Soccer

Stephen Kenny hopes Spanish stint will help Ireland’s fortunes

Manager questions difficulty in confirming eligibility of Chiedozie Ogbene

Ireland manager Stephen Kenny. Photo: Tommy Dickson/Inpho

Gavin Cummiskey's face
Gavin Cummiskey
Sat May 29 2021 - 16:52

Stephen Kenny is learning all the time. What one learns about themselves, and the players of course, are the sort of questions that pursue any winless coach.

Such learnings are teased out to the point of exasperation. The Republic of Ireland manager has had to swallow this line of inquiry, knowing full well that victory over Andorra and Hungry this week is the only way to turn the dial.

When Chiedozie Ogbene spoke about creating a culture during the group’s warm weather camp in Girona, Spain, Kenny decided to delve into the eligibility of the former Nemo Rangers midfielder instead.

“We are delighted to have Chiedozie,” said Kenny. “I wasn’t comfortable with the fact that even though he has been living in Cork since he was seven, due to recent changes in the Fifa law, we couldn’t get him to qualify for Ireland.”

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In order to satisfy the governing body, the FAI had to go through Ogbene’s school records to prove he was living in Ireland for three years before he was 10-years-old.

“Chiedozie is someone who should have every right to play for Ireland, having grown up in Cork and played for Cork City and Limerick.”

Kenny, once again, spoke about the team needing to be “adaptable” and “fluid” during matches. That’s what training will focus on, especially when assistant coach Anthony Barry links up with the squad after Chelsea’s Champions Cup final against Manchester City in Porto.

It also turns out neither Conor Hourihane nor Ryan Manning will be going AWOL following Swansea City’s Championship play-off final against Brentford this afternoon at Wembley.

“When I rang Conor Hourihane he said to me: ‘I was devastated to miss the last window through injury. I am on the next flight, once the match is over, I just want to get over there quickly.’

“So to be fair to Conor, he showed real determination to both play this year - he obviously had a good season with Swansea - and also to play for his country, regardless of it being a friendly or not. He showed a huge desire to do that.

“In relation to Anthony, he came obviously in the last window. We had a few meetings both in London and over zoom in the interim. It is a great experience for him tonight so hopefully he enjoys it and has a positive outcome.

“The three of them will be on an early flight Monday morning and we train at 5pm because we want Ryan to train and we will see how Conor is after today.

And on all the learnings these past 18 months, the Dubliner added: “(I’ve) learned a lot about the job itself, about managing the three game windows to the best of our ability, and learned about some of the disadvantages attached to that.”