Article from the Indo today

A few pints, lively sing-songs, lie-ins,a pre-match huddle, the return of Mick Byrne, fewer meetings, less training

Gerry McDermott

IT was on Monday morning that Ireland's players found out for sure that a new broom was sweeping through the camp.

It wasn't that Mick Byrne was jumping on the beds of Damien Duff and Robbie Keane to give them the sort of wake-up calls that were conspicuous by their absence during Brian Kerr's reign. Rather, it was the timing.

Keane got the Byrne treatment at 9.30am and Duff was woken up half-an-hour later. Lie-ins were back in fashion after three years of rigid schedules.

When Kerr became international team manager three years ago he banned lie-ins because he wanted the players to eat breakfast together to ensure that the proper foods and fluids were taken on board at the correct time to ensure maximum performance later in the day at training or in the match.

During his tenure, Kerr did everything from a scientific standpoint but Steve Staunton is unashamedly pursuing a holistic approach.

The previous night he had given the players the freedom to have a drink if they wanted one at the eircom FAI awards in Citywest and they were also permitted a nightcap on their return to the team hotel in Portmarnock.

Staunton's emphasis is on informality because he believes that, the more relaxed the players are, the better the chances of them producing optimum performances on the pitch.

Devilment

So, Tony Hickey and Mick Byrne are back on the backroom staff. They put smiles on the players' faces and Byrne also believes in a bit of devilment. It's rumoured that, when he went to wake up Duff on Tuesday morning, the Chelsea player was waiting for him with a bowl of water.

Last October, when the squad assembled for the final time under Kerr, the tension in the air was palpable - as usually happens when a managerial era is coming to an end. As always, media relations were the first casualty and one of Staunton's priorities on getting the job was to mend those fences quickly.

Along with his media advisors, FAI director of strategy Declan Conroy and director of corporate affairs Pat Costello, Staunton met with representatives of the Soccer Writers Association of Ireland two weeks ago.

Access to the Irish players has been a bone of contention for journalists for over a decade and they had been lobbying heavily for the introduction of a continental style system rather than the formal approach normally favoured by British clubs.

Last Monday, as they waited in the lobby of the Portmarnock Links Hotel for a players' briefing, the soccer scribes were like children awaiting permission to go downstairs on Christmas morning.

False dawns

The FAI had indicated eight players were being made available but there had been too many false dawns in the past. Seeing would be believing. But Staunton delivered.

A few minutes previously he had gathered his squad together for a 30-minute meeting during which he outlined to them what he was looking for and showed them a video of the effect the Irish team has had on the nation over the past 20 years.

He also explained to them how media relations was an important part of an international footballer's job and read out the names of the eight players who would accompany Bobby Robson and Alan Kelly to meet the journalists.

So Duff, John O'Shea, Ian Harte, Steven Reid, Liam Miller, Kevin Doyle, Joey O'Brien and Stephen Kelly walked down the corridor to join the journalists for tea and biscuits and a cosy chat in the comfortable surroundings of the hotel's cocktail bar.

By lunch-time, Miller and Harte, normally two of the most reticent media contributors, were the last in the room and had to be reminded by FAI officials that they were expected in the dining room.

The word then spread that Robbie Keane was going to be the new captain and there was an instant flashback to last September when the Spurs player declared he would never again talk to an Irish journalist after his nocturnal activities in the week before the French game became front page news. But the following day Keane, too, became a media darling. After the formal press conference with Staunton and vice-captain Shay Given, he chatted with the football writers, telling them that he had drawn a line in the sand and urging them to look forward - just as he was going to do.

It's rumoured that, when

Mick Byrne went to wake up

Duff on Tuesday morning, he

was waiting for him with a

bowl of water

Over the four days, Staunton only had two training sessions - one on Monday, the other on Tuesday - and dispensed with Sunday afternoon and Wednesday morning spins. On the training pitch, the players worked under Kevin MacDonald for the first time.

Staunton felt they would take a while to get used to the Scotsman but predicted that, when they did, they would love him. By the time they left Lansdowne Road on Tuesday, it was clear they were responding to their new coach.

At the end of the Lansdowne session, Staunton once more broke the mould by gathering the players in the dressing room and naming his team to start against Sweden. A few minutes later he voluntarily gave it to the media. His GAA upbringing was obviously coming to the fore, though he did stress he mightn't do it for every match.

As a recent former international, Staunton has spent the last few weeks sorting out the things that annoyed him while he was a player and also acting on suggestions made to him by members of the current squad.

