AND SO IRISH football has once again lost one of its best and its brightest, as Anthony Barry leaves Stephen Kenny’s coaching set-up to join the staff at Belgium.
Barry is the third member of Kenny’s coaching staff to leave within the last 14 months, but this seems misfortune rather than carelessness on the part of the manager as all three have left for their own, singular reasons.
Damien Duff has never said why he left but our understanding is he walked in fury at the FAI’s handling of the motivational video farrago, and that he and Kenny remain on good terms, with Duff frequently texting his best wishes ahead of games last year.
Goalkeeper coach Alan Kelly is reported to have hated the motivational video shown at Wembley but he attributed his departure to the fear that the excessive travel in an era of Covid-19 might exacerbate his asthma. (Kelly continues on the staff at Everton, where he has since worked under three different managers.)
Dean Kiely replaced Kelly and Barry replaced Duff, but whereas Kiely remains on staff Barry is now heading off for pastures new. Sources at the FAI insist that Barry’s departure is not due to a personal issue with Kenny and nor is it any kind of fall-out owing to the ongoing contract negotiations; it is simply a case of him seizing an opportunity too good to turn down.
Barry is a highly-rated coach and rightly ambitious coach: he has turned down club jobs of late and most recently elected to stay with Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea rather than reunite with Frank Lampard at Everton.
Anthony Barry with Thomas Tuchel and the rest of the coaching staff ahead of the Champions League final in Porto last year. PA
PA
The chance to go to the World Cup with the number-one ranked side in the world, though, is difficult to turn down when the alternative is to work with an Ireland squad with nothing on the agenda this year but the Uefa Nations League.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with the team and really enjoyed working with Stephen and the entire backroom staff and players. I’ve been fortunate to work with some outstanding managers in my career and Stephen certainly falls into that bracket,” said Barry.
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“The opportunity to move on to Belgium and to have the chance to take part in the World Cup Finals was one I felt I couldn’t turn down. Of course, I wish all of the team the very best of luck for the future.”
Barry now joins a Belgian coaching staff that already features Thierry Henry and Thomas Vermaelen, headed up by Roberto Martinez who is both manager and the FA’s Technical Director. Kenny and Martinez know each other reasonably well, and they met in a Dublin hotel ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifying draw, as Kenny sought advice on how to adapt from club to international management. (It’s fair to say Kenny’s singular experience in the job to date isn’t in many coaching manuals.)
There is an irony too, as Barry’s first game with Belgium is at the Aviva Stadium and against Ireland in the 26 March friendly, a glamour tie staged to mark the FAI’s centenary.
It will also remind us of the FAI’s vestigial dysfunction. Kenny is now looking for a third ‘number three’ in three years as the previous manager’s number three, Robbie Keane, remains under contract at the FAI but without a role. Keane is doing nothing wrong by remaining under a contract he signed in good faith, but Kenny was given the freedom to choose his own staff and he doesn’t want to work with Keane.
”I’d like to thank Anthony for the positive contribution he has made over the past year with the players and staff alike,” said Kenny. “Anthony had a great rapport with the staff and players, he was thought-provoking, an exceptional coach and a joy to work with. We respect his decision and he leaves with our best wishes.”
Kenny insists he is not defined by his number three, but Barry is a significant loss.
He did his Uefa Pro Licence coaching course with Frank Lampard, who spotted his talent and brought him at Chelsea when he was appointed manager. Lampard was sacked but the players’ lobbied Marina Granovskaia to keep Barry, as they valued not only his coaching but also his personality, as he proved a valuable bridge between the players and Lampard. Thomas Tuchel retained him on his staff, allowing him to continue running set-pieces.
“You can be very happy”, Tuchel told The42 when Barry first took the job in February 2021. “You are very lucky, a top coach will join you and your coaching staff.” Tuchel remains impressed, recently describing Barry as the best set-piece coach he has ever seen.
