I'll Have My Hat In a Pastry Case with Gravy On the Side

I jumped the gun a bit yesterday. I mentioned that Don Givens may have actively pursued Trapattoni, and that the appointment was definitely NOT the product of Delaney's oft-mentioned-behind-the-scenes machinating.

It was just a hunch. And according to the Don's statement, my hunch was correct.

I can tell you know exactly how it happened with Mr Trapattoni. We were interviewing people who had declared an interest in the job, we were also trying to talk to candidates that we felt would be creditable candidates for this job.

When Mr Trapattoni’s name came up amongst us, I took it on myself to phone the president of the club I played for in Switzerland [Neuchatel Xamax], Gilbert Facchinetti, who I knew had had some contact with Mr Trapattoni in the past. I had actually met him in the past while I was in Neuchatel.

In truth, my reasoning was based on Occam's Razor. The simple explanation was the best one. But like a lot of fans of late, it was easy to get twisted this way and that, and assume that the panel had been circumvented in the interests of John Delaney's survival. Certainly, that was the tone of the Irish Independent yesterday ('Givens undermined by chief executive).

If we are inherently suspicious these days, we have good reason to be. Barring the appointment of Brian Kerr (a deserving choice at the right time), Irish footballers, the FAI, the Meeja and the fans have done football in Ireland no favours. There has been petty backbiting and self-centred moaning. There has been short-sightedness, myopia, outright delusion and selfishness. No one has been free of complicity.

Well then. New manager, new start. And if the selection process is anything to go by, maybe a new, more sensible way of going about things. More impressive yet is that no word was mentioned until this week of the support of Denis O'Brien, offered back in October/November of last year. The bookies odds over the last couple of months suggested that the offices of the FAI were as sound as a colander, a gabbling full of loose lips, but the fact that no word was heard till now suggests that things might be changing.

Me, I'm calling a truce. John Delaney is going to get called his proper name from here on out. I'll be giving the FAI the benefit of the doubt for now. They're still awful gougers when it comes to ticket pricing and group bookings of matches and they could do with designing the matchday programmes with a degree more thought, but we'll leave that aside for now. I was even pleasently suprised to see that the advertisement for their 2008 summer schools featured girls and boys. Women! Playing football! Progress, wha?

When I went back for the Brazil match just recently, myself and a mate were reflecting that the crowd did not cover itself in glory. He was watching on t'telly, and proclaimed them pathetic. Standing there in the freezing cold, I only heard the occasional Ireland chant, easily drowned out by the Brazilians. No Fields of Athenry. No Boys in Green. At one point in the second half, Kilbane did one of those crazy electrifying runs of his, and held onto the ball. Deserving of a song, it was, so I stood up sharpish, spread my arms and started crooning 'Kilbane,There's only one . . . Kilbane, It's like watching Zidane . . . '

Died in my throat. No one else moved. Now I should note that there were two knowledgeable and cheerful fans from across the border on our right, and an enthused da and his kids to the left. We're not talking some kind of bandwagoneering gossip of a man muttering bad words about Steve Finnan here. These were decent fans as far as I could work out. But the passion really seems to have been bashed out of us. And sure enough, a quick perusal of messageboards right now reveals an endless stream of cynicism and begrudgery about Trapattoni's appointment.

He's too old. He was bad with Italy. He failed at Stuttgart. He'll be too defensive. If he's so great why isn't he at a bigger club. The selection process was flawed. The money from O'Brien comes with strings attached.

It would be easy to lay the blame for this at the feet of the FAI. Years of incompetence have bred this into us. Still, it'll do us no good to whinge before a ball has been kicked. Even if it IS their fault, it is incumbent on us, the fanbase, to make sure it does not dim our enthusiasm for the national side.

We are privileged to see Ireland play in Croke Park right now. Every time I've gone, it's filled me fit to bursting with pride. I love that stadium, and I'm deeply envious of the GAA for owning it. Over the years, it has seen schoolkids play finals, the best that the GAA has had to offer in the All Ireland, and last year was host to one of Irish sport's great moments when Ireland played England in the 6 Nations against England. We, as fans, need to honour the place by bringing that pride back to Irish football. Drop the baggage and embrace the new start.

Brain! Does Not! Compute!

I’ve refrained, for quite some time now, on commenting on the ever-winding road that was the search for a new manager. Just listening to the phrase ‘Terry Venables’ repeatedly was responsible for volcanic activity in the blood. Way beyond boiling point, pal.

