Opinion: It's time to look at a long, hard look at Trap's job with Ireland

BACK IN 1996 as Michelle Smith was treading water in Atlanta and treading on plenty of toes in the process, there was an unforeseen panic in a studio buried deep within the belly of RTÉ.

On a small screen, Bill O’Herlihy and Gary O’Toole looked on at events that were unfolding just under 4,000 miles away and as journalistic instinct kicked in, they wondered how to deal with the situation and which path to take when the coverage cut back to them.

It was a delicate moment on several levels but in their view there was only one moral direction to take the conversation.

However, by the time they’d made up their minds and Jim Sherwin had finished fawning, any choice was ruthlessly taken away as an order came down from on high. The exact words used were that they were under no circumstances to spoil the mood of national celebration by introducing any tangents.

It was a watershed moment in Irish sports broadcasting and one too symptomatic of our overall attitude.

Too often with Irish sport, that has been the case. While anaylsing others, we don’t step back and forensically analyse ourselves. Our achievements are not open for discussion or debate and while it’s hypocrictial and it’s wrong, we still pat ourselves on the back without the slightest sliver of guilt.

By the end of it all, we fool ourselves into thinking we are special and we are different and we are deserving and we are a story that will gladden the hearts of the wider world. But sometimes the mood of national celebreation does need to be spoiled by the reality of the situation and as we head for the European Championships, we now need to stop with the over-elaborate and unwarranted self-congratulating.

Think about it. As Giovanni Trapattoni gets raised onto a pedastal by a nation baying for a good news story, how must Brian Kerr be feeling?

If Mick McCarthy was shunted along because of all that unpleasentess and Steve Staunton was booted out the door because he was way out of his depth, at least Kerr in the modern pantheon of Irish managers deserves the same sort of credit being thrust upon the Italian for the very simple reason that his performance and his results were every bit as good. But instead, we have been so blinded by the desitnation we have now reached, that we’ve forgotten the journey needs to be dragged into the conversation.

Reaching a major tournament should be a reward for excellence in getting there. Yet how can you describe Trapattoni’s reign as an achievement when so much of what he has done has come down to gaudy luck with little in the way of actual results.

From the average group we just fell over the line and into second place in, we couldn’t compete with a Russian side ranked number 13 in the world, and we couldn’t beat a Slovak side ranked 25 places further back. And when missing out on the last World Cup we failed against an Italian side that finished the tournament outside the world’s top 10 and a French side that finished outside the world’s top 20. Compare that with Kerr who went just as close to making a World Cup.

At the time of missing out on Germany, only a French team ranked fourth and a Swiss side ranked 13th got in our way while his shot at the Europeans was hijacked by early-game defeats under McCarthy.

We aren’t saying Trapattoni has done a poor job, we are just saying he hasn’t done a particuarly splendid job either.

In four years of competitive football thus far, beating Georgia and Cyprus was enough to reach a play-off, while beating Armenia, Macedonia, Andorra and Estonia was enough to reach a major finals. Is that really a cause for such celebration?

This isn’t 2001 and we haven’t just done what seemed impossible against world-class sides. Besides, it’s not like there haven’t been oppurtunities to beat better teams. Indeed in 10 games against Italy, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Russia and Slovakia there hasn’t been a single victory.

What’s more, by getting places, even when taking into account such a list, goes to show the standard of international football and the argument that this is a poor Ireland doesn’t hold up. Relative to the rest, we are as good as we ever were because the game at international level, outside the top handful of teams, is so poor right now that beating a few minnows can get you to a European Championship.

Minimum requirements

When Slovakia and Slovenia are getting to World Cups, that should be our minimum expectation. But the problem right now is this is a quick fix to a nation depressed by their circumstances. It’s a distraction and it’s something we pretend to be proud of when there’s no reason to be.

What’s worse, while hiding from the present, we haven’t been able to see the damage that’s been done to the future of Irish soccer either. We can’t complain about the standard of players we have and the standard of football we are playing if Trapattoni is pushing our best and our most entertaining away. Whatever about Stephen Ireland in the past, you’d wonder whether Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy and James McClean will ever feel committed to the cause again given Trapattoni’s immovable approach to selection and tactics and his extended contract that takes him towards Brazil. There’s only so many times you can humiliate a player and expect him to keep crawling back to serve your cause.

The thing is, Trapattoni cannot lose from here on in. Being at the European Championships is Ireland’s level so he has achieved what should be expected of someone on the normal wages of an international manager, not to mention his. Anything else this summer is a bonus and would be a genuine cause for national celebration. Until then though, there shouldn’t be such a mood to spoil.

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