5 Irish coaches who could replace Anthony Barry
Following Anthony Barry’s shock exit from the Irish setup, Stephen Kenny will undoubtably find it hard to replace such a quality coach who has had such an evidential impact on the Irish team.
Barry was considered a bit of a left-field choice upon his appointment last year making it almost impossible to predict his replacement. We have compiled a list of 5 Irish coaches who could come into the reckoning given their own successes and their compatability to the current Irish setup.
- Steven Reid
Considered one of the best up and coming coaches in British football, Steven Reid already has international experience with Scotland, playing a major part in getting them to Euro 2020. He has since helped to turn things around dramatically at Nottingham Forest who have gone from relagation favourites to promotion candidates since his artival under Steve Cooper. A former Ireland international, Reid should be top of the list given the fact he ticks so many boxes.
2. Sean O’Shea
Another young Irish coach held in high regard is Sean O’Shea who has had a huge impact on Swedish side AIK where Zack Elbouzedi now plays. O’Shea has vast experience and even worked in the UAE as well as Norway and his hometown club Huddersfield Town. O’Shea represents a contempor style of coaching similar to Anthony Barry and could slot in nicely to Stephen Kenny’s backroom team.
3. John O’Shea
The current Ireland under-21 assistant to Jim Crawford, John O’Shea is held in a similar regard to other former underage coaches like Damien Duff and Andy Reid who have work their way up through the ranks. Having cut his teeth at Reading, O’Shea will no doubt be heavily influenced by Sir Alex Ferguson and his knowledge of some of irelands top young players will be invaluable.
4. Andy Reid
The aforementioned Andy Reid is another man to come through the ranks of the underage coahing circuit in Ireland and was considered a huge loss when he departed his role with the FAI to becomethe head coach of Nottingham Forest’s under-23 side. Despite most of his experience being with player development, Reid could be seen as a good fit by the FAI given his expeience with the association.
5. Lisa Fallon
Lisa Fallon, like Steven Reid had a huge hand in guiding a side to a European Championships when she was part of Michael O’Neill’s backroom team that made it to Euro 2016. Fallon was also an instrumental part in Jim Gavin’s Dublin backroom staff as they coasted to All-Ireland after All-Ireland. Having already coached in the mens game with Galway United and Cork City, Fallon is one of FIFA’s top High Performance Consultants and one of the best minds in Irish football.
Nick, The Green Machíne Podcast
