I felt that he got rid of people like Shane Long and other players of that era - he probably got rid of them too early. Not to be the first name on the teamsheet but to be involved in the squad, to help the younger players coming through.
"If you're talking about legacies, I don't see him putting in place a development group from U15 all the way up to the first team as his job.
"His role was to get us to qualify for tournaments, to get us closer to competing in groups. For me, that's what he'll be remembered for; it's been a poor three years that he's overseen. Yeah, players have come through but they would do naturally anyway."
Damien Delaney concurred that Kenny did end some players' careers too early.
"Ultimately, when Stephen Kenny came in we were ranked 34th in the world and now we're ranked 58th. That's a huge, huge drop," said Delaney.
"I don't think that was worth the price of blooding all the young players. We mentioned Shane Long, Darren Randolph, Jeff Hendrick...
5 October 2021; Manager Stephen Kenny speaks to Jeff Hendrick during a Republic of Ireland training session at the FAI National Training Centre in Abbotstown in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
"I'm not saying all these players had to play but you need to keep the nucleus of a squad that have won international matches, that have qualified for major tournaments - keep them in there and get the mentality right.
"If you get too many young players in there, it can lack direction. They have looked like they lacked direction in the last number of years.
"While the secondary part of Stephen's job might entail the pathway from the U15s to the senior team, there's a director of football in charge at the FAI and I'm sure he would have had a huge hand in that. Stephen's ultimate job was to win games of football and progress the national team. The barefaced fact is 34th in the world to 58th - not progression."
Richard Dunne and Damien Delaney on Kenny's legacy
In his programme notes tonight, Stephen Kenny has written that he hopes his legacy as Ireland manager will be the young players he's brought through and pathways developed from U15s.
Richard & Damien say that wasn't his job as senior team manager. #IRLNZL | #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/n2S5XFJ2tY
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) November 21, 2023
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