Stephen Kenny exit plan to be finalised as FAI eye approach for Lee ...

The FAI are engineering steps to end his three-and-a-half year tenure, with an approach to the English FA for talks with their U21 manager Lee Carsley imminent.

Following Sunday’s latest defeat, to a Netherlands side who came from behind to win 2-1, Kenny was typically adamant on being permitted to complete his contract.

That entails the October double-header against Greece and Gibraltar, concluding away to the Dutch on November 18, but could also encompass a playoff series next March.

The semi-finals and finals mini-groups are available to 12 of the countries who don’t qualify directly for Germany but using the 2022 Nations League as criteria.

Based on Ireland’s third place finish from a campaign that Kenny initially targeted top spot in, they only carry a slender prospect of featuring.

It hasn’t stopped the incumbent pinpointing the potential games as an extension beyond the three dead rubbers but the FAI have already lost patience with their manager.

Defeat to fourth seeds Greece in June marked the beginning of the end. That necessitated a minimum of one victory from the latest double-header.

Ireland were fortunate not to come away from Paris last Thursday with a more chastening defeat to France than 2-0 but Kenny’s tactical naivety was again exposed against the Dutch.

Their manager Ronald Koeman was vindicated by his double-change and formation switch at the break when substitute Wout Weghorst hooked home a goal to secure a lead they never looked in danger of relinquishing.

Kenny has no intention of quitting but realises the FAI will decide his fate.

Director of Football Marc Canham and Jonathan Hill are reviewing the overall window before finalising the timing of his exit.

Contingency plans were discussed at board level in the aftermath of June’s crushing defeat in Greece, ensuring a board meeting isn’t necessarily a prerequisite to deciding the date of his departure. Ratification of his successor, however, will.

Although the idea of allowing Kenny to stay on for the October games while they headhunt their preferred replacement has been discussed internally, it’s a practically impossible interim measure for a multitude of reasons.

The last thing players, fans and even staff want is a ‘zombie’ manager in situ, especially after the flak the FAI shipped for their handling of Vera Pauw’s recent dismissal as women’s boss.

“It’s a privilege to manage your country and you are not going to turn that opportunity down,” he said when asked if he'd favour his deal being renewed.

“Ultimately these things are not my decision, so I think just getting ready for the two games in October and the games in November.

“We’ll see whether we are in a play-off or not, and we’ll take it from there.” This week was the first time Kenny mentioned that backup option, indicative of his eternal optimism around guiding Ireland to a tournament by the fourth year of his reign.

“We’ve come out on the wrong side of a tight game and we must accept criticism for that,” he confessed.

“It was just that bloody equalising goal. We had enough time to see Denzel Dumfries and it was just a lapse of real concentration in terms of his real speed.

“Their tactical changes did pin us back. We were trying to get that changed from 3-4-2-1 to 3-5-2 when the Dutch scored their second goal.

“It was really frustrating because we wanted to stop their centre-backs having it so easy when they pushed Matt Doherty right back.

“It may not have affected it anyway because Dumfries ultimately got the wrong side of us with the run for the winner.” Hanging on, relying on the favours from other teams in other groups for a 25% chance of snaffling a ticket through the playoffs wasn’t Kenny’s idea of qualification when he circled the 2024 Euros as his crock of gold upon taking the job three years ago.

“No, this is not what I wanted - I wanted to qualify for the European Championships.” Hill will finally face the media on Thursday. The FAI have been silent before and after Vera Pauw was dismissed from the women’s role two weeks ago and this belated press conference will now feature questions on the exit strategy for their men’s equivalent.

England’s U21 manager and former Ireland midfielder Lee Carsley is the frontrunner to become the next manager. He has previously spoken of his ambition to assist the FAI and despite the success in his current job of ending their 39-year wait for the Euro trophy in July, it is thought his employers won’t stand in his way. In fact, they deem an approach inevitable, sooner rather than later.

Carsley, who turns 50 in February, was a contender to become Kenny’s assistant after Damien Duff quit in early 2001 but all going to plan will assume the senior post.

His employment with England operates on 12-month rolling contracts, the first match within the latest deal coming on Monday when Irish-eligible Liam Delap, son of former midfielder Rory, opened the scoring in the 3-0 win away to Luxembourg.

The modest severance Kenny is due under the terms of his own contract will be matched by a similarly small sum due to the English FA for Carsley’s services should they demand it.

There will still be much to be teased out when the parties open discussions, including the composition of his backroom team and length of contract.

Should Ireland, as expected, miss out on a Euro playoff, their function in the first half of the year will be to act as friendly opposition for nations preparing for the finals in Germany.

The new manager will use the first two windows of 2024, March and June, to prepare for the Nations League series being contested between September and November.

Two places are on offer from that campaign in the playoffs for the 2026 World Cup before the regular qualifiers kick off in March 2025.