Duff claims Irish ‘need to be get nasty’ to be successful

DAMIEN DUFF feels Ireland’s World Cup qualifying hopes are being hampered because the team is too nice for its own good.

Any admiration for Israel’s ability to salvage a crucial point at Lansdowne Road has been largely lost in the bitterness over their spoiling second half tactics. Seven Israeli players found their names in the Greek referee’s book by the game’s end, but it was goalkeeper Dudu Awat for whom Irish fans reserved most of their bile.

Back in 1973, the unorthodox methods of the Polish keeper Jan Tomaszewski frustrated England on a famous night in Wembley. Brian Clough may have labelled him a ‘clown’ on the back of that, but the bottom line was that his saves that night meant it was the Poles who would go to West Germany the following year and not England.