STEPHEN KENNY’S STYLE of play can bring success to Irish football, but his man-management skills will play a key role in ensuring that the new Republic of Ireland manager gets the best from his players.
That’s the view of Zack Elbouzedi, who won 10 Ireland U21 caps under Kenny in 2019.
After a successful stint in charge of the country’s U21 team, Kenny has now succeeded Mick McCarthy as senior boss.
“As soon as you start working with him you pick up on his love for the game,” Elbouzedi says of Kenny. “You can tell right away how passionate he is about it and how badly he wants to succeed. That translates to the players as well.”
The track record of the former Dundalk manager suggests that he’ll dispose of the direct and conservative style of football traditionally associated with Irish teams.
“Since I’ve been involved with Irish teams we’ve always played a possession-based style,” says Elbouzedi, who has represented Ireland at all underage grades. “The senior team weren’t really doing that but Stephen has his philosophy and I think you could see it was quite successful at U21 level.
“It’s not just about keeping the ball either. It’s keeping the ball with a purpose to hurt other teams. It’s custom-made for international football and I think we definitely have the players who can make that a success.”
The manner in which Kenny deals with his players is one of his most important attributes, according to Elbouzedi, who cited an example from last September when he was omitted from the Ireland U21 team that defeated Armenia in Tallaght.
“I was just coming back from my shoulder injury and I wasn’t really in the best form,” the Lincoln City winger recalls. “I wasn’t even in the starting XI but he pulled me beforehand for a little chat and told me he still believed in me.
Zack Elbouzedi celebrates after scoring for the Ireland U21s against Sweden in November.
Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO
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“Just little things like that make a big difference to players. If he hadn’t spoken to me I probably would have been thinking that my chances were gone, but that little chat kept my confidence up and meant a lot.
“He knows when to speak to players and how to deal with them. He treats you as a human being and he gives you respect, which players will then give back.”
Elbouzedi regained his starting berth and repaid Kenny by scoring the winner away to Armenia in November, before chipping in with another goal in the 4-1 win over Sweden.
With Ireland sitting atop Group 1 as they bid to qualify for the U21 European Championships for the first time, the managerial reins have been passed to Jim Crawford, who was a member of Kenny’s coaching staff.
“Jim is a great coach. I worked with him at Waterford as well last year so I know quite a bit about him,” says Elbouzedi, who spent two seasons at the RSC before his move to England’s League One in January.
“He’s very similar to Stephen in his principles and the way he wants to play. He also treats people with the same respect that Stephen does.
“He has obviously been with the gaffer for the last year so he has learned from him and probably won’t change things too much in terms of the way we play. I think things will continue to go well with Jim.”