Always look on the bright side of life
Time, in short, to plot a course for qualification for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
On paper all things are always possible, of course, but as Ireland prepares to resume its qualifying campaign at home to Georgia on Wednesday, it’s far from wishful thinking to envisage a scenario whereby Giovanni Trapattoni’s team would take to the pitch in Bari as Group 8 leaders on April 1.
That less than scintillating home win over Cyprus, followed by the end of the new man’s unbeaten run in the 3-2 defeat to Poland, brought 2008 to a tense, uncertain close. Throw in the rumbling controversy surrounding the manager’s squad selections, and it’s not hard to see how the perceived negatives have tended to overshadow the much more promising picture painted by the current group table. And it could be about to get better, assuming Ireland use their game in hand over Italy to pick up three points against the Georgians next week. That result would see the Irish joint level on ten points with the Azzurri, although a win by three goals at Croke Park on Wednesday would be required for Ireland to go clear at the top.
Fast-forward to March 28 and things could get even better. Ireland host Bulgaria on that date and, unless the appointment of journeyman boss Stanimir Stoilov proves unexpectedly inspirational, the Irish are entitled to feel reasonably confident about seeing off a Bulgarian side which endured a thoroughly miserable 2008. On the same night, meanwhile, Italy face Montenegro away, a fixture which, as the Irish can attest after a sometimes torrid outing there last September, is not for the faint-hearted. The Italians have already laboured in beating the lively Montenegrins 2-1 on their own patch so it’s entirely plausible that they will have to be content to get out of Podgorica with a point.
Factor that sequence of possible results into the old supercomputer and — voila — spring is suddenly sprung for the boys in green, who would now find themselves travelling to Italy two points clear at the top of Group 8. Avoid defeat in that one then (the biggest if of all, admittedly) and Ireland would be very much in charge of their own qualification destiny with two away games and two home games to go.
Okay, so let’s not get carried away but let’s not overlook the fact either that, for all the niggling criticisms of his regime, Trapattoni has thus far delivered where it has counted — on the points table. What’s crucial now is that Ireland win the eminently winnable games, beginning with victory in Croke Park over a Georgian side which has only two points to show for four outings to date.
The extended gap between the announcement of his squad and the game itself, means that Trapattoni should this week be spared the brunt of the media’s usual obsession with the missing men, Reid, Ireland and Carsley — or, rather, he’ll be spared it at least until the final whistle on Wednesday night, by which time he will either be basking in another win and further vindication of his decision-making or, failing the acquisition of three points, facing a blizzard of criticism of such ferocity that it will make everything that’s gone before feel like a mild summer breeze.
Barring any late injuries, Trapattoni is unlikely to spring any selection surprises which means the team, as they say, virtually picks itself. And, if we allow for a moratorium on the bigger questions about the manager’s philosophy of football, the most pressing issue going into this one really concerns the match-readiness and psychological well-being of the players who will actually get to cross the white line.
For Robbie Keane and Shay Given, there is every reason to hope that their new beginnings at club level are reflected in relieved and liberated performances in the green shirt. Fortunately for Trapattoni, the two players in his squad who have been involved in the biggest moves in the transfer window are also two of his most experienced and battle-hardened pros. Still, all eyes will be on the back and front of the starting eleven, as Keane and Given return to the Irish team after a period marked by probably the most unsettling experiences of their respective careers.
But they aren’t the only boys in green to have endured some uncertain times since last we met up. Kevin Kilbane has left Wigan for Hull; Given’s new colleague at Eastlands, Richard Dunne, has struggled for form in recent times; up at Celtic, Aiden McGeady has had his cards marked by Gordon Strachan; and, the man most likely to provide cover for McGeady, Stephen Hunt, is another who has been embroiled in a will-he-won’t-he transfer saga.
More encouragingly, Glenn Whelan is enjoying a settled spell at Stoke City while his international midfield partner Darron Gibson is looking forward to a Wembley appearance as one of Fergie’s Carling Cup regulars. And while such lower-case headlines might seem like small enough crumbs of comfort for those who think Lee Carsley and Andy Reid should be patrolling the Irish midfield, they will be taken by Trapattoni as growing confirmation of the ability of the players involved to repay his faith.
We shall see. But, somehow, I can’t help thinking that, not for the first time, it will be to established figures like Damien Duff and Kevin Doyle that Ireland will turn if they are to forge the victory that would get 2009 off to the right start and allow the faithful, at least for a while, to dream of better days ahead.
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