SOCCER: Whatever happens today at Lansdowne Road the fact Ireland go into the game with hopes of qualifying for Portugal very much alive is a tribute to Brian Kerr.
Played two, Russia and Switzerland, lost two? Did we ever think then there'd be the slightest hope of making it to Euro 2004? It was, you'll remember, all doom and gloom, but Kerr came in, steadied the ship, said no more than "we still have a chance of qualifying" and went about his business, in a quiet but positive way. He's got his rewards. Now Portugal looks a distinct possibility again.
Looking back at that Moscow defeat it was evident Russia played above themselves, and Ireland played well below. I don't expect to see anything even approaching a repeat of that night. It's been largely downhill for Russia since then, while Ireland have got back on track under Kerr. Confidence has to be high, this team is believing in itself again.
Since Moscow, Stephen Carr and John O'Shea have taken over the full-back positions and not only have they improved the team defensively they've also given it an added dimension attacking-wise. I've always expressed doubts about Gary Breen but his partnership with Kenny Cunningham at the centre of the defence has looked more solid recently so, defensively, the team looks stronger than it was in Moscow.
Midfield, though, doesn't pick itself any more - but there's no harm in that, it just means Kerr has options. I'm not convinced these days by the Matt Holland/Mark Kinsella partnership, Kinsella has all the look of a player who is not playing regular club football, which he isn't at Aston Villa.
The problem is his "natural" replacement, Colin Healy, hasn't played much either since joining Sunderland. Once he gets more games at club level I think Healy will replace Kinsella but, until then, I suspect Kerr will stick with the Holland/Kinsella pairing. Healy offers more attacking, "creative" options in midfield, so could well be called on for the last half hour if things aren't going well.
I'd be surprised if Kevin Kilbane didn't play on the left of midfield - all the comments from Kerr in the last week or two suggest he has faith in him - while on the right I'd go for Steven Reid. If you pick Holland and Kinsella in the middle you need an attacking edge out wide and Reid, rather than Steve Finnan, would give the team that. In the absence of Robbie Keane you need different avenues for goals - with Reid and Kilbane out wide you'd, hopefully, get a 4-2-4 formation for much of the game, with the front two getting plenty of support.
The front two? Damien Duff, for one, of course. I think this game will be all about Duff, the Russians will be so aware of him he'll probably be surrounded by three or four players every time he gets the ball. It will, then, be all about buying him space and time on the ball and for that reason I'd go for Gary Doherty as his partner up front. Doherty has his limitations, but he's the best option, over Clinton Morrison and David Connolly, at holding up the ball. He'll give it everything, and will be a good physical presence.
The team, on the whole, is a little lightweight - Doherty would give it a bit of strength. If needs be the ball can be chucked up to him, he'll hold it, play Duff in, which is our best hope of creating chances. Morrison has played very little first-team football this season, but he's an option for later in the game. I'd start, though, with Doherty.
Russia generally don't travel too well and they have a new coach after a string of poor results. He's recalled a lot of the older players, fellas who might have had their day, which is a gamble.
Ireland need to win, and I prefer it that way. No doubts about how they should approach the game. Usually when we've needed a result at home we've got it, and I'm "hopefully" confident we'll get it. A softly, softly, steady approach is required, and a cautious wariness about their counter-attacking ability - we're not good at chasing games, so we must avoid conceding the lead. I feel we'll scrape it, though.
In an interview with Mary Hannigan
