Ahead of Stuttgart, does Pat Devlin's experience in the eircom League qualify him to play a key role on Staunton's team?
Thursday August 31st 2006
STEVE STAUNTON'S right-hand man in the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium on Saturday night has never sat in the technical area for a competitive senior Irish international.
While Bobby Robson won 20 caps, and both played for, and managed, England in the World Cup finals, Pat Devlin, who won one Irish youth cap, has zero experience of the white hot heat that goes with being in soccer's supreme cauldron.
Robson won the English FA Cup and UEFA Cup with Ipswich Town, captured Dutch and Portuguese league titles with PSV Eindhoven and Porto, and also led Barcelona to Cup Winners' Cup and Spanish Cup glory.
Devlin won the FAI Cup twice with yo-yo club Bray Wanderers, managed the eircom League squad in 1996-97, and is best known for making a small fortune as Damien Duff's advisor.
Yet, in the absence of senior statesman Robson, recovering after a cancer operation, it is to the gnomic Devlin that Staunton will turn to for advice when the bullets are flying in Stuttgart on Saturday.
When the German panzer division, their World Cup bronze medals glistening under the Stuttgart spotlights, advance through the Irish trenches, Staunton will bend the ear of a manager used to fighting for crumbs at the foot of the eircom League.
The presence of the highly-respected Robson on Staunton's application swung the job vacancy the way of Ireland's most capped player; without Robson, Staunton's request would have carried little gravitas.
Yet now, with the ailing Robson unable to bring his immense experience, knowledge and acumen to the Stuttgart arena, Staunton will rely instead on a confidante, Devlin, more used to scrapping for points in St Mel's Park and Gortakeegan.
Threat
It's one thing working out how to curb the threat of Jason Byrne and Glen Crowe of Shelbourne; it's quite another eliminating the twin dangers of Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.
When Robson fell ill and it became known that he would not be available for the Stuttgart assignment, Staunton could have sought senior counsel elsewhere, even on an interim basis. Kenny Dalglish, ironically a close friend of Devlin and linked with the Irish manager's job in the past, could have been approached.
Former Irish internationals John Aldridge and Joe Kinnear, proven club managers in England and, like Dalglish, currently unattached, would, almost certainly, have made their services available if asked.
Ron Atkinson, who discovered Sean St Ledger and was Staunton's manager at Aston Villa, could also have been considered as a temporary aide-de-camp.
Yet, Staunton in his wisdom, has decided against finding an interim replacement for Robson, preferring to rely on a clutch of international rookies in his backroom staff, of which Devlin has emerged as a key figure.
When Devlin was appointed in April his job specifications were that of international B manager and Eircom League co-ordinator.
Staunton explained at the time that Devlin's function would be to monitor the eircom League and report on potential international players. "My eyes and ears at home," he said.
Surprise
Some seasoned observers of the Irish club scene felt Devlin's appointment was something of a surprise.
For all his admirable work at keeping Bray alive, 'Devo' was regarded as a good club manager, if not a great one.
Yet, now, after 21 years in the relative backwater of League of Ireland management, during which time he gave service to his beloved Bray, Athlone Town and Drogheda United, the diminutive Dubliner finds himself, remarkably, as the man with the most managerial experience on the plane that departs Dublin Airport today.
In four short months, Devlin's responsibilities have taken a dramatic shift in emphasis and he has been catapulted into a position of power which his background might suggest he is not best equipped to handle.
As the Irish team played a friendly in Dublin yesterday against a home-based under-age side, Devlin rode shotgun to Staunton. Sancho Panza to Don Quixote.
Tomorrow night, as the Irish team go through their paces in Stuttgart, Devlin's Bray Wanderers will entertain Shelbourne at the Carlisle Grounds. Given his 20-year soccer CV in Ireland, it makes you wonder where his abilities are best suited.
Vorsprung durch technik, indeed.
Philip Quinn
Quote
Originally Posted by OneRedArmy
God give me strength. The guy should be working for the Sun or one of the other English Tabloid rags. Is the Article accompanied by a picture of Staunton in a WW2 uniform by any chance ?
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