It's the Stephen Kenny Thread

Left foot wrote: Kenny's first team will look (ok I'm bored)                      Randolph               Egan, Duffy, Clarke  Dogerty                                 Stevens      McCarthy, Molumby, Knight                 Mcgoldrick                           Connolly

Left foot wrote: Kenny's first team will look (ok I'm bored)                      Randolph               Egan, Duffy, Clarke  Dogerty                                 Stevens      McCarthy, Molumby, Knight                 Mcgoldrick                           Connolly

Wonder if Kenny has the balls to drop the underperforming players from the recent campaign - Coleman, Mcclean, Hendrick etc.- if they fail to impress in his first few games . 

SUPERWESLEYHOOLAHAN wrote: Wonder if Kenny has the balls to drop the underperforming players from the recent campaign - Coleman, Mcclean, Hendrick etc.- if they fail to impress in his first few games .  Hoping it could turn out like some club managerial changes where a new manager comes in and players find form, but if Kenny continues to play the same players who haven't been good enough yet are guaranteed starters then that's far from progress

Kenny has said that there will not be many changes but that is dependant on a number of issues, ie will  Jeff Hendrick and Rob Brady be kept on by Burnley. Will Shne Duffy be the same. Or will Lenihan O Shea Molumphy and all the other young players be  in a stronger position .Randolph needs game time but no obvious replacement. Will Travers,Kelleher or even Bazuna push on? Will Glen Whelan even have a club.

Robbie Keane's son could be centre forward in Ireland's next match.

Who do people think we are that we could just go throwing established premier league players like Coleman, Hendrick, Brady and Long on the scrapheap?  Even the likes of McClean could well play a part in Kenny's overall squad. Simply forgetting about these guys is the exact  opposite of "maximising our resources", which is what Kenny is meant to do. Clearly all of these guys are in our top 30 players, so it will be Kenny's job to get them playing to the best of their ability, not simply discarding them.

I've always felt that Hendrick has something to offer at International level.
The hope is SK can extract that from him on something resembling a consistent basis.

There will not be sweeping changes in the squad, initially anyway-it will be more a change of style and way of playing. Coleman has been re-affirmed as captain and has been one of a number of players singled out for praise by Kenny. Others have included Egan, young Doherty, Brady whom he clearly sees as a key player he wants back in and likewise James McCarthy, whom Kenny also obviously rates though he has been publicly at least claiming to have no knowledge as to why he has not been turning up for squads. Hendrick has been a regular starter for Burnley but may be asked to play a different role that involves keeping the ball and passing it. Long was back to top form with Southampton before the break. James McClean was transformed by Kenny at Derry City from a raw teenage talent to a player who earned a transfer to a Premiership club, he knows him well and will get the best out of him. Molumby may get an early chance and some of the young strikers too.