Plus, well, the bookies. I will not dwell o’er long on this, but the endless reports of the latest slashing of odds, swiftly followed by a sharp rise in the temperature of the Irish Footballing Body Politic . . . when you KNEW, you just KNEW that this was because someone had misread a fax out at Abbottstown, phoned a friend and said ‘Look, I shouldn’ really be sayin’ this, but it’s definitely DEFINITELY Cappello. I’m after seein’ the fax and we’re payin’ the FA compensation. He likes the Irish spirit more.’

Deschamps? Was he ever interviewed? Will we ever know?

Initial reports of Trapattoni treated to a generous pinch of salt and scathing disregard at Mash HQ. But it has come to pass. And judging from reports (from Trapattoni himself), this was not some Get DelaneyFuck out of Jail card played by a small, desperate quiff at a dodgy invite-only session behind closed doors. It's not like Delaney begged his good mate Liam to help him out of this chuckle of Venebles. No. The FAI approached Trapattoni. Then he rang Chippy, and shock of shocks, chippy said good things about the team. All those times that Don Givens was saying ‘I know nothing’, well, apparently he was trying to keep the opening negotiations confidential!

Then when they finally meet, Trapp spends two hours talking about the Irish team, and talking the Three Wise Man through the last two games. Talking, apparently, like he knew what was going on, what the names of the players were, and as if he gave a shit.

You’ll excuse my shock. FAI does things properly. Snowballs freeze in hell. Bear craps in an open field, shunning the dark cosy woods. We’re through the looking glass, people. Am I mad? Is this what endless progress reports from the Selection Panel do to a man's mind? Is this phone real?

Enough of the Shock. This time, it’s safe to say, things are going to be profoundly different. Because:

1) Trapattoni is not going to stay if things aren’t done the way he wants. And as a man prepared to speak his mind, it’s not out of the question that if things don’t go right, he will say who screwed up after he leaves. If it’s the players, we’ll know. If the FAI try to scrimp on his requirements, we’ll know. Delaney and the FAI have bought into a candidate who they cannot second-guess or badmouth, a candidate who will test their resolve. If they pass, good. Time we all grew up. Even the worst of us can improve.

2) International football these days is about optimising. The best team on the best day, well briefed and physically prepared. Trapattoni is reportedly bringing his fitness coach, Rossi, possibly Claudio Gentile (former Italian U-21s manager) and finally, Liam Brady in a general managerial capacity. This should allow a sensible division of labour in the run-up to any big match. Rossi in particular intrigues me – fitness training in preparation for an international match must be different from that of club football, in that you do not want to tire a player out for a big game, but have them at their freshest – it must be a challenge to prep a player for an extra special international when they’re playing week in, week out.

A fitness manager also sounds like the kind of person who will be in regular contact with clubs about the progress of their players. Put bluntly, we need a fit Stephen Reid and a fit Andy Reid. I like the idea that Ireland’s management team might have the capacity to coordinate with their respective teams.

3) Bringing young players through the international system does not mean throwing Andy Keogh on for 90 fruitless minutes to run up and down a channel. It means taking an impressionable, egotistic young kid who barely knows the meaning of the term professional and telling them that certain things are good practice, and that preparing for games in a certain way will yield results.

As well as having a manager who considers the psychological and counselling side of management as important as the tactical, we have potentially not one, but two staff who have long experience of coaching and developing young players. This is good news for the Joey O’Briens, the Stephen Kellys and the Aidan McGeadys of this world.

4)

“Sometimes in the dressing room you must shock the team into action but this is always done in a collective way. The players know if the criticism is aimed at them, but you need to be sensitive to the players and the situation.”

Hrm. Interesting

5)

“In modern football it is important for coaches to realise how much has been given to the game from sponsors and the media but we mustn't be overwhelmed by these outside pressures. The secret is to choose the right time -- to know when to let sponsors and media into the camp. You must understand when to deal with business and when to draw a line.”

You can take your bacon slicers back to the butchers, boys. This guy has the measure of you.

6) When Stan Staunton calls looking for a player to play two days before your crucial semi-final, Stan Staunton gets put to the bottom of your list of things to do. Same with Mick McCarthy. Same with Brian Kerr (altho’ he’d keep bugging you).

7) Cyprus’ glory days are over. They can go score against someone else.

Oh, the Humanity

The great thing about crashing out of Euro 2008 early is that it has made me start paying attention to other teams' football. And I'd not seen Croatia play properly yet, so it was a pleasure to sit in and watch a game of international footie without having to be too concerned about the results.

