Greece coach Gus Poyet has addressed his previous comments on wanting to manage the Ireland national team, reaffirming his commitment to Greece at this time while admitting his interest in one day leading the Irish.
The “Ethniki” played the Republic of Ireland twice in the group stage of the Euro 2024 qualifiers, and the Uruguayan coach made headlines after the October match in Dublin when he praised the Irish fans and said that he “would like to be in charge of the team here”.
The comments were in character with a repeated theme of his tenure with Greece, having stressed many times his desire to see the side play in front of full capacity crowds for their fixtures.
He reiterated a month after the match with Ireland his interest in the role in an interview with LiveScore, saying it “is a possibility that they [Ireland] will like me, that they will contact me”.
This has all come amid suggestions that he would not seek to extend his Greece contract beyond March’s Euros play-offs when they will face Kazakhstan in a semi-final.
Mr Poyet was in Dublin on Monday for the launch of the Carlsberg 0.0 Nil All Campaign, building up to Wednesday’s Premier League clash between Liverpool and his former club, Chelsea.
He spoke to RTÉ Sport and stated that there had been no communication to or from the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) whatsoever, although that would not prevent him from being interested in the role at some point in the more distant future.
“Personally, there is no contact, there is nothing. I cannot commit now. I’ve got a responsibility with Greece. If you ask me would I like to stay in Greece, I will say yes, no doubt,” he said.
“I would like to qualify obviously (for Euro 2024) but the timing and everything is not right (regarding Ireland). Then it’s the truth it would be amazing in future to have an opportunity working here.”
These reports come off the back of some difficulties in Mr Poyet’s relationship with ΕΠΟ (Hellenic Football Federation), which were aggravated by reports in November that his assistant coach had not been paid since working with the Greek side.
ΕΠΟ retorted by explaining this was because he had not acquired a Greek tax registration number.
The Uruguayan manager has expressed his commitment to helping Greece qualify for the Euros, with the play-offs matches to take place in March (the same month his current deal ends).
He has stated that his future beyond March 31st is unclear, though ΕΠΟ would likely hope to re-sign him to a new deal if the national side does book a spot at the European Championships in June.
