Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel feels Ireland are onto a winner with Anthony Barry’s appointment to the coaching staff.
The Scouser, 34, was brought into the Chelsea fold by Frank Lampard after Barry impressed him on their Pro Licence course.
But when Tuchel succeeded sacked Lampard, he kept Barry on board as first-team coach.
Barry will continue to work for Chelsea and his move into international ranks with Stephen Kenny is a supplementary role.
But Tuchel today gave his blessing to Barry’s new venture ahead of this month’s qualifiers against Serbia and Luxembourg.
The German said: “He’s a top coach who will join the (Ireland) coaching staff.
“We didn't know him before - he was already here under Frank Lampard - but from the moment he was a big part of our coaching team.
“He’s a big character, very friendly. He has a great quality analysing games and giving his opinion.
“I feel he's very comfortable on the pitch when handling exercises and he’s a specialist with set-pieces so he does the video session and the training.
“We don't want to miss him but it’s good for Ireland because he will increase the level of coaching for sure. He has top quality and is a top guy.”
Barry was Kenny’s surprise choice to succeed Damien Duff who rocked the Ireland camp by quitting as coach in January.
But the Ireland boss refused to rush into an appointment and carried out due diligence before offering Barry the role.
Speaking to an Ireland fans forum last night, Kenny said: “Anthony is someone I’ve been aware of from his friendship with (Ireland chief scout) Ruaidhri Higgins.
“They were in Coventry City’s youth team together and did their A Licence together, so I was well aware of him, and also from when he assisted Paul Cook at Wigan.
“He got a move to Chelsea under Frank Lampard and he’s still part of that coaching staff.”
Kenny continued: “We feel that Keith Andrews is the assistant manager and he’s excellent, someone who I’ve had a relationship with through the Under-21s to now.
“But Antony’s skill set will fit into the team very well and I think he’s going to be a good addition.”