(Well, not quite. As a pal put it - we're reduced to cheering for England, just to avoid the possibility that Venables might be up for FAI selection. That's how low we've sunk.)

Anyhow, the build up to this game has brought into sharp focus the state of English coaching, particularly of youth coaching. Articles like the following are all too common (tip of the hat to FTN at BSG for finding it). Likewise, there are an increasing number of ex-players and coaches citing the same thing - kids just aren't encouraged to play football and as a consequence do not develop the skills necessary once they hit higher levels of football. In fairness to the FA (and indeed, though it pains me to admit it, the FAI), they've been busy setting up futsal leagues over the past 4 years at youth and now adult level in an effort to rectify this. So maybe this won't be such an issue in the years to come. It's good that the awareness is there - but it would be even better to see regular indications of real movement. It's easy PR for both associations. Altho' futsal isn't the only answer, it would be a clear indicator that both countries are pushing forward and trying to catch up with the rest of Europe.

A couple of thoughts bubbled to the surface as I watched England sink without trace. Most prominent was that for the FA to effect any change, they're up against a massive challenge. It's all very well trying to change football in England for the better, but without the lead of the Premiership teams, it becomes hard to maintain any kind of momentum. There are ways around this - the FA could look at providing support to market and export more of their players abroad. They could effectively start from zero, and instead of relying on the the big clubs youth development, pump money into the game from the ground up, creating a system that brings the Premiership back to them, rather than them trying to negotiate with the Premiership. There is so much football in England, so much passion for local teams that they would win brownie points with the average English fan if they could improve the quality of non-league and lower division football. And it would put them in a better position to bargain with the big boys. Obviously these kind of developments can only benefit Irish players who come over here and end up playing for lower league clubs.

Another thought was the contrasting positions of Martin Keown and Alan Hansen. Hansen said decisively on BBC 1 that England had to play 4-4-2 - chopping and changing just confused their ickle brains and led to lousy football. Later on 5 Live, Martin Keown said that there were plenty of decent English players - they just needed good management to play attractive football. The minute he said it, I had a flashback to the late 90s, and the shock of watching Chelsea being put to the sword by Nigel Winterburn.

It's easy to be complimentary about Wenger. He's a superlative-laden manager. But it is always worth remembering that he was not a very well-known manager when he was offered the job at Arsenal. 10 years on and he's changed the way footballers are trained and prepared in the UK. He wasn't alone, but he was one of the main movers to start focusing on diet and a more scientific approach to preparation. It the FA (or indeed the FAI), want to get ahead in the international game, they need to be looking for people with new ideas. And they need to be spending money looking for the new idea people. All the time.

Look at Croatia's qualification record. Population of about 4 million and yet they've consistently qualified for every major tournament since 1996, with the exception of Euro 2000. Then look at their turnover of coaches since they failed to qualify in 2000 under Blazevic - one coach per tournament. It's not a rich country by any means, and you'd have to think they have fewer resources to hand than either the FAI or SFA. Every time I read about how Ireland's expectations are too high, I feel we have to look to records like that.

If Croatia can do it, we should be able to replicate their success. I'm convinced that part of it is not wedding yourself to 'four year development plans' or 'planning for 2010'. Giving yourself the best opportunity in international football is about maintaining competitiveness at every tournament, not relying on 'golden generations' to put it all together. Heap your hopes on one set of players and they may get complacent. Keep players coming through, keep the good guys fresh and on their toes - and give yourself depth. Depth means variety. Variety means you're hard to predict. When you're hard to predict, you're harder to beat.

Anyhow, with the qualifiers over, I'm looking forward to Euro 2008, and now that we're shot of Stan, I'm optimistic. We'll get some good footie to watch over the summer next year. Maybe we'll get a decent manager. One thing is for sure - he can't be worse than the last one.

Exciting, Wha'?

The Lidge move jammed me inside on the ol' posting front for two reasons. One was the late announcement (3.30 in the morning my time), and t'other was real life keeping me preoccupied with real life issues. It does however galvanise me into posting some preliminary thoughts on the offseason, which I should have done a bit back. Like last week.

Anyhows, the thing which piqued my interest most was the word that Cabrera was going on the market. I think most people knew that this was going to happen (had to be 'trelle or Miggy C) but now we have the current king of 3b offence and the future heir head-to-head in the offseason. Well, not quite. A-Rod will be having cash thrown at him, whereas Miggy C is going to be all about the trade value. Still, that's two very high impact 3b guys out there, and that pleases me as a Phillies Phan. Yes, Pat has said that we're not interested in upgrading 3b. And no, I don't expect a deal for either player to go through. But it just seems like there's a lot of potential for 3b's to move around this offseason - Sox may well have Crede to spare, guys like Glaus and Lamb are knocking about, the O's are thinking about shopping Miggy T. And with two bona-fide stars on the market, chances are that the prices (trade or actual cashmoney) on the other guys are going to be more reasonable.

