Sir, – Those who lament Ireland’s loss to Luxembourg as an abject humiliation are being overdramatic. It is simply the place we are at the moment.
The last time an Irish player turned out in the starting 11 for a Champions League knock-out stage game was 10 years ago, when Alex Ferguson rested most of his first-choice team to include the aging John O’Shea and Darren Gibson for the semi-final second leg against Schalke, with the tie effectively settled by an away win in the first leg. Prior to Caoimhín Kelleher’s brief appearances for Liverpool this season, the most recent Irish player to see Champion’s League action at all was when Eoghan O’Neill (currently with Rochdale) came on as substitute centre back in Barcelona’s 7-0 drubbing of Celtic in 2016.
It is a simple fact that Ireland’s team selection options are very limited at present. We have transitioned gradually from having a squad packed with stars playing regularly at the highest level under Charlton and McCarthy, to a squad with a few waning stars under Kerr, Staunton and Trapattoni, to one made up of a few mid-table regulars and a rotating array of journeymen under O’Neill and Kenny. There are some talented kids coming through but no obvious stand-outs that might be expected to turn the tide any time soon.
The passion and endeavour of Ireland’s players and coaching staff are never in doubt, but the combined managerial talents of Shankly, Ferguson, Guardiola, and any others you care to mention would struggle to win with the raw materials available.
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The blame for this situation lie squarely with the FAI, which has failed to deliver an effective strategy for player development in Ireland over the past three decades.
While minnows like Iceland and Luxembourg reorganised and rejuvenated their football structures from the ground up to get the best possible from their limited populations, the FAI was twiddling its thumbs and squandering its (and our) resources.
Much has been written about the desperate long-term dysfunction of the governing body, and the results were plain for all to see on Saturday evening. A defeat like this might have been a surprise to some but the writing has been on the wall for a long time now.
Given the high level of achievement of both GAA and rugby, as well as the example of other small nations like Luxembourg, Iceland, Denmark and so on, we know that despite limited resources better performance can be delivered through competent administration. The opportunities and advantages of a combined all-Island approach to soccer, at least at youth and club level, must also be seriously considered again and small-minded political posturing pushed aside to enable this. We can only hope that reforms will be deep and far-reaching, and perhaps in 10 or 15 years we can hope to see a different kind of Ireland squad. – Yours, etc,
JOHN THOMPSON,
Phibsboro,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – After the Republic of Ireland's poor start to the World Cup qualifiers, the chairman of the FAI Roy Barrett is quoted (Sports, March 29th): "What we had was just a poor performance. That's what it is. One game doesn't make a swallow; equally one game isn't going to throw everything in the air and shouldn't."
Two defeats in the space of four days are very hard to “swallow” and make for a very long summer. – Yours, etc,
MIKE MORAN,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.