Staunton is eager

SOCCER / Group D / The Irish manager's reaction: Say what you want about Uefa but when they put on a media circus it's invariably of the three ringed variety and as he sat through yesterday's multi-lingual post draw managerial press conference in Montreux yesterday, Steve Staunton looked more bemused than some of his more seasoned rivals at the barely contained chaos of it all.

In the corridor outside the room assigned to Group D, journalists from across the Continent chased managers and officials from their various associations.

Inside, Staunton looked on with more than the hint of a grin as television cameras were hauled into place, his counterparts from Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia trundled in from the main auditorium and reporters scurried about while fiddling frantically with tape machines, bags and notepads.

Minutes later, the Irish manager kicked things off to make the obligatory declaration of respect for the opposition and an expression of excitement that his new job was about to begin in earnest.

He may or may not have noticed the orderly queue of broadcast media waiting towards the back of the room - later he'd be required to say the same things over and over into a string of different microphones - but for now the novelty of it all seems to be getting him through for even after he returned for a second, longer stint with the daily papers, there was no sign of strain.

"Well, we've something to look forward to now," he said with a sense of relief. "We know who we're going to play and pretty soon we'll know when so I'm happy. We never thought we were going to get an easy draw but I think you'd have to say that it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

"From a travel point of view there aren't too many problems and the fans have some great places to go to. There's some tough teams in the group but they're the cards we've been dealt and there's nothing for it but to go and play them."

Staunton confirmed he will travel to Germany this summer to watch both the hosts and the Czechs in action at first hand while a couple of Group D's other occupants present few problems on the reconnaissance front.

"We'll know all about the top two teams because they're in the World Cup, we know all about the Welsh because they're so local to us and we know all about the Cypriots because we've played them so often.

"Slovakia we'll have to find out about but I do know they nearly qualified for the World Cup which would suggest they're not a bad team."

On the order of the fixtures, he said, he had yet to form a clear opinion but he was due to consult with Bobby Robson last night on when and where it might be best to tackle the two top seeds.

"The fact is it's hard to tell with these things. They might have a good World Cup, be flying afterwards and you catch them on a high or things mightn't go so well and you catch them on a bit of a dip.

"There's a bit of luck involved really and we'll have to talk it over before we make a call.

"What I am sure about is that I'm glad to have avoided Group A. It's a difficult looking group with some tough looking away games.

"Overall, I'm happy, we know what we have to do now and it's exciting that we're in a position now to start the preparations."