It was the worst of nights with the only mercy that there was no need to queue up for a dart to get home after the game.

Failing to beat Luxembourg at home would have seriously dented our hopes of a World Cup Finals appearance next year. Losing to them has made us a laughing stock.

But like sport in every shape and form, the immediacy of the delight or the shock passes and another game is just around the corner.

In the case of Stephen Kenn’;y and the republic of Ireland it is a friendly against the World Cup hosts Qatar, to be played in Hungary. We live in the strangest of times.

Kenny used the word disappointing ten times during his difficult interview with RTÉ’s Tony O’Donoghue after the match on Saturday. That was at the gentler end of the scale of commentary witnessed on social media but both he and the players might have been well-advised not to look in that particular corner of the public reaction.

Not Good Enough

They will know themselves this was not good enough. Three goals in ten games is not good enough. Playing on the same weekend as Virgin media reminded us again of the glory days of Jack Charlton was harsh, as has been the litany of injuries that has bedevilled Kenny’s opening months in charge of the team.

But the disaster of the 5-2 defeat to Cyprus in 2006 was followed a few days later by a draw against the Czech Republic in Prague and three years later we were knocked out of the next World Cup only by the hand of Thierry Henry.

There are swings and roundabouts and the speed of commentary and judgement now is such that ten games seems an eternity.

Sir Alex Ferguson famously carried on through turbulent early times at Man United, as did Jack Charlton in this very parish. Both went on to greatness but that was by no means clear on their horizons through those early days.

What would be the alternative to Stephen Kenny. A Premier League manager that is out of a job and who has no connection to the young generation of players that Kenny has overseen through his years at U21?

Would that really be transformational?

Build again from a low base

No is the answer. We have enjoyed some great moments with the Irish national team and will do so again but we have to build again from a low base. Seamus Coleman got the Player of the Match on Saturday but Jason Knight was a refreshing starter in the midfield and Gavin Bazuno could hold the number one jersey for the next two decades based on his confidence and ability at such a young age.

Yes, cancel those provisional bookings you’d made for a trip to the middle east in November of next year but focus instead on the hopes of a European Championship in Germany between the 14th of June and the 14th of July, 2024.

It’s less than three times the distance away as the time we have spent in Lockdown, and time enough to find just one player who we can rely on to score an occasional goal.

We have the draw for the next Women’s World Cup coming up next month so we can get behind the Girls in green to give is cheer and hope. If you enjoy football as much to be moved to call for a man doing his best to be removed from his job, then celebrate instead the comeback win for the U21’s against Wales at the weekend.

The Qatar game will be on RTÉ on Tuesday night. Enda Stevens and Matt Doherty have been ruled out already but we will still field a team of eleven players who will be burning inside at what happened on Saturday.

Let them play like their lives depended on it. Let them look for the ball and run down chances that look to be lost causes.

It’s not quite so bad that we are underdogs for the game against Qatar but that is exactly what we are again in international football. And you know something, that tends to be the place from where have launched our best sporting memories in the sport.

 

Sport for Business Partners