MARTIN LEFT SMARTIN’ BY FAILURE
intensity that O’Neill has been at his best with Ireland.
Germany, Bosnia, Italy, Austria and Wales were all sides ranked above Ireland beaten under O’Neill’s watch. Almost all of these came as a response to setbacks – Ireland looked down and out after poor results against Scotland and Serbia in both campaigns under O’Neill yet managed to recover to snaffle a spot in the play-offs.
But against the Danes the emotional well ran dry and Ireland were exposed as a ragged, shapeless team unable to attack.
There have been wider questions in recent months regarding exactly what O’Neill actually does. Speaking recently, Shay Given, who played under O’Neill with Ireland, said he “doesn’t do much team shape or organisational stuff ”.
But the fact Ireland pulled off results when it mattered most gave them an indefinable quality, presumably instilled by managerial attributes that also evaded easy definition, often lumped together under the title of man-management.
This, of course, cannot be falsified by those whose job it is to look from the outside and critique.
Whether O’Neill will survive this humiliation is not on the agenda – he agreed a new contract with the FAI last month. While the serious questions have been held off up to now, O’Neill will face some uncomfortable questions after a collapse like this in which his decisions played a destructive and all too evident part.
Ireland will not play competitively again for almost a year and in that time O’Neill needs to put in place a structured attacking plan beyond the frenzied gambles that cost Ireland dear in Dublin.
Now is the time to show what he can do.
Desperation has often brought the best out of Martin O’Neill’s Ireland but not on Tuesday – all he has been left with is the stifled ambition of desperate measures.