By Ade O'Connor
October 20 2002

The title of course is a little on the sarcastic side, Ireland are in deep now, two losses in two games some fans would have put down as victories. A sub-standard performance in Moscow and then more of the same against Switzerland means that the Irish now have a battle to qualify for Euro 2004. But hold on a minute, wasn’t this meant to be easy for Ireland? After the World Cup heroics and the previous qualifying campaign, we were World-beaters! Some might even suggest that Ireland were playing above themselves, every individual over performing to achieve results they might not normally gain.

Then there is the pro-Roy Keane element of the supporters at the moment. Towards the end of the game the old chants of ‘Keano, Keano’ could be heard, each one like a dagger through the heart of Mick McCarthy. I’m sure that regular visitors to the site are aware that I am very much anti-Roy Keane and pro-Team Ireland.

For those of you that have been off the face of the planet since Wednesday, or those who aren’t Irish, Switzerland ran out 2-1 victors. Ireland were in a world of trouble from the off, the team didn’t look very comfortable on the ball and the crowded midfield was being won hands down by the Swiss. The Republic was reduced to a long ball game, trying to bypass the midfield, which was at a complete loss.

Time and time again, the green machine got out of jail, mainly through some poor finishing efforts from the Swiss front line. It was only a mere shadow of the team that battled so bravely throughout the past 2 or 3 years.

Unbelievably, Ireland ‘held out’ until the stroke of half time, before the inevitable happened and Switzerland took a very much-deserved lead. A well worked free kick left the whole defence bewildered and an exquisite chip from Vogel made it 1-0. Perhaps Matt Holland could have done more to stop him, but this was in centre backs territory.

Mick McCarthy’s team talk could have been re-written to accommodate a thrown tea cup 30 seconds later. Fortunately for Ireland, Chapuisat’s chip left a lot to be desired and fell limply into Shay Given’s hands. Questions had to be asked about where the central defenders where, Gary Kelly did his best to put the Swiss striker off, but Ireland were very much lucky to be only 1-0 down.

Heading in for half time, Ireland had a lot of work to do, the crowd at Lansdowne let them know through a chorus of boo’s. Irish fans aren’t known to turn on their team, but this really was the very worst we had seen of Ireland since McCarthy took over from Jack Charlton.

The Irish emerged out of the tunnel for the second half with no changes in personnel; the calls from pundits to throw on big Gary Docherty fell on deaf ears. Certainly the team appeared to have a little more appetite in the second half, however appetite may not be enough to shake off the Swiss challenge.

Kevin Kilbane provided Ireland’s first effort on note in the second series of 45 minutes; a header with zest forced a save out of the keeper. Ian Harte tried his luck with a curler from open play, but still the Swiss stood firm. Ireland were haunted by the offside flag, most of the time this was the correct decision but earlier in the game the assistant referee had called a ball played square offside!

Ireland was not out of the woods as far as Swiss goal scoring prowess was concerned at the moment. Given was forced to make a good save from a quick break, and then played Russian roulette by allowing a kick to be charged down that trickled wide.

McCarthy’s first change of the game was to remove Kilbane and bring on Clinton Morrison. This moved Duff out to left midfield and allowed Clinton to partner the frustrated Keane up front. Indeed, the move looked to pay dividence when Duff constantly tied the Swiss right back in knots and provided a few good crosses into the danger zone.

Somehow a Duff effort was kept out by the keeper on 70 minutes, some good interplay from Ireland allowed Morrison to cut the ball back, Duff’s effort could have gone anywhere, but it hit the goalkeeper and the attempt was thwarted.

A little luck finally descended in Ireland’s direction, when an Ian Harte free kick forced a mistake from a Swiss defended, under pressure from Gary Breen, to make it 1-1. Try as he did, Gary Breen could not make the goal his own and so the Swiss defender shot himself in the foot and Ireland were back in it, with 12 minutes to get an unlikely 3 points.

Danger man Duff was forced off injured with only 7 minutes to play, and Thomas Butler came on to make his home debut. Mick McCarthy threw caution to the wind and brought on Tottenham’s Gary Docherty, in search of all 3 points.

Just when it looked like Ireland were going to escape with something, the Swiss once again took the lead. The defence was notable in its absence as young Celestine struck the winner with only minutes remaining. Shay Given had no chance with this impressive finish, as Irish fans cried into their Guinness.

The referee played the allotted injury time and blew the whistle, Switzerland had done it! The team that couldn’t beat Albania were victors over a World Cup hardened team. Who could deny the Swiss the victory? They outplayed the Irish almost from start to finish, looking dangerous on the break and dominating the midfield.

It was left for Mick McCarthy to answer some awkward questions from journalists who clearly smelt blood. Once again, McCarthy played the comments with a straight bat, defending some players who really should have done better. No doubt now, it will be tough to qualify, McCarthy admitted, but he refused to give up on this campaign.

I’ll be blunt, that was the poorest Irish performance I have witnessed for some time, make excuses, as you will, we were completely outplayed and at no stage looked good for a win. The Swiss not only wanted it more, but also played like a team who could progress to the play offs. Ireland now have to win every game they play now, to have any hope of making it to Portugal, something we took for granted before.

In order to reverse this downturn in fortunes, some key changes are going to have to be made in the team. The worrying thing about this particular performance is that some players didn’t play particularly bad, they were just exposed by the Swiss.

