The appointment of Carla Ward as the new head coach of the Irish women's national team was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the departure of Colin Healy, former assistant coach. Healy's statement detailed a verbal assurance from FAI chief football officer Marc Canham regarding contract renewal, which was later refuted by Canham. The situation raises questions about communication and transparency within the FAI.
Gavin Cooney THE APPOINTMENT OF Carla Ward as the new head coach of the women’s national team is a significant coup for Marc Canham and the FAI , and the Association managed to get within two hours of her unveiling without having it overshadowed by their awesome capacity for sideshow.
Healy left the FAI with Gleeson in December, much to the disappointment of some of the players: Denise O’Sullivan and Caitlin Hayes publicly aired their dismay in hearing of Healy’s exit. There is a heartbreaking context here: Healy’s wife, Kelly, died in April of last year, and so the Cobh job was attractive to Healy as it offered him a coaching job closer to his Cork home, where he is now raising his two children as a single father.
Facing the media today, Canham initially said this conversation with Healy was confidential, and it wasn’t his intention to divulge it publicly. It was pointed out to Canham that Healy’s statement meant the confidentiality ship had sailed, from which point more detail was wrangled out of Canham. “We were clear in communication with Colin and his agent that we would not have stood in his way. We gave him permission to speak to the club. It was his choice to turn down that opportunity,” replied Canham.Healy also revealed CEO David Courell texted him his best wishes on 12 December, the day after Canham told Healy his contract would not be renewed. In this message, Healy says Courell appeared to be under the impression that Healy himself had made the decision to step away.
“That is a misunderstanding by Colin,” continued Courell. “We could not have been clearer that his contract had concluded. The belief I had was that he had a genuine opportunity elsewhere, and while he could have sat back and waited to see what head coach was appointed and take his chances, if he’d be appointed as a number two, I expressed that I would understand if he did take another opportunity as there was a risk for him. That was simply the correspondence we had.
FAI Women's National Team Carla Ward Colin Healy Marc Canham Eileen Gleeson Contract Renewal
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