– Paul Dollery reports from Cardiff
MARTIN O’NEILL DIDN’T need a 4-1 hammering in order for this international window to be classed as a particularly forgettable fortnight for the Republic of Ireland manager.
The trouncing dished out by Wales followed on from the tug-of-war for the services of Declan Rice, the absence of Harry Arter resulting from a spat with Roy Keane, plus an injury crisis that ruled out seven players for the Nations League opener.
This has been a challenging period for the 66-year-old, and certainly not the dawn of a new era he had in mind when renewing his contract back in January.
O’Neill takes his team to Wroclaw for a friendly against Poland on Tuesday, but the focus has already switched to next month’s back-to-back games against Denmark and Wales in Dublin, which will make or break Ireland’s inaugural Nations League campaign.
Goals from Tom Lawrence, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey had the Welsh cruising at half-time last night at Cardiff City Stadium. By the time Shaun Williams helped himself to a consolation goal for Ireland, Connor Roberts had already scored a fourth for the hosts.
“We were second best for pretty well all of the evening,” O’Neill said. “We allowed room for world-class players, and particularly Gareth Bale, to work his magic. The second goal was fantastic, and obviously when you’re two goals down early in the game, it’s a long way back. We’ll learn from that.”
Injuries to James McCarthy, Robbie Brady, Sean Maguire and Scott Hogan ruled that quartet out before O’Neill named his latest squad, but Shane Long, James McClean and Alan Browne later joined the long list of casualties.
Despite having to contend with so many absentees, O’Neill accepted that what Ireland served up just wasn’t good enough: “We were missing some really key players. Fine. This was a really tough evening for us, regardless of whether we had some players missing, and we should do better.”
Ireland’s only victory in their last six outings came in the friendly against USA in June. That dismal form increases the pressure on O’Neill, his management team and players ahead of the fixtures against the Danes and the Welsh on 13 and 16 October respectively.
“It has not diminished my enthusiasm for the job one jot,” said O’Neill in relation to last night’s game. “We have a long, long way to go, and we might have one or two players back for the games in Dublin. We should have a better showing and we should do better.”
Better is surely the only option for O’Neill’s side at this juncture, because on the back of last night’s display it can hardly get much worse.
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LOI will never ever take off..FAI should fund four teams to go into the English lower leagues Leinster Connacht Ulster Munster..start in the lower tiers and work towards premier league like a Swansea or a Cardiff both those clubs were at the root of the production in most players last night..place scouts in each county looking for the best schoolboy talents and send the best through to whatever provincial club youth system they are from and eventually we would see world class players developed here..Each province would have a massive catchment area leading to way more finance for each club..sounds mad but it’s the only way I could ever see a competitive football club in Ireland
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: that’s a right idea. They need to try something different. They score line was probably they difference where the 2 teams are right now.
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: not a bad idea but can’t see the English fa letting teams teams from a different country in sure then they would hav to let celtic and rangers in then or any Scottish club for that matter and that will never happen
@Warren Mcdermott: This is the same organization that is contemplating selling their home to an NFL franchise? Money makes the world go round, where there’s a will there’s a way.
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: Eric, so we’d have no competitive football in Ireland? How would these players develop to be sent over to the clubs??
@Warren Mcdermott: Scottish league is also a lot healthier than LOI. Celtic and Rangers don’t want to move their happy enough filling their stadiums, champions league occasionally and being kingpins of Scotland.
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: celtic and rangers would move at the drop of a hat with the money they would get from England so would most Scottish clubs and what about clubs from any country then could the likes of Ajax move if they want to?and aswell as that the football supporters here follow English clubs or celtic that’s not going to change so you supporters turning up either
@Brian Dunne: there never has been competitive professional football in Ireland. As each province evolves they must stick to only playing Irish qualified players for example athletic club in the basque region in Spain.
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: but how do u develop these players?? Cant just play 5 a side in some academy then head over to the premier league at 19
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: what are you smoking
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: The biggest problem with that idea would be that the Irish national team would cease to exist.
We need a League of Ireland, in some shape or form, to have a national team
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: very few fill the stadium in Scotland.
