Ireland boss may reap what Eriksson sows

BRIAN KERR’S defence of friendly international matches was given a timely boost with this week’s developments in England.

England’s manager Sven Goran Eriksson was so perturbed at disruptions to England’s intended international programme that he spent two days discussing the issue with a selection of Premiership managers. And while Ireland have had no direct involvement in the talks it is inevitable that developments there will impact on Ireland’s programme.

Matters reached a head for England when they played Australia earlier this season. Eriksson sent out an entirely different team for the second half of that match because of pressure from managers to rest their stars and it led to serious repercussions. The fact that Australia beat England for the first time did not go down kindly with FA bosses who argued that Eriksson’s substitutions had robbed the game of any significance.