Kenny admits supporter patience is wearing thin

Stephen Kenny admits he is fighting a losing battle to persuade people the Republic of Ireland are making progress under his charge.

A 2-0 defeat by Greece at the Aviva Stadium on Friday evening ended Ireland's mathematical hopes of making it to the Euro 2024 finals and left the 51-year-old desperately defending his record amid growing calls for change.

Kenny, who has overhauled the squad he inherited from Mick McCarthy in April 2020 and blooded a new generation of young players, asked to be judged on this campaign, and the verdict is damning with his side sitting a distant fourth in Group B with only three points from six games.

Asked how he would judge himself, the former under-21s boss said: "I have a vision about how I want the team to play. We've tried to radically change the way the team would have played beforehand and we’ve achieved that in a lot of games.

"A lot of people came here in the home games against France and Holland and were really impressed in how we played, really impressed. Gibraltar, OK that was a professional job. Tonight maybe not so.

"We’ve changed the way we played. We’ve conceded goals we shouldn’t and I’ve got to accept responsibility for that.

"I think I’m a team builder, that’s what I am, I have a vision for what I want and I try and build to create that. That’s what I would have seen with this, the international team, a team completely at the end of its cycle and an absence of talent in between in the intervening years.

"Three years ago, that was my first game... I'm going to lose the argument whatever I say here. It's not an argument I can win or an argument I'm interested in having, but I suppose I'm trying to answer your question honestly. Particularly after losing 2-0 at home to Greece, it's