Republic of Ireland's future is bright...for now

So the first match of his new international managerial career is now over. It's the proverbial morning after the night before and I can only imagine how relived Steve Staunton must feel. Following months of hype and speculation, his new-look Irish management team completed their first 90 minutes and recorded a hugely impressive 3 - 0 victory. Goals from the electric Damien Duff, new captain Robbie Keane and a 25-yard thunderbolt from the enigma that is Liam Miller, secured a comfortable Irish victory, over a disappointing Swedish side.

He stood in the Irish dugout as manager for the first time last night, resplendent in his dark overcoat, ginger hair. I had to laugh as he struggled to keep his emotions in check throughout the game. Staunton couldn't help but jump for joy when Damien Duff opened the scoring. A nice touch too from the diminutive winger who made a point of sharing his goal celebration with his manager. The trend continued for the remainder of the game when the Sky cameras momentarily panned to him, only to show either a grit of the teeth and murmured expletive at a poor decision or his arms aloft, beaming smile, at yet another Irish goal.

It reminded me of another ex-player who recently became a manager, Stuart Pearce. Recent ex-pros such as Pearce and Staunton can't help themselves. They still kick every ball, make every tackle and scream at every poor decision against their team. It is simply the intoxicating football blood that still pumps through their veins. But it is this encouragement and reaction from a manager that should inspire the players on the pitch. It certainly did last night.


Since Staunton took over the reigns of the Irish team, the one attribute he has repeatedly referred to in his interviews with the media, is passion. Following last night's victory he is clearly well on the way to instilling this passion into his team. The Irish players produced the type of performance Staunton had craved and in doing so, delighted the Irish fans.

The movement and trickery of wing-wizard, Damien Duff, had the unfortunate Swedish right back in a spin for the entire game. Duff's performance represented a marked improvement from his previous games under Brian Kerr. Captain Keane (where have we heard that before!) also played with much more maturity and dropped deep and helped out midfield, whenever asked. I feel Staunton's decision to put the armband on the Tottenham striker could well prove to be a master-stroke. The excellent performance of Richard Dunne was also very encouraging. I feel Dunne will be the rock at the heart of this Irish defence for the next few years and his growing maturity and improved performances for Manchester city will hopefully help him fulfil his potential.


Now time for a little perspective. The pitch was awful and in poor condition following the RBS Six-Nations match the previous weekend. This fact, coupled with the freezing temperatures made any hope of attractive football, difficult, to say the least. I'd love to know what the Swedes thought of it in their pre-match warm-up as they proceeded to put in one of the most un-inspiring performances from a visiting Scandinavian country that I have ever seen at Lansdowne Road.

It is important the 3-0 rout be put into correct context and that is why I am highlighting the poor Swedish performance. It was after all, only a friendly and when Ireland face more illustrious opponents in a qualifying game they will need to be much more solid and cohesive than they were last night. I asked some friends who attended the game about the atmosphere being generated by the crowd. It appeared to me, whilst watching on TV anyway, that the crowd were apatheitc for much of the encounter and only roused themselves once the second goal went in.

I have been reliably informed that the atmosphere was OK, bearing in mind it was "fecking freezing". So as the temperatures were below zero, I shouldn't read too much into the fact the crowd may have been more interested in keeping warm than roaring on their country for 90 minutes. Following the match it seems most punters outside the ground were upbeat and very positive about the qualifying campaign ahead. Although in reality, it was only a friendly match so its hard for the corwd to get too worked up if qualification points aren't at stake.


Let's be optimistic. The overall performance last night was hugely encouraging and the emergence of new talents such as Doyle, Ireland and Henderson is great news for Irish football. Staunton passed his first test as the new Irish manager with flying colours. There was passion, creativity, good movement and above all, self-belief from his Irish players. More importantly, there was a renewed hunger from a team that has failed to qualify for a major football tournament for far too long.

The Republic of Ireland's future is bright... for now...



3 things to be cheerful about following last night's encounter:
* The players 'huddle' before the match and shared celebrations with the bench following their goal shows a togetherness and renewed team spirit amongst the Irish squad that I felt was sadly lacking during Brian Kerr's reign as manager. New captain Robbie Keane, thought differently: "The team spirit has always been here, it was here under Brian as well. You can't say it wasn't here under Brian because it was. But to have Mick Byrne come back has been nice. You've seen how much all the lads like Mick and that was just my way of saying 'welcome back'."

* Staunton playing down the win immediately after the match. I was delighted to hear the common sense spoken by the manager after the 3-0 victory. He put the result into perspective and made sure everyone's (media / squad / fans) feet remained firmly on the ground. Staunton: "It was a bit of a fairytale, but I am not kidding myself because I know we're going to face harder times." He was right to remind everyone that there are much more difficult tests ahead for this team.

* The superb performances of Richard Dunne, Damien Duff and each of the debutantes will have delighted the new Irish manager. Joey O'Brien, Kevin Doyle, Stephen Ireland and Wayne Henderson all acquitted themselves well. Stephen Ireland in particular, is someone I would love to see get an extended run in midfield alongside O'Shea or even Reid. Staunton: "I was delighted with the four debutantes. They came in on what was a tricky pitch and I thought they tried to play the game the way we wanted. Only for a bobble here and there we might have nicked another one," said Staunton.


3 things to be worried about following last nigh's encounter:
* Ian Harte's defending and the unavailability of a quality (international) left back

* Andy O'Brien's indecisiveness and poor defending in general.

* Hype. We have been here before with new Irish managers. I sincerely hope Staunton succeeds, but how will we measure his success? Qualification for the next European Championships? A couple of 'plucky' performances against the Czech and Germans? Only time will tell, but for now at least, the debutante manager has Ireland on the right track.

Final Thought:
On a night of meaningless international friendlies across Europe, one result caught my eye. It was the Slovakian performance and subsequent victory over France. Slovakia recorded a 2-1 win in Paris, handing France their first defeat since Euro 2004. Nemeth and Valachovic scored for the Slovakians in the second half before a Sylvain Wiltord penalty pulled one back for Les Bleus.

Everyone has been speaking about the difficulties in facing the Czechs and Germans in our upcoming Euro2008 qualifying group. However, we would do well to realise that the Slovakians too, are a quality outfit and I feel our two games with them in the qualifiers will prove pivotal.