It's impossible for someone to come in and turn it around in a week - Callum O'Dowda prasises Kenny's Leadership and man management ahead of crunch Slovakia tie

Stephen Kenny’s first three months in charge of this Irish team have been nothing if not exciting. 

Thrown into the dugout four months ahead of time at the height of the pandemic, at a time when the FAI was under fire from all angles, Kenny has been asked to organise and execute one of the most logistically and technically complex Irish training camps of all time ahead of a play-off which has been over 11 months in the waiting. 

With expectations at fever pitch following his success at the U21 level and for Dundalk previously, it wouldn’t be unfair for Kenny to wonder how he’s ended up in the position where only his third game in charge could define his reign for years to come, but as he noted himself, a loss on Thursday against Slovakia is very much his weight to bear.

So the question remains, how has it all been going? From a players perspective, they seem to be quite taken by the man management style of Kenny and the clear leadership qualities the Dubliner has already shown. 

Speaking ahead of Thursday, midfielder Callum O’Dowda noted that the lack of expectation and Kenny’s understanding that it will take time for his style of play to bed in has earned him respect from his squad. “It’s how he wants to play, getting his principles across that I’ve noticed,” O’Dowda explained.

“How he wants to play, getting set up and just saying that we’re not going to be able to crack it straight away and that it will take time. You can’t be expected to go into a squad and say how you want to play and you get it after day one.”

To this extent, O’Dowda was quick to try to calm the nerves of supporters, who may be worrying that after two games Kenny’s team hasn’t quite taken off the way many expected. He asked fans to remember that “it’s impossible for someone to come in and turn it around in a week.

“If you’re looking at results we were disappointed with the last trip when we were looking around at the quality in the room, but it was a completely different system and personnel change.”

O’Dowda was part of the majority of the squad who had not had a chance to experience Kenny’s leadership for himself ahead of taking over from Mick McCarthy. When asked what he first thought of a League of Ireland manager taking over the national team, he said he’d hardly given it a second thought.

“I’ve played football with Reny Guilmartin, and even when he was U21 manager I was being told what he was doing with them,” he said of whispers in the camp during Kenny’s previous reign. “Obviously Jimmy Mac worked under him and I speak to the likes of Aaron Connolly so I’ve known about him a while.”

While time on the training pitch may be short, O’Dowda is still heading into the Slovakia game optimistic for a good result. The squad have been using the time away from the pitch to hold tactical meetings and discuss the way in which the team will approach this must-win tie.

“We don’t just come in and train,” he added, smiling.

“We speak and have meetings between everyone. We have our second meeting tonight and the detail is there, the attention is there and the detail is there so I think we’ll be ready”