Ireland managers have not always had positive things to say about their predecessors or successors, emotions often seeping into the public domain from the stress of a spell in the hot seat. Martin O’Neill regularly took aim at Stephen Kenny, a verbal tussle which Kenny later labelled as “a bit of sniping”. Brian Kerr lobbed a few verbal grenades in the direction of Kenny and there were also volleys back and forth between Kerr and Giovanni Trapattoni, where he used words like “farcical” and “dodgy” to describe Ireland under the Italian. Trapattoni countered by saying he would listen to analysis from Jack Charlton “because he was a winner” but was not so interested in hearing Kerr’s thoughts.

Source: Irish Independent March 22, 2026 12:31 UTC