Former Birmingham City manager Chris Hughton is being tipped to become the new manager of the Republic of Ireland national team.
The ROI have been without a manager since it was decided in November that they would not be renewing Stephen Kenny’s contract. Former Blues coach John O’Shea was in interim charge against Belgium and Switzerland, but he is not expected to get the job on a permanent basis.
Lee Carsley, who played for Birmingham from 2008 to 2010 was the main contender for the post, but talks fell flat. The 50-year-old is the manager of the England under-21s team and led them to European Championship success last summer.
Former Fulham defender Chris Coleman, who took Wales to their first major tournament, and led them all the way to the semi-finals of EURO 2016 was also spoken about. Coleman was another contender who shortly after being linked with the job, was ruled out. Last week, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer emerged as the bookies favourite, but sources close to him dismissed it as speculation.
Hughton responded by taking over at Birmingham following their relegation and managed them during their UEFA Europa League campaign, whilst leaving them to a play-off spot. He departed at the end of the campaign to take up the job at Norwich City, leading them to an 11th placed finish, but was dismissed towards the end of the 2013/14 campaign.
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