EMMET MALONE ON SOCCER:Paddy Kenny got a raw deal under Steve Staunton and, with the lack of any real quality to back up Shay Given, deserves another chance in the new set-up
WITH LIAM BRADY having declined to provide even the most rudimentary of assessments to the media of Georgia on the night they played in Belfast lest he encroach on Giovanni Trapattoni's territory, it's not entirely clear what we might learn at this afternoon's press conference out at Abbotstown.
Both Brady and Marco Tardelli are due to attend but it seems likely we will have to wait for the manager himself to touch down in early May before we are provided with any sense of how the squad-evaluation process is shaping up under the two assistants.
That the pair will be in Dublin just after lunchtime suggests neither will be in Sheffield this evening for the 120th Steel City derby.
The two men could probably do without a midweek trip to Bramall Lane but there seems little question they will have to have run the rule over the home side's goalkeeper, Paddy Kenny, once or twice before Trap arrives in town.
Providing back-up to Shay Given has not always looked the most enticing of roles for an established goalkeeper.
Dean Kiely tired of the job having observed that his one-liner about being ready to do a job in midfield for Mick McCarthy was the only contribution to Ireland's campaign in Japan and South Korea for which he would be remembered.
Things weren't helped, it seems, by the fact that Given, who was almost always fit in those days, didn't particularly appreciate being rested for friendly games, and it was hard to blame Kiely when he eventually decided enough was enough.
As it happened, the form shown by Kenny around the same time softened the blow somewhat and his first few appearances, mainly as a substitute and always in friendlies, went well enough.
By 2006, though, Given's fitness could no longer be taken for granted and Kenny's two appearances that year were in the games against the Netherlands and Cyprus in which, remarkably, he conceded a total of nine goals.
In truth, though the then 28-year-old did not play well in either game, neither did he do a huge amount wrong.
His lack of conviction when coming for a cross 10 minutes into the Nicosia game pretty much handed Alexandros Garpozis the goal that gave the Cypriots a 2-1 lead, but otherwise his performances were not characterised by actual mistakes, merely by the repeated failure to avail of the opportunity to make good saves.
And with defensive mayhem reigning just in front of him on both occasions it seemed harsh to single Kenny out for blame, but that's more or less what Steve Staunton appeared to do. Kenny, Clinton Morrison and Andy O'Brien carried the can for the 5-2 defeat - none of the three has played for the Republic since - when the reality is that poor team selections and tactics, indecision in the dugout and the poor performances of countless other players all contributed to two of the most embarrassing defeats in the team's history.
Kenny could easily have been forgiven if his confidence had been shattered by the experience, but a week after the 5-2 international drubbing he played for United at Anfield and made a couple of really fine saves in a 1-1 draw - the home side's goal coming from a Robbie Fowler penalty after Chris Morgan was reckoned to have brought down Steven Gerrard.
Around this time Kenny's personal life was also imploding, his wife of two years, Karen, leaving him for one of his best friends before the admission by another friend, while on a drunken night out in Halifax, that he too had had a relationship with her led to a brawl in which the footballer had most of one eyebrow bitten off.
His hurt and humiliation must have been compounded on a weekly basis by the chants of opposing fans who persistently needled him about his wife's infidelities. But Kenny soldiered on, generally playing well and keeping nearly a dozen clean sheets as United went narrowly and controversially down.
This year he has continued in much the same vein. United are firmly planted in mid-table but the cause of the team's failure to mount a serious challenge for an immediate return to the top flight is at the other end of the pitch.
Only one side in the division has conceded fewer goals but only three have scored fewer, leaving manager Kevin Blackwell in little doubt as to the value of his goalkeeper's contribution.
"Since I've been at the club he's been outstanding," he says. "He has all the equipment needed to be a quality goalkeeper. He's got good feet, terrific hands, he's a great shot stopper and he possesses bundles of confidence.
"He's very proud of his Irish roots but I don't think anybody would argue about Shay's status as top man for Ireland. For me, though, Paddy's been the best goalkeeper in the Championship this year by a mile and I would have thought that merited a place in the squad."
Staunton thought otherwise, with Wayne Henderson handed the job of covering for Given after Cyprus while Nicky Colgan, Colin Doyle and Joe Murphy all moved above the former Whitby Town and Bury man in the pecking order.
Henderson had done all right in the circumstances but prior to picking up a back injury that effectively ended his season in August, his lack of height probably cost Ireland a goal against the Czechs four days after Nicosia, while his lack of experience helped San Marino come close to achieving a draw against the Republic in February 2007.
Doyle, meanwhile, has paid for a couple of poor early-season performances in the Premier League with Birmingham City while Colgan, now at Ipswich Town, has seen little action in the past couple of seasons and Murphy looks set to be playing in League One with Scunthorpe next season.
His occasional mishaps, such as the one against Middlesbrough in the cup back in February, remind us that Kenny is certainly human, but he deserves better than to keep paying a disproportionate price for the collective shortcomings displayed by the Irish more than a year and a half ago.
