Brady’s warning from history

“I CAN’T get sent off this time but we can still win 2-0,” says Liam Brady with a laugh.

Ireland’s assistant manager is looking ahead to tonight’s big game and recalling the last occasion when Ireland and Bulgaria met in a competitive match.

That was the European Championship qualifier at Lansdowne Road on Wednesday, October 14, 1987, a game which the home side won with goals from Manchester United duo Paul McGrath and Kevin Moran. It was also a red-letter — or, rather, red card — occasion for Brady, whose late sending off, after reacting to a foul by Sadkov, shadowed what was widely agreed had been his very best performance of the Charlton era.

Sadly, it also turned out to be his last competitive appearance in the green shirt, a combination of suspension and injury conspiring to rob him of a place at Euro ‘88 — a berth only secured when, one month after Bulgaria lost in Dublin, Gary Mackay of Scotland did the Irish a huge favour in Sofia.

Looking back 22 years, Brady is happy to reflect on that day in Lansdowne Road and its significant aftermath.

“I think that was one of my best games for Ireland and one of Ireland’s best games,” he says. “I was reading something in the paper today that said we were rather fluky to qualify for that tournament, but we got 11 points and only lost once. That’s not fluky — and there was only two points for a win back then. Obviously that win was vital to us, although we didn’t know it at the time.”

As to missing out on Euro ‘88 itself, Brady remains philosophical. “I got injured in between that so I didn’t really have time to regret the sending off,” he shrugs, “although I wouldn’t be happy if one of our players now did what I did then.”

The point is well-made. With just three yellow cards accumulated in the current campaign to date — for Aiden McGeady, Shay Given and Keith Andrews — Ireland can boast easily the best disciplinary record in Group Eight.

“We’ve drummed that into them,” the assistant manager confirms. “It’s all those little things that can count in the end. If we keep our discipline and don’t get silly bookings for kicking the ball away or gesticulating at the referee or showing you’re upset with the referee, that means maybe not losing a player to suspension during the campaign.

“All those little things count. Giovanni has been drumming that into the players. And it’s the same with the set pieces, it’s vital to stop goals going in against us at set pieces. It can be a little bit boring for players to have to work on things, all that repetition, but in the end those things can make a difference and that’s the kind of manager he is.”

And always was, according the man who played under him at Juventus.

“Absolutely,” Brady smiles. “He can remember goals that he got from a set piece in 1977 that he reckons made the difference in winning the championship.”

Attention to detail for the visit of Bulgaria this time around has included a special focus on Ireland’s troubling habit — seen against both Poland and Georgia — of conceding early goals.

“Coming to the game we’ve been getting some video stuff out and looking at mistakes we’ve made,” says Brady.

“The manager talks to players about how they could have avoided those mistakes. That goal against Georgia wasn’t the start we wanted but we showed tremendous character in the second half. And played a lot of good football as well. Now, against Bulgaria, we want to perform like we did in the second half against Georgia and avoid any silly mistakes.”

And if Ireland can get it right in Dublin, Liam Brady doesn’t rule out Montenegro doing us a favour against Italy in Podgorica.

“The Italians will undoubtedly have a hard game and they’ll do well to come away with three points,” he says.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Bonner (Celtic), McGrath (Manchester Utd), Moran (Manchester Utd), McCarthy (Celtic), Whelan (Liverpool), Houghton (Oxford), Lawrenson (Liverpool), Brady (West Ham), Galvin (Sheffield Wednesday), Stapleton (Ajax), Aldridge (Liverpool).

Subs: Byrne (QPR) for Galvin (77 mins), Quinn (Arsenal) for Aldridge (77 mins).

BULGARIA: Ananiev, Nikolov, Iliev, Petrov, Dimitrov, Simeonov, Voynov, Sadkov, Stoitchkov, Sirakov, Iskrenov.

Subs: Valsv for Ananiev (55), Alexandrov for Voynov (65).

Referee: J N Keizer (Holland).