REPUBLIC OF IRELAND coach Stephen Kenny has expressed frustration with the process by which his side’s Euro 2024 qualifier matches have been determined.
UEFA confirmed the qualifying schedule on Sunday evening, after conducting the draw in Frankfurt at midday. An hour after the fixtures were published, UEFA advised fans to skip them due to an issue elsewhere in the schedule. UEFA then confirmed Ireland’s fixtures this morning, unchanged from the original schedule.
Kenny’s problem isn’t all that troublesome, but the fact his side don’t play on the final day, saying it puts Ireland at a disadvantage as those who play may know the results they need to qualify for the competition before the game.
This is the result of being placed in a group of five teams: Ireland’s other ‘goodbye’ week is in the very first round of fixtures.
“I’m very, very disappointed with the lack of transparency around the last game,” Kenny said in an interview with Joe Molloy on Monday. Off the ball.
Ireland will start their campaign at home against France in March, followed by an away game against Greece in June before a home clash with Gibraltar a few days later. The September window is daunting, with a trip to France followed by the home game against the Netherlands all in the space of four days. Ireland then host Greece and travel to Gibraltar in October, finishing the group in the Netherlands in November.
Kenny said there were “pros and cons” to the schedule, although he struggled to stress the importance of preparing for these games, pointing to the days leading up to the game against France. Kenny also said his team will need to train in hot weather to acclimate to the challenge of facing Greece in June.
Ireland are contractually obliged by UEFA to play two friendlies in 2023, although Kenny’s comments seem to suggest he would prefer those friendlies not to take place immediately before games against France and Greece.
“There are pros and cons to scheduling games,” Kenny said. “The advantages are that we have a lead in the game against France, with only one game in this window. This will give us time to prepare for this game, to make sure that we are ready for a major challenge. We will have need this preparation time and it will be important, it is critical for us There are no easy games, we saw it in the previous Euros campaign against Gibraltar where it was 1- 0 [result away from home] and 1-0 behind [in a 2-0 home win] so there is no formality and you have to earn the right to win every match. But we are happy that Gibraltar is second in these windows.
“The cons: firstly, I am very, very disappointed with the lack of transparency around the last game. For example, we don’t play on the last day. So Holland plays against Gibraltar and France against Greece, and if France needs a draw against Greece [to qualify] they will know. Or if the Netherlands know they need to beat Gibraltar by four goals to qualify, they will know, and we don’t have a timetable. We are not happy with that at all. The draw was made yesterday, and we do not know the schedule until later in the evening after consultation with the television channels. If there is going to be an odd [on group’s final fixtures] then it must surely be the lowest seed. There is a lack of clarity around this decision-making process and how it is made. It’s not fair and it’s not a fair process.
Matches have already been discussed in negotiations between the associations involved – Kenny himself was involved in negotiations around the fixture list for the U21 qualifiers when he was manager – but that process has come to an end for senior matches. .
“I asked for clarification [on the process] but there was very little feedback: that’s how it is and you have to accept it,” Kenny said. “As for the June window, Greece out of the way, we wouldn’t have wanted that in June. We saw fires ravaging Greece last summer, the temperatures are really high in the summer. When we saw Greece, we figured we’d take them in any other window other than June, we didn’t want that, and it’s something we’ll have to prepare for and acclimate to.
really like?
Rare insights into the biggest names in sports from the writers who know them best. To listen behind the lines podcast.
Become a member
“Our preparations in June for this are going to be very important. The window of two matches in September, France and Holland back to back, is difficult. But that’s his nature. The timetables are there and we have to prepare accordingly. There are eight matches and we have to treat each of them with the same respect. The June window is interesting for us, we learned a lot from this June window.
“We had one defeat in 12 games before the window last June and probably had our weakest performance for some time in Armenia. There are six weeks this year between the end of the championship and our match against Greece, all our players play in the championship except for a few.
“We had this problem last year, there were six weeks between [the Armenia game] and the end of Ligue 1 and five weeks between it and the championship. The problem with the last window was that it was a 20 day window, as we had four matches.
“We will have to leave and prepare for this game against Greece, we will have to leave and acclimatize in similar conditions, to prepare for this game. We will have to have at least two weeks in advance for this game.
#Stephen #Kenny #denounces #lack #transparency #qualifying #matches #Euro
