O’NEILL LOOKS TO VETERANS
Extensive injury list leaves Ireland boss relying on old guard
AS a piercing wind whistled across the national sports campus yesterday, the usual light-hearted vibe which attends a Republic of Ireland reunion was missing.
This is a serious week for Irish football, and it has begun on the most serious of notes, with the shock passing of Ryan McBride, the Derry City captain.
McBride was 27, the same age as his friend and former team-mate James McClean, and also the average age of the Ireland squad this week. It’s the age of an athlete in their prime.
McBride’s death has put perspective on the wee niggles and untimely injuries which have beset the Irish preparations for the World Cup qualifier against Chris Coleman’s Wales.
And yet, by Friday evening, the players’ focus will have shifted to the distraction of a massive football match.
For Ireland manager Martin O’Neill, the week is also about coping with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune which have ripped his preparations asunder.
A fortnight ago, he had almost all his props where he wanted them but the withdrawal of Wes Hoolahan yesterday with a thigh injury has robbed O’Neill of five of the team which started in the 1-0 win over Austria last November, including three of the back four — Robbie Brady, Ciaran Clark and Shane Duffy.
In addition, James McCarthy and Daryl Murphy are struggling although the latter felt yesterday he might yet shake off another bout of RCI — repetitive calf injury.
Usually wary of giving much away on the fitness front, O’Neill lamented about ‘the lengthiest injury list I have known since I became manager.’
Asked for some detail, he said with a hint of desperation, ‘Where do you want me to start?’
‘There is no question the injuries present a problem to us. We wouldn’t have the strength in depth that other nations would have.
‘It will be hard to deal with it; there is no question about that. But deal with it we will have to do,’ he added.
What O’Neill can draw on is the vast experience of a cluster of veterans whose time in green appeared to be drawing to a close last summer.
John O’Shea (35), Glenn Whelan (33) and Aiden McGeady (30) are all pushing to start on Friday while Kevin Doyle (33) — having flown in from Colorado — can expect to be summoned from the bench should Ireland find themselves trailing deep into the second half.
Between them, the quartet has made 342 appearances for their country. All were first choice under Giovanni Trapattoni and three of them — O’Shea, Whelan and McGeady — held their posts through to the Euro 2016 finals under O’Neill.
In France, both O’Shea and Whelan were axed after the first two group games while McGeady was handed a bench role — used as a substitute three times but making little impact.
On the retreat from Lyon, it appeared a racing certainty all four would play little part in the 2018 World Cup campaign as O’Neill prepared to move on with younger blood.
Had the four-ball opted to retire, there would have been no major hue and cry.
Yet they hung around, eager to extend their services, and for that O’Neill has reason to be grateful.
Asked about O’Shea yesterday, he observed, ‘I wanted him to stay on and asked him to possibly give it some thought and I’m delighted that he has done so.’
A month shy of his 36th birthday, O’Shea is set to win his 116th cap, and third since the Euro finals, in defensive harness with Richard Keogh for the first time in competition since the Euro 2016 qualifier away to Poland.
In the trenches, Whelan is nailed on to add to his record number of 78 caps for a central midfielder.
With McCarthy, Brady, Jeff Hendrick and Harry Arter all missing at some point since the Euros, the metronomic Clondalkin grafter has stepped into the breach and started three of Ireland’s four qualifiers.
As a jagged derby edge is guaran- teed on at Lansdowne Road, Whelan’s awareness and tigerish tackling will not go amiss against a Wales team that sit four points behing Ireland in Group D.
And what of Wee Aiden? Revived at Preston North End — scooping the Championship player of the month award for February — McGeady may yet emerge as O’Neill’s trump card on Friday.
He can slot in and play on either flank and is also an intriguing option as the advanced midfielder in the absence of both Hoolahan and Brady.
It’s not his customary position but he was thrown in there against Germany in Gelsenkirchen and his twinkle toes could invite some injudicious Welsh leather and lead to free-kicks in decent positions.
In a game likely to be tight and tense, dead ball deliveries could decide the outcome.
‘Set pieces, as they were against Scotland the last time, again become very important, both in terms of defensively and attack,’ acknowledged O’Neill.
O’Shea, Whelan, McGeady and Doyle. Four fine Republic of Ireland servants who once again find themselves preparing to play their part in what is becoming an increasingly testing looking fixture for O’Neill and his squad.