Back-up options are too raw to win over O’Neill’s trust just yet

FOR all he might be tempted to agree with Jose Mourinho’s assessment this week, that mid-season international friendlies are a waste of time, Martin O’Neill will still have taken something out of the dreadful show against Iceland.

And the overwhelming feeling the Ireland manager will have after that 1-0 defeat is that the majority of his back-up squad are not ready yet.

Once the likes of John O’Shea, Jon Walters, Glenn Whelan and Shane Long had left a squad which was already depleted before the Wales game, it was always going to be a difficult for an inexperienced team.

But O’Neill gets very little time with his players and it was an opportunity to give the younger members of his squad game-time.

So he went with a standard 4-4-2 to get the best out of the team and the players available, hoping to get Aiden McGeady and Johnny Hayes on the ball. But it just didn’t work.

Ireland didn’t really threaten until Daryl Horgan came on in the second half. Once again, the former Dundalk player proved he can step up to any level. He showed three or four flashes that lifted the crowd and he’s in great form.

Horgan must have been close to starting but O’Neill decided that Hayes, who has been around the squad a bit longer and has been doing well at Aberdeen, deserved his chance to start. Horgan (below) has still only played a handful of Championship games.

John Egan, Conor Hourihane, Andy Boyle and Horgan all got their international debuts and the significance of their achievement shouldn’t be overlooked. It was a big night for all four players.

All four are in their 20s and have had to go on a longer route than my generation, and others before us, to play for Ireland. Players like Robbie Keane and Damien Duff made their Ireland debuts as teenagers.

That’s because it is so much harder for youngsters to make the step up into Premier League first teams. Most English or Irish players go out on loan for a season before they are deemed ready for regular time on the pitch in the top flight. By then, they are into their 20s. That’s when they might be ready for Ireland.

Hourihane’s story is typical. He had to leave Sunderland, although they were reluctant to let him go, and Roy Keane signed him for Ipswich, where things didn’t quite work out. He had to go down to Plymouth Argyle and then secured a good move to Barnsley.

Before his move to Aston Villa in the January transfer window, he was Barnsley captain, scoring goals and gaining experience. The move to Villa is another progression, coming with his international debut, but it has been steady rather than explosive. And he hasn’t played in the Premier League yet.

Ireland managed just two shots on target in the last two home games and O’Neill might need to think about a structure for the team to attack. Defensively, we look solid but we are not getting Shane Long into goalscoring positions. It is a concern.

Robbie Brady played well at leftback against Iceland and I don’t mind him there but unless Wes Hoolahan plays, we don’t look capable of creating chances. If he doesn’t play, Brady has to play further forward.

There is still more to come from this team, especially when it is at full strength and the two above are available for selection. Martin O’Neill won’t care about criticism. He knows his team can improve and he will be delighted that we are level on points with Serbia at the top of Group D, and in a better position than the Serbs after the draw over there. One introduction that is definitely coming, like it or not, is the Video Assistant Referee (or VAR). It was used in the midweek FranceSpain game and I thought it worked well. The two decisions which were judged by VAR were done and dusted within 40 seconds, and they were the correct ones. There will be problems no doubt but, overall, it is a move in the right direction. As in rugby and cricket, where the decision of the video referee or third umpire is stagemanaged to get the crowd interaction, we can expect the whole decision-making process to become a big drama in football, too. So we have that to look forward to... And there is a view that if such technology can’t be used at every level, then it shouldn’t be used at all. I disagree. If we have it, and it works, then use it.