It's not without problems for the Phils. Dajafi raised the spectre of A-Rod at 3rd for the Mets with Wright moving over, and apparently they're planning chats with Wright about possible Roddage (link courtesy of MLB Trade Rumours) at the hot corner. That's a scary thought right there. Still, I think on the whole the greater proportion 3b guys moving means teams all over have the chance to be more imaginative and flexible. GMs could go hog wild crazy on the ol' three team deals. Maybe I'm being too optimistic (not for the first time . . . ).

Best thing about the Lidge deal is it keeps our powder dry money-wise. We've still got cash to spend on another starter or Rowand/Andruw Jones/platoon RF solution. Jones is particularly tantalising - he's likely to try a one year deal to restore value after a less-than-stellar 2007, because Boras has done this in the past. I'd love that option, not least because it allows for the possibility that a good 2008 means Jones regains Type A free agent eligability (although I'm not 100% sure whether we would get draft picks if this happened and he then signed elsewhere). Plus who doesn't like the idea of Jones+Vic in our outfield? Tasty, no?

Normally I'd quash such optimism in the face of the Phils most persistent affliction - lack of imaginative trades. But credit where credit is due - Gillick has managed to do this twice now in three years - the thome trade and this one. I still don't trust the man's ability to assess pitchers, but the market seems better stocked with position players this year. So I'm confident we can still fill out our offense. Better yet, shortly after making the deal, the Phils have made it clear they're still looking for another starter. Word is that Kuroda, a perfectly respectable Japenese pitcher, has filed for free agency and may be under consideration.

So we've got an interesting market, and a Phils front office that looks (for once) to be prepared to do more than the bare minimum. Combined with Gillick's love of dumpster diving, I think this is going to be a real fun Offseason.

Sobering Reading for Fans of Phuture Phils

I think the large proportion of my readership currently already know about this interview, but if not, check out FTN of Phuture Phillies/Back She Goes' piece with Keith Law of ESPN, (formerly with the Blue Jays). It's a sobering assessment of our current minor league system.

Good job, Floppy.

A Fine Example of Leadership

Tom Humphries wrote a piece responding to all the blame the fans seems to be coming in for lately. It's here, but it's that whole subscription thing, so you'll have to pay a small amount for a day pass. Nonetheless, I'd recommend it.

And its timely too, because we, the Republic of Ireland fanbase, are also coming in for a knocking. Lacklustre. Unimaginative. Not motivated enough, apparently. Worse, easily led by the demon Meeja, according to our esteemed captain:

"We used to hear it a lot with the English team and we were the first to say we could never do that, but we're doing it - but I'm not blaming the fans for one second. I think the fans get influenced by other people, the media have this overpowering effect. When sections of the media are trying to influence the crowd that's not good for Irish football. We weren't brought up like that, that concerns me."

Like Andy Keogh's comments, this rankles. Unlike Andy Keogh, Robbie has been around a while and should really know better. Apparently a true fan of football, someone who knows the game, would never have bood the two cypriot games, and would have appreciated Saturday's directionless and incoherent performance as a subtle contest of great footballing intelligence.

Worse, he uses the easy excuse. I hate the easy excuse. I'm getting to the point where I want to punch people who use the easy excuse. The easy excuse is loaded with emotive language appealing to our worst racial preferences. It claims to demonstrate how the players are somehow keepers of the true flame of Irish passion, and that it is us, the fans, who have been dazzled by the money and glamour of the Premiership.

Apparently the problem is that we're getting too like the English fanbase. Y'see, we all follow English teams, full of overpaid English players and we read all the English papers, and so bad English thoughts get into our heads. Then we go out and be mean to Irish players because we've been brought up on the instant gratification of Bolton vs Blackburn (before they got Benni).

Missed the bit, Robbie, where we all showed up at the do or die match against Switzerland and screamed our heart out whilst you meandered up your own fundiment and failed to perform for the manager who had coached you at underage international level.

Missed the bit where we never once booed the players after an indifferent game against a German team which was our last slim shred of hope of qualification. Booed the manager, yes, but never the players.

Get fucked Robbie. Don't expect me to cheer any of your goals ever again. You're right up there with Stephen Carr. A class act all the way through.

