John O’Shea remains the credible candidate to lead Ireland on a permanent basis

RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB?  Republic of Ireland interim head coach John O'Shea will be boosted by his side win this evening. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

THE perennial bunglers of the FAI seem to have been hell-bent on leading Ireland into the international wilderness but, for one night at the Aviva Stadium at least, there were signs that the game’s leaders may finally have got something right.

In a friendly largely interpreted as the start of a one-week audition for interim manager John O’Shea to claim the post that nobody seems to want, a dramatic 2-1 win over Euros-bound Hungary was a solid start.

Portugal, next Tuesday, will offer a much tougher challenge but a young and weakened Ireland team did enough to prove that O’Shea has certainly established himself as the credible option after the FAI’s bungled efforts to find a permanent replacement for Stephen Kenny.

Nearly seven months have passed since his departure and, after multiple false promises and unfulfilled leads, the FAI may finally have made the right “decision,” although one that has nothing to do with their own planning and everything to do with good fortune.

A long and eclectic mix of names has been linked with the job since it was vacated in November - from Gus Poyet to Lee Carsley and Neil Lennon to, just this week, reports that Slaven Bilic was a name in the frame.

But aside from former national team midfielder Carsley, whose work with England under-21s has been eye-catching, that long list has been little more than a catalogue of dubious re-treads on the international circuit.

That was certainly the mood music before the first of this month’s friendlies, with current and past Irish stars lining up to add their support to O’Shea. When the likes of his namesake Dara, Seamus Coleman and Enda Stevens speak openly and unequivocally for the former Manchester United defender, their comments should be taken on board.

So, too, should the fact that this Ireland squad is being developed with an eye firmly on the future although, in the modern world of FIFA’s expanded tournaments, the future might arrive as early as the 2026 World Cup Finals when 16 European teams will take their places in the 48-country field.

The likes of Adam Idah, who headed Ireland into a first half lead, Caoimhin Kelleher, Sammie Szmodics and Will Smallbone - not to mention stars absent from this squad such as Evan Ferguson and Chiedozie Ogbene - suggest that Irish supporters can have far more optimism than might have been the case, given the mismanagement of the FAI. Former Cork City defender Jake O’Brien, who won his first cap off the bench in the second half, is another intriguing future talent that O’Shea has been happy to indulge.

All those players grew up watching O’Shea winning some of his 118 Irish caps and 14 major trophies with United, and word from the camp speaks of the 43-year-old’s excellent man management skills.

Still, the limitations and challenges posed by the current demographics of the Ireland squad are plain to see.

The last time Ireland reached a World Cup Finals the squad possessed arguably the world’s best player in his position, in Roy Keane, and a starting XI consistently made up of regular Premier League starters.

Tuesday night’s squad boasted just seven players who are currently scheduled to be with Premier League clubs in August - two keepers, ageing veterans Coleman and Matt Doherty, fringe Spurs squad man Troy Parrott, promising Leicester striker Tom Cannon and the highly-promising Smallbone.

Apparently, in the two decades since that unforgettable 2002 qualifying campaign, it appears it is not just the England national team that has suffered from the Premier League’s increasing obsession with signing overseas talent. Gareth Southgate complains routinely about the lack of English players he can choose from out of the Premier League. O’Shea could make the same argument.

Those limitations mean that it is over a year - 15 months, in fact - since Ireland had beaten a team not called Gibraltar. But if parting ways with Kenny was the easy part, the FAI’s handling of appointing a successor has been an embarrassing public relations catastrophe, which O’Shea may be about to salvage.

A late first half equaliser from Adam Lang, and the inevitable procession of second half substitutes, took the momentum out of the game until Parrott’s dramatic injury-time breakaway winner - leaving O’Shea with a win, draw and defeat in three games. Still, once again, even in victory, it is clear scoring goals is going to be a serious problem for O'Shea to address.

Yet the unavoidable conclusion is that there is no better current candidate than O’Shea to attack those issues, starting when England visit Dublin in three months in the Nations League.

“I think everyone including myself, the staff, the players, everyone, would like clarity on it,” said O’Shea before kick-off. 

The near-30,000 crowd at the Aviva - plus thousands of other Irish supporters - would surely agree.