'It's a very proud moment' - Jim Crawford on being appointed as new Ireland under-21 boss

Recently installed Republic of Ireland boss Jim Crawford has admitted he is very proud to take over the mantel as under-21 boss from Stephen Kenny.

Kenny was recently installed as the senior side’s manager after it was agreed that Mick McCarthy would leave his position earlier than intended.

“It's a very proud moment. I'm extremely honoured to be given the role of Under-21s head coach,” Crawford told FAI TV.

“It's been an unbelievable whirlwind couple of days, but I'm just privileged and over the moon with the position.”

The former Shelbourne midfielder had previously been Kenny’s number two - “I've been with Stephen (Kenny) for 13 months and it's gone by so quick.

“I've learned a lot from him with what he brings to the manager's role in regard to creating excellent environments for players to go and express themselves.

“Everybody knows he's about possession-based football and players going to express themselves and being creative on the ball and really you need the right environment to have that as your output and all this is underpinned with a culture of excellence.

“It's something I've definitely taken on board and look forward to implementing everything I've learned from Stephen too.”

Also joining Crawford is former Irish international John O’Shea who will replace Keith Andrews who has joined Kenny in the senior ranks.

“John as a player has got over 100 caps for Ireland and he's played over 500 top-level games with Manchester United, Sunderland and Reading," he said.



“So even that in itself is fantastic to have but more importantly, he's coming in as a coach and he's cutting his cloth at the moment with Reading and it just shows what he's about.

“He loves football, he's passionate about it and he's a deep-thinker about football and that's what I want.”

 

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