Ireland booed off as Greece mount more pressure on Stephen Kenny
UNDER PRESSURE: Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny looks dejected. Photo credit: Liam McBurney/PA Wire.
If this nadir marks the end for Stephen Kenny, there can be no unlucky Friday 13th to be blamed for the final blow.
The Ireland manager looked crestfallen by the end, his tie dispensed with by first-half, and gazing up to barren stands.
Whatever portion of the 41,239 were still there by the finish made their feelings known with a chorus of boos.
Greece’s pair of Giorgos – Giakoumakis and Masouras – inflicted the damage with first-half goals but the demise of the manager’s era was cemented in the loss to the same opposition in Athens.
Fourth place appears a certainty following this fifth defeat in six qualifiers and it’s just a case of when the FAI engineer the change of manager.
FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill suggested nothing would occur until next month’s campaign conclusion but circumstances dictate.
That Ireland scored just once in 270 minutes at home to the three nations around them – an Adam Idah penalty – presents an equally damning indictment of the regression under Kenny’s watch.
If only they had backed up their midweek trash-talk with half the conviction, this might have been a contest.
Instead, Gus Poyet was the manager beaming at full-time, not bothering to shake the hand of Keith Andrews.
By the end of the June shambles, Kenny had abandoned his favoured back-five formation and four months on, he ended a continuity sequence of 23 games by reverting to the traditional four defenders.
Liam Scales was the beneficiary, slotting in at left-back for his debut and enabling Ireland to congest a midfield area they were outnumbered and overpowered in during the first meeting.
Part of his duties was to mind his former Celtic teammate Giakoumakis, now based in America, as he was the surprise inclusion by Gus Poyet, dislodging Vangelis Pavlidis for the sole striker’s slot.
That would eventually elude him to Ireland’s cost but not before the traditional early flurry at home.
Will Smallbone, whose previous dealings with the Greeks culminated in being hauled off at the break of his competitive debut, found himself free inside the box after just four minutes only for his shot towards the far corner batted away by the strong hand of Odisseas Vlachodimos.
A shimmy by Chiedozie Ogbene on the right side of the penalty box had created the space and similar flexibility by Evan Ferguson within a minute led to Ireland going closer.
With the shake of his hips, the striker lost his marker and aimed for the far corner. Unlike a replica manoeuvre against Newcastle United last month that formed part of his first Premier League hat-trick, this curler didn’t sufficiently spin to avoid clipping the outside of the post.
Nathan Collins also planted a header wide from Ireland’s first corner, a rare occasion for Smallbone to find a colleague with one of his several first-half set-pieces.
It was also a rare blemish by Kostas Tsimikas to concede the corner with a stray pass and a cameo of his class would eventually prove the difference in a scrappy opening quarter.
Warnings were signalled. Tasos Bakasetas, man-of-the-match in Athens, isn’t afraid to shoot and the captain rifled a 16th-minute scud from 25 yards that Gavin Bazunu could only fumble.
He was thankful to Shane Duffy for dashing across to clear the loose ball as Petros Mantalos was poised to tap home the rebound.
Four minutes later and the Irish net bulged. As much as Ireland’s formation shuffle was designed to curb the threat of their full-backs so menacing at the OPAP Arena, no tactical tweak is necessary to execute a tackle.
Perhaps its why Kenny prefers Ogbene functioning in attack. His failure to close down Tsimikas on the left allowed the Liverpool speedster to skip inside, aided by a ricochet, and after advancing a few yards, he elegantly bent a cross that dissected Collins and Scales inside the box.
Giakoumakis gleefully profited, rising to power his header beyond the stranded Bazunu.
Ireland in the past 15 months have been plagued by long-range goals or concessions after half-time but this was neither, simply a splash of brilliance facilitated by substandard defending.
Chances to level – well, half-chances - were squandered. On the half hour, Panos Retsos, the right footed defender looking decidedly suspect stationed on the left of central defence offered one of the few Greek gifts on the night.
His errand crossfield pass was intercepted by Jason Knight but a lack of composure led to overcooking his touch and the ball escaping his control.
That wastefulness may be rued as pivotal but the cold reality is the ease with which the visitors exposed Ireland again in first-half stoppage time highlighted their brittleness.
Ireland’s inability to cope with counterattacks was apparent when Bazunu was forced to turn over a rising shot on the break from Dimitris Pelkas and they were soon properly punished by the same player.
From another inaccurate Smallbone delivery, Pelkas managed to survive a handball claim and feed Petros Mantalos, whose long ball had Collins back-peddling.
Neat control by Giakoumakis brought him to the left of the box and Pelkas had darted from his own half to catch up with the cross rolled across the six-yard box.
Spotting Masouras in a better position, his cutback enabled the striker to swivel and hook the ball home into the opposite corner.
That was that; Ireland down and out by the interval without much evidence to offer optimism for a comeback.
Within the dredges of his excuse book, slender one-goal defeats are cited as reasons for optimism. Another myth debunked here.
His reaction was merely to replace one defender with another in Ryan Manning for Collins but it wasn’t until Callum Robinson and Mikey Johnston appeared 20 minutes from full-time that a sliver of excitement was generated.
The latter’s cross was met by Matt Doherty but Vlachodimos scooped the header around the post. Robinson fizzed a shot wide, as did Knight, but the flatness that charactertised this campaign could be felt as the stands emptied.
Two games left with nothing to play for is a scenario a world away from bad luck. Not even the Greek Gods can save him now.
G Bazunu; M Doherty, N Collins (R Manning 46), S Duffy, L Scales; J Cullen, A Browne (M Johnston 70); C Ogbene (A Idah 85), W Smallbone (C Robinson 70), J Knight; E Ferguson.
O Vlachodimos; L Rota, D Mavropanos, P Retsos, K Tsimikas; D Kourbelis (A Bouchalakis 65), T Bakasetas (K Koulierakis 86), P Mantalos; G Masouras (M Siopis 88), G Giakoumakis (F Ioannidis 70), D Pelkas (P Chatzidiakos 65).
Glenn Nyberg (SWE).
41,239.
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