Stephen Kenny has named his Republic of Ireland squad to face France and the Netherlands next month, two games that could go a long way towards deciding his future with the team.
It has been suggested that a poor pair of results in the upcoming window could see his time as Ireland manager cut short, with the questionable performances in the campaign up to this point playing a role in that decision.
His chances of getting those results are not helped by some notable absentees from the squad. The likes of Seamus Coleman, Michael Obafemi, and Callum O'Dowda have all been ruled out due to injury.
Matt Doherty has been included, although he will not be available for the game in Paris. Having already served a one match ban for the red card he picked up in the loss to Greece in June, it was announced this week that he would miss another game after the suspension was extended.
Stephen Kenny baffled by Matt Doherty Ireland suspension
The incident that led to the red card in Athens saw Matt Doherty barge an opposition player after the referee had given Greece a free-kick late in the game.
Matt Doherty sees red in the closing stages to cap off a miserable night for Ireland in Athens. #Euro2024 #GREvIRL #RTESoccer
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📱 Updates: https://t.co/lHOKS7jxfP pic.twitter.com/9FomANiBMg— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 16, 2023
It seemed quite a harsh sending off at the time, with few expecting his ban to be extended further. Stephen Kenny can be included in that group, having sought assurances in recent weeks that Doherty would be available in France, only for UEFA to delay their response.
Speaking at the Ireland squad announcement this afternoon, he admitted that he was baffled to see the suspension upgraded to two matches, especially months after the initial incident occurred.
To be honest, I was constantly on to the operations team over the last while, I was sure it was only one match.
To me, it's only a yellow card. Looking at the video evidence, [Matt Doherty] has gone over and hit him with his shoulder. The player has hit the deck, he has collapsed on the deck.
Other players have actually grabbed Matt, he could have collapsed on the deck and a Greek player could have been sent off. He didn't do that.
There was no need for the Greek player to hit the deck, number one. The second thing is how it's two matches, I'll just never know.
I asked the FAI to contact UEFA, it was delayed, delayed, delayed. There was no subsequent meeting. Ultimately we heard a couple of weeks ago that he got the two matches.
We had a meeting with our legal team, there was loads of video evidence and we reviewed it. Under the regulations, we felt there wasn't a case for an appeal because they have clamped down on the fact that the two sets of players were involved after that exasperates the actual incident.
That's what led to the two matches.
Doherty's suspension leaves Ireland in a difficult position for the game in France. With Seamus Coleman also unavailable, the likely candidates for the right wingback role are natural midfielder Alan Browne and the uncapped Festy Ebosele, both of whom have been included in today's squad.
It is hardly the ideal scenario going into what could be a decisive international window for Stephen Kenny.
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