Stephen Kenny has backed his former Ireland assistant manager Keith Andrews to thrive at Brentford.
The Bees appointed the 35-cap international as Thomas Frank's successor on Friday.
Andrews was Kenny’s right-hand man for almost five years with the Irish under-21s and seniors before joining the West London club as set-piece coach last summer.
St Pat’s manager Kenny hailed Andrews, saying: "I'm in regular contact with Keith all the time, so I'm absolutely thrilled for him. It's a great opportunity for him. He deserves it.
"He has a superb level of detail. He's a very organised guy. Super professional. A very modern analytical coach with innovative ideas. Good luck to him. It's great news."
Previous Ireland manager Martin O’Neill had shot back at "vitriolic critic" Andrews as his appointment was being confirmed.
But Kenny believes that Andrews can cope with the scrutiny that comes with a Premier League top job.
"Keith is well able to handle all of that. It's all about the football really. We spoke nearly every day for a few years. We still converse a lot. We have a good relationship and I'm delighted for him."
As for St Pat’s form, Kenny has been left scratching his head over their lack of goals. A goal glut after Kenny’s appointment saw them finish as Premier Division top scorers in 2024.
However, the goals have dried up recently. The Saints have netted just once in a five-game winless streak. They were the first team to fail to score this season against bottom-side Cork City.
"Not taking the lead is hurting us," Kenny said after Friday’s scoreless draw.
"We probably didn't do enough in the second half to win it, but we should have went in [at half time] in front.
"I don't know why we're not scoring at the moment. We're just missing our opportunities and snatching at chances. We've had better days for clear-cut chances, but we still had some.
"We've gone from being last year's top scorers. Even though we weren't firing on all cylinders this year, we were still always first or second top scorers until this period.
"Scoring goals hasn’t been an issue for us, but it has been the last two weeks. It's hurt us and moved us right down the table. We have to regroup and try and get back to winning ways."
Kenny feels the run of games since the mid-season break has compounded their situation.
"The five games in 14 days, with the extra game for Europe, it is the most intense period of the season. It can make or break you," he said.
"I've always tried to use those periods as a psychological advantage to try and press ahead.
"It's been a poor two weeks for us. We've gone from having an unbeaten home record for a full year to losing two 1-0s.
"Shels and Derry had only one shot each in those games. We missed a penalty to take the lead against Drogheda. It stems a little bit from that.
St Pat's played out a stalemate at Cork City on Friday night
"Momentum can take you up, like Derry winning their two games 1-0, but it's probably had a little bit of a negative effect on us. We haven't capitalised on the opportunities."
Kenny believes the squad is resilient enough to turn their season around, like they did last year.
"We're in a lot better position than we were this time last year. Going into Europe, we were out of the Cup, we were in the bottom three.
"We weren't in a great position, but we actually went on an incredible run of league and European games. The spirit in the team is good."
With the transfer window to open this week, Kenny maintained that Pat’s won’t be making rash signings.
"We're not making knee-jerk decisions. Midfield has been a little issue for us this year. Romal Palmer has not been available the whole year, and Chris Forrester has been out for nearly eight weeks. We'll see on that."
Watch USA v Republic of Ireland on Sunday from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app