Stephen Kenny: Republic boss retains 'my full support', says FAI chairman Barrett
- Published
FAI chairman Roy Barrett hopes Stephen Kenny will remain in charge for the rest of the World Cup qualifying campaign
FAI chairman Roy Barrett says Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny retains his "full support" after Saturday's shock defeat by Luxembourg.
The Republic's World Cup qualifying hopes now look slim after losses to Serbia and Luxembourg.
Kenny is winless in 10 games as boss since replacing Mick McCarthy in April.
"Speaking personally, Stephen has my full support and I hope he's absolutely going to be here for this campaign," Barrett told RTE.
"I hope he'll be here for other campaigns, but we'll see how things go."
After falling to a 3-2 reverse in Belgrade on Wednesday, the Republic slumped to one of the worst defeats in their history as Luxembourg snatched a late victory in Dublin.
Republic skipper Seamus Coleman offered a withering assessment of the game by describing it as a "horrible and embarrassing night", while a crestfallen Kenny said he accepted responsibility for the performance and result.
However, while Barrett - who was speaking after an EGM on Sunday afternoon - conceded it was a "disappointing" result, he refused to rule out the Republic's chances of securing World Cup qualification.
"Mathematically no it's not," he said when asked if the chance to reach the finals in Qatar had gone.
"Serbia drew with Portugal last night. We were on the wrong end of a 3-2 [loss] against Serbia, so where there's life there's hope."
The FAI is due to meet on Monday but Barrett said that while the governing body's board will discuss the qualifying campaign so far, there is no "scheduled discussion" on the team's performance in the defeats by Serbia and Luxembourg.
"I think it'll be discussed, in terms of the performance, but we've a pretty busy schedule tomorrow," he said.
"There's no scheduled discussion on the performance last night, or indeed last Wednesday."