Staunton still looking to the future

STEVE STAUNTON isn’t inclined to place too much store in the new FIFA World rankings which see the Republic of Ireland retain their lowly 49th position, now one behind Northern Ireland.

“The most important thing for me is that last week we got three points,” says the Irish manager.

Coming to the end of a turbulent first year in charge, Staunton remains upbeat about the quality and options at his disposal.

“I’ve always been positive about the squad,” he says. “It’s not my fault or anybody’s fault that we’ve had so many injuries. But we’ll be better and stronger for it. A lot of players may have gotten their chance a bit earlier than expected but they’ve come in and staked a claim and it’s a nice headache for me when everybody’s fit. That’s what we want.”

Staunton says that he was particularly encouraged by what he saw in last week’s ‘B’ international against Scotland.

“I was very, very happy with the ‘B’ game. When you looked at the Scottish squad it was really quite an experienced one compared with ours. I thought our lads did very well. There were some fine individual performances and, collectively, for a lot of lads that wouldn’t have known each other, they mucked in and did very well as a group.”

Staunton may have come under ferocious pressure early in his tenure but he seems to see it as part and parcel of the job.

“The pressure is on for every game, not just for this year,” he says. “We’ve got a cup final in February. We’ve got two cup finals in March. 12 cup finals — that’s I said at the beginning. That’s the way it is. We’ll give it our best shot. Look at what happened to Germany in Cyprus.”

So qualification for the Euro finals is still on as far as he is concerned?

“Nothing has changed in my mind. I’m still very positive. We’ve got talented young fellows coming through, and they’ll have to blooded too,” he says.

Between now and Ireland’s next game, away to San Marino in February, Staunton intends to keep busy.

“My main job now is keeping an eye on the players, on their fitness and form,” he says. “Obviously, Damien (Duff) is going to be out for a few weeks. Hopefully, it’ll do him no harm. It’s one of these unfortunate things for Newcastle, but he’ll be back in plenty of time for us.”

Looking further ahead, the manager would like a friendly game in mid-May but, if that is not possible, will settle for an end of season training camp.

“If we can’t get games arranged pretty quickly for the end of the season, I’ll take a training camp. With the talent in the ‘B’ squad, we might take a bigger squad this time and have games amongst ourselves. First and foremost we’re looking for a competitive game but, if not, there will be a get-together.”

And it may not necessarily mean a return to Portugal, Staunton suggesting that there are other options open, including one or two here in Ireland. A cold weather training camp, then?

“Nothing wrong with that,” he grins, ” you have to run around to get warm.”

Staunton was speaking at the formal launch yesterday of the FAI’s Emerging Talent Programme, a national strategy designed to improve player quality at all levels in the domestic game and streamline a pathway to the senior international team. Catering for elite players, both boys and girls, from 11 to 16 years of age, the Emerging Talent Programmes, already activated in a number of pilot schemes, will feed players into eight regional centres which will, in turn, supply the underage international sides and also deliver players to the National Academy, due to be located at Campus Stadium Ireland in Abbotstown.

The implementation of the programme is seen as particularly urgent in light of changes in the game in Britain which have resulted in fewer Irish players signing for clubs there.

Says Staunton: “In the 20 years since I’ve been in England, an awful lot of Irish players have gone across the water and come back. One, they’re not mentally ready for it and, two, they’re physically not ready for it. And by the time they develop those physical attributes they’ve dropped down the pecking order. This can only benefit them, big time. Another thing is that if they were to come back, they won’t feel like lepers because they’ve got something to go into, a quality system. What the FAI are trying to do from grassroots right through is fantastic. I never thought that I’d see the day.”

Says FAI Technical Director Packie Bonner: “By doing this we want to improve all of the game, not just the international teams. We have to improve the League of Ireland as well as junior and intermediate football. And we also want to make them better people as well as better players. The key thing, especially when you go onto the professional level, is mentality.

“Look at someone like Thierry Henry. Technically he is brilliant, tactically he seems to be able to take change on board and his physical condition is superb. And then there’s his attitude. He seems to do the right thing off the pitch as well, even though there’s a lot of pressure on him in the hard profession he’s in. He’s come through the whole system in France and that to me is the benchmark of how we want to try and develop these players. That is the model for what we would like to think could come out the other end.”