THE RANCOUR WAS instant inside Aviva Stadium last night and the recriminations were as swift elsewhere.
But who knew the issue for the Republic of Ireland was deeper and more troubling than simply not having good enough players.
Now it seems we don’t even have enough players that care. That is a potent mix.
The 2-0 defeat to Greece was greeted with boos at full time.
There was less than half of the initial 37,274 still in attendance when those who remained jeered Will Smallbone’s name being announced as man of the match.
He admitted afterwards that he was “embarrassed” by the situation.
Defender Andrew Omobamidele said he “completely understands” the reaction of supporters who vented their frustration at the end of a dispiriting night that produced unwanted history: the first time Ireland have lost four consecutive competitive home games.
Manager Heimir Hallgrímsson said that he felt the green jersey was “too heavy” for some players while Sammie Szmodics spoke to RTÉ and added that “confidence was still high” but the result “wasn’t good enough again”.
It was pitch side that the usually sedate Stephen Kelly took the unusual step of singling out Matt Doherty’s lack of urgency in the build up to Greece’s second goal.
“I’m not one for calling out a player . . . but this is awful, this really is awful,” he said, almost apologetically.
Doherty had only been introduced as a substitute a few minutes beforehand with the game still in the balance and Ireland chasing an equaliser.
He was one of two players dropped by Hallgrímsson, along with Adam Idah, following the England defeat.
Eamon Dunphy is no longer on our screens with the national broadcaster but in his column with the Irish Daily Star he compared Hallgrímsson to a lettuce under the headline: “This is the worst Ireland set-up in the history of the game and the manager has to go, already.”
Glenn Whelan is part of that set up, working as an opposition scout as well as using his base in England as a way of keeping tabs on Irish players.
He was in Athens last Saturday to watch Greece beat Finland 3-0 and, incredibly, was one of the harshest critics of all when he took up the role of pundit on Virgin Media.
Given his own history with Dunphy throughout his playing career with Ireland, and the criticism he felt edged too close to being personal, it was almost jarring to hear him just fall short of mentioning what cars the current players drive when he assessed their desire to represent their country.
“Does it really hurt the lads as much as it’s hurting me?” Whelan said. “I think there’s certain individuals, it’s just too easy to bat it off. You can go onto social media, and onto the next one and hashtag this and that, whatever you want to do – but show us out on the pitch, show us on the grass that it hurts.
“Tackles, put fouls in, block shots, whatever it may be. I just think we’re a little bit too easy to play against and a little bit pushovers at the minute.
“It’s not easy, me as a fan watching that. I’m just a little bit worried.”
That’s part of the concern in all of this: Whelan is not a fan. He is part of the set up. He may be somewhat removed in his role given he is no longer a coach, like he was when John O’Shea was in interim charge for four games in March and June earlier this year.
Seamus Coleman was absent through injury after limping off against England at the weekend but he also set the tone for what was to come during the summer while on a pre-season training camp with Everton in Carton House.
The Ireland captain spoke about young players not simply turning up and ticking off a box with another appearance.
“Maybe they have started to realise that it’s not just coming in to get a cap and play well [for] one in every three games. Hopefully some of the senior lads are letting them know that there is a bigger picture to it. It’s about qualifying,” he said.
This is a fresh start under Hallgrímsson but confidence and positivity is already on the floor.
Worse, a new narrative has certainly emerged: one in which fans are now being told that the players don’t care.
That will be a harder accusation to recover from than simply being told they’re not good enough.