The Sound of One Rat Squealing

John Delaney in last nights interview on 6-1 News:

"It was very clear," he said, "that three people were involved when Steve was appointed, it was a subcommittee of the FAI of three people who made the appointment of the management team. It's unfortunate that I've been personally linked to the appointment when it was a decision of a committee of 10."

Before anyone thinks I'm being unduly harsh on John Delaney, I thought I'd review some aspects of the FAIs Technical Development Plan. It is worth noting that the document was originally published during Fran Rooney's reign as Chief Exec of the FAI. It is a Five Year Plan, so we are coming to the end of its original timeframe next year. Of note is a Clear Critical Success Indicator on Page 42 of the plan:

● Achievements of Irish teams at international level and in European club competition. This will be measured by the FAI in relation to the performance of Irish international and National League teams in European and World Championships.

On page 49 of the plan it is clearly indicated that two targets are to achieve qualification in 2008 Euro Championships, both for the senior team and the U-21 team.

Every now and then, there has been talk from John Delaney about how the national team is not the sole purpose of the FAI, but the plan as outlined clearly indicates that the success of the National Team is a measurement of the progress of the plan. With the U-21 team off to a bad start (lets not forget the other arse-kicking we got this week), and the senior team unable to qualify, you'd have to admit that the plan is not working too well. Furthermore, it brings into question Delaney's repeated statement about the goal being qualification for 2010.

John Delaney is currently contracted to 2012. The reason for this was:

“They (Board of Management) have looked at the improvements we have made – the Umbro deal, the merger with the eircom League, the Croke Park negotiations, the prospect of a Champions League or UEFA Cup Final, the Technical Development plan, and the possibility of a bid to co-host the U21 European Championships with Northern Ireland – and want to have stability in the organization” he said, “that is why I was offered a contract that takes me up to 2012.”

But clearly the Technical Development Plan isn't hitting one of its key targets. Given that Delaney stood by Stan as early as the Cyprus fiasco, shouldn't he also shoulder the consequences of that decision?

Time and again, Delaney's name is linked with pushing forward a much touted plan (here's your basic google search). Curious that within that I can't find a single damn PDF reporting progress in terms of the critical success indicators.

It reflects badly on both the media and the fanbase that no one has called Delaney to account on his own measurement of success. We must do better. Go to the FAI website, and use the list of contacts. Lets see if anyone can dig up information on number of coaches registered and to what level. The tools to independently assess Delaney's success as a Chief Executive are there. Let's go to work, people.

You all know how Delaney wants this to run - fire Staunton, point to his own progress on the development plan, and keep himself in power. This will not be good enough. Dumping Staunton and Delaney, and clearly indicating to the FAI that if they are not achieving their own stated aims, we're not paying to see them - well, that might be progress.

And Another Thing . . .

Andy Keogh, back of the class. Compare your comments:

"I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it doesn't help when the fans are getting on the team's back. We need the country behind us and trying to be that extra man as the Irish are renowned for, the great support they give."

to those of Stephen Hunt:

"Individually, I didn't play well. That's the first time I haven't been able to bring my best form to this level. I'm more disappointed for my friends and family. Gutted. For the whole country too."

and Joey O'Brien:

“It’s not nice to hear but we weren’t good enough tonight. People pay their money and are entitled to say what they want. All footballers are fans and we’re as disappointed as anyone here.”

I presume if Stan stays, his attitude will be reflected in similar comments from young players like Keogh - its never their fault, and the media and the fans should just 'get behind them' . That's the kind of mentoring and development we could all do without.

It rankles even more when I consider the attitude of the fans at both the Wales and the Germany games. Or even the final games against France and Switzerland in the autumn of 2005. We screamed ourselves hoarse for this team when it went down to the wire, and we cheered every lousy shot on goal of the current campaign. If our patience is finally gone, it's not for want of trying.

Hoist Them Both By Their Own Petards.

I trust that my Irish sporting blogging brethren are even now combing over Stan’s utterances seeking ammunition for a broadside of withering sarcasm. Organising a veritable blitzkrieg of outrage, speeded on to absolute satirical victory by too many adjectives and a love of good slagging. Eagle-eyed, they crouch over their keyboards, fine tuning their words, adjusting for poor playing performance and allowing for a hint of remorse before pressing the button and releasing their scathing payload on a distant, sandy-haired target.

