John O’Shea is set to stay on as Republic of Ireland interim manager for summer fixtures | OneFootball

Former Manchester United defender, John O’Shea, is likely to stay on as the Republic of Ireland’s interim head coach for the June international friendlies.

The former United man was given the role in February after Stephen Kenny’s contract was not renewed after failing to guide the Irish to a place at Euro 2024.

In March, O’Shea oversaw a narrow 0-1 loss at home to Switzerland and an impressive 0-0 draw with Belgium in Dublin.

It was originally thought that the Irish team would appoint a new manager by early April and that the former United defender was not in the running for the permanent position.

In fact, there has been a real United connection with the Irish position as of late as it was revealed that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer turned down the role in January and Roy Keane has also been linked to the vacancy.

However, it now seems that the ambition is to appoint a new permanent manager in time for the start of the Nations League in September and there is a hope that O’Shea will continue to act as an interim for the June matches.

The Football Association of Ireland’s director of football, Marc Canham told FAI TV that the recruitment process is ongoing.

“Realistically we’re looking now towards the UEFA Nations League with our first game against England in September and that’s what we’re aiming to do”.

Canham went on to praise the work of United’s former utility man and stated, “in the two June friendlies, the expectation now is that we will have an interim head coach whilst we continue the search for a permanent head coach for September. We would like that to be John O’Shea”.

“We were very pleased with what he did in the March friendlies and we’re talking to him at the moment. We’re hoping to be able to confirm that as soon as possible”.

The Irishman has made no secret of his desire to become the new manager of Ireland and would like his name to be considered for the permanent role.

Speaking last month he claimed, “if I could be manager of Ireland in the morning, I would make it happen”.

Impressive results and performances against Portugal and Hungary in June may just make O’Shea’s dream become a reality.

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