FOLLOWING WHAT WAS generally regarded as a relatively successful Euro 2016 campaign for Martin O’Neill and Ireland, another two-year cycle beckons for the squad as they bid to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Yet despite the positivity of the summer, O’Neill and co must now confront a fresh set of problems and challenges.
Ahead of tomorrow night’s friendly with Oman, a number of players are out injured, while some of those that will play have struggled for game time.
Seamus Coleman, John O’Shea and James McCarthy are among the players battling to be fit for next week’s game in Serbia, while a number of those in the squad, including Jeff Hendrick, Eunan O’Kane, Aiden McGeady and Marc Wilson, have received little or no game time with their clubs so far this season for a variety of reasons.
In addition, David Forde’s late withdrawal means Dundalk’s Gary Rogers is set to be drafted into the squad at short notice, while O’Shea looks set to stay with the team for another campaign despite rumours suggesting otherwise.
And as the side prepare for their first World Cup qualifier on Monday, O’Neill admitted the current circumstances are far from ideal, particularly with certain players’ futures, most notably Jeff Hendrick (who looks set for a big-money move from Derby to a Premier League club), uncertain.
If anything like (an impending transfer) happens to the players, they have permission to leave (the camp), because they’re trying to get their futures sorted. It’s just inevitable for these things to happen.
“You’re talking about preparation, you’re talking about some players leaving to get medicals if there are opportunities to go to other clubs, that’s just part of it now.
“That’s just part of this particular week. Hopefully it’ll all clear up after Wednesday evening and on Thursday morning, we’ll have our minds set on Serbia.
“There are a number of players that haven’t played much football, which is always going to be the case at the end of August. We had this game against Oman two years ago and it served a great purpose. We went on to Georgia (for Ireland’s opening Euro 2016 qualifier) and had a big win there.
For instance, Aiden McGeady hasn’t been given a shirt by Everton but continues to be important for us, considering the ability he possesses.
“Like everyone else, Aiden wants to play. But to try and stay around the international scene, he has to go and play first-team football somewhere.”
O’Neill added that his side to face Oman on Wednesday was likely to be a mixture of fringe players and more high-profile names, as he bids to give certain individuals some much-needed game time.
“You’re balancing those things with some players you know have played and are reasonably fit.
Jon (Walters), for instance, is a very naturally fit lad. He keeps himself in very good condition
“So you know there are certain players that might be okay, others certainly need some football.”
Walters, who was sitting alongside O’Neill for today’s press conference, added that he had been playing “catch-up” by training all summer, after tearing his achilles in the lead up to Euro 2016, with his involvement in the tournament severely limited as a result.
And speaking of the Euros, Ireland have traditionally tended to suffer somewhat of a hangover in competitive games directly after their participation at major tournaments.
Euro ’88 was followed directly by a draw with Northern Ireland and a loss to Spain in the 1990 World Cup qualifiers, while Ireland have never secured back-to-back major tournament qualifications since then and have invariably tended to start poorly, most notably as evidenced by their 6-1 loss at home to Germany in their second competitive match after Euro 2012.
Walters, however, feels the players will need little motivation following their encouraging campaign in France.
“It’s straight back into it it, isn’t it? And that’s always the case.
“I thought the lads in the last couple of games in the tournament were unbelievable and showed real promise for the future.
“Some players really staked a claim and brought themselves to the forefront of the international set-up, the likes of Robbie Brady, Jeff (Hendrick) James (McCarthy) and Seamus (Coleman).
I don’t think it’s a case of us picking ourselves up again, I think it’s full steam ahead.”
Yet the Irish side are under no illusions as to the difficulty of the challenge that lies ahead. as they prepare to compete in a World Cup qualifying group that also includes Wales, Austria, Serbia, Moldova and Georgia.
The Serbians, as third seeds, certainly will be no pushovers on Monday, with a number of current and former Premier League players in their squad, including Southampton’s Dušan Tadić, Newcastle’s Aleksandar Mitrović, Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanović and Schakle’s Matija Nastasić, formerly of Manchester City.
“We’re going into a campaign which is exceptionally difficult,” O’Neill said.
“Look at the matches we now have coming up. You don’t want to be out of it before you’re really in it.
My own view of the group — the winner may well have less points than other teams (in other groups). The teams are capable of beating each other.
“We want to get started as quickly as possible and leave it on the field of play.”
One big challenge O’Neill faces in the new campaign is replacing Robbie Keane, who with 67 goals, has been an integral part of the Irish team for nearly two decades.
Once Keane departs following his Oman farewell, O’Neill will be left with just three recognised strikers to choose from in the squad — Walters, Shane Long and Daryl Murphy. Beyond that. while there are players of some promise, Ireland’s problem with a lack of top-quality forwards has been well documented.
And the Irish coach admits that the Tallaght native will be “hard to replace”.
“He’s been a fantastic goalscorer and a real great player
Since I came in, the only disappointment is I didn’t have a 27-year-old rather than 33-year-old, as he was at the time.
“When he was first choice, he was a big player in the Premier League.
“The pace of the league (in the MLS) would be a wee bit different. And he’s just getting older, it happens to a few people.”
O’Neill also played down suggestions that there was a conflict of interest in giving Keane a fitting send-off, while simultaneously preparing the team for next week’s vital World Cup qualifier.
(Robbie) told me a few weeks ago that he was retiring and this opportunity came up, so why not, considering that he was such a stalwart for the Republic of Ireland?
“We can balance it (with preparation for Serbia)… I don’t see it being a massive problem.”
In addition to Keane’s phenomenal talent as a footballer, both O’Neill and Walters highlighted the veteran striker’s importance “off the pitch”. The Stoke man, however, feels the squad won’t be unduly affected by his absence.
There’s a closeness we have as a group of lads together. As an older player, the younger boys will be coming in, you’ll be looking to help them settle into the squad. But I think it’s just a case of status quo and everyone just getting on with it.”
And finally, does O’Neill see a role for Keane as a player or manager in future within the Ireland set-up?
“In a managing sense, I hope it’s not going to be in the next two months,” the 64-year-old coach joked.
“The most important thing is that he stays in the game in some capacity.
Myself and a couple of the other senior players were having a chat the other evening — I just said to him ‘stay in the game’. It’s something you love, and when you retire from playing at club level, if you’re not in it, you’ll miss it.
“(Older players are) doing their badges, they’re doing everything possible. I don’t see why not.
“Some of the ex-players are getting themselves involved. I think that’s really important and I would encourage that greatly.”
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