More than wannabe? ireland v switzerland
Then there was Martin O’neill. His first game in charge was a 3-0 win over Latvia when the team passed the ball with pace and confidence.
Yet when you look at the team he selected that night, the majority of them quickly faded away to either the bench or obscurity.
Rush
Jon Walters would become the team’s talisman but started as a sub on the opening night; Brady, Darren Randolph and Jeff Hendrick became stalwarts, Daryl Murphy and Richard Keogh starters in the unforgettable win over Italy.
None of them made O’neill’s initial squad.
So, let’s not rush to definitive conclusions on the back of one good display from either the team or the caretaker on Saturday. All we can do is judge O’shea on what we saw and what we heard.
Yes, the performance was solid — the team impressively structured around a system that provided Evan Ferguson with company in attack, and the three-man defence with sufficient cover at the back.
Yet the words of the Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco cannot be ignored. “There was no rhythm,” said Tedesco. “The passes were slow and there was no sharpness. It looked like a summer friendly.”
What’s new there? Every friendly is the same — which was why Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois opted out of it.
They have nothing to gain from playing in matches like this.
But for Szmodics, Kelleher, Ferguson, Brady and Will Smallbone, this was an opportunity.
“The main thing for us going forward this year is to turn these draws into wins; that will be key for us going forward qualifying for championships,” said Smallbone afterwards.
“Belgium was a good test for us and Switzerland will be another good test, but we showed on Saturday we can create chances and be as good as we can against top nations.”
The midfielder had kind words for O’shea, a man he knows deeply having been coached by him at Stoke City as well as the Ireland Under-21s. Yet you’d expect a player to say as much.
Of greater intrigue was the information he volunteered about Brian Kerr, the former Ireland boss, who is back in the fold after a 19-year absence.
Speech
“Brian stayed in the background at times but then he came (front and centre on Friday) and delivered a really good speech,” said Smallbone.
“He is there for the lads (in the backroom team) if they need an older head and (while) they have different ways of doing things, they complement one another.
“It is only positive for us to hear different voices.”
The question for the FAI now is whether they need a different voice to O’shea and Kerr’s, because whether the football chiefs like it or not, if this pair beat the Swiss, they’ll be on a roll.
Ireland’s new management team may already be in place. aviva stadium, tomorrow 7.45pm
According to Sky Sports, Webber has now contacted the players and their families to apologise.
In the interview Webber, who left the Canaries in November, said: “We want to help the guys who really need it, not the ones who are privileged.
“I saw that with our young footballers.
“Jonny rowe wouldn’t mind me saying it but him, Abu Kamara, max (Aarons), Jamal (Lewis), raheem (Sterling) back in the day at Liverpool, where they come from, it had to work out for them in football, because the alternative is potentially jail or something.”
Aarons’ mother Amber also wrote: “I’m shocked at Stuart Webber’s casual racism and blatant disrespect for all of these black players and their families.”
Kick It out said it would be contacting Norwich to ask for their observations, adding: “To read such callous language being used by someone who was at the top of the english game paints a very damning picture.”