John O'Brien Article on Staunton
John O'brien's article from the weekend (courtesy of chatsoccer.net).
I've highlighted the sections that I agree with most, O'Brien backing up my suspicion that Staunton is probably unaware of many of his options.
Kennedy, McPhail, O'Brien . . . forgotten by Staunton
Sunday September 10th 2006
JOHN O'BRIEN
BACK in the days before they became a despised irritation, Brian Kerr would frequently charm reporters with dizzying tales of his travels around England, often taking in two, sometimes three, games in a single day. Watching games was Kerr's narcotic, an adrenaline rush fuelled by the never-ending dream that down among the agate type of England's football leagues he might unearth an unpolished diamond.
Occasionally he did. It was a phone call from Packie Bonner, a Kerr confidante, which landed Aiden McGeady five years ago. Whether it was a taxi driver in Wycombe alerting him to the Irishness of Iam Simpemba or a parish priest in south London tipping him off about Charlton defender Adrian Deane, Kerr established a network that ensured few players with possible Irish connections were allowed slip through the net.
Worryingly, there are few early indications of such thoroughness in the current regime. Beyond the slapstick notion of the words Big Ron flashing up on Steve Staunton's phone as the former commentator called to inform him about the eligibility of Preston defender Seán St Ledger, it is hard to feel confident that the fussy, meticulous approach adopted by Kerr over the years is even close to being replicated under his successor.
Whether it was just an unfortunate slip or not, Staunton's insistence a few weeks back that he had received a scouting report on Gary Doherty and Paddy McCarthy after Norwich had played Leicester when, in fact, the two clubs are not scheduled to meet until the end of November, set alarm bells ringing. A month ago he was extolling Doherty's virtues as a striker before taking him to Germany as a central defender. Such inconsistencies hardly augur well for his future prospects.
For all the passion he exhibited as a player, you don't get the sense from Staunton that the game is quite the narcotic for him the way it is for the likes of Kerr or Bobby Robson. Famously, when he was injured or absent from the squad, Staunton could not bare to attend games. Playing was the thing, the only thing. Unlike, say Roy Keane, the science of the game does not seem to have greatly occupied his mind.
Perhaps he underestimated what being manager of Ireland entailed. Far from merely bringing back relics of the past like Mick Byrne and extolling the old virtues of pride and passion, its success depends more on the tedious trawl around England's football's stadiums and training grounds, keeping tabs on his players and an eye out for future prospects. On the evidence of the squad he took with him to Germany, the Ireland manager has failed to grasp this fact.
As has been said many times, the absence of Andy Reid was a grievous error. If it was so important, as Staunton himself said, that his players were getting regular club football then on what basis could Reid, who has started the season well at Charlton, be left at home? For sure, question marks still exist in relation to his fitness, but Reid could feel aggrieved not to be on the plane ahead of Liam Miller, Jonathan Douglas and Alan O'Brien.
Reid wasn't the most glaring omission, though. It can't have escaped Staunton's notice that Everton's fine start to the season has owed much to the composure Lee Carsley has brought to their midfield, precisely what was missing in Ireland's engine room in Stuttgart last Saturday night. In a midfield that lacked bite or bollock, Carsley would at least have added a steely edge.
So why wasn't he there? What we know is that when they spoke in April, Carsley told Staunton that Everton was his priority and he wanted to concentrate on establishing himself in the first team. But he also said that if he was called up for the friendly against Chile in May he'd be happy to turn up. Staunton then named an enlarged squad of 29 but didn't include Carsley. We haven't heard from him since. [Not true? Carsley announced his availability in the press the week before Stuttgart, no?]
For a country with a small playing pool, we seem remarkably quick to give up on certain players who have gone through lean spells or apparently failed to deliver on early potential. Northern Ireland's circumstances may be rather different but you can be fairly certain that if we were handed the same bunch of players we'd have dispensed with the likes of Keith Gillespie and Michael Hughes years ago. Just as we have seemingly done with Mark Kennedy. For all his obvious talent, Kennedy comes with the football equivalent of the timeform squiggle next to his name and will never be a cause celebre. Yet he is still only 30 and has been charming Crystal Palace fans with his displays in the centre of midfield since the start of the season. Are we really in a position where we can blithely ignore his claims?
Whether Kennedy still has the appetite to fulfill his potential for Ireland remains to be seen, but shouldn't the option be explored anyway? While Kerr was manager there doesn't appear to have been any contact between them, but then Kerr was relatively flush with midfield options. With Keane and Matt Holland out of the way and Graham Kavanagh patently not up to it, Staunton surely must consider every card in his pack.
The lazy rap is that Ireland simply doesn't have the players at present and are rebuilding with the 2010 World Cup in mind. But there are options. It's hard to believe that six years have passed since Stephen McPhail helped Leeds United to the semi-final of the UEFA Cup. Luck and other factors have counted against him since but, after a restorative season at Barnsley, McPhail has been showing glimpses of his old magic in guiding Cardiff to the summit of the Championship.
The notion that McPhail has always been too weak to function in a 4-4-2 formation never held water. In that wonderful season at Leeds, McPhail was a mainstay alongside David Batty in midfield. His next two seasons were catastrophically destroyed by injury. What he's doing now is still a far cry from the bubbling potential of his youth, but it should be enough to get him a seat on the plane to Cyprus next month.
Maybe some day too we'll give Ronnie O'Brien the chance he deserves. Whatever your idea is about Major League Soccer, it didn't prevent the United States, of whom almost half the squad was composed of MLS players, being competitive in Germany while for three seasons O'Brien has been one of the most celebrated players in the league. Still not even a sniff. As Gary Breen discovered when Mick McCarthy warned him of the consequences of moving abroad some years ago, out of sight is very much out of mind.
It is time now for Staunton to make tough but correct decisions. The worry is that the discordant upbeat tune the Irish camp was singing after last week's defeat will tempt him towards a laissez-faire attitude. Major surgery is required, though. If there aren't at least four unforced changes to the squad that travels to Cyprus, then it will be hard to see that Staunton is learning from his experiences.
For now he could do worse than get on his bike and start hammering out the lonely miles between the football towns of England and beyond.
