Former France manager declares interest in Republic of Ireland job

Former France manager Raymond Domenech has said that he would be interested in taking the Republic of Ireland job should the opportunity arise.

Domenech guided France to the 2006 FIFA World Cup final but has not managed in professional football since France were eliminated from the 2010 FIFA World Cup group stages. The 66-year-old revealed that he was in contention for the Ireland job before the FAI appointed Brian Kerr to take charge of the national team in 2003 and added that he would still be interested in taking the reins of Ireland if the job was offered. “I have a long past with the Irish national team,” Domenech told The Derry Journal. “I always said if I had the possibility one day to train the national team I would. I was contacted before I took the French national team job by the Irish Federation and they chose Brian Kerr which was a good choice. “I was very interested then and I’m still interested because I like the spirit of Irish. I remember when we won in Ireland in 2005 after the game I had to go to the media and it was near the stands. I had to cross in front of all the spectators. In France they would never do that because you never know what would happen. “But the Irish were all shaking my hand. They had respect and they are fighters so I like the spirit. I saw that in Paris some years after. But I like that. “Martin O’Neill is a great manager and I’m sure he will be there for a long time. Everything in the past is finished but I still appreciate the spirit of this country.”   O'Neill and his backroom team of Roy Keane, Steve Guppy, Steve Walford and Seamus McDonagh all signed two year contract extensions in January which will take their management team through to the Nations League and the Euro 2020 qualification campaign. O'Neill said in October that a verbal agreement between him and FAI chief executive John Delaney had been reached, however, he did hold discussions with Stoke City about the possibility of taking charge of the Potters before recommitting his future to the FAI.