Not a glorious failure, just a bloody good game
There is absolutely no shame in a 2–1 loss against a very good Scottish team at Hampden Park, even if it feels like a missed opportunity. Stephen Kenny’s young team were excellent on Saturday, they battled like men in the face of a quality side and a ferocious Glasgow crowd. We took it right to them.
Right now, we should be all feeling warm and fuzzy about the future of Irish international football. However, this is Ireland, and we don’t do warm and fuzzy, not before a few pints at least. Instead, we’ve heard supposed experts banging on about records and results, trying desperately to fill the Eamon Dunphy gap of “Ireland’s most controversial pundit”. We’ve seen a litany of former Irish internationals, who were mediocre at best during their playing days, ramble on to the public about standards.
Paul McShane and Damien Delaney, standards? Give over lads.
Of course, you’ll have people calling for the manager’s head, constantly pointing towards how much better things were when Steve Staunton was pissing away one of our most talented sides. Don’t even get me started on Brian Kerr, who produced some shocking football considering the quality he had at this disposal. What is his problem anyway?
We have come a long way under Stephen Kenny, playing an excellent brand of football and we are now truly competing. Isn’t that what we all want? A team in green playing beautiful entertaining football in front of a packed-out Lansdowne, encouraging the next generation of Boys in Green?
Do we want to go back to the lousy “win at all costs” mentality and just lash it forward? Any aul rubbish can do that. People will harp on about how we need to qualify for tournaments by any means necessary. Yeah, because that worked, didn’t it?
This current crop is a joy to watch and has even managed to change the tune of previous Kenny denier, Liam Brady. That’s because he saw Saturday for what it was. It was a performance of real substance, not glorious failure, or moral victory.
A wonderful trait of this Ireland team is the bravery and endeavour they show on the ball. Everyone wants a go. There’s no more of that “oh please don’t pass to me” nonsense that has plagued Irish teams of the past. They possess that elusive “moral courage” that John Giles had neglected to find for all those years. They don’t sit back or play with fear. They pick up and go at the opposition. Kenny fan or not, that has to be admired. Having watched Ireland for years, trust me, it’s refreshing.
Tuesday will bring the conclusion of another Nations League campaign and for the third time running, another relegation battle. Which is the manager’s fault by the way.
If Stephen Kenny had chosen the correct team for Ireland’s opening two games back in June i.e. Cullen, Molumby and Knight in a midfield three, then I think Ireland would be vying for a top two spot against Armenia and not another relegation battle.
For reasons only known to Kenny, the Ireland manager persisted with a dreaded two in the engine room, leaving the unfortunate Josh Cullen to do all the heavy lifting. Leaving the cumbersome Jeff Hendrick to simply look on. Doing nothing. It didn’t work in Yerevan, and it certainly didn’t work in Dublin against Ukraine.
Finally, the penny dropped three days later when the Scots came to Dublin. Jeff was binned and in came the industrious and wonderfully aggressive Jayson Molumby and the crafty Jason Knight to give Cullen a helping hand. Ireland’s engine room was humming once again. It worked beautifully and Ireland ran away with a 3–0 demolition job, gaining our first ever Nations League win in the process.
Our opening two games were winnable in my opinion and if the manager had opted against loyalty, he would have a healthy ten points on the board instead of a paltry four, leaving Kenny’s position untouchable.
Thankfully it appears that Kenny has found his best formation and we’ve been impressive ever since. On Saturday, we looked dangerous and if we had taken our chances, we could have had another famous night in Hampden. Alas, it wasn’t to be. That’s just football. Two good teams playing excellent stuff and entertaining a paying audience.
One thing that Stephen Kenny needs to improve quickly, is his in-game management. I do feel that the manager struggles with a plan B at times. Troy Parrott should have made way for Chiedoze Ogbene and not the brilliant Michael Obafemi. Scotland looked vulnerable on the counter, with the Rotherham striker causing all sorts of problems when he came on, Obafemi with his pace would have only embellished that.
In international football, substitutions can make or break a campaign. Mick McCarthy was a master in his first spell as Ireland boss, but it wasn’t always the case.
In 1996 during an awful 0–0 draw with Iceland, Mick’s refusal to bring on Tranmere Rovers player-manager John Aldridge as a late substitution prompted the legendary striker to quit international football. Five years later, Mick brought on Steve Finnan to set up Jason McAteer’s infamous goal against Holland at Lansdowne Road. So, it’s never too late to learn these things.
Anything less than a win against a terrible Armenia side will heap huge pressure on the Ireland manager and hopefully, that’s not the case. Let’s just batter the Armenians and move on to the Euros.
I never want to see a midfield two ever again!
David, The Green Machíne Podcast
