THE FUTURE LOOKS PRETTY BRIGHT FOR IRISH YOUNG GUNS —
Martin masterminds a brilliant campaign from start to finish
AS he says farewell to his staff and players in Versailles today, Martin O’Neill has just 70 days before the Republic of Ireland’s next competitive engagement. The assignment in Serbia on September 5 will come around quickly, far quicker than the Euro finals did after the play-off success against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
It’s just as well then that O’Neill is already well ahead in his preparation for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Events in France have confirmed he doesn’t need centurions Shay Given, Robbie Keane or John O’Shea to make a decision on their retirement as he has made it for them already.
They are welcome to stay around but their time in the front line is over.
Unlike Giovanni Trapattoni, who was overly loyal to his players to the detriment of the team, most notably in the finals of Euro 2012, O’Neill wasn’t afraid to make hard calls.
Consider the team he picked to start in Lyon yesterday.
There was not one player from the 2009 World Cup play-off game against France even though four were in the squad and two of them, O’Shea and Glenn Whelan, started the first two games of the tournament, with O’Shea as captain.
Any Irish fan who dared suggest that starting XI when the squad left Dublin on June 8 would have been taken away by men in white coats.
No O’Shea? No Whelan? Robbie Brady in centre-midfield? Shane Duffy at centrehalf? Daryl Murphy leading the line? C’mon Martin, say it ain’t so. But it is.
No previous Ireland manager, not Jack Charlton, Mick McCarthy or Trapattoni, ever dared to shake his team up mid-tournament the way O’Neill did.
His approach was in part ruthless as it was refreshing. Assessing his players in training like a hawk, O’Neill factored in the heat, birth certs and quick turnaround between games.
He backed his hunch that Shane Duffy, without a single minute of competitive international football on his CV, could step up and perform at this level; that Brady could become a creative midfield hub; that Jeff Hendrick, another Championship player, could look like a star.
O’Neill also ignored the nasty vitriol doused on James McCarthy after the Belgian game and was rewarded by two bonny performances from the flamehaired Glaswegian.
He went further by putting the armband on Seamus Coleman, who revelled in the responsibility.
And O’Neill also gave game-time to 18 of his 20 selected outfield players, again a first by an Ireland manager at a tournament.
All these things were done with a purpose for the here and now; and with half an eye on the future.
To start from scratch in late summer where the Oman friendly on August 31 precedes the daunting trip to Belgrade would not have been practical.
And O’Neill, above all else, is a practical manager.
He has agreed a handshake to stay on for the next campaign and intends to land running. He will need to as three of Ireland’s first four games are away from home and a sloppy start could see Ireland out of contention before the halls are decked with boughs of holly. Nine of the team yesterday are in their 20s, six of them are aged between 24 and 27. If Ireland are to survive the gruelling qualification process for the World Cup, where only the group winners are guaranteed to go through, they will be relying on these younger players. And O’Neill knows it.
On balance, the 16-game Euro campaign was a success.
Firstly, Ireland got out of a difficult qualifying group to earn their passage — that Poland and Germany are through to the quarterfinals illustrates just how commendable that achievement was.
Secondly, they survived Group E which included the world’s number two team, Belgium, and a proven tournament team in Italy.
If circumstances fell in their favour against Italy, they seized it with an effervescent performance which shouldn’t have required Brady’s late goal.
Thirdly, they put it up to France yesterday for an hour in pursuit of a place in the quarter-finals.
Had they kept the favourites at bay for another 10 minutes or so, who knows what trembles might have afflicted Les Bleus.
O’Neill managed all this with a squad of worker bees.
Against Belgium, for example, Ireland were up against 10 Champions League players while Didier Deschamps yesterday turned to a Bayern Munich starlet, just turned 20, to rescue the game.
In contrast, O’Neill relied on his talisman, Jon Walters of Stoke City, for a late hurrah.
Walters will be 33 in September but O’Neill will want the Scouser to continue to serve for his selfless qualities and model ways.
For the moment, O’Neill needs Walters but there is a freshening wind of youth coursing through the ranks of the Republic of Ireland, which should encourage those coming through the under-age ranks, such as Callum O’Dowda and Jack Byrne.
Overall, O’Neill can reflect on a fine tournament, for himself and his players.
He got most things right in his selection and strategy although he may rue not bringing an extra forward, either Kevin Doyle or David McGoldrick.
With Walters ruled out for two games with injury, O’Neill was short of attacking options and had to lean heavily on Shane Long, who had an outstanding tournament.