@Brian Dunne: The level is not high enough
@ktsiwot: Eric is suggesting scrapping the loi and putting 4 provincial teams in the lower leagues of england. And scout the best players ans send them over to these teams. How can we develop players if we have no league? Coleman,ward and Shane long etc came threw the loi. My team, bohs, have a partnership with St. Kevins boys club to nurture and develop talent. That’s the route forward
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: good idea
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: stop talking sense!
@roderick: The scottish leagues, per capita, are one of the best supported leagues in the world.
@Brian Dunne: play against other youth teams in the UK join there league, would be fairly simple really and the four provinces would feed the national team. LOI never has and never will work. Rugby has left it trailing in its dust for example.
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: but at what age do they go over? Seems like madness to me.
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: don’t agree – if people stopped watching the silly big ball and went to an LOI game – got the kids involved – what about the highly rated Gavin Bazunu – he’s a Loi project – sack Delaney and put money into the LOI
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: That’s most ridiculous thing I’ve read, this is all on the assumption the English fa would allow it to help the Irish team?? Why would they??? Why would they want crappy Irish teams in it when they don’t want Celtic/rangers?? The most successful Iish team ever was a team with mostly English players English manager sadly that ship has sailed and now with new rules that won’t be the case rice etc etc etc
@Warren Mcdermott: different country like Wales(Cardiff and Swansea) you mean? It’s a great idea .
@purple rain: but Cardiff and swansea didnt have to relocate to England. 4 irish teams in the English league? Who’d follow these teams? Split the ex pat community 4 ways? Daft idea
@Eric Djemba-Djemba: every other country in the world has a national league but we shouldnt for what reason exactly?? I don’t think Cardiff and Swansea are the reason the Welsh national team are streets ahead of us, we need to develop our own league
@Brian Dunne: no each province would play their home games in Ireland. Just like Cardiff and Swansea play theirs at home. The four clubs would be based in Ireland not England that’s not what I’m trying to say.
@purple rain: do you honestly think UEFA would let that happen if they let that happen then any team in any country would hav to be aloud to do it and Swansea and Cardiff were in the English league cause they didn’t hav a Welsh league at that time which they do now and it’s not a bad idea but they would never let it happen
@Jake: Who is going to sack Delaney though?? He appears to be omnipotent.
@Warren Mcdermott: I know it will never happen. FAI are incapable of doing anything. My argument is it would be the only way to actually have a competitive clubs on this island that could compete in Europe and produce world class players. No matter how much you invest in the LOI all the clubs in it have too small a catchment area to be able to support and sustain themselves. How many people can Dundalk Shamrock Rovers Sligio rovers actually actually attract in? Just to small.
@Warren Mcdermott: deals could be done with the Irfu to use thomond the rds the kingspan stadium and the show grounds for venues starting off
Of course it hasnt diminished his love for money …
O’Neill gets paid a fortune. For what?? He doesn’t do anything with the squad on the training ground. He doesn’t do anything tactically with the squad. He doesn’t even let the players know who is playing until an hour before kick off. Why exactly is he taking almost a million a year??
@Weldoninhio: How do you know what he does or doesn’t do on the training ground? Fact of it is that he has no players worth a **** at his disposal. Why? Because there’s no supply line. The LOI is on its knees, any half decent player we have came from the league.
They need to pump money into the league, a stronger league will lead to a stronger national team
@Dublin Gooner: I know, because I listened to his being interviewed on Off The Ball last week where he said as much. His excuse was that “Mr Clough” never needed to do this, and he was very successful. It’s probably available as a podcast or on their FB page if you want a listen.
He has a squad of Premiership and Championship players at his disposal. He’s hardly rummaging around the LSL looking for players.
F’king Georgia played us off the park last year!!!
@Weldoninhio: off the ball is a gaa show they know nothing about what is happening in the football world
@Jake: you know more i suppose
@Weldoninhio: and yet a Shamrock Rovers manager was able make a decent side up north. Book stops with Martin, his ego and a former treasurer, when you see the wonders his MON namesake has worked, or eh Iceland for that matter! Multiples of tactically and technically astute footballers in their realms, pro or otherwise!
