Orange crushed

OH dear.

With all the defections from his squad, this was never going to be the dress rehearsal for Germany that Steve Staunton had originally been hoping for. But even in his worst nightmares, he could hardly have imagined that last night’s friendly against Holland would turn into something of a horror show — the only hope now is that this 0-4 thrashing is not a prequel for even worse to come.

Hard to know where to begin sifting through the debris of this one, except to say that the majority of the 42,000 who left Lansdowne Road in a state of angry disbelief would be only too anxious to sign a big ‘Get well soon’ card to Damien Duff, Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne and Shay Given. Considering that Staunton’s team had been gutted by the withdrawal of at least four players who would otherwise be certain starters, and one other, Ian Harte, who would be staking a serious claim at left-full, the Irish manager nevertheless managed to put out what looked like a reasonably experienced side.