Player sentiment was one of the reasons that led to Pauw’s exit – but it wasn’t the only one.
Gavin Cooney MOST REIGNS AT the FAI end with a late-night statement, and so it proved to be for Vera Pauw.
It included reviews of operations, communications and logistics, along with aspects of management style, strength and conditioning, and tactics. Jonathan Hill declined press engagements at the World Cup in Australia, and so the vacuum around Pauw’s future beyond the tournament was filled by the players who were made available for comment at press conferences. While some were complimentary of Pauw, none went as far as saying she should be given a contract renewal. That stands in contrast to the senior men’s squad, who all spoke in support of Stephen Kenny’s contract renewal when the FAI last made a decision like this.
“It’s very technical, but on the big muscle groups you get strength, whereas in football, you need to move from the core”, she explained at a press conference last year. Looking back at Pauw’s first squad for the Euro 2021 qualifier with Ukraine reveals a deep irony, as listed among the forwards is Katie McCabe. Ireland’s attacking ambition in any given game under Pauw could be summed up by whichever position McCabe found herself in. She played at left-wing back throughout the World Cup, and her infamous request for “fresh legs” around her in the second-half against Nigeria was to give her fresh cover and allow her raid forward.
Pauw revealed that the Athletic story indirectly came from her own request. First she was approached for a story regarding player safety, with which she co-operated while asking the Athletic, “When do you start thinking of the double standards and not only protecting players from coaches but also coaches from players?”
Pauw’s lustre dimmed among sponsors, too: it was notable that she was a much less visible presence in pre-tournament advertisements than she had been in ads earlier in her tenure. There is no suggestion this came at the request of anyone at the FAI.
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