Emma Byrne trusts FAI will get Ireland managerial appointment right
ATTRACTIVE JOB: Senior women’s player Stacey Paul alongside Emma Byrne and John O'Shea at the launch of Cadbury's Grounds for Change initiative at grassroots club Douglas Hall AFC in Cork. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
The person who started the women’s team revolution was an ideal recruit to maintain its evolution.
Emma Byrne doesn’t know whether her tenancy on the backroom staff will extend beyond the interim but at least she’s now on the inside witnessing what awaits the next permanent manager.
Once a thorn in the side of the FAI for seeking basic demands, peaking with the 2017 strike she led as captain, Ireland’s record caps holder still won’t be cowered.
Herself, along with caretaker manager Eileen Gleeson and fellow assistant Colin Healy have begun the post-Vera Pauw era with two wins from two but League B of the Nations League is habitat Byrne wants to flee rather than indulge.
“It’s certainly very close to it,” the former Arsenal goalkeeper said when asked if optimal professionalism was on hand for the incoming boss, whenever the FAI source them.
“I haven’t lost my very high standards. Even when playing cards in camp, it annoyed me not winning. I should have known about that.
“We’re in a great place but the next step is very important. We've gotten to a point where we're very happy where we're at, as in the opportunity to develop and the opportunity the girls have, and it's certainly an exciting time for women's football.
“I believe that will just keep going and going and, obviously, they'll need that manager.
“But it's not easy to get a manager that fits.”
The FAI chose to depart from the norm in the last two appointments by going international, headhunting Colin Bell and then Pauw.
Byrne remains part of the scene around the English Women’s Super League, working as a pundit and gaining her coaching badges, and is firmly of the view that the Ireland vacancy will appeal to credible candidates.
Maximum points has made promotion to League A for next year’s Euro qualifiers a distinct possibility, smoothing the route to Switzerland in 2025.
Breaking the Euros drought after the World Cup vista being passed is the aim of a core of players reaching their peak.
“I trust the FAI to get this right,” she affirmed.
“It's a massive job and I don't know anyone who wouldn't want it, to be honest. I think the FAI could get who they want and I know people are interested in it.
“Ireland is a team that's on the up, has got great players. And, when you've got world-class players, you get the attention of anyone in the football world.
“It was disappointing to be in the lower league and our aim is to get into League A but there was timing over the managerial change. It’ll take a while to get players comfortable in operating a new system through the thirds.
“After having a taste of playing against the top teams at the World Cup, we know we can do it and there’s no going back.”
Chief in their ascent has been the goalkeeping of Courtney Brosnan. Byrne isn’t functioning in that area with Ireland – and she’s happy with the appointment of Richie Fitzgibbon – but two years ago she predicted new recruit Megan Walsh to replace Brosnan.
What unfolded since was a resurgence in form by the Everton stopper, entailing a year without conceding for Ireland up to April, and producing a stellar save to salvage Ireland’s solitary World Cup point against Nigeria.
“To me, goalkeepers had to play games to keep their sharpness but Courtney proved me wrong and I’m happy about that,” she said about the stopper who has been in and out of Everton’s net in the past two years.
“I hadn’t seen much of Courtney or many Everton games when I said that but now I see her making those saves all the time.
“Of course, I’d say it but you need a good goalkeeper because they’re the backbone of the team. She’s proved to be a top-class goalkeeper and will only get better.”
