Paul Green isn’t the problem

Of course, a lot of people knew this before the start of the game but Green once again proved to be a decent pro who doesn’t deserve the hassle he gets from a section of Ireland supporters when he’s named in Giovanni Trapattoni’s starting XI.

He didn’t deserve the Man of the Match award Ronnie Whelan gave him – and on that point, what good is an award that ignores one team? – but, like he did against Sweden away, Green broke up several attacks, tracked back well at times and generally didn’t put a foot wrong.

That said, it’s still hard to argue for Green’s place in the side when you’ve a player of the quality Darron Gibson sitting at home. Of course, Gibson’s exile is self-imposed but why isn’t everything been done to make an arrangement that would facilitate his return? That falls at the feet of the manager and the FAI.

Even without Gibson, players like Marc Wilson, Wes Hoolahan, James McCarthy and Robbie Brady are all significantly better than Green but if they don’t suit the manager’s system, shouldn’t the system change?

A lack of belief is poisoning the squad

Seamus Coleman, Marc Wilson and Shane Long all looked shadows of the players we know they can be tonight but when the manager has shown, both in his words and actions, a lack of belief in his players, how are they expected to have an confidence in their own ability? The manner in which this team surrendered to two mediocre teams in Sweden and Austria was far more worrying than getting beaten 6-1 by Germany.

Along with quality, confidence is one of the key requirements for success and, if you’ve no plan b as Robbie Keane has admitted, it’s difficult to see where it can come from when plan a – whatever that actually was – has proven to be such an abject failure over the last five days.

And that’s just the players that got on the field. How must Brady or Hoolahan feel knowing that Conor Sammon is seen as the best option when Ireland’s World Cup hopes are in the balance?

Robbie Keane said tonight that Irish fans expect too much.
Image: INPHO/Donall Farmer

Why shouldn’t we have high expectations?

Robbie Keane and Liam Brady said it tonight but it’s been something that’s become a refrain for those who have steadfastly defended the Trap regime ever since the calamity that was the 2012 European Championships. Irish people, particularly those of us in ‘the meeja’, expect too much of Ireland, after all, we’re only an island of 4 million people.

Well, Bosnia and Herzegovina are currently sitting top of Group G and they’ve a population of 3.8 million so what are they doing so right that we’re doing so wrong? Select from any of the following and you’re probably going to get the correct answer.

• A) Picking their best players
• B) Playing those players in the correct position
• C) Beating teams of relatively similar quality

If we can’t even be allowed believe success is possible, why bother watching at all?

We need to find another goalscorer and soon

Robbie Keane has 60 goals for his country. No other player in the Ireland squad tonight has more than 9 (Shane Long). The next highest scorer? Richard Dunne. Even more depressingly, despite 119 caps between them, the seven Irish midfielders in the squad have the grand total of five goals combined.

There’s no obviously replacement for Keane but, with nothing to play for now, is there any risk in calling Anthony Stokes into the Ireland squad to see if he can perform at an international level? Likewise youngsters like Graham Burke or Aiden O’Brien are worth a look. Afterall, if Conor Sammon’s the answer, we’ve obviously been asking the wrong questions.

Late Alaba goal effectively ends Ireland’s World Cup hopes

Player ratings: Here’s how the Ireland team rated against Austria tonight