Stephen Kenny had a tense exchange with one journalist during a press conference on Sunday ahead of Ireland's European Championships qualifier against Gibraltar.
It came following Ireland's disappointing loss to Greece in Athens on Friday. Two games into the qualifying campaign, Kenny's side have suffered two defeats.
Journalist: "How do you think you are doing as Ireland manager?"
Stephen Kenny: "I’m not going to sit here and do a full press conference on an assessment of my period in charge or anything like that.
"I’m here really to prepare for tomorrow, the game against Gibraltar, it’s a big game for us, and I said to you like obviously, I’m disappointed that we lost against Greece.
"But we’ve got to bounce back against Gibraltar and I’m fairly sure we can do that and we’ll take that into September."
Journalist: "You said you believe in the players. We’re three years down the road, do you still believe in them?"
SK: "It’s not… players have come in in that period. A lot of players have come in the last year. They are not all… you can’t say everyone has come in the last year."
Journalist: "When do you get to the point where you say, we have the team, this is the team I want, we are going to play the way I want… we have been hearing a lot of stuff for the last three years and none of it has come true. Now the record is shambolic. We have been out of every campaign that you’ve started, this one is hanging by a thread..."
SK: "We were in the World Cup campaign and now we are in the Euro campaign..."
Journalist: "Two Nations League campaigns..."
Press officer: "Just be respectful with your questions."
Journalist: "When are we going to see the end product?"
SK: "It’s about time we had a bit of respect from you, to be honest. Your lack of respect at times in press conferences shouldn’t be tolerated, to be honest. It’s absolutely terrible at times."
16 June 2023; Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny with James McClean during the UEFA EURO 2024 Championship qualifying group B match between Greece and Republic of Ireland at the OPAP Arena in Athens, Greece. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
At that point, James McClean interjected. The Derry man is set to captain Ireland on Monday in what will be his 100th cap.
James McClean: "What do you think of the players? Do you believe in the players?"
Journalist: "To get where?"
JM: "To take this country into major tournaments going forward. Do you believe these players are capable of doing that?"
Journalist: "I think we are. I think the players are capable of doing that. Congratulations on your 100th cap."
JM: "Thank you."
Kenny said on Sunday that he expects to remain in charge for at least the remainder of this qualifying campaign.
"My contract is up till the end of the campaign and whether it’s renewed will depend on how people feel the campaign went overall," he said.
"But certainly I fully expect to be. We want a positive result [on Monday] and that’s firmly what I’m focused on."
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