@Jake: Martin O’Neill was interviewed and said the above himself. It doesn’t matter if it was their farming correspondent interviewing him. He’s stated clearly himself that he does fook all.
@Jake: Since when is off the ball a GAA show?? If anything it’s majority rugby
@Jake: Since when is off the ball a GAA show??? If anything it’s majority rugby
@Paul Howlin: Off the Ball has a one hour football (soccer) show every weekday night (broadcast live from 9-10pm), they have a League of Ireland show on Thursdays from 8:30-9pm, an hour long show with Keith Andrews every Thursday for an hour. They have John Giles on every Thursday and they commentate live on English Premier League matches every Saturday at 3pm and some Sundays as well as talking about soccer regularly and randomly at other intervals every night throughout the week. To call them a rugby or GAA show is wrong.
The fai need to realise the loi is the way forward. We need bohs, cork and dundalk etc producing players. Not relying on the likes of Bournemouth to produce irish talent. O neill has no interest in grass roots or long term thinking.
@Brian Dunne: he doesn’t even have interest in players going on loan to Cardiff!!
He should do the decent thing and resign.
@Mike Keane: Are you for real where is going to get a Beano like he has.
Excuses on excuses…the managers with overpaid private money can just deal with the players they have and they are not good enough. The ignoring of a proper youth structure/proper funding for the LOI…when can we learn from the GAA and IRFU? €360,000 a year after 13 years and we are lamenting an English lad with an Irish granny for our woes….John Delaney needs to go. Simple as that. #delaneyout
@David O’Sullivan: FAI High Performance Director Ruud Dokter has been reforming the underage structures for years. Change is happening.
@Johnny B Goode: to be fair one man cant do it alone. Loi have been producing better players. Players need to be picked from the loi for every squad. Give them a chance
What is the issue with capping players at a young age !! . We seem keen to let them go until they become established players then they subsequently are in the shop window for any other country they qualify for through birth or heritage,even though they have played for us underage . I don’t blame the players ,I blame the FAI and management for not promoting youth .
Ampadu (17) , his dad played for Ireland, capped by wales has never even had an underage cap for Ireland.
If a guy is good enough to be on the bench of a top team at 17 he is good enough to cap.
@John Healy: excellent post. Very good players at underage level simply dissapear , no incentives for them to go further The FAI are the main problem paying vast sums to administration, there are also many excellent coaches throughout Ireland many of them are Voluntary, and the few professional FAI coaches had to take a pay cut, while Delaney gets the pay of a King. Time for him to GO
@John Healy: Show promise at top club as a teenager->show well for Irish underage teams-> go out on loan various times from club and do well->leave on permanent deal to championship or lower premiership level->get called into extended Irish squad but get cut-> perform well for club as you approach 24th/25th birthday->finally get a cap in a friendly-> become established international with about 5 years till retirement. The Irish way for most.
He should be embarrassed at taking that salary for delivering those performances. Jim Gavin would do better and like O’Neill he knows little about what’s needed !
We all wish it had’ve so he could F off
#DelaneyOut
The welsh players have more respect for giggs, a guy who cheated with his brothers wife for 8 years, than the Irish players have for O’Neill. He should have done the decent thing and resigned after that shambolic home performance against Denmark but he has more work to do apparently, nothing to do with the obscene money he is on. The FAI should sack him and bring back Mick McCarthy.
It’s not easy being an Ireland soccer fan at the moment but seriously Mourinho or Guardiola couldn’t do much better with the standard of players we have at our disposal even when every player is available. As for Jim Gavin suggestion, he’s managing the only professional team in the league, with the biggest population and amount of clubs to choose from and more money than ALL the other 31 counties put together. I doubt he’d win a single All-Ireland with Louth, Sligo, Leitrim, etc with no disrespect intended to him or either county. McLean is our best player and he’s not even playing in a top PL team. Coleman was the only world class player we had but not surprisingly he hasn’t been the same since that horrific injury last year. Tbh, he’s lucky to be even walking now after that tackle.
