The to-do list gets longer and more complicated for the FAI as we creep towards December.
The association has two vacant senior managerial positions to fill; no main sponsor for the men's team; crucial board reforms to get over the line; an invitation to appear before the Public Accounts Committee; and all the while they're trying to turn the ignition on a grand plan to overhaul the infrastructure of the game that will require serious Government investment.
The freezing of Government funding to the tune of €6.8m is another spanner in the works. That decision came after it emerged that CEO Jonathan Hill received payments that were above an agreed limit set out in the Memorandum of Understanding which led to the association's bailout in 2020.
For director of football Marc Canham, all of this must be like trying to untangle one of Shelob's webs with both hands tied behind your back.
The Englishman was appointed in June 2022 to fill the void left by Ruud Dokter, and arrived with an impressive CV.
Canham was a technically gifted footballer who had spells with Colchester United and Bournemouth, dropping down the divisions to play for a few semi-pro clubs, including Bath City.
He spent five years with the English FA where he focused on grassroots development with schools and amateur clubs. After working for a year as Bristol City's head of academy coaching, the Pro License holder took up a position with the Premier League, leading their Elite Player Performance Plan which focused on increasing the quantity and quality of homegrown players in the division.
The success of that project in particular turned heads in the FAI. He has a track record of integrating strategies that forge a clear pathway for players from grassroots right through to senior level. It's what he's now trying to do in Ireland, declaring in October that he'd also like to create a scholarship for 10 boys and 10 girls across every League of Ireland club within the next five years.
But financial restraints have been, and will continue to be, a barrier.
Back in September, Canham had his first formal sit down with the Irish press at a packed press conference in Abbotstown.
It was a 'super storm' event. The association's insistence on waiting until after the men's team had played France and the Netherlands to address journalists who'd been pressing for comment for weeks led to a logjam of questions.
Vera Pauw had just scorched the earth upon her departure as manager of the women's team, while the men's Euro 2024 qualification hopes were hanging by the flimsiest of threads after back-to-back losses to France and the Dutch.
A blizzard of questions were thrown in the direction of Canham and Hill. Most related to claims Pauw made in a sitdown interview with RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue, and the immediate future of the under-pressure Kenny.
In the eye of that hurricane, it was very difficult for Canham to articulate his overall vision, though he did try.
"I know I've been in the role for 12 months, director of football, and my responsibilities at grassroots all the way up to international and everything in between," he said.
"In terms of my own background... the role is grassroots and international.
"I’ve been a player in all those stages, I’ve been a coach at all those stages, been a coach educator at every level of the game and also been a leader in a role like I am now in terms of all those different stages.
"I understand what a high-performing environment looks like and I have a clear vision of what that looks like moving forward."
Part of this was a reaction to Pauw's claims that Canham "was not trained" to oversee the post-World Cup review that led to her exit. But in a lengthy and dense press conference, Canham did seem genuinely keen to elaborate on his overriding ambitions for the game in this country.
The Kenny era ended in a half-empty stadium and a limp 1-1 draw against New Zealand; a meek end, a bleak footballing landscape. The game is not healthy, and there's symptoms everywhere you look: from the worsening efforts of the men's team to qualify for a major tournament, to the poor state of LOI grounds which are simply not equipped to deal with [positive news klaxon] the steadily rising attendance figures.
Canham has a hell of a lot on his plate.
The wider public will understandably want clarity on the managerial positions as soon as possible. After Gleeson took the reins on a caretaker basis, Hill said the intention was to find a full-time manager within the Nations League window. That window closes in less than two weeks' time, after Ireland play their final group game against the North in Belfast.
Gleeson had said initially she was not interested in the role full-time and would be happy to return to her day job as head of women's and girls' football once her interim reign was over.
However on Thursday Gleeson seemed reluctant to completely rule herself out of the running.
"I am 100% not answering," she replied when asked if she was 100% not interested in becoming permanent manager.
The FAI has been whittling down a 12-person short list for the last couple of months. There's no shortage of interested parties, but this is an appointment they must get right to capitalise on the full potential of a squad to qualify for the next Euros and beyond.
The men's gig looks like a trickier sell. Lee Carsley is reportedly the top target having won the Under-21 European Championships with England. It's Neil Lennon who's the bookies' favourite though, the Armagh man ticking two key boxes: namely availability and affordability.
Carsley is still in the English job on a rolling year-long contract. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that he could sit tight and eventually succeed Gareth Southgate, or get offered an attractive job in the Premier League/Championship. He has options - very good options.
Lennon's been out of the game since leaving Omonia Nicosia 13 months ago, and he has not shied away from the prospect of taking the hot seat. "There will be a plethora of candidates, and there will be a process to go through. But I'd love to have a chat or a crack at it," he said when appearing as a panellist for Premier Sports' coverage of Newcastle's 4-1 win over Chelsea yesterday.
Steve Bruce - another experienced figure rumoured to be in the reckoning - did likewise.
"Once the manager position is free, then they [FAI] can give me a call," he said 24 hours before Kenny officially left.
It remains to be seen whether that call comes. Canham is a canny operator with a book of contacts and conviction in his methods.
Pauw's downfall came, in part, due to her reluctance to fall in line with elements of his plan to uniform approaches from the underage squads up to the senior setup. Whoever takes up the men's and women's positions will have to be on board with those ideals.
"I've been brought in into the role to create a vision for the mid to long term of Irish football," Canham said in September.
"Clearly the focus of any head coach is to look at the next game and the next campaign and support the wider, bigger picture of Irish football, absolutely clear on that.
"My job, in my role, is to always be thinking 10 years ahead and look at the long term."
There's work to do in the here and now if Canham is to have any realistic chance of achieving his ultimate goals.
