Driven by desire to right the wrongs of Poland

STANDING in the sun at a barrier by the side of Ireland’s training pitch, Shane Long is light-heartedly chatting about the “most annoying” little cut on his knee but reassuring the media present it is nothing serious — only to turn more serious when talk turns to Euro 2016.

Or, rather, how it might be influenced by Euro 2012. “We’ve worked hard to get here and we don’t want the same feeling afterwards.”

Those feelings? “Just regrets after the games. We didn’t do ourselves justice.”

The feeling is already different before this tournament, and not just because everyone is saying how Martin O’Neill consulted the players to set up a less constrained camp, to find a better balance between the right mindset and right level of work. That has obviously helped, but it is been further honed by something deeper. The drive for redemption, for atonement, is unmistakable among the players from four years ago.

That is one of the biggest differences between now and then, and why comparisons are being made so frequently. What happened in Poznan and Gdansk is informing a lot of the thinking. If the build-up to 2012 was all about ending a long wait to play on such a big stage, to the point there were even what now seem comically naive predictions that Ireland could win it, this is all about ending that kind of talk. This is about restoring respect. It’s one of the main reasons there is a discernible hard edge to the otherwise easy-going atmosphere.

It is probably why Roy Keane sought to set a more focused tone on Wednesday too. Some things, after all, haven’t changed. Just like Giovanni Trapattoni four years ago, the Irish assistant boss was asked whether Ireland can actually go and win Euro 2016 outright, but the example this time was Leicester City rather than Greece. The question came a few minutes after his much-discussed session in the broadcast media, and Keane was still sharp, but no longer as cutting.

“Can we win it? We can if we win a few games. What do you want me to say there? It’ll be very difficult. What price are we? Anyone know?

To answer your question, we can win it but it’s easier said than done standing in a hotel with a bottle of water. With the manager, we certainly believe we can get out of the group and then you take it from there.”

The manager had some difficult words for a few players on Tuesday night, as he cut the group to a 23-man squad that still provoke a few questions. With a final preparation match just before deadline that involved players who would soon be disappointed, and in a small stadium that barely had the space to privately tell them, the logistics of the situation seemed unnecessarily odd. One or two players also felt that could have been handled better, although the majority thought O’Neill was very fair.

There was also the fact that the injury to Harry Arter conditioned everything, having a domino effect that made so many selections more obvious, especially in midfield. O’Neill, on the whole, went with the obvious. But that is also the one lingering concern.

It does feel as if he could have selected a bit more imagination, just someone a little bit different to provide that variety that changes things up when necessary. Eunan O’Kane seemed like he could be a candidate, as well as one of the other strikers, although some around the camp believe that Callum O’Dowda was so impressive in training that he could genuinely have made the squad if the deadline had been a week later.

Given his fitness issues and likely contribution, Robbie Keane almost seems a waste of a place, but then he is one of the ones who knows what 2012 felt like. That could prove crucial. And the key is the first XI are out to prove themselves to be better than 2012.