Soccer

Ireland display against Belgium does interim boss John O’Shea’s stock no harm

Players keen post-match to acknowledge ability of management to get tactical message across

Republic of Ireland midfielder Will Smallbone on the ball against Belgium at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday evening. Photograph: Paul Faith/Getty Images

Gordon Manning
Mon Mar 25 2024 - 06:00

Belgium will wear a new Tintin-inspired kit for their friendly against England at Wembley on Tuesday night. The blue jersey was unveiled several weeks ago, but the Belgians resisted the temptation of debuting the comic-book outfit in Dublin.

Perhaps they didn’t want to steal Sammie Szmodics’ debutant thunder, or maybe they appreciated Ireland fans were dealing with enough puzzling uncertainty right now to suddenly be tasked with getting their heads around 11 Tintins running intrepidly around Lansdowne Road.

For though we might once have dreamed of a team of Gary Breens, right now we’d be satisfied if the FAI could just locate even one manager.

The relevance of John O’Shea’s spell as interim boss might ultimately end up being no more than the fact it needed to happen in the first place. But Saturday night’s performance by Ireland did the Waterford man’s stock no harm.

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And it was not insignificant that several players speaking with the media in the mixed zone after the game highlighted the ability of O’Shea and his management team to deliver a clear and coherent game plan.

It might sound a simple and self-evident aspect of the gig, but that certainly hasn’t always transpired to be the case with Ireland over the years.

“I think he has been brilliant this week,” said Will Smallbone on O’Shea. “He has got his message across clearly.

“He’s a good man manager, I think he’s obviously got an abundance of experience from his playing days and I think him getting that across in a managerial way is very important.

“When you hear from different managers that haven’t maybe been there or played, it’s different to when you’d speak to somebody like a John O’Shea that has been there at the top level for many years, and he knows exactly what you guys are going through as players.

“I think John was very good at getting his message across (this week), he has a very good management team in place, Paddy [McCarthy] and Glenn [Whelan], and with Brian [Kerr] there too, he had an older head to lean on. It has been a very good balance so far.”

Smallbone worked with O’Shea previously both at Stoke City and with the Ireland under-21 squad, so he is familiar with his coaching philosophy.

“I have known John a while now,” continued Smallbone. “I have an enormous amount of respect for him and I know the rest of the lads do too. I can’t speak highly enough of him throughout my whole career, not just this past week but for everything he has done for me, he’s been brilliant.”

The players were keen after Saturday’s game to acknowledge the ability of the management in getting their tactical message across, despite a condensed timeframe, and in a manner which facilitated them executing it on the field.

“They were brilliant, I can’t speak highly enough of them,” said Josh Cullen. “The way they’ve come in, and the atmosphere they’ve created around the place first and foremost.

“The detail they’ve gone in such a short period of time to prepare us for the game, it’s been absolutely brilliant. It’s been great to work under them.”

It is difficult to know how invested Belgium were in Saturday’s fixture, coming away from Dublin with no injuries was probably one of their priorities. Still, Ireland were organised, disciplined, held their shape well and everybody seemed to know their role.

Kerr addressed the squad on Friday night.

“He has been really good,” added Smallbone. “He has done a bit in the background at times but then he had a really good speech where he spoke a lot about his experiences.

“He was very good, he spoke really well.”

The FAI insist a permanent manager will be announced next month, with existing contractual obligations preventing them from unveiling the gaffer until then. The identity of the new boss has been a mystery with so many twists and turns it would have confounded even Tintin by now.

Given Smallbone’s previous working relationship with O’Shea, it’s hardly a surprise the Southampton player would certainly not be against the former Manchester United defender getting the gig full-time.

“No, obviously not, I wouldn’t mind,” said Smallbone. “It’s only one game but in the week that we had I think it has been very positive and hopefully we can go on Tuesday and get a positive result for him.”

O’Shea will make changes to his starting team against Switzerland, for what is due to be his last match-day engagement as Ireland manager. However, when asked by Virgin Media on Saturday night if the job was offered to him permanently would he take it, O’Shea smiled: “Ask me again after Switzerland.”

Can we handle any more plot twists? This saga will spawn a comic book series of its own yet.

John O’Shea and the curious case of the never-ending search for a new Ireland manager.

It’s time to put a tin hat on it all. Surely.

Gordon Manning

Gordon Manning

Gordon Manning is a sports journalist, specialising in Gaelic games, with The Irish Times

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