Thomas Tuchel rejects claims that Anthony Barry could be a candidate to become Republic of Ireland manager

Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel has dismissed suggestions that his assistant Anthony Barry could become Republic of Ireland manager.

Barry served as an assistant to ex-Boys in Green boss Stephen Kenny for a year - combining the role with a position on Tuchel's coaching staff during the German's tenure at Chelsea - before departing to join Roberto Martinez's Belgium set-up in February 2022. Following the Spaniard's appointment as head coach of Portugal in February, Barry went with him.

Barry has been combining his Portugal coaching role with with his position as a setpiece specialist at Bayern since April.

He has recently been among the names linked with the current Ireland vacancy.

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However, speaking at his Friday press conference ahead of Bayern's Bundesliga match against Stuttgart, Tuchel gave those reports short shrift.

"It's just not true. You can forget about that. That's not at all an issue," he said at a press coference.

Other names linked with the Ireland job include Lee Carsley and Chris Hughton, whilst Neil Lennon, Sam Allardyce and Steve Bruce have indicated interest in speaking to the FAI about the position.

Ex-Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given described his former Ireland team-mate Carsley as the "perfect fit" with the former Everton midfielder held in high regard having led the England Under-21s to European Championship glory earlier this year.

"Hearing the words 'head coach', it struck me, as someone who has been through the system before, the obvious one would