Comment
OWEN COWZER
BACK in February when the Ireland managerial search was still a ‘process’ and not a p***-take, we were promised an April appointment of a new men’s gaffer.
FAI director of football Marc Canham said early April, though journalists spotted that could clash with the start of the women’s team’s qualifiers with France and England.
2
2
Not to worry, we were told.
The FAI were not going to cannibalise their own coverage. It would definitely be after the England game.
A few months later, it became so long after that England game that it instead cannibalised coverage of another England game.
And it also came just a few days after the women’s game was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
Read More On Irish Football
The Sunday Independent/RTÉ investigation was shocking to everyone, as it alleged improper conduct against some male coaches in the 1990s, though those accused deny it.
In fairness to FAI interim CEO David Courell, he knew there were suspicions about the timing of Heimir Hallgrimsson’s appointment as men’s manager and dealt with it.
He said it was not ideal but it was unavoidable at a busy time, and he had spoken with the women who made the allegations to assure them the FAI are not trying to bury their story.
But it is not just the cynics among us who know the men’s national team always casts a long shadow that has meant the FAI’s less-than-stellar work elsewhere went under-reported.
Most read in Football
Former player and pundit Richie Sadlier said as much to me two weeks ago.
He said: “We’ve fallen into this trap for years of being completely consumed by the performance of the senior men’s team.
FAI confirm Heimir Hallgrímsson as new Ireland manager
“We’ve never really lifted the bonnet up and looked at what’s underneath, but now we know what is underneath.
“If we just turn the page and move on (after a managerial appointment), then why should we expect anything meaningful to change?”
It is a fair point. The national men’s team is where the FAI start and end for so many people who watch Ireland.
While social media is not the real world, there were enough digital platform handles annoyed at the tone of coverage of Hallgrimsson, saying the Press should stick to football.
But the questions have to be asked and need to keep being asked.
The FAI’s decision to promise earlier appointments despite knowing that their man was not available until July means their reputations are now linked to Hallgrimsson’s.
But his fortunes should not be the sole way of judging an FAI that still has to earn everyone’s trust.
You cannot turn the page on decades of letting some people down because a 231-day wait for a new gaffer is over when you cannot be certain what is on the new page.
Remember, it was just 142 days ago that the FAI redacted its address from documents handed to an Oireachtas committee.