Excited Hunt open to surprises in new streamlined pathway

If there's one thing Noel Hunt is not short of, it's enthusiasm. And life within the Republic of Ireland underage coaching set-up seems to have given him an even greater pep in his step.

Back in May, the ex-Boys in Green striker was announced as one of the five new international lead coaches appointed as part of a revamp of the structures within the FAI.

Along with three-time senior cap Hunt, the quintet of lead coaches is made up of Chelsea Noonan, John Cotter, Keith O'Halloran and James Scott.

Rather than being assigned and restricted to a specific age grade as was the policy in the past, they will all move fluidly between the under-15 and under-19s in both the men's and women's pathways.

They will be supported by full-time international coaches Conor McCormack, Graham Gartland, Mark Connors and Richie Smith.

All will be required to familiarise themselves with a broader range of emerging talents than was customary in previous eras.

After a summer overseeing prospective under-15s via the National Pathways Programme (NPP) camp, a busy period commences for all the age grades from this month onwards.

And right in the thick of it is Hunt who has been relishing the opportunity to work closely with his fellow international coaching colleagues in a collaborative environment.

"It's helped me as a coach already. We've got 10, 12 voices in the room, trying to session plan for a NPP," he said at FAI HQ this week as he, Noonan and Cotter faced the media.

"Everyone has their own ideas. Some of them are great, some of them might not be - most of them probably come from me.

"But it's great because your brain is thinking, your cognitive thinking is always going.

"Something that Chelsea might say might spark something for me for my sessions and where I'm going with it.

"I think it's brilliant that we're here because I do believe that we are here to help the players, no matter what. We're here to help the person first and then the players."

When asked by RTÉ Sport about how enthused he is by the raw talent coming through at underage level in Ireland, his response was almost like an eruption.

"Yeah, I am," Hunt replied, before pointing towards Noonan and Cotter, "They'll tell you I'm the most excited lad. They'll tell you.

"I'm enthusiastic, I'm passionate about the game (and) players. I love watching players do or show what they can show.

"We've had two or three where I've ended up slide tackling 15-year-olds out there, trying to stop them from scoring. But that's the game we're in. We want to make it as competitive as we can.

"We want to make it as realistic as we can. For me, it's about playing the game, not the practice. You have to see yourself and if you want to get better, you have to be able to envisage yourself every day, out training the game in order to get better for the game if that makes sense.

"There's some great girls and boys that I was like, 'wow'. There's a couple of girls there that are technically unbelievable players. Better than any boy I'd seen at that level at that age.

"And then we had a couple of boys that were outstanding in terms of how they worked, how they saw the game, how they played their position. It was really exciting to see."

Coupled with more structured academy set-ups at club level within the League of Ireland, the more streamlined pathways at international level appears to be more laser-focused when it comes to talent identification and player development compared to the ad-hoc approach from his own time as a young prospect.

But Hunt is still mindful that late bloomers will still be able to seep through the cracks, citing his own trajectory.

"It is (more streamlined), but there will be surprises. There'll be someone that'll come through like I did," said the 43-year-old, whose career took him from Shamrock Rovers to spells in Scotland and England including notable spells at Reading, Leeds and Ipswich.

"It was brilliant. I really enjoyed it because there's not a chance I would have been there. No chance. I was nowhere near that.

"I was a goalkeeper, five foot four, in Waterford, playing outfield when I could. I wouldn't have been good enough to be there.

"So there will be that one that pops up around the corner that's 18, 19, that'll show up on our radar and will come through as a late developer.

"So as great as we have the streamline, and we have the focus, there will be that one or two that we cannot forget about or take out of the equation because there's always a surprise."

Hunt reached for an example from his time in England, pointing to one particular Aston Villa and England centre-back.

"For me, probably one of the best ones was Tyrone Mings. He came into Ipswich with us and he was brilliant and in terms of what he's gone on to do. He was playing non-league at 21, 22," he said.

"He'd come through just grassroots. We'll have plenty of them, I'm sure, coming through for us. It's brilliant, the pathway is brilliant."

Hunt's new role is a fresh start after enduring the oft-brutal whirlwind of first-team management in England.

In December 2024, the Waterford man was appointed first team boss at Reading. But by the following October, he had been sacked.

"It is hard. I also had a big affiliation with the club anyway, that's normal, that's going to be natural. I was there for a long time as a player, I went away and came back," he said.

"But that's football, I think we all know that. It's a great game and it can be a s*** business. That's the reality of it.

"But we'll go back and do it again. It's my life, it's what I'm addicted to, it's what I love doing. Even the day I left Reading, as a player, I was upset and gutted, but I was grateful. And as I left as a manager, I was upset, yeah, but I was grateful as well for the opportunity, the experience. I love the experience, the pressure."

Importantly, he feels refreshed for the challenge ahead of him now and credits his wife Alana for her part in that.

"You go through all the stages of grief, probably the release, the boredom," Hunt said of the aftermath of his sacking.

"And my wife was really good in that, in terms of she made sure she booked things at the end of every month for the next three or four months, because she said you're going to take the time off and just recalibrate, refresh. And that's probably the best thing I've done."

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