THEY SAY THAT familiarity can often breed contempt but that isn’t necessarily the case when it comes to tonight’s much-anticipated meeting of Scotland and Ireland.
Undoubtedly, it is hard to get away from the fact that the Euro 2016 Group D qualifier will have the feel of a local derby about it as there are countless close ties between the nations, the managers, the players and the fans involved.
Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan have attempted to play down their own personal rivalry but both ex-Celtic bosses will be itching to get one over on the other on the return to the home of their former club.
While O’Neill was, and still is worshipped by the Hoops fans for what he achieved there, Strachan never quite felt the same sort of love from the Parkhead faithful.
Now they are back on their old stomping ground for what is sure to be one of those special nights it is so famous for hosting.
Advertisement
The FAI may have been only allocated just over 3,000 tickets but there could be as many as 10,000 Irish supporters in the stadium this evening after many managed to get hold of home section seats.
In a rallying cry yesterday, Strachan insisted that it will be “Scotland’s Park” for the night, adding that Ireland will be stepping into their territory, but O’Neill, who admits that it will be a surreal experience giving his team talk in the away dressing room, is expecting another strong showing from the Boys in Green.
“For the couple of games that we’ve had away from home, the Georgia game, it was amazing just to see a cluster of our fans there,” said O’Neill. “They made a lot of noise and helped us through difficult moments in that game.
“Then to go to Germany and find that we had roughly two-and-a-half thousand was fantastic. To share with them John’s goal in the last minute of the game was terrific. I think the sort of support that we will get tomorrow will be vocal and it will be terrific for us but I take Gordon’s point.
It will be really strange to walk into the club and walk right to the away dressing room rather than walking left. I said jokingly but I actually mean this that I don’t think I every stepped foot in there.”
Among the squads too, there are numerous links. You only have to look as far as captains Robbie Keane and Scott Brown, who know each other well from their time at Celtic.
Brown is current club mates with goalkeeper Craig Gordon and Ireland striker Anthony Stoke while Everton (Steven Naismith, Darron Gibson, Seamus Coleman, Aiden McGeady), Sunderland (John O’Shea and Steven Fletcher), Hull City (Robbie Brady, Stephen Quinn, David Meyler and Andy Robertson) and Derby County (Richard Keogh, Jeff Hendrick, Cyrus Christie, Johnny Russell, Craig Forsyth and Chris Martin) are all well-represented.
The Scottish players train at Celtic Park yesterday. PA Wire / Press Association Images
PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
Some parts of the Scottish media have compared it to a classic Old Firm game but in reality, the style and quality of play will be closer to a bottom half of the Premier League or Championship fixture, considering where most of the players ply their trade.
“I think that it helps immensely if you are familiar with the opposition and that is the case now,” said O’Neill. “The players here now have played against the Scottish players on numerous occasions and they would know plenty about them and vice versa.
“In terms of preparation, you still want it to be the same. The same type of preparation, the same thoroughness. But if the players are knowledgeable of what the others can do then there must be some sort of benefit.
“We’re away from home for a start but we think we can get a result in the game and win the match,” he added. “I’m quite sure that Gordon thinks that as well with the home advantage that they will be favourites to win.
“Germany were very strong favourites to beat us and we managed to get something out of that game so we’re going into the game with a lot of confidence.”
It will be an intriguing contest and interesting to see which team benefits more from the crowd but whatever way the result goes, the notion that there could be tension or bad blood between the two sets of fans tonight would appear to be off the mark.
Of course there is a fierce rivalry and it promises to be hugely-competitive but, going on the evidence, that is likely to be accompanied by mutual respect of the highest order.
Local derby feel as Ireland and Scotland know each other all too well
by Ben Blake reporting from Glasgow
THEY SAY THAT familiarity can often breed contempt but that isn’t necessarily the case when it comes to tonight’s much-anticipated meeting of Scotland and Ireland.
Undoubtedly, it is hard to get away from the fact that the Euro 2016 Group D qualifier will have the feel of a local derby about it as there are countless close ties between the nations, the managers, the players and the fans involved.
Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan have attempted to play down their own personal rivalry but both ex-Celtic bosses will be itching to get one over on the other on the return to the home of their former club.
While O’Neill was, and still is worshipped by the Hoops fans for what he achieved there, Strachan never quite felt the same sort of love from the Parkhead faithful.
Now they are back on their old stomping ground for what is sure to be one of those special nights it is so famous for hosting.
The FAI may have been only allocated just over 3,000 tickets but there could be as many as 10,000 Irish supporters in the stadium this evening after many managed to get hold of home section seats.
In a rallying cry yesterday, Strachan insisted that it will be “Scotland’s Park” for the night, adding that Ireland will be stepping into their territory, but O’Neill, who admits that it will be a surreal experience giving his team talk in the away dressing room, is expecting another strong showing from the Boys in Green.
“For the couple of games that we’ve had away from home, the Georgia game, it was amazing just to see a cluster of our fans there,” said O’Neill. “They made a lot of noise and helped us through difficult moments in that game.
“Then to go to Germany and find that we had roughly two-and-a-half thousand was fantastic. To share with them John’s goal in the last minute of the game was terrific. I think the sort of support that we will get tomorrow will be vocal and it will be terrific for us but I take Gordon’s point.
Among the squads too, there are numerous links. You only have to look as far as captains Robbie Keane and Scott Brown, who know each other well from their time at Celtic.
Brown is current club mates with goalkeeper Craig Gordon and Ireland striker Anthony Stoke while Everton (Steven Naismith, Darron Gibson, Seamus Coleman, Aiden McGeady), Sunderland (John O’Shea and Steven Fletcher), Hull City (Robbie Brady, Stephen Quinn, David Meyler and Andy Robertson) and Derby County (Richard Keogh, Jeff Hendrick, Cyrus Christie, Johnny Russell, Craig Forsyth and Chris Martin) are all well-represented.
Some parts of the Scottish media have compared it to a classic Old Firm game but in reality, the style and quality of play will be closer to a bottom half of the Premier League or Championship fixture, considering where most of the players ply their trade.
“I think that it helps immensely if you are familiar with the opposition and that is the case now,” said O’Neill. “The players here now have played against the Scottish players on numerous occasions and they would know plenty about them and vice versa.
“In terms of preparation, you still want it to be the same. The same type of preparation, the same thoroughness. But if the players are knowledgeable of what the others can do then there must be some sort of benefit.
“We’re away from home for a start but we think we can get a result in the game and win the match,” he added. “I’m quite sure that Gordon thinks that as well with the home advantage that they will be favourites to win.
“Germany were very strong favourites to beat us and we managed to get something out of that game so we’re going into the game with a lot of confidence.”
It will be an intriguing contest and interesting to see which team benefits more from the crowd but whatever way the result goes, the notion that there could be tension or bad blood between the two sets of fans tonight would appear to be off the mark.
Of course there is a fierce rivalry and it promises to be hugely-competitive but, going on the evidence, that is likely to be accompanied by mutual respect of the highest order.
‘He’ll be the same Scott I know — going around kicking people!’
O’Neill: Keane incident was a distraction, but it’s over
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Celtic Park Euro 2016 Qualifiers Gordon Strachan Martin O'Neill SCOIRL Ireland Republic Scotland