McClean is keen to hail battling qualities after stalemate
FIVE years into Martin O’Neill’s reign and this was a team selection which was not so much a cry for help, rather the confused yelps of someone who has lost his way. Harsh but, unfortunately, fair. Managers often cling to any sort of positives, no matter how flimsy, and at least O’Neill can say the clean sheet points to improvement considering Denmark trounced Ireland 5-1 here this time last year.
That’s what James McClean was doing.
‘I thought we made progress tonight, we battled well,’ he said. ‘It was a clean sheet and we haven’t kept one of those since Denmark away a year ago. The focus now is about trying to put it in the net and on Tuesday we’ll try to match that hard work and determination with some goals.’
The World Cup was on the line the last time these two teams met and while the stakes were by no means as high here this was such a hapless display that questions need to be asked.
With Cyrus Christie, a right back, playing in a midfield three and winger Callum O’Dowda through the middle, with an accomplished midfielder in Jeff Hendrick asked to play off the lone striker, the obvious one is this: Just where are Ireland going?
When O’Neill took over from Giovanni Trapattoni in 2013 it was an appointment which gave Irish football a lift. The expert motivator, he succeeded in rousing the troops and qualified for the European Championships. Euro 2016 seems like a lifetime ago.
Indeed, during this Nations League campaign, we have seen results many probably never felt as if they would live to see. Gibraltar beating Armenia away earlier yesterday evening being one of them.
Ireland are still without a victory from their two group games and at least they now have a point. Not many would bank on a win over Wales on Tuesday to take them off the bottom.
At least there was some humour on this most depressing, worrying night. But even Jonathan Walters’ joke on Twitter was borne from Hendrick’s poor play. The Burnley man dispossessed Thomas Delaney in the middle of the pitch while he was signalling to Harry Arter laying prone on the ground in Ireland’s half.
Hendrick drove forward and with only Kasper Schmeichel to beat, he fluffed his lines and miscued his tame shot wide.
‘Good sportsmanship from Jeff to put it out for a goal kick,’ Walters wrote on the social media website.
You couldn’t help but chuckle, but this was no laughing matter.