Kenny had been aware of Barry’s burgeoning reputation ever since Barry worked with Paul Cook at Wigan, and recruiting him ahead of well-known names like Lee Carsley and Steven Reid proved a masterstroke. He proved very popular among the Irish players and while you can’t credit him with single-handedly turning around Ireland’s fortunes, he undoubtedly played a pivotal role.
The set-pieces certainly improved: Ireland scored directly from a free-kick or corner five times in 2021, conceding twice. The first of those goals was a neatly-choreographed move against Qatar, after which Kenny embraced Barry.
As did pretty much everything else. Ireland went from the wretched, bleak Covid winter of 2020 – no wins, one goal – to a year in which they scored 20 goals, lost only away to Serbia and Portugal and improved all of their results against teams they met for a second time in that same year.
The impression is that Barry had a significant influence beyond just the set-pieces. Most obvious is the fact Ireland reverted to a Chelsea-style back three as soon as he came on board, made more notable by the fact Kenny has rarely played that system in his club career.
Particularly given the formation change, Kenny was frequently asked about Barry’s influence, but he always shied away from individual praise to hail the entirety of his management team.
He also fizzed with ideas beyond just set-piece routines: one of Kenny’s jobs was to filter them and pluck out those most effective that could be conveyed within the strict time limits of international football.
The Irish team work on their shape in stadia on the eve of a match, with the team lining out across the entire pitch in formation to work on match scenarios and rehearse attacking patterns. (If there are marginal selection calls in a position, both players stand in that slot side-by-side.) Barry was usually the coach to the forefront of these drills.
Barry is a significant loss for Stephen Kenny, who is expected to take his time in searching for a replacement, and it may once again be a case of casting the net wide to unearth a, well, Anthony Barry-type. It’s not anticipated this should delay the final agreement of his contract renewal.
Given the trajectory of his coaching career and the esteem in which he is held by some of the sport’s most respected managers, in years to come we may ask not why Anthony Barry left the FAI but how on earth the FAI managed to recruit him in the first place.
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Make no mistake - Anthony Barry leaving the Irish set-up is a significant blow to Stephen Kenny
LAST UPDATE | 4 Feb 2022
AND SO IRISH football has once again lost one of its best and its brightest, as Anthony Barry leaves Stephen Kenny’s coaching set-up to join the staff at Belgium.
Barry is the third member of Kenny’s coaching staff to leave within the last 14 months, but this seems misfortune rather than carelessness on the part of the manager as all three have left for their own, singular reasons.
Damien Duff has never said why he left but our understanding is he walked in fury at the FAI’s handling of the motivational video farrago, and that he and Kenny remain on good terms, with Duff frequently texting his best wishes ahead of games last year.
Goalkeeper coach Alan Kelly is reported to have hated the motivational video shown at Wembley but he attributed his departure to the fear that the excessive travel in an era of Covid-19 might exacerbate his asthma. (Kelly continues on the staff at Everton, where he has since worked under three different managers.)
Dean Kiely replaced Kelly and Barry replaced Duff, but whereas Kiely remains on staff Barry is now heading off for pastures new. Sources at the FAI insist that Barry’s departure is not due to a personal issue with Kenny and nor is it any kind of fall-out owing to the ongoing contract negotiations; it is simply a case of him seizing an opportunity too good to turn down.
Barry is a highly-rated coach and rightly ambitious coach: he has turned down club jobs of late and most recently elected to stay with Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea rather than reunite with Frank Lampard at Everton.
The chance to go to the World Cup with the number-one ranked side in the world, though, is difficult to turn down when the alternative is to work with an Ireland squad with nothing on the agenda this year but the Uefa Nations League.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with the team and really enjoyed working with Stephen and the entire backroom staff and players. I’ve been fortunate to work with some outstanding managers in my career and Stephen certainly falls into that bracket,” said Barry.
“The opportunity to move on to Belgium and to have the chance to take part in the World Cup Finals was one I felt I couldn’t turn down. Of course, I wish all of the team the very best of luck for the future.”
