John O’Shea is thinking no further ahead than Tuesday night’s friendly against Switzerland amid speculation he could become permanent Republic of Ireland manager after all.
The Football Association of Ireland’s director of football Marc Canham revealed last month as O’Shea was placed in interim charge that Stephen Kenny’s successor would be named in early April, and that an announcement had been delayed by “existing contractual obligations”.
That appeared to rule O’Shea out of the running – something leading candidate Lee Carsley has himself done since – although the way he has conducted himself during his temporary spell at the helm and the response of his players in Saturday’s 0-0 friendly draw with Belgium have prompted suggestions that he could do the job on a longer-term basis.
However, asked about the speculation ahead of the clash with the Swiss, the 42-year-old former Manchester United and Ireland defender told a press conference: “My remit was to focus on these two games.
“If my remit beforehand was ‘John, you’re the full-time new manager’, it might have been a different situation. The focus for me was ‘these two games, John, look after these games and see what happens then’.
“I am focusing on the last game against Switzerland. My focus has been on that right from the start when this process started.
“Two games, I am focused on that, get the best from the boys, bring this group together with the staff, getting the lads to know my staff as quickly as possible, and getting the bond together quickly, going into two games where you know you’ll face challenges, but two games where you know you can get good results too.”
O’Shea, who won 118 caps for his country during a distinguished playing career, has enhanced his reputation as a coach – he has had spells with Reading, Stoke and Birmingham as well as Ireland’s Under-21s and the senior team under Kenny – over the last week or so.
As things stand, he will be out of work again on Wednesday morning having left his most recent post at St Andrew’s in January following former team-mate Wayne Rooney’s departure as manager, and will be back on the market.
He said: “Let’s wait and see. Hopefully there will be a few things happening.
“But hopefully I will be going back for Easter holidays with my kids, so we’ll do something with them, get back into the swing of things with them and hopefully go to watch games and have a few conversations here and there.”
In the meantime, O’Shea will concentrate of the task of putting together a team to compete with Switzerland, ranked 19th by FIFA to Ireland’s 62nd.
That could mean a start for Southampton keeper Gavin Bazunu after Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher got the nod on Saturday evening, while Lyon defender Jake O’Brien and Middlesbrough midfielder Finn Azaz, as well as Under-21s graduates Joe Hodge and Andy Moran, will hope for debuts.
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
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