Report card: How did John O'Shea fare in his brief Ireland manager audition?
Ireland interim manager John O'Shea speaks with Josh Cullen. Picture: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
If these were qualifiers against the top two seeds in the group, results rank superior to the last campaign. And that’s before getting a crack at Belgium and Switzerland again in the reverse fixtures.
One 45-minute spell of the four halves was sub-standard and it proved costly for their sole concession against the Swiss. Belgium was a more complete performance and it’s reasonable to suggest that Evan Ferguson’s slip denied them a goal against a top four nation. Performances were better than results.
A draw when they maybe should have won and a defeat when they probably could have drawn. That doesn’t make for a strong case on the surface, but then friendlies are a ridiculously unreliable gauge at the best of times.
Ireland were okay against Belgium when the structure was undeniably tighter than under Stephen Kenny, but they were swamped in midfield by the Swiss before finding some steadier ground. Ultimately, though, they were toothless again in attack.
Holistically an upgrade on Kenny. Within moments of kick-off on Saturday, it was apparent Ireland were pressing in the right areas, rather than frantically chasing shadows to the detriment of their energy levels. Wingbacks Séamus Coleman and Robbie Brady are well into their thirties but the presence of three centre-backs behind afforded them license to roam. Kenny’s 3-4-2-1 formation was mirrored by his former No 3 who could have done with reverting to a back-four when they trailed against the Swiss.
The romantic idealism of the Kenny era is probably gone for good, lost beneath the crushing disappointment of the results and the team’s inability to deliver anything like the intricate, flowing football it needed to bed in.
O’Shea’s side was more pragmatic. Yes, there were short passes out from the back but against the Swiss in particular they relied mostly on crosses into the box for any joy. The tempo, regardless of style, definitely needs to increase.
Overwhelmingly positive vibes. Manchester United’s massive fanbase in Ireland connects O’Shea to the glory days and his accumulation of 118 caps bestows legendary status.
That didn’t do much good in the long-run for Steve Staunton but there’s an appreciation that O’Shea is a different project, an experienced player who has spent the last four years studying coaching and serving his time as assistant in five different roles. Tuesday’s defeat didn’t diminish his reputation.
A tough one. Ireland showed promise but highlighted some of their problem areas. O’Shea’s leadership seemed to strike a cord with the squad and he gave game time to 20 players but it ended up as something of a mixed bag.
He probably would have won over more supporters had he given decent game time to the likes of Finn Azaz and Festy Ebosele, or played Andy Moran or Joe Hodge, but then no-one can be all things to all men.
Platinum. O’Shea didn’t need any gimmicky soundbites to win the public over. He was known as a steady media performer in his playing heyday and five press conferences over the past fortnight passed off without his game face slipping. The Waterford man manages to fuse the trumpeting of traditional Irish traits with contemporary language when predicting gameplans and parsing matches immediately in his interviews. Granted, this is honeymoon territory but O’Shea’s dealings with the media are of no concern.
O’Shea was note perfect in pretty much everything he said and how and when he said it, starting with his answer to the very first question, about Sammie Szmodics, when he revealed his squad back in mid-March.
The job of Ireland manager invariably involves enquiries about trickier subjects than player availability or selection and he was assured and honest when admitting some of his own friends were giving out about the FAI’s ticketing policy for the double-header.
Again, he couldn’t ask for more. Players queued up with the platitudes, increasingly strong in their support for O’Shea’s candidacy. Recency bias must be factored in but, as the Eileen Gleeson charade proved, possession is nine tenths of the law. No player was expected to be critical but they were far from circumspect, peaking with Coleman’s justifiable question as to why wouldn’t O’Shea be in the mix for permanent residency. Deeper frontline experience at international level for an unnamed rival is probably the answer.
What do we make of player’s opinions, really? They are rarely if ever going to bat against the man in charge at the time, but it was obvious that O’Shea’s holding brief had gone down well with a group that contained a fair few players he knew from his U21 days.
Dara O’Shea went further than most in voicing the need to have a boss that knows the Irish game. Brian Kerr didn’t agree with that, but did echo the general sentiment from inside the camp that O’Shea and his staff had done a top job.
This audition certainly hasn’t stained it anyway. O’Shea projected the traits to balance the demands of a 10-day international window, mixing training with rest, and leaning on the staff around him to prepare players for two of Europe’s top-ten teams. His stature in England already put the Irishman on the ladder towards a standalone role and this proved he won’t be pigeonholed as a sidekick in the same way the likes of Ray Lewington and Steve Holland were with England.
O’Shea demonstrated that he could be a dependable and calm public face for the side and for the FAI. That’s no small thing given the emotional focus on the national team and the fixation on the internal issues that plague the association.
The backing of the players speaks well for him but this ultimately adds up to another short line in a CV that already had stints with the U21s, Reading, Stoke City and Birmingham City. Look at it like this: will he be offered another job based on this last week? Unlikely.
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