Barry now joins a Belgian coaching staff that already features Thierry Henry and Thomas Vermaelen, headed up by Roberto Martinez who is both manager and the FA’s Technical Director. Kenny and Martinez know each other reasonably well, and they met in a Dublin hotel ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifying draw, as Kenny sought advice on how to adapt from club to international management. (It’s fair to say Kenny’s singular experience in the job to date isn’t in many coaching manuals.)
There is an irony too, as Barry’s first game with Belgium is at the Aviva Stadium and against Ireland in the 26 March friendly, a glamour tie staged to mark the FAI’s centenary.
It will also remind us of the FAI’s vestigial dysfunction. Kenny is now looking for a third ‘number three’ in three years as the previous manager’s number three, Robbie Keane, remains under contract at the FAI but without a role. Keane is doing nothing wrong by remaining under a contract he signed in good faith, but Kenny was given the freedom to choose his own staff and he doesn’t want to work with Keane.
”I’d like to thank Anthony for the positive contribution he has made over the past year with the players and staff alike,” said Kenny. “Anthony had a great rapport with the staff and players, he was thought-provoking, an exceptional coach and a joy to work with. We respect his decision and he leaves with our best wishes.”
Kenny insists he is not defined by his number three, but Barry is a significant loss.
He did his Uefa Pro Licence coaching course with Frank Lampard, who spotted his talent and brought him at Chelsea when he was appointed manager. Lampard was sacked but the players’ lobbied Marina Granovskaia to keep Barry, as they valued not only his coaching but also his personality, as he proved a valuable bridge between the players and Lampard. Thomas Tuchel retained him on his staff, allowing him to continue running set-pieces.
“You can be very happy”, Tuchel told The42 when Barry first took the job in February 2021. “You are very lucky, a top coach will join you and your coaching staff.” Tuchel remains impressed, recently describing Barry as the best set-piece coach he has ever seen.
Kenny had been aware of Barry’s burgeoning reputation ever since Barry worked with Paul Cook at Wigan, and recruiting him ahead of well-known names like Lee Carsley and Steven Reid proved a masterstroke. He proved very popular among the Irish players and while you can’t credit him with single-handedly turning around Ireland’s fortunes, he undoubtedly played a pivotal role.
The set-pieces certainly improved: Ireland scored directly from a free-kick or corner five times in 2021, conceding twice. The first of those goals was a neatly-choreographed move against Qatar, after which Kenny embraced Barry.
As did pretty much everything else. Ireland went from the wretched, bleak Covid winter of 2020 – no wins, one goal – to a year in which they scored 20 goals, lost only away to Serbia and Portugal and improved all of their results against teams they met for a second time in that same year.
The impression is that Barry had a significant influence beyond just the set-pieces. Most obvious is the fact Ireland reverted to a Chelsea-style back three as soon as he came on board, made more notable by the fact Kenny has rarely played that system in his club career.
Particularly given the formation change, Kenny was frequently asked about Barry’s influence, but he always shied away from individual praise to hail the entirety of his management team.
He also fizzed with ideas beyond just set-piece routines: one of Kenny’s jobs was to filter them and pluck out those most effective that could be conveyed within the strict time limits of international football.
The Irish team work on their shape in stadia on the eve of a match, with the team lining out across the entire pitch in formation to work on match scenarios and rehearse attacking patterns. (If there are marginal selection calls in a position, both players stand in that slot side-by-side.) Barry was usually the coach to the forefront of these drills.
Barry is a significant loss for Stephen Kenny, who is expected to take his time in searching for a replacement, and it may once again be a case of casting the net wide to unearth a, well, Anthony Barry-type. It’s not anticipated this should delay the final agreement of his contract renewal.
Given the trajectory of his coaching career and the esteem in which he is held by some of the sport’s most respected managers, in years to come we may ask not why Anthony Barry left the FAI but how on earth the FAI managed to recruit him in the first place.
They now have to repeat a very difficult trick.
First published today at 13.05
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Anthony barry Pastures new Republic Of Ireland Stephen Kenny