Where next for Kerr?

Last updated : 12 November 2005 By Gerry Ormonde

Last weekend, Kerr spoke about his future and made it quite clear that he will have to move outside of Ireland to remain working at the highest level within professional football.

"I don't see myself working in Ireland again," admitted Kerr. "Of course I see myself in football.

"At this stage I don't know where that is going to be, whether it is going to be in the UK or whether it is going to be on the continent. I just have to wait and see what comes about but I very definitely want to work."

Kerr has had time to get his thoughts together after being unceremoniously dumped by the FAI and is now in prime position to make a pitch for any vacancy that might occur in the coming months in England.

The Dubliner will also be keeping an eye out for any opportunities further afield, but for the moment, his primary focus will be trying to land a management position in England.

The dream job would be with a Premiership club but failing to qualify for Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006 won't have helped his chances. Had he made it to either tournament his profile would have increased considerably and getting to the knockout stages would have been enough to persuade most Premiership chairmen to give him a chance.

That's what happened to Mick McCarthy, who brought Ireland within a penalty kick of the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals and who also earned kudos in English boardrooms for his decision to send Roy Keane home after their Saipan bust-up.

He resigned as Ireland manager in November 2002 and within a few months was installed as manager of Sunderland at almost double his FAI salary.

Kerr's success rate in competitive games is exactly the same as McCarthy's and he will be hoping that chairmen feel he can make the same type of impact that his predecessor has at Sunderland, where McCarthy has exceeded expectations on a shoestring budget.

Pressure

There may be a few Premiership jobs available in the coming months, especially in the English midlands where Steve Bruce (Birmingham City), David O'Leary (Aston Villa) and Bryan Robson (West Bromwich Albion) are all under pressure.

O'Leary appears to be the most vulnerable at present and if the Comer brothers from Galway were to take over the club it might increase Kerr's chances should they decide to make a change in the dug-out.

Portsmouth's Alain Perrin is another manager under pressure and his chairman Milan Mandric is quite capable of plumping for a surprise choice like Kerr.

Realistically though, if Kerr is to get a job in England then he will probably have to forget about the Premiership and look for a Championship or League One club and prove himself there. Two League of Ireland titles with St Patrick's Athletic and a string of under-age successes with Ireland are unlikely to have too many top-flight clubs banging on his door until he proves himself in England.

In the Championship several possibilities could materialise in the coming weeks as Mickey Adams (Coventry), Colin Lee (Millwall), Nigel Worthington (Norwich) and Mark McGhee (Brighton) are all said to be under pressure.

When Kerr took over Ireland in February 2003, the Euro 2004 campaign was in tatters after defeats by Russia and Switzerland but he quickly turned things around and went very close to qualifying for Portugal.

That could appeal to Championship chairmen facing possible relegation to League One.

There is also talk that Luton's Mike Newell could be on the move to a better job having proved himself to be one of the new breed of young, hungry and successful managers that are currently all the fashion in English football.

Kerr would probably not fancy going below the Championship but there is one club in League One that he knows well and it could be the ideal platform for the launch of a cross-channel management career.

The time when Nottingham Forest ruled English and European football seems a million years away now. They are the first former European Cup holders to find themselves in the third flight of their domestic league and last Saturday there was more embarrassment when they were held to a 1-1 draw by non-league Weymouth in the FA Cup.

The Forest fans are in revolt and manager Gary Megson could be in big trouble if Weymouth win next week's replay.

As manager of the Irish youth team Kerr was a regular visitor to Nottingham as under-age stars such as Andy Reid, John Thompson, Liam Kearney, Brian Cash and Barry Roche were all part of the Forest academy.

Shoestring

Kerr would be able to operate on a shoestring budget, which he did so successfully at St Patrick's Athletic, and that could make him very attractive to a cash-strapped club like Forest.

Add in the English, Irish and European scouting network that he ran over the past nine years and Kerr can show any chairman that he would have the ability to find quality players cheaply as well as the coaching ability to build a formidable team.

Kerr believes he has the ability to manage at the highest level but he now needs a chairman willing to take a gamble on an experienced but very hungry manager with a point to prove to the wise men of Irish soccer.