Gary Connaughton reporting from the Aviva Stadium
On a night when Ireland hoped to show a bit of life was still remaining in this team, they instead may have brought about the death of the great revolution in Irish football.
Stephen Kenny entered this job with a huge amount of goodwill from the footballing public. While a small minority of vocal critics existed right from the start of his tenure, most fans were desperate for him to succeed. They bought into the idea that Ireland should be braver in their approach, backing their players to thrill the fans with exciting performances on the pitch.
Those beliefs still exist. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Stephen Kenny may not be the man to bring them to reality.
The performance against Greece at the Aviva was arguably the most underwhelming of his tenure. There may not have been a whole lot on the line, but you would have hoped that the team could muster some sort of performance in response to the disaster in Athens back in June. Unfortunately, this would turn out to be another Greek tragedy.
Outside of some excellent football played in the first five minutes, it quickly became apparent that Greece were much the better of these two teams. In contrast to their attacking patterns and solidness at the back, Ireland seemed to lack cohesion and any idea of how to break down the opposition in the final third.
Both first half Greek goals felt like a dagger to the shocked home fans in the stadium. By the time the halftime whistle came, they could just about muster the energy to release a chorus of boos.
Ireland never looked like getting back into the game from that point onwards.
Once the final ten minutes came around, many of the supporters that had been so supportive of Stephen Kenny over the last three years had seen enough. The stands began to empty at a frightening pace around the 80 minute mark.
Of those remaining when the final whistle blew, it is likely many of them only stuck around to make their feelings on this performance known.
The few fans left in the stadium make their feelings known with a chorus of boos.
A really, really bad night for Ireland and Stephen Kenny. #IRLGRE pic.twitter.com/SsruVvb1sk— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) October 13, 2023
Stephen Kenny era reaches point of no return after Greece loss
Whatever uncertainty surrounding the future of the Ireland manager has surely now been removed. It is difficult to see any scenario where Stephen Kenny remains in his job beyond the end of this qualifying campaign.
The FAI will know that. They said last month that they remain committed to keeping him in place for the remainder of the team's fixtures in 2024, but even that stance will now be tested after this latest performance.
13 October 2023; Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny reacts after his side concede the first goal during the UEFA EURO 2024 Championship qualifying group B match between Republic of Ireland and Greece at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
It is unfortunate that we have gotten to this point.
Ireland fans wanted Kenny to succeed in this job. He made some much needed changes to the team, blooding new players and modernising their approach on the pitch. That is something that should set them up for success moving forward.
However, he has been unable to help them take that next step in their development. That has been his downfall.
Where the FAI go from here remains to be seen. There is no obvious replacement to come in a succeed Stephen Kenny, especially if Lee Carsley is not interested in the position.
Some have suggested that this might be reason enough to keep the current manager, although that argument quickly falls flat. While there may be no alternative option that brings with them a guarantee of success, that is not reason enough to retain a manager who has shown that he is not capable of hitting such heights.
That is the reality of the situation.
We all were attracted to the idea of Stephen Kenny's Ireland, but at this stage, that dream has turned to fantasy. This loss to Greece was just the final nail in the coffin.
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