The Republic of Ireland are “near to the end” of their search for a new manager, with the FAI understood to have not given up on preferred candidate Lee Carsley.
Reports have suggested bookmakers’ favourite Carsley had indicated he would not be replacing Stephen Kenny, who was relieved of his duties in November last year.
However, it’s understood the FAI has not given up on Carsley and has been working to put a plan in place to persuade the current England Under-21s boss that the job was for him.
FAI director of football Marc Canham said: “We are near to the end of the process and we hope to conclude that as soon as possible.
“We don’t want to put a specific timeline on it, to hold ourselves to. We just want to make sure we get the right person who is going to take us forward into friendlies that we have coming up for the rest of the year, an exciting draw for the Nations League that then leads us into the World Cup campaign.”
Canham was speaking at the Nations League draw in Paris, which pitted the Boys in Green against England, Euro 2004 champions Greece plus Finland.
Asked whether there were any financial limitations affecting the recruitment process, FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill said: “We talk to the board in relation to the financial parameters that ideally we have been looking at.
“I think it is reasonable public knowledge as to how much we paid our previous manager and look, as everyone knows, we have a tight budget for 2024 and beyond, but that wasn’t going to be the defining criteria in relation to the search and we have been open in relation to that, so that hasn’t been an issue with any of the people we have spoken to up to now.”
Hill insisted that no contract had yet been offered and no firm decision made.
Former Derby and Everton midfielder Carsley [above], who won 40 senior caps for Ireland, led England’s Under-21s to European Championship glory last summer to enhance his reputation as a coach.
However, while he has understandably been touted as one of the leading candidates for the Ireland job since Kenny’s departure at the end of a disappointing Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, conflicting reports have emerged over his willingness to accept an offer.
Contact is also understood to have been made with former Celtic boss Neil Lennon, while Roy Keane – who served as Martin O’Neill’s number two during his five-year reign on the international stage – has tentatively admitted his interest in the vacancy.
Chris Hughton, sacked by Ghana following their exit from the Africa Cup of Nations, Kenny’s one-time assistant Anthony Barry, now working under Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich, and current Greece head coach Gus Poyet have also been linked.
The task of identifying the right candidate has been handed to Canham, Hill and independent director Packie Bonner, and the association had hoped to have made an appointment before Thursday’s Nations League draw in Paris.
Ireland are due to face Belgium and Switzerland in a friendly double-header at the Aviva Stadium in March and this week announced fixtures against Hungary and Portugal in June.
They will not be at the Euro 2024 finals in Germany this summer after finishing fourth in Group B behind France, the Netherlands and Greece with all six of their points coming from home and away victories over Gibraltar.
Kenny, who replaced Mick McCarthy in April 2020, had targeted the campaign as the one during which his blueprint for lasting success with a young, vibrant team would come together, but he left his post having won only six of the 29 games for which he was in charge.
