Ambition can take you to the darkest of places. Dressed in black, Stephen Kenny turned away from the sideline at the final whistle as he side clung on for a draw against New Zealand in this meaningless friendly.

Moments later, the 26, 517 crowd broke into the biggest cheer of the night as a kid invaded the pitch and slalomed his way past a squadron of trailing security personnel.

Kenny made his way to the centre circle, where he shook hands with his players, before going to the south stand singing end to express his appreciation for their support. They chanted his name as he walked away. But it was an anti-climactic end to what had been his dream job.

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Those who flicked through the match programme before kick-off on Tuesday night will have caught Kenny's final notes in the job. In his own words, he sought to explain the philosophy that he brought to his three-year tenure in his dream job by delving into the past.

"When I was a teenager, my Dad decided to leave his regular job and security with it to become self-employed," wrote Kenny.

"At the back of our small house in Tallaght, he built a large shed where he cooked hams and cooked bacon to supply shops around Dublin.

"That soon became too small, so he bought a small butchers in Ballyfermot and worked from there, before space was at a premium and he built an extension on that building, until, ultimately, new increased EU regulations deemed this building to be too small to work in.

"My view had always been that a large industrial unit was the way to go but money was tight and you had to survive week to week whilst trying to grow.

"Vision and ambition are important. It's imperative to have clarity of thought, to see what can be achieved on many different levels. Ambition can take you to the darkest of places, it's difficult to undertake a radical rebuild without set-backs. You have to show conviction amidst the criticism and adapt if required, but nurture talent, develop and believe in it."

Kenny has undoubtedly suffered some grievous lows to go with the massive highs he has experienced in a managerial career that started at 26 in Longford, took him to a Scottish Cup final and Champions Cup group games and that has plenty of mileage left in it.

Perhaps, in time, he will even be relieved that the burden of national team manager will no longer be his to carry. A return to the day-to-day toil of club football will suit him.

Kenny has been at the centre of a football culture tug-of-war since taking this job and it has been relentless. As Brian Kerr said this week, Kenny gave it a 'good auld go'. Once a mentor, Kerr became one of his fiercest critics.

The Tallaght man's dawns in the hot seat all proved to be false. The dreadful performance in Athens last June told us that time had run out. The crowds had come in massive numbers to back the manager who backed his players to the hilt. Tellingly, a large cohort stayed away.

The All Whites pushed hard for a winner in the final quarter. Evan Ferguson's effort came close to making it a winning finish for Kenny. Overall, those who came out witnessed another patchy performance to follow Ireland's worst qualification campaign result in 50 years.

There were flashes of progress in the Kenny era. Going ahead away to Portugal. The 3-0 home victory against Scotland. Those tantalising glimpses proved all too fleeting as Ireland reverted to type. Athens and Amsterdam in this campaign were like the bad old days of the end of the O'Neill and McCarthy eras replayed.

Matt Garbett's equaliser for the All Whites last night was just the latest reminder of Ireland's deteriorating standing.

The players must take their share of the blame. To a man, they have stressed their desire for the manager to be kept on for another campaign, praising the environment and coaching that Kenny has fostered.

Ultimately Kenny had to be judged on results. That's why change is needed, even if it is the case that there is no white knight lurking in the ranks of the potential successors.

Right now, the 52-year-old will be wounded that the job he wanted more than any other hasn't worked out as he had planned. The writing had been on the wall and so he has had a little time to begin that grieving process.

Ambition can take you to the darkest of places. As he has done before, Kenny will return to the light.

His argument is that he has developed a "clear pathway for players, a playing philosophy and principles of play from under-15s through to the senior team that will serve Irish football well."

Adam Idah opened the scoring last night, one of the 21 players he blooded. Andrew Moran was the last of the 21 - making his bow with 12 minutes remaining.

Ireland have talented young players and the fruits of Kenny's endeavours may yet be seen. But we have a way to go before there is light at the end of the tunnel.

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