Ring tone as much as can be taken from friendly

A COLLEAGUE took away a nice memento from the otherwise forgettable friendly against Chile on Wednesday.

Sitting beside an excitable Chilean radio commentator in the press box, he had the presence of mind to activate the record button on his mobile phone at the precise moment when Manuel Ittura scored the winning goal — as a result, he is now the proud possessor of an original ring tone, consisting of the radio man’s traditional, elongated salute to a successful South American strike: “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! GOOOOOAL! (Add o’s to suit taste).

Coming away from Lansdowne Road, our colleague played it to a few of us and we all agreed that it was a fine piece of work indeed.

One couldn’t help thinking if a similar scene might be played out back in Santiago when the Chilean touring party gets home from Europe.

You can imagine our radio friend gathering with some colleagues at a nice pavement café, and explaining that he was lucky enough to capture a typical native exclamation at the match in Ireland. Then he will hit the play button, and they will all get the chance to admire the sound of a flat Dublin voice saying “Ah, me bollix”.

There were certainly plenty of incidents in Wednesday’s game to which the only legitimate response was something of that wearily depressed nature — a pass gone astray, a dummy to nothing, a cross cut out, a shot way over the top. Take your pick.

It was pretty poor fare from the Irish, with perhaps only Kevin Doyle, Kevin Kilbane, Graham Kavanagh, Shay Given and, even allowing for his dose of dithers in the lead-up to the goal, Richard Dunne emerging with plus points.

By the end of the night, the 41,000 natives were understandably restless, and by the following day — when I found myself on Today FM’s Last Word Show with Mark Lawrenson — some were positively livid. Lawro wasn’t inclined to read too much into the result, suggesting from his own experience that even before kick-off in an end of season friendly, a lot of professional footballers already have one foot on the plane to the sun.

Understandably enough, the fans weren’t so phlegmatic, but I must

admit I was still taken aback by the fiercely critical tone of some of the emails presenter Matt Cooper read out while we were on air — lots of pretty enraged stuff about “a lack of passion”, an “insult to the supporters” and, inevitably, how Steve Staunton’s inexperience had been shown up with his failed 3-4-3 experiment and odd rotation of personnel.

This, remember, just two games into Staunton’s term as Irish manager.

So has the backlash begun even earlier than usual? On reflection, I don’t think so. Those with reservations about Staunton’s appointment were simply forced to keep their powder dry as his first game in charge created a wave of enthusiasm. They would have been waiting in the long grass anyway, and Wednesday’s setback simply provided them with the earliest opportunity to let off a few rounds.

Staunton may be disappointed with the result but he shouldn’t be too put out by the criticism. Depending on results, the alternating hero/villain routine is something he will have to get used to over the next four years.

What’s more important is that the manager learns from the match experience, and it was heartening to see him hold his hands up and say the system hadn’t worked.

Personally, I’m of the opinion that sloppy individual play was at the root of most of Ireland’s problems, but if Staunton is going to experiment with tactics and personnel, then a May friendly is definitely the context in which to do so.

But as Bobby Robson indicated on Thursday, the time for experimentation on the pitch is over — Staunton will have to treat the August friendly against Holland as a full-blown dress rehearsal for the European Championship qualifiers.

Reading between the lines of Irish management-speak, I think that if Ireland don’t revert to a strict 4-4-2, they might employ something more like 4-3-1-2, with Damien Duff in a floating role behind the strikers.

Personally, I’ve always preferred Duff out on the left but, wherever he plays for Ireland, it’s crucial that his confidence going into the campaign is high. And for that reason, there will be many of us hoping that he leaves a life of uncertainty behind at Stamford Bridge for somewhere more welcoming, like Old Trafford or Anfield.

Robbie Keane was off the boil on Wednesday too but, if things continue to go well for him at Spurs, there is no reason to doubt that he will continue to be an inspirational player for Ireland in the coming campaign. Ditto Shay Given and Richard Dunne.

While there are still issues unresolved at full-back, in the wide positions and in terms of Keane’s partner up front, the biggest concern is that Ireland still look alarmingly soft in the middle. Sorry for boring everybody but we’re back to the old who-can-replace-Roy conundrum.

Steven Reid could yet emerge as a key man for Ireland, his surging runs and powerful shot even prompting Robson to recall Bobby Charlton the other day, though he wasn’t trying to compare like with like. But if Reid does live up to his promise as a powerhouse goal-scoring midfielder, who can also hit the flanks with accurate passes, that still leaves the question of who plays the holding role.

Right now, John O’Shea is the man in possession — but, ironically, too often that is precisely what he surrenders in games. To coin a phrase, O’Shea is a good player who sometimes gives the impression that he thinks he’s a great player. Again, the savvy Robson was onto something the other day when he said that the Waterford man needs to keep it simple.

In that respect, he could hardly do better than take a leaf out of Roy Keane’s book, a player who never attempted the fancy ball if there was a more reliable outlet on offer. O’Shea has plenty of technical ability and is strong in the air, but he needs to improve his powers of concentration, as well as doing more to impose himself physically on the game.

So, after just two games, there are as many questions as answers for Staunton. Insofar as one can draw any firm conclusions from a couple of friendless, perhaps it’s wisest to say that Ireland aren’t as good as they looked against Sweden, nor as bad as they looked against Chile.

Somewhere in the middle, you might say, but hopefully not stuck.