THE TRAINING CAMP in Turkey has gone pretty much as Stephen Kenny and the Ireland players would have wanted over the last week.
Well, except for Mikey Johnston, who has had to put in an emergency order for some new boots to be sent out in time for Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier with Greece after a tear in one of his favoured pairs.
Hardly the kind of story worthy of holding the back page.
Even the choice of an inspirational film screened in the cinema room of the five-star Calista Luxury Resort in Antalya is unlikely to stir any kind of recrimination similar to the overreaction and “investigation” which followed the motivational video at Wembley prior to that friendly with England in 2020. That will go down as one of the more ridiculous episodes in the recent history of the FAI.
This time around, Codebreaker, which charts Kevin Moran’s extraordinary sporting life with Dublin GAA, Manchester United and Ireland, and gained rave reviews after airing on RTE earlier this month, went down a treat among the squad when they watched together.
Kenny and his staff loved it, while some of his players were in thrall by the film and nature of the story. Some were simply not aware of Moran’s achievements, and Nathan Collins was said to be amazed by a fellow centre back who retired from playing seven years before the Leixlip native was even born.
Even some of those aware of Moran’s exploits still didn’t know the full extent of the story.
It’s a reminder of how quickly time passes.
The FAI have also been busy on social media, posting videos and pictures of players enjoying some water polo during their down time, getting scared by stray cats (Troy Parrott is a dog person, it seems) or involved in heated head tennis competitions during training.
But away from that, Kenny and his staff are understood to be buoyed by the commitment to hard work and the collective efforts of the players to implement their plans to take three crucial points against Greece in their second game of Euro 2024 qualifying.
That is what everything is geared towards.
There is no sense of a post-season drift or laboured preparation.
Still, 39 days will have passed from the end of the Championship season by the time the game in Athens comes around. A week-long training camp in Bristol at the back end of last month to help bridge the gap was followed by some more time off before those operating in the Premier League then joined up.
Individual training plans were also presented to players.
Some, like James McClean, returned to empty training grounds at their club to do extra work. The Derry native may reach the historic 100-cap milestone during this international window should he feature in both games against Greece and Gibraltar.
When the players arrived on Tuesday it was straight in for training, although there have been no double sessions on the grass over the last few days, the emphasis instead on that gradual build up to try and hit form on Friday.
Ireland received a boost when Alan Browne, who has not played since 7 April because of a knee injury sustained in action for Preston against Queens Park Rangers, was able to be integrated into elements of training this week.
He has not been able to take part in full sessions but it was hoped he would feature for at least 20 minutes in an in-house match played between the squad last night. He did and he came through unscathed, a boost given the midfielder can also play right wing back if required.
This was a game which Kenny and the FAI had hoped could be arranged against worthwhile local or international opposition, but after exploring different avenues and deciding against the suggestion of playing Kyrgyzstan U-23s, they opted for a training game with independent match officials.
It was played last night around the same time which they will kick off against Greece, although even the evening training sessions have been in hotter conditions than what is expected on Friday.
The match last night was an 11 v 11 game with a very clear purpose – this was Ireland against a type of fake Greece, the opposition being set up in the same 4-3-3 formation they expect to come up against.
Kenny and his staff know how want to play and, for the most part, they know who will play. But there was still a sense of coming out of the training match wiser for where certain individuals were at in terms of sharpness.
There are still places up for grabs.
Michael Obafemi, for example, who did not start a match for Burnley between the last international window in March and the end of the Championship campaign, switched between teams last night and got valuable minutes in the legs.
Matt Doherty was one of those who played 70 minutes, a badly-needed run out that was viewed as vital to his progress given he managed just 16 minutes of action since his hastily-arranged move from Spurs to Atletico Madrid in the January transfer window.
It was a test which he also passed, although he was certainly feeling the effects.
Evan Ferguson impressed with his all-round play in the game and while he may not have found the net, this is a camp mapped out to ensure Ireland can put their best foot forward against Greece.