So, the sing-along songs of the Charlton and McCarthy eras were back on the team bus as it made its way from Portmarnock to Lansdowne Road on Wednesday and before the game kicked-off skipper Keane gathered his team-mates together for another blast from the past - the huddle.

After the match there were two buses parked outside the Lansdowne clubhouse where sponsors eircom were hosting their traditional reception for the players and their families.

Scientific

One bus was to take the players back to Portmarnock, the other was for any family members who wished to join them back at the team hotel.

Kerr's emphasis on the scientific aspect of preparation was technically excellent and badly needed but there was no balance and the player's main complaint was that things had become too sanitised. Hence, Staunton's holistic approach which is designed to put the passion back in the green jersey.

Sweden was a good start and it was hard to believe that many of these players had been in Nicosia last October when we saw the worst performance by an Irish team in years. The gloom of last autumn has now been replaced by optimism as the countdown continues to Stuttgart on September 2.

As a seasoned professional, Staunton knows competitive games are going to be the true test, but he can take encouragement from the words of Alexander Clark, who almost 100 years ago, said: "Let us watch well our beginnings and results will manage themselves."

All Staunton has to do is remember the qualities that got him the job and remain true to them.

If he does that, Ireland will thrive under his stewardship.

Real assessment begins after the honeymoon period
Friday March 3rd 2006
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Ronnie Whelan

Steve Staunton's new dawn as Irish manager may have been impressive but it is important not to let the enthusiasm of his fairytale opening night allow us to get carried away with Wednesday night's scoreline.

As is the case whenever a new manager takes over the reigns, players are there to show him what they can do and the Sweden friendly as no exceptionexception. As is the case whenever a new manager takes over the reigns, players are there to show him what they can do and the Sweden friendly was no exception.

The commitment from the players was clearly evident and the general play was of a high standard, but it was a friendly encounter against a team who were only interested in self-preservation once they realised how much the Irish boys were up for the occasion. However, Stan will have taken a lot of the game. Friendly ties are there to experiment with systems, try out new ideas and look at new players and he ticked off all those boxes.

We haven't got a particularly strong squad, so Staunton will need to be versatile with his player options. Wednesday showed that Steven Reid can play in a number of positions. He can do a job at right-back, in the centre of midfield and we already know he can perform on the right wing. That's exactly the kind of adaptability that Stan will be looking for.

However, I fear the 4-3-3 system, that he employed against the Swedes, may be exposed in some of the big games ahead. Against the top quality opposition that we will square up against in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, the decision to play Stephen Elliott on the right wing may be a chink in our armour.

Wednesday's system worked well and suits these types of games but you cannot afford to be as fluid in an important competitive encounter. If you are under pressure and people start running out of position you will be in trouble.

The partnership of John O'Shea and Reid appeared to click, but the Manchester United man's natural position is in defence and when you come up against real quality you need that little bit more.

But Stan has laid the best possible foundation on which he can now build on. So what did he do differently? For one, he seems to have resurrected some of the old mentality. The concept of getting at the opposition in Lansdowne was clear to see - as was a buzz in the crowd. In the first minute Kevin Doyle closed the centre-back and made him clear it out of play.

It was the old Jack Charlton mantra of "put them under pressure', but when the team had possession they managed to play football on what was a very difficult pitch and they didn't let the Swedes play when they had the ball.

Of Wednesday's debutants, I thought Doyle was the pick of the bunch. His willingness to work hard for the team and close people down was superb. Apart from a first-half header, he didn't have many clear-cut sights of goal but he wasn't playing as an out-and-out striker for the whole and still made a significant contribution. Joey O'Brien's performance was promising, apart from his second-half blunder, but I think he is naturally more suited to midfield - despite plying his trade at right-back for Bolton.

Wayne Henderson made a great stop from Henrik Larsson and I'm sure that will fill him with confidence. Stephen Ireland played in a very forward position, just behind the front two, but I would like to see him sitting a little deeper, getting on the ball and passing and creating attacks.

Central defence is an area of concern and we need another

centre-half to fill the gap created by Kenny Cunningham's

retirement.

Of the rest, it was great to see Damien Duff back to his best and Robbie Keane looking sharp. The two under-performed in the latter stages of the qualification campaign and came in for some criticism, but that is the nature of the game. They will get the plaudits when they deliver and they deserve praise for their performances.

Central defence is an area of concern and we definitely need another centre-half to fill the gap created by Kenny Cunningham's retirement. Richard Dunne was superb and Andy O'Brien is a solid pro, but if either man gets injured then Stan will have a selection headache.

With at least two friendly games before the real business begins in September, the manager will need more of the same from his players and like any work in progress there are sure to be troughs ahead.