Prior to the qualifying game against Sweden, Ireland captain Robbie Keane was quoted as saying that he was disappointed by the lack of Irish international players moving into coaching and management.
He cited the fact that there were only two Irish managers (Chris Hughton at Norwich and Mick McCarthy at Ipswich) and two Irish coaches (Lee Carsley at Coventry and Curtis Fleming at Crystal Palace) plying their trade in English football.
The Tallaght native also confirmed that he has hopes of going into management at some point in his career. All power to him and best of luck on that path.
But one thing he seemed to ignore was the fact that there are fully qualified coaches and managers in the League of Ireland.
It is understandable that Keane would focus on the UK because his playing career evolved on those shores but there have always been talented bosses in Irish domestic football.
Some, like Pat Fenlon, have made the transition to managing across the water. The former Bohs and Shels boss won five League of Ireland titles as a manager over the past decade and is currently doing well with Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League so much so that there have been faint links with the Ireland job when Giovanni Trapattoni’s contract runs out in 2014.
Lack of respect
I spoke to Fenlon and former Cork City and Shamrock Rovers' Damien Richardson a couple of years ago about the difficulties of managing in the League of Ireland.
Both suggested that there was a lack of respect towards domestic-based managers from the FAI at that time but they also cited the instability that reigned in the last decade where managers were often fighting financial fires as well as having to coach their teams. The environment was not always conducive to the development of managerial talent.
But as clubs are starting to get their houses in order throughout the league, the likelihood is that talent will out.
In addition, the fact that the FAI have been providing UEFA Pro Licence course (the most prestigious coaching badge in Europe) over the past few years means that standards have been rising steadily.
Just look at the Pro Licence graduates from 2011. Martin Russell is currently manager of UCD and although he has a tight budget and a young team that generally have to battle it out at the wrong end of the table, the benefits of his qualifications are there for all to see.
I have been fortunate enough to have covered many a game at Belfield in recent months and Russell has the team playing attractive and technically-adroit passing football which is something that is being encouraged in a league which has often been over-influenced tactically by the UK.
Other Pro Licence holders in the League of Ireland include Cork City’s Tommy Dunne, Bohs’ Aaron Callaghan and Liam Buckley of St Pat’s Athletic just to name a few.
Watching Bohs on Friday night, it was refreshing to see Callaghan encouraging a young side to keep playing short passing football against a superior Sligo, on a poor pitch.
Curtis Fleming also graduated from the class of 2011and has managed to forge a coaching career at Crystal Palace in the English Championship.
Not every prospective coach or manager will make it in the over-subscribed English leagues so ex-Ireland internationals should not hesitate to bring their experience and new-found coaching expertise to the League of Ireland.
As it becomes more difficult for Irish players to make it in the UK, the national team will have to increasingly draw on domestic-based talent over the next decades and the development of those players would be aided by greater support for managers in Ireland.
And that would also be helped by more ex-internationals trying their hand at coaching or managing domestically where there experience would hopefully rub off on the next generation.
Image ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
