Stan ’n’ Dunney bask in glory

THE Stan ’n’ Dunney mutual appreciation society is up and running.

With 24 hours to reflect on the details of a most rewarding debut game as Irish manager, Steve Staunton has chosen to heap special praise on the performance of Manchester City centre-half Richard Dunne in Wednesday night’s 3-0 victory over Sweden.

“In my mind Dunney was man of the match, a colossus,” said Staunton - quite an accolade for the big Dubliner on a high-scoring night when most of the attention was focused on Ireland’s attacking prowess and, in particular, a sparkling display by Damien Duff.

Dunne is set to nail down a regular starting place following the retirement of Kenny Cunningham, and was quick to give the new gaffer a lot of credit for Ireland’s encouraging win.

“It was brilliant, a great start,” he said. “Everyone is on a high. It has been a while since we played like that, but that’s down to Stan. He wanted us to go out and excite the fans. It took us a while to get going, but then we got a couple of good goals and we went from there.

“I think it was important that we won the game, even though it was a friendly, and I think we won it in some style. It was a new system and I actually think it was similar to Chelsea’s because we had three upfront with Robbie Keane dropping back and breaking from deep.

“It worked and the two lads - John O’Shea and Steven Reid - in front of the centre-halves did a good job of protecting the back four.”

Dunne’s insights into last week’s squad training sessions also suggest that Staunton and the players are quick learners. “We didn’t actually work on the system very long, maybe only 15 minutes on Tuesday, so that’s shows you what we can do. But the manager has been great with us. He just told us that he knew that we were good players and, so, systems didn’t really matter. All that he wanted from us was for us to give 100%, and we did work our socks off.”

Staunton himself echoes the point about the short preparation for the game. “The attitude since Sunday was immense. It was great to get out onto the training ground. Although we only had two sessions, the players took on board what (coach) Kevin McDonald was trying to do, along with my ideas. The squad took it all on board and brought it to Lansdowne on Wednesday night.”

In the new Irish boss, Richard Dunne sees shades of his club manager at Manchester City.

“Stan is a bit like Stuart Pearce in that he hasn’t managed before, but he has great experience as a player and has a real passion for the game.

“It also helps that most of us have played with Stan in the past. It was the same for me with Stuart, I had played with him and it does help. Both of them have been players until recently so they know what it’s like. In one sense, they are one of the boys. But they know where the line is.”

Dunne was a non-playing member of Mick McCarthy’s squad at the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and Korea and, at 26 years of age, is keen to see action on the biggest stages in football. “When the next World Cup comes around, I am going to be 30 and it will be nearly time up then,” he reflects. “But first, the European Championships are next up. We know we are in a tough group, but you have to beat good sides if you are going to achieve things. I want to be back at the finals of major tournaments and I am not the only one. It’s the same with Damien Duff and Robbie Keane. We are at an age where, if we are going to do anything at international level, now is the time to do it.

“The way we played against Sweden shows our potential and we have to kick on from that. We have set a standard for ourselves now. We have shown everyone we are a good side. We have put down a marker for the European Championship qualifiers.”

Meanwhile, Staunton has been basking in a job well done, but knows there will be tougher tests to come. However, he promises that his teams will endeavour to play entertaining football. “I am not going to get carried away with the result. We have quite a bit of work ahead of us. I know it’s not a bed of roses, we have things to work on. We have a good bunch of players, but we are nowhere near where we need to be. We couldn’t have asked for anything more on Wednesday. If we do go down, we go down attacking with bright, inventive play.”

Staunton is delighted that over 44,000 fans were cheered by a three-goal win on a bitterly cold night, and says that Bobby Robson was taken aback by the enthusiasm of the Lansdowne faithful.

“Bobby couldn’t believe the number of fans who turned up for the game, his eyes were opened by the passion of the supporters. I knew what Bobby’s character was like and he transfers his enthusiasm to the players as well.”

Staunton also draws attention to the morale-boosting return of former physio and squad father figure Mick Byrne, the man in the dug-out to whom Robbie Keane ran after scoring Ireland’s second goal.

“The players have been delighted with some of the changes made,” says the manager. “Mick Byrne, for example, is a great character and gets into the players’ minds, and this feelgood factor transferred to the playing field last night.”

Staunton also believes that the new mood of optimism mood runs right down through the under-age teams.

“I was delighted with the U21’s 1-0 win against Sweden in Drogheda on Tuesday, it gave the first team a boost. Don Givens is doing a marvellous job and (U17 and U19 manager) Sean McCaffrey is doing fantastic. The future is bright, whether it’s two, three or four years down the line.”