Republic of Ireland's World Cup dream not over despite Luxembourg loss, says Houghton
- Published
Ray Houghton (left) thinks Republic boss Stephen Kenny (right) needs to be given more time after a difficult first year in charge
The Republic of Ireland's World Cup dream is not over yet despite a disappointing start to the qualifying campaign, says Ray Houghton.
The Republic's chances of qualifying for Qatar look in tatters after defeats by Serbia and Luxembourg.
But former midfielder Houghton insists there is time for manager Stephen Kenny to turn the campaign around.
"I wouldn't say quite over, I know a lot of people have been saying that," he told BBC Radio Foyle.
"Looking at the campaign, they're saying 'look, forget about it and try to build for the future', but I don't agree with that."
Republic boss Kenny is under increasing pressure after failing to win any of his first 10 games in charge with Saturday's defeat by Luxembourg widely considered one of the worst defeats in the team's history, although FAI chairman Roy Barrett has said the former Dundalk boss retains his "full support".
The Irish face World Cup hosts Qatar in a friendly on Tuesday and will not be afforded the chance to resurrect their qualifying hopes until September's triple-header against Portugal, Azerbaijan and Serbia.
"There are big decisions for the FAI because after Wednesday's game there's no competitive game until September and I'm sure they'll sit down and discuss what's happened so far under Stephen and where they're going in the future," added Houghton, who played for the Republic at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.
"What's not in his favour is there are no fans in the stadium, is there? It sounds like it's 50/50 on whether he should go or stay at the moment but you need, when things aren't going well, to get the fans behind you.
"He's missed out on that in the number of games he's had, but it will be down to the FAI to make that decision.
"They have to look at what Stephen's done so far, is he going in the right direction? Are the players buying into what he's trying to get them to do, so there are a lot of questions to be answered."
Houghton earned 73 Republic caps and scored the winning goal against Italy in the 1994 World Cup group stages
Houghton, who said he wanted to see Kenny's midfielders get on the ball more and be more "upbeat" with their passing, added that he "thinks" the Dubliner should be given more time in charge.
The 59-year-old, who won two league titles during a five-year stint at Liverpool, also highlighted the issue that several players in the current Republic squad are not playing regularly at club level.
"None of us want anyone to lose their job," he said.
"What we want is our international teams, both north and south, to be successful. Both are struggling at the moment and both are struggling to find goalscorers to put the ball in the back of the net, which adds pressure to the defence.
"They make one mistake, that leads to a goal, you end up losing the game and the pressure is back on the manager.
"What we need to change is the personnel but you're not going to change them overnight.
"A lot of our players are currently in the Championship in England some of them aren't even getting into the first team, so there are problems at the moment, but changing the manager isn't always, as has been proven before, the right decision."