All well and good. In truth, I’ve hit the Stan Overload zone. Stan provides all the amusement I need right now. We draw at home to a very successful Cyprus team, he says the important thing is to prepare for the World Cup. The fault is youth, he says, three short days after being pleased with bringing on young kids in this campaign. Noticeably lacking is a preparedness to own up or apologise for abject performances, as it has been the whole way through this campaign. John Toshack’s outburst at his own team’s failure in Cyprus on Saturday has cast every one of Stan’s post-match comments into the shade, slinking in disgrace back to the dark places.

Reading back on everything I’ve written since it looked like Kerr was going to get the axe, I can’t find it in me to be anything other than really, really pissed off with this whole state of affairs. It’s a cesspit of incompetence, dishonesty and nasty little men practicing politics for their own gain. Stan has to go and Delaney has to follow him swiftly.

It may not happen for a while, and this would be bad. Stan spoke of preparation, and he’s right – we DO need to prepare. A long set of friendlies for testing out new partnerships. A sincere and exhaustive plan of action which the players understand, following on from a tough set of negotiations where we argue for the best line-up of fixtures we can manage in what will undoubtedly be a tough group, given our current seedings.

If there’s a lesson to be learnt from the Kerr regime, it’s this – the players of our new Premiership era DO have to be treated differently, and probably tougher. We have options aplenty in midfield and attack, the opportunity to get a large squad used to playing in different formations. The players have to understand that effort alone is not enough – they have to be focussed and good, and if they’re not good, they will be dropped. The flexibility afforded by a comparatively young team with a decent degree of depth means no one player is invaluable.

Granted the situation is different in defence. But that’s the one part of the team that we don’t have to question. Shay Given is a driven, disappointed man who will want one last crack of the whip. Richard Dunne is in the prime of his career, confident, committed, impassioned, as much a man of emotion as the rest of us. Who can forget him crying his eyes out after we failed to qualify for World Cup 06 under Kerr? Finnan remains as icily calm as the moment he slammed his penalty home against Spain in 2002. He is to be depended upon. Kelly, O’Brien, O’Dea and McShane are all learning, but they have good experience to look to.

But to get back to the business of organising players. Much has been made of Brian Kerr’s recent column about the alienating nature of the Premiership, where the vast majority of our current squad play. I think there is some truth in this, but money and isolation from the public are common to the vast majority of professional footballers who play at international level. Scotland may not have as many players on the team sheets in England, but that is not to say that the owners of Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibs do not wrap their sportsmen in cotton wool. They have money and prestige aplenty, and they live in a world far different from mine, even when Easter Road is only a 5 minute cycle away.

It’s a big money business, and all these lads, all these men, will respond to a plan better than if they are left alone to their own devices. Left to themselves they’ll focus on their own performance and targets to the exclusion of everything else. You must try to fuse them together in a forge of common purpose, imbue them with the confidence to play at their best and enjoy doing it (in the manner of a certain baseball manager). Or you inspire confidence in them by leading them, providing them with roles and targets, by being seen to know better, by backing up your decisions with sound logic, not vague evasions. Give a team something to respect and they will respond.

Ultimately I feel this is where Kerr fell down – his mishandling of media criticism (inevitable when they were only too happy to follow John Delaney’s lead), his inability to drop key players when they were clearly not performing (Carr, O’Shea, Keane Og and Kilbane) – I think it ate away at the teams confidence in him. It still doesn’t excuse the players – many had played under him at youth level but would not perform to the best of their ability in the senior set-up. They clearly found it too easy to dismiss his attention to detail as the fussiness of a schoolteacher on a class day out. This was wrong, and the scant disregard they had for his understanding of the game made a bad situation worse, forcing him to distrust his own players ability to forge ahead, getting steadily more defensive both tactically and in his personal dealings. Ultimately deadening the player’s game.

But at least Kerr had a plan, a design, the experience to prepare a team. We have had nothing from Staunton. No leadership. No responsibility. No logic. A player deemed not good enough one day gets invited to the squad the next after the media question the decision. Bad performances are put down to the quality of the opposition, rather than assessing the performance in terms of Ireland’s own ability and targets. He can’t even motivate a team with its back against the wall – Mick McCarthy’s saving grace is nowhere in evidence here. Presented with a rich variety of midfield ingredients, Stan has mixed and matched with all the ability of an 8 year old who tries cooking when his parents aren’t looking.

It’s a bad state of affairs. I hope and pray that within the FAI they recognise the 15,000 or so absent last night, the departures at half time. If they don’t see sense and fire Stan before Christmas, I have half an idea of how we could make them really cop on, but I’ll save that for another day.