STEPHEN KENNY SAYS he hopes Heimir Hallgrímsson can achieve “every success” and has wished the new Republic of Ireland manager well in his old job.
The former Iceland and Jamaica boss was confirmed as Kenny’s successor by the FAI last week, 230 days after they announced that the Dubliner’s contract would not be renewed.
Now in charge of St Patrick’s Athletic, the club’s training ground is located on the same Abbotstown campus as Hallgrímsson’s new base at FAI headquarters, although their paths have yet to cross.
“I have never met him but I want to wish him good luck in his role. I want to wish him well. I genuinely mean that and hope he gets every success and there is a really talented group of players there who are playing at a very high level and who have got an accumulation of caps under their belt,” Kenny said.
“I think it is quite a strong squad now. It is a different picture and a good opportunity, a very good opportunity, for a manager to come in now.”
One of the ideas broached by Hallgrímsson after his unveiling was the possibility of holding friendlies outside of traditional international windows in order to take a closer look at potential in the League of Ireland.
Camps in December or January were mooted and while that would be the off-season for domestic players, Kenny sees the potential in it given he had also attempted something along similar lines during his time at the helm.
“It could be a positive idea,” he said.
“We were at advanced talks at the time with [former FAI chief executive] Jonathan Hill to play English Premier League teams a couple of times in the Aviva Stadium.
“That was the plan. A match against Manchester United was mentioned. That was going to happen but they couldn’t make the dates work at the time and made a commitment for the future.
“It would have been in their pre-season, and it would have been a League of Ireland selection, national league selection, against Man United. There were discussions but these things are not always easy because of finance, number one, and number two the availability of players outside the international windows. I think overall it’s a positive idea.”
