Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has had a ‘horrendous run of luck’ since taking on the job, according to Newstalk Breakfast presenter Shane Coleman.

Last night’s 2-1 loss to the Netherlands at the Aviva Stadium leaves Ireland on just three points in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.

An early Adam Idah penalty was cancelled out by a Cody Gakpo spot kick in the 19th minute before Wout Weghorst scored the winning goal in the second half.

It means Ireland’s only hope of qualifying for the tournament in Germany now lies through the Nations League playoffs.

Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny after Netherlands match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, 10-09-2023. Image: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, presenter Shane Coleman said the atmosphere in the stadium was ‘electric’ last night – but every loss makes it harder to see Stephen Kenny remaining in his role.

“Inevitably it will raise questions about Stephen Kenny and, you know, a lot of people are very quick to raise those questions and have been for some time,” he said.

“It probably is coming to the end of the Stephen Kenny era.

"I don't ever remember a manager ever having such a horrendous run of luck. He literally has not caught a break since he started in the job.

“Even last night we were missing a lot of key players and we simply can't afford that.”

'If people think that a new manager is going to make a difference, they don't know what they are talking about'

Has the Stephen Kenny era come to an end? @NTBreakfast pic.twitter.com/ueWcFAbTXG

— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) September 11, 2023

Electric

He said Ireland played well last night, particularly in the first half.

“I mean, the atmosphere was electric in the stadium,” he said. “In the first half, in particular.

“I thought Ireland played really, really well in the first half – we really pressed the Netherlands and made it really uncomfortable.

“We were playing a team with players from Liverpool, from Bayern Munich, from Barcelona, from Borussia Dortmund.

“We have a team, let us not forget, made up of a few players from lower Premiership clubs, Championship clubs, League One and we had one player from League Two last night.

“So, we are we are absolutely up against it.

“I thought we played just about as well as we could have throughout the whole 90 minutes.

“I suppose, the slightly frustrating thing is that both goals were a little bit soft and maybe could have been avoided, but the Netherlands were - particularly when it got to 2-1 - the Netherlands were very good.”

Stephen Kenny

Shane said the big question now is who will take on the role if Stephen Kenny goes.

“I mean, I've heard people mention Roy Keane and other names but I don't see … like no one is going to come in and make this team into world beaters and we need to be realistic,” he said.