Irish need ruthless streak against minnows

THE GOOD news for Steve Staunton is that Ireland’s next game is against San Marino. The bad news for Steve Staunton is that Ireland’s next game is against San Marino.

Short of the kind of unthinkable shocker that would make Nicosia seem like nothing more than a fairly bad night at the office, Ireland should stroll through Wednesday’s game against the group whipping boys.

But this is definitely more of a win-lose than a win-win situation: anything less than a command performance, and the manager is likely to find himself swiftly back in the firing line, with the snipers branding Anthony Stokes’ name on the bullets.

At this week’s press conference, Staunton seemed to be, as they say, setting his stall out early. Patience would be required, he counselled, because the opposition can be hard to break down. This might be reasonable stuff if next week’s visitors were giants like, say, the Faroe Islands. But we’re talking about San Marino here, the team which has shipped a mere 20 goals in its last two games. Hard to break down? By the sound of it, should he ever decide to change trades, Stan is unlikely to make a go of things in the demolition business.

But while it’s easy to scoff, perhaps we shouldn’t read too much into some of Stan’s pronouncements. Uneasy with the media to begin with, he seems even more wary now after the mauling he took following Cyprus.

He says as little as he needs to say and, as in the case of his warnings about San Marino, tends to have a default management-speak setting which doesn’t do him any favours.

And when he does loosen up a bit, he can sometimes find himself negotiating a minefield. On Tuesday, a routine question about Paul McShane extracted the information that, while the tyro had been close to selection for Cyprus, a subsequent conversation between Staunton and Bobby Robson had resolved the matter in favour of Ireland going into the game with a more experienced back four.

By the time this revelation reached some of the back pages, it read as if – Shock! Horror! — Stan was shifting the blame onto poor old Bobby for the debacle in Cyprus. In fact, as we have been repeatedly reminded, Staunton is the gaffer and the buck stops with him. And, while it makes for lively headlines, it should hardly come as a shock, let alone a horror, to anyone that, after discussing the options, the manager would settle on familiar faces in the back four for what was always viewed as a tricky trip. I don’t recall hearing calls for McShane to be fast-tracked for that game.

All of us, not just the Irish manager, tend to be wiser with hindsight.

What matters now is how Staunton deploys that hard-earned wisdom. It took his back to be flush against the wall before Lee Carsley came in to do against the Czechs what was so badly required against the Cypriots – a midfield enforcer role which provided protection for the defence while ensuring enough retention of the ball to provide a platform for the attack.

The return of the Everton man and the emergence of McShane were the bonus points from a performance which went a long way to restoring both pride and optimism. And while the temptation now is to pick flaws in Staunton’s every decision, he’s right not to rock the boat ahead of the next game, even if it is only San Marino.

Since taking charge of the Irish team, every step forward has been followed by one (or ten) back. Victory over Sweden came before defeat against Chile; the hammering by the Dutch was redeemed by a creditable performance against Germany; and the rock bottom of Cyprus left few inclined to believe that a stirring night against the Czechs was in the offing.

Against the backdrop of that jagged graph of climbs and plunges, Ireland need to get a modicum of consistency into the campaign, and for that to happen Staunton should, injuries permitting, look to put out his best 11 for every game. Certainly, Anthony Stokes is doing enough to earn a place in the ‘A’ squad but, at 18, he still has plenty of time to make the leap.

Of more immediate import, surely, is the need for Kevin Doyle to break his international duck, while it would be no harm either if Robbie Keane finally got back on the goal trail.

Almost lost in the coverage of the ‘A’ and ‘B’ squad announcements was Staunton’s insistence that he hasn’t given up on qualifying for Euro 2008. The odds may now be long but with an equally long way to go, he’s right to underline the importance of picking up every three points available. But the real point-making needs to be done on the pitch. Against the Czechs, they showed what they can do when cast as underdog. Against San Marino, they must convince the sceptics they can be ruthless as top dogs.