@John Mullin: I don’t buy this argument at all, look at Iceland , Northern Ireland etc, able to be competitive with tiny populations
@John Mullin: It has to be management…Duffy and Ward had solid seasons last year and Ward especially always looks awful for Ireland..we might not had a lot of PL players last night but are back 4 all are
@Gary O’Hanlon: world cup finalists Croatia has a smaller population than us! Rife with civil war 25 years ago. Admittedly, there is strong sporting and footballing culture there, and a decent standard league. But If they can do it, we should be able too.
@Kieran Fogarty: Duffy and Ward only played ok last year against the weaker teams but they have never looked commanding. Then they find themselves playing on the Irish team with no midfield to speak of especially last night (without Brady, McLean, etc) against strikers being supported by a top class midfield (Bale, Ramsey, Allen). They did their best (I’m not blaming them at all)but they were always gonna be run ragged. Even Paul McGrath, Cannavaro, Thurman & Irwin in their prime in defence last night would have struggled with a non-existant midfield in front of them.
@Micheál Seamus Xavie: same population without the distraction of other sports like GAA football and hurling and rugby. Not the same soccer population although all credit to Croatia for an amazing effort at the World Cup.
@John Mullin: Basketball and handball are massive in Croatia. A number of Croatians have played in the NBA. They actually have a lower soccer playing population than us.
Just like we learned from the rinsing Denmark gave us in the last game Martin?
Would have thought this morning he would have done the honourable thing and just resigned.Both Keane and o Neill have failed miserably and we surely can’t go into another campaign with these two, especially with morale at a new low.Delaney picked these two so maybe he should go too but I suppose that would be askin too much.Bring back Mick mcarthy .
Two awful consecutive competitive performances. We are now favourites to finish bottom of our group and be relegated. Looking at NI’s recent performances with a weaker squad I think we may have chosen the wrong O’Neill.
Our enthusiasm, on the other hand…
Were Ireland playing? Did not know that, seriously I did not know
@Bart: then you are either not a football fan (in which case why would you care?) or you are a liar.
Can anyone tell what is the roy Keane influence on the pitch.?
@B Clarke: not that i can see
Even that statement is infuriating. Who the f**k says “jot”.
As much as you all want Martin O’Neills head on a spike for what happened last night that won’t help the situation because when the next manager comes in the same thing will happened and everyone will want him to quit. The issue with the national team goes far deeper than just who’s managing the team. Change needs to happen in the FAI otherwise this is just a Groundhog Day cycle of repetition with managers because if things are bad now replacing the manager is a meaningless short term solution it happened with Trapattoni and it’s happening again now
@Jake Kelly: The next manager will refuse to do anything on the training pitch?? The next manager will refuse to discuss tactics with the team?? The next manager won’t tell the players who is playing until they are in the dressing room before the match??
Where’d you get your crystal ball??
@Weldoninhio: I’m not saying the exact same thing will happen in that regard inn saying that when results go wrong against stronger teams the manager will get the blame which I know he is to blame but he can only do so much with what he has which is a team of B standard players if we had better funding for grass roots then we could produce A standard players and 4-1 defeats to Wales wouldn’t be happening and every incoming manager wouldn’t be getting 100% of the blame when this fact is exposed
The best players in the League of Ireland need the reward of a call up . Top scorer in the league gets over looked by fringe or bench warmers in the English leagues. Time for a radical change.
@purple rain: Dead right. The snobbery/disdain shown by Irish senior national team managers to the League of Ireland has been appalling. Even Brian Kerr didn’t play any League of Ireland players when he was senior national team manager.
Sack the whole lot of them,disband the FAI as it is only a money tree to them
Lets be honest about it the Welsh are hardly littered with World class players either apart from Bale obviously but the players believe in the manager and their not locked into an inferiority complex that has been administered to the Irish players by the last two managers. ONeill is a dinosaur as football tactics go no imagination either in his selections or on the field. Most of those Irish players play a hell of a lot better for their clubs and we have a lot more to pick from than other smaller nations that outperform us consistantly.
Mick McCarthy to take over. Keane to stay on as his assistant.
What you need to do there now Martin is sway your head around to the nearest available football club with no manager and just go because you are in no way helping our country now. That was awful football last night. And keeping him because there’s nobody out there that could do better is a pathetic excuse.. so what,more of the same then yeah?