MacDonald backs beleaguered Staunton

Kevin MacDonald is backing Republic of Ireland boss Steve Staunton to weather the backlash following Saturday’s nightmare in Nicosia.

Staunton is under pressure following the 5-2 defeat to Cyprus, one of the worst in Irish football history, with the Republic’s hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2008 finals almost dead in the water.

The manager’s long and productive career as a player – he won 102 caps for the Republic – is starting to become overshadowed by a disastrous start to his new career, with Ireland having lost their last four matches.

The spotlight is on Staunton ahead of the clash with Group D leaders the Czech Republic at Lansdowne Road on Wednesday night, yet assistant boss MacDonald believes the 37-year-old has broad enough shoulders to take the heat.

“You know Steve as well as I do – he is a very tough bloke,” said the Scot, who is also Aston Villa’s reserve-team coach.

“It’s not unexpected he is getting stick because that’s the nature of the beast, with the media the way they are. But he is a tough person.

“He has come through worse things than this, he will come through it again, and he will end up being a very successful manager for the Republic of Ireland.”

More than anything, Staunton needs his players to perform against the Czech Republic because even he was embarrassed by the dire display in Cyprus.

Now is the time for the Irish squad to stand up and be counted, with MacDonald insisting that will be the case on Wednesday.

“When players go through a bad time and are put in a corner they come out fighting and saying ‘we’re going to prove people wrong’,” added MacDonald.

“That’s why they play professional football, or they are involved in a professional sport.

“For the staff, we’ve seen it all before, either previously as players ourselves or on the coaching side.

“So we know what to do to try and build them up, but they also have to get over it themselves because they are the ones out on the pitch.”

Following a no-holds-barred meeting yesterday between the players and coaching staff, MacDonald is now expecting ’payback’ time.

“We called the team meeting to try to clear up one or two issues, and also get the players to open up a little bit,” reflected MacDonald.

“I can’t say too much about what happened, it was behind closed doors, but it was a very productive meeting.

“The good thing from my point of view was that as I walked out of the door I could see the determination in their eyes to put things right on Wednesday.

“They feel they’ve let themselves, their families, the country down, the supporters who travel here, there and everywhere for them.

“The good thing is they have a game on Wednesday against the Czech Republic where they can repay some of those people for everything they’ve done.”