STAGE TO GAUGE DIRECTION IRISH TEAM IS GOING
SCOTLAND v IRELAND
big, and yet it’s two teams that are treading water in this most bizarre season, when a lot of the top players are going to play in a World Cup in Qatar this winter.
The positivity that Kenny is able to generate about his team is a remarkable tribute to a guy who comes across with an unrivalled popularity.
Yet behind it all, he is ruthless. He has been so smart with understanding social media and building bridges with the latest fashionable football correspondents.
Clarke, meanwhile, just does not believe that winning the favour of social media or investing in headlines from supportive journalists is part of his remit.
He is condemned by some in Scotland as being old-school, whereas Kenny’s popularity is based on the propaganda that Ireland must now play like Brazil.
The truth is — and sooner or later we will wake up to this — international football and top-level management in the biggest sport on the planet has always and will always be a results business.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if Kenny’s devoted tribe of followers could back up that early evening feel-good win against the Scots with another big performance and a result at Hampden Park?
Then we might not be filled with just a remarkable buoyant hope, but with a confidence that this is an Irish team that no longer wants to be praised by the cool mob.
Instead, it understands that not qualifying and sometimes, like in the last tournament, not even figuring in the qualification stakes, is simply not good enough.
Ambition
This Irish team and Stephen Kenny as a manager are better than that.
When we looked at that performance against the Scots, we all could see some of the excellent work that Kenny has done in building a young squad with a new mentality of ambition.
That’s why it disappoints me regarding the staff situation.
Because while it might not feel like it now, when the manager is so popular, a close-knit, loyal and united backroom team is essential in modern football.
The bizarre departures of so many coaches is not just a terrible look, but it is going to be damaging when the real football starts.
Because right now we are in a comfort zone, where Nations League matches are effectively posh friendlies.
I know Kenny wants to take a backseat when it comes to coaching, but I think that’s one of his strengths.
And on Wednesday night the relevance of that argument was clear for all to see at Hampden Park.
Yes, Scotland were good throughout the whole game. And whilst Ukraine had periods of possession, they hardly ever got close to the Scottish goal with conviction.
It was John McGinn who got off his arse and used it very well to get the first goal, and then two substitutes Ryan Fraser and Lyndon Dykes came on to create and score the two late goals that made it feel like the Scots are building a really decent side.
On a night when the big disappointment was the injury to Everton wonderkid Nathan Patterson, it was interesting listening to Kieran Tierney, who was so effusive in his praise of Austin MacPhee.
Who is he? Some people will be asking. He is not a player, he is not a manager. He is part of Clarke’s backroom team. He is the set-piece coach.
He does the same job for Scotland as for Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.
The two subs were the difference when it came to making a good night feel like a great night.
In modern football, the importance of set-plays has not gone away.
That’s why it has been so disappointing to see so many good coaches come and go.
I wouldn’t suggest that Kenny brings in another chap that he hardly knows, because the appointment has a ‘good look’. (above)
Instead he should bring in people that he trusts, who can get the job done, just like MacPhee did for Scotland when it mattered on Wednesday.
I think Kenny can be credited for being brave in his team selection, because it really does look logical that Dara O’Shea starts at the back alongside Mr Consistency John Egan and the magnificent Nathan Collins.
And there is no way Seamus Coleman is going to get the nod ahead of Matt Doherty.
When you look at the work Kenny has done, it has been so impressive in terms of giving us real strength and depth in the goalkeeping and central defensive departments, and reasonable competition at the top end of the pitch.
Significantly, he really believes that pace is important in the international game.
Where I worry about the Irish team is in the middle of the park, where our young heroes get a lot of praise.
But I am still waiting for real men to emerge, players that affect games in the way Scott McTominay and McGinn did against Ukraine.
I just can’t wait for this one, because it is going to tell us an awful lot about where we are at.
Direction
And wouldn’t a positive performance, but more importantly a positive result, make us feel that we are still going in the right direction, when our lack of involvement at the Christmas World Cup suggests that we are not.
Clarke knows it’s a results business. That’s why he felt so good after Wednesday’s game.
The Scots are talking about revenge for this one, so let’s quieten them down, let’s go to Hampden and get the job done. And that means getting a win.