‘Gaffer’ defends Irish record

STEVE STAUNTON has defended his performance as manager of the Republic of Ireland, insisting yesterday that his record “speaks for itself”.

It was a strange and perhaps unfortunate choice of words given the fact that the national side was, by common consent, loitering at its lowest ebb for years when Giovanni Trapattoni took over from him in February of 2008.

The former Liverpool and Aston Villa defender assumed his responsibilities with the national side from Brian Kerr prior to the qualification stages for Euro 2008 — promptly declaring himself the ‘Gaffer’ at his introductory press conference in Dublin.