Ireland fans will return to a fresh mess
Deferment of Euro 2020 has exposed the stupidity of FAI’s succession plan
ANY approximation of competitive sport will be considered in these frightening times.
A popular indulgence in recent days, in the aftermath of the Euro 2020 postponement, has been deciding who are the winners and losers as a result of the 12-month deferment.
English soccer supporters take great comfort in what this means for Harry Kane, currently stricken with injury and finding the days to this summer’s planned kick-off zipping by with uncomfortable speed.
They are also heartened by the improvements that should be wrought in young talents like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Phil Foden, provided schedules can be restored to some normality for next season.
Norwegian fans await their playoff against Serbia with renewed optimism, too, presuming that by June 2021 the astonishing Erling Braut Haaland will be even better, as well as Martin Odegaard, signed by Real Madrid when he was 16 and starting to prove his brilliance on loan at Real Sociedad.
Portuguese fans are dealing with a fear, though, wrought by the effect another year will have on their greatest-ever player.
Cristiano Ronaldo will be four months past his 36th birthday when the rescheduled tournament begins.
Despite a physique tirelessly honed to the point of absurdity, he no longer has the fearsome power of old, and a country that won the 2016 edition against expectations can hardly count on him effectively leading their defence after he has slipped into his late 30s.
Followers of Ireland know that delay simply means the guarantee of a fresh mess waiting for them should their team qualify.
The confusion over who will be in charge of the side if they manage to win through to the tournament is a fitting legacy for the John Delaney era.
It was this weekend a year ago that events accelerated the end of that unlamented age.
Gibraltar were beaten on the Saturday night and, within 90 minutes, a statement announcing Delaney’s departure as CEO and redeployment as a kind of highlevel emissary on behalf of the FAI was rushed out.
Mick McCarthy’s first game since his reappointment as manager was completely overshadowed, which in itself was no shame given the team gasped to a 1-0 win against Gibraltar on a pitch best suited to hosting middle-aged men trying to stave off high cholesterol. From that Saturday night onwards, the Delaney age crumbled.
Revelations gurgled out with the inevitability of leaks from malodorous drains.
Each one brought fresh embarrassment – or it certainly should have – while also raising critical questions surrounding corporate governance.
Even though he resigned from the association last September, Delaney’s effect on Irish soccer is not over – and the mortifying issue of who will be in charge of the team should they make it as far as June 2021 shows that the consequences of his extraordinary rule will linger, like the stink from those drains, for an uncomfortably long time to come.
McCarthy is reported to be determined to take charge of Ireland at the championships should he lead them through the play-offs. Stephen Kenny is entitled to assert the rights contained in his contract, by which he takes charge of the national team from August 1 this year.
Nations League fixtures are slated to resume in October, but they could be vulnerable to the reworking of a calendar left in a heap by cancellations. But this problem needs to be tackled.
Niall Quinn told the FAI’s media channel that there is no need to start worrying about this utter mess until at least June, the month for which UEFA have re-fixed the play-offs.
Notwithstanding the optimistic outlook that sees matches resuming in less than 10 weeks, Quinn’s words sounded like those of a man who understands the nature of the mess that needs to be cleaned up – and who is desperate to avoid it for as long as possible.
That is not fair to McCarthy or Kenny – or to supporters who have spent the last year seeing their sport dragged to wretched new depths.
While both men have their cases, it would be terribly unfair were McCarthy to get Ireland past Slovakia, and then the winners of Northern Ireland versus Bosnia, only to be moved aside.
Winning both matches away from home looks beyond this team, but succeeding in those circumstances would merely strengthen McCarthy’s claim.
The entire management succession plan was ridiculous from the start, a short-term fix to mollify different factions in Irish soccer.
Unpicking it has fallen to the new administration in the FAI, and there is no easy way to do that.