Martin O’Neill’s poor hand no excuse for self-inflicted wound

Any honest assessment of Martin O’Neill’s stewardship of the Irish team has to begin with the acknowledgement that he has not been dealt a great hand in terms of the quality of the players at his disposal, writes Liam Brady.

My defence of Giovanni Trapattoni when I left his Irish coaching staff was along similar lines. Players like Robbie Keane, Damien Duff, and Richard Dunne were coming to the end of their careers and Trap simply didn’t have the resources that matched

popular expectations.