The first name on the list in a lot of fans and so-called media experts is Roy Keane. I am not sure what has changed with Roy’s scenario, but certainly in my eyes he is a traitor who couldn’t keep his own ego in check for the good of his country. It’s all very nice chanting his name and the like, but at the end of the day Roy is not going to come back while Mick McCarthy is still at the helm of the ship.

The current Ireland boss is not going anywhere fast either. He has staked his claim to be in the job until after the tournament in Portugal and the FAI would even like to have him in the job longer still. Try as they might, I doubt very much that McCarthy will be shifted from the job, or his position on the Roy Keane front.

The sooner this section of Irish fans and the media start getting behind players that actually want to play for Ireland, rather than the rebels who think it should be run their own way, just because they earn more than their team mates, the better. There is no place for a divide in football, as many clubs and countries have learnt in the past, the wound is just subject for a re-opening at the most inappropriate of times.

It had been suggested that the current Irish team lacks a bit of physical presence, someone that can rough it up a bit and force the issue. Before we had bigger lads in the team, Keane snapping at people’s ankles in Midfield, Stan giving what for in the defence and Quinny just throwing his height around up front. Of course, the three mentioned have now retired from international football and there is little chance of bringing them back.

I am not so sure I can subscribe to this view however. If you look through the Swiss ranks, they were not a team that came out to rough us up, or attempt to scare the smaller lads. They out footballed the Irish team completely in the midfield. Ireland had problems dealing with the 5-man system that the Swiss adopted, often whenever the ball was played to Colin Healy on the wing; two or three opponents closed him down instantly.

If Ireland is to take international football seriously, then the issue of how to play against teams who attempt to hit you on the break must be sorted. This was not the first time that there have been problems trying to break the deadlock against a side apparently happy for a draw. Think back to the matches against Andorra in the previous qualifying campaign. Away from home, Ireland had to rely on a penalty to open the account and at home the team fell behind before finding a way to unlock the defence.

Only when goals were scored did the Republic manage to get the act together and go out to win the game. Indeed, FIFA picked up on this in their official report, listing it as a weakness.

“Encountered problems when forced to dictate the tempo of the game”

How right they were, as we now see, Ireland find it very difficult to set their own pace, when really they should be doing much better against lesser opposition. It is customary for the Republic to start fast against the away side at Lansdowne Road, fortunately this normally bares an opening goal and the problem is reduced, but this is not always the case.

Ireland needs to find a creative player in the midfield. This could be done by possibly moving Damien Duff to what many view as his best position, on the left wing, clearing the way for Clinton Morrison up front. However, Mick McCarthy is reluctant to drop Kevin Kilbane, a player who has served him loyally over the years, despite his ability to perform at this level coming into question.

Perhaps in the future, McCarthy or the next Ireland manager will have the option of a young Richie Partridge. The Liverpool youngster is understood to have the ability to unlock defences with relative ease and provide that spark that Ireland need. Unfortunately, he is still inexperienced at the top level and will not become an option for some time.

I propose moving Duff out to the left of midfield, a place where he has always looked at his most dangerous when deployed there in the later stages of games. Damien plays in this area for Blackburn Rovers week in week out, he causes plenty of problems for some of the world’s top right backs. Up front for Ireland at the moment, he is only plugging the hole left by Niall Quinn and delaying the inevitable impact of Clinton Morrison.

Clinton Morrison claims he will one day become Ireland’s all time top scorer, it’s fair to say that he is not lacking on confidence that he can make it at the very top level. I think it is time for Mick McCarthy to blood the player, if you can play in the Premiership and hold your own, I think you are definitely good enough to make it at international level. I see no reason why he should not be given a chance to make his statement come true, starting with the friendly against Greece and continuing for the qualifiers versus Georgia and Albania.

Another issue that has arisen from the defeats against Russia and Switzerland is the apparent inability of our centre backs to keep forwards in check. A young lad, you may have heard of him, plays for Manchester United or somebody, I am of course referring to John O`Shea. The Irish defender has had his chances at Manchester United recently as some key defenders have been suffering from injuries, but O`Shea has done more than hold his own.

He did not look out of place in the Champions League games when other younger players might have crumbled. I ask Mick McCarthy this question, if you can have faith in selecting David Connolly in your squads and not flinching on bringing him on ahead of other players, why not give John O`Shea a chance? Admittedly, Mick McCarthy didn’t have the chance before and he was right not to go chopping and changing the second we lost to Russia.

But enough if enough, loyalties can only run so far, it’s time to bring in the new man, someone with fresh talent and ability. Gary Breen earned every one of his fifty plus caps under the current Ireland supreme, McCarthy might find it tough to drop someone who has been a loyal servant to their country, as Breen has been, but it’s time to do the best thing for Irish football.

Of course it is all very nice for wannabe journalists like me to sit by their computer and tap away at the keyboard at how the football team should be run, but at the end of the day, if I get it wrong, then I don’t lose my job! I can accept if McCarthy wishes to keep the faith with a player or two for a few games, but the point comes when decisions must be made if there is any chance of salvaging a second place out of this group.

Let us remember that this campaign isn’t quite yet a lost cause, as some of the media will have you believe. Ireland has been in worse scrapes, as most of us recall and have got through them. It still is a strong side with a lot of potential, which has shown this through tough games against Holland, Portugal and Spain – you feel that it’s just a case of relighting the old flame!

Keep the faith lads and whatever you do, keep faith in Mick McCarthy and his team; they will get through hook or by crook. All of this is possibly, without Roy Keane!