The three nagging questions

Why Simon Cox?

When Mario Mandzukic’s header found the net via Shay Given’s noggin to leave Ireland trailing 3-1 it was no surprise Trapattoni turned immediately to his bench. Given Ireland’s desperate need for a goal, replacing the goal-shy Kevin Doyle with Jon Walters made sense. Aiden McGeady created Ireland’s first half goal with a delicious cross that Sean St Ledger powered to the net but the Spartak Moscow winger was otherwise anonymous. What did raise eyebrows though as the fact McGeady was replaced not by Sunderland’s James McClean or Wolves’ Stephen Hunt in a direct swap but by West Brom striker Simon Cox. In Cox’s defence he has impressed on a number of occasions in an Ireland shirt over the last 12 months not on the left wing. Surely McClean was the more obvious replacement for McGeady. The ex-Derry man was probably the form Irish player in the Premier League in the second half of last season while Cox barely featured for West Brom. A strange decision.

Whatever happened to the luck of the Irish?