Former All Whites head coach Anthony Hudson has reportedly been turned down for the vacant Republic of Ireland manager’s job after two interviews.
Gavin Cooney, a journalist with The 42 football news site, says Hudson (42) was included in the search by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to find their replacement for Stephen Kenny, who lost the job in November.
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“So they did speak to him (Hudson) twice; he’s out of the running now; they told him last night that he won’t be the next Ireland manager,” Cooney said on the Football Family podcast.
Hudson is currently coaching Al-Markhiya in the top-tier Qatar Stars League. He took the job in June 2023, after quitting as the interim head coach of the United States national team.
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On the podcast, Cooney said the FAI had been criticised for a “lack of outside the box thinking”, with leading candidates reported to include England U-21 coach Lee Carsley, former Celtic manager Neil Lennon and former Wales manager Chris Coleman.
“In fairness to the FAI, there has been that (creativity), I think,” Cooney said.
“As to whether it will be the candidate at the end of it . . . maybe not, but I know they had spoken to a guy called Anthony Hudson, who was the assistant manager to the US at the last World Cup, who had managed New Zealand, came close to qualifying them for the 2018 World Cup.”
Hudson coached the All Whites from 2014-2017.
“Just the fact that they find this guy, who I had never heard of, made me think, ‘Hang on, maybe, you know, the thought going into this from the FAI then is not necessarily just what’s in the betting list’.
“There’s maybe a level of creativity, a width to the search, that has not been acknowledged publicly so far.”
Meanwhile, the BBC have reported that Coleman is no longer in contention to succeed Kenny.
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