Delaney keen for Ireland to return to football's 'middle ground' after Kenny reign

Damien Delaney believes a return to pragmatism for the new Ireland manager is crucial to the team’s revival.

The former Ireland defender was a vocal critic of the Stephen Kenny regime but is already encouraged by the soundings from interim boss John O’Shea ahead of the upcoming friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland.

A permanent successor to Kenny – whose 40-game tenure was culled by the FAI last November – is to be unveiled early next month.

Ex-Crystal Palace and Leicester City centre-back Delaney, who won nine senior caps, feels the newcomer will eradicate some of the errors that contributed to the team slumping from 34 to 62 in Fifa’s rankings.

He branded the concession of a dozen goals from outside the box over two years as indicative of poor structure and suggested facing lower-seeded teams, which accounted mostly for Kenny’s 11 wins, may have been to “stat-pack”.

“I don’t think we ever offered enough,” he said in his overall assessment, slating the style Kenny trumpeted in mitigation for his dreadful win ratio.

“There is nothing wrong with getting crosses into the box and getting your noses two goals in front, and then you can pass the ball and then they can’t sit in their shape because they’re losing 2-0 and they’ll have to come out, and play.

“When I say we played too much football, everyone always kind of goes fully the other way and that we should play no football.

“In the argument between Giovanni Trapattoni or Stephen Kenny’s style, there is a middle ground.

“You must have some tariff on possession, but it can't be too much.

“You can't enjoy yourselves to the extent we did where people were drifting into areas and leaving gaping holes. We were so vulnerable to counterattacks.

“In the defeat to