Keith Andrews looks set to take over at Brentford, succeeding Thomas Frank following his brief stint as set-piece coach. The 44 year old would be stepping into his first role in management but as Ireland fans know, his highest profile role to date was cutting his teeth as assistant coach to Stephen Kenny with Ireland.
Kenny’s three year tenure saw a number of coaching reshuffles with several of Kenny’s trusted deputies, jumping ship and moving onto new projects. It seemed an unusual trend although it perhaps showed Kenny’s eye for coaching talent.
With Andrews impending appointment, we look at where Stephen Kenny’s coaches have ended up in recent times.
Damien Duff
Several months after departing Kenny’s first coaching ticket under mysterious circumstances. Damien Duff took over the helm at Shelbourne where he remained until just last week. Arriving with a steller report from Celtic, Shels was Duff’s first managerial role having learned his trade as an underage coach with Shamrock Rovers, the FAI before his move to Parkhead. In his 4 years in Drumcondra, Duff delivered a stunning league title, Presidents Cup and FAI Cup Final appearance, consistently bringing European football back to Tolka park in the process. There have been rumours circulating that Duff could take up a position under Andrews at Brentford, but it is hard not to feel that the 46 year old may want to remain a number one following his success at Shels.
Anthony Barry
When Lee Carsley seemingly turned down an approach to replace Duff, it was unknown Liverpudlian Anthony Barry who arrived given his glowing reputation coaching Accrington, Wigan and then Chelsea. After significantly contributing to giving Ireland some much needed structure and securing a Champions League trophy in his dual role with Chelsea, the young coach departed the following year for Belgium to work for Roberto Martinez. Martinez rated Barry so highly that he took him to the Portuguese setup before Thomas Tuchel insisted on bringing him to Bayern Munich in a similar dual role. Tuchel, like Martinez was such a fan that Barry has been presented with the chance to coach his native England.
John Eustace
Having built a ‘mini Barca’ with some easy on the eye football at non-league Kidderminster, John Eustace became a coach at QPR where Kenny appointed him in a dual role with Ireland to replace the departing Anthony Barry. Less than four months later, the former Watford midfielder was appointed Birmingham City boss, leaving Kenny dumbusted. After a harsh dismissal that saw the beginning of Wayne Rooney’s disasters spell at St.Andrews, Eustance took over at Blackburn Rovers where after guiding them from relegation and getting them to the play-offs the following season, surprisingly left for his former club Derby County to mirror that achievement. He kept an all but doomed Derby up, providing a platform to help the club get established in the Championship.
Other staff who departed
Alan Kelly
Perhaps Stephen Kenny’s most knowledgeable appointment from the perspective of working within the setup, goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly left alongside Duff just after the assembly of the brand new coaching ticket. Kelly worked as a goalkeeping coach from 2017-2024 and was replaced with Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Kiely who left when Kenny’s reign ended.
Ruaidhrí Higgins
Surprisingly, Ruaidhrí Higgins was the only member of Stephen Kenny’s Dundalk setup to be brought with him to the Ireland job, serving as opposition analyst and coming with a good coaching reputation. However, the former Northern Ireland youth international was appointed Derry City manager less than a year into the Kenny era where he remained until last year.