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It just gets worse...
 ONE
of the arguments, even if it was unspoken in many quarters, for not opening
Croke Park was the damage that could be wreaked on the “superiority
of the gael” ideal that still exists in parts of Ireland.
While that near-Aryan madness has largely died out, the thought of England’s
rugby or soccer team beating us at Croker and making us feel inferior
did not sit well with a lot of people’s Celtic souls.
Or what about Northern Ireland or Scotland maybe beating us at Croker?
Turns out that concerns of defeat to nations like that are the least of
our worries. Forget about England perhaps beating us at rugby; last Wednesday,
Cyrpus caused greater embarrassment than our neighbours ever could.
They have always been tricky opposition in the Mediterranean; French and
Spanish managers have paid with their jobs for a draw and a defeat in
Nicosia.
But the only competitive away victories that Cyprus, a nation with a population
of 800,000, have recorded were over Malta and San Marino.
Perhaps 70 of that 800,000 made the journey to Dublin and gathered in
a little knot on Hill 16. So bad were Ireland that the home crowd’s
initial willingness to get behind the team was stifled and by midway through
the second half, the Cyprus 70 were outsinging the 50,000 home fans.
After Cyprus beat us 5-2 in the second game of this group, Lansdowne Road
nearly had its rafters lifted off the next night against the Czech Republic
as the public showed huge support for the team.
A year on, and even that is gone. Ireland’s prima donna players
sometimes give the impression of bitching about the fans, but there is
hardly a group of people more willing to get behind their team.
That turned on Wednesday night. “I’ll give it 10 minutes of
the second-half,” said one man near me at half-time.
Most gave it a lot longer, but thousands stood straight up after Cyrpus’
goal and marched straight out.
Sections of those that remained chanted: ‘We want Staunton out’
while others roared at them to shut up.
That’s the thing here; most people don’t blame Steve Staunton
for this sorry mess. It’s quite clear to all that he is out of his
depth (how he decided on starting Andy Keogh again is a mystery), but
considerable swathes of the Irish soccer public hate seeing a national
hero in such an ugly situation.
The booing at half-time, full-time and after the Cypriot goal was as much
directed at the players as the manager.
Many of them are willing and some of them have the class to play at this
level; but there are very few who have both.
Paul McShane will stick his head in anywhere for Ireland, but he is guilty
of ball-watching and lacks pace. Stephen Hunt started well and looked
determined, but by the end, Croke Park had proved too big a stage for
him. Those that have the ability? Andy Reid looks unfit. Robbie Keane
at war with himself. Stephen Ireland won’t show up. Kevin Doyle
is still learning.
Staunton could point to an absentee list that included Dunne, Kelly, Ireland,
Carsley, Duff and Stephen Reid, but you are seldom going to have a full
pick at international level these days.
John Delaney made a mistake and should be big enough to admit that, because
Staunton is not the type to quit a job.
But we would be kidding ourselves if we thought a new manager can see
us to the next World Cup without a sea-change in attitude from the players.
Tackles were pulled out of last Wednesday night and Cypriots went untracked.
That is where the ire from the stands was directed. People are still willing
to pay ?70 a ticket, but it is to support the jersey rather than those
filling it.
During the Charlton era, they felt an affinity with the team, felt the
team had the same passion and determination. No Ireland player would have
been booed in any circumstances in those days; last Wednesday night, they
all were.
The money Sky brought to the game has stripped the last semblance of a
common identity between fans and players. The fans still love Ireland;
but take the likes of Given, Finnan and Dunne out of it, and most have
little time for the other boys in green.
The players may not be able to fathom that, but a scan of after-match
quotes reveals the truth.
Joey O’Brien: “We’ve pride in our country too. We’ll
just have to try and do well for our clubs. There is a big match on Saturday
so we will have to focus on the Premiership now.”
Stephen Hunt: “I’m disappointed for my friends and family.
Gutted. For the whole country too. But I can’t let it get my head
down. I’ve a big game for my club at the weekend and I’ve
got to get things right there.”
See the theme? It’s “of course we care, but let’s forget
about that now, big game Saturday”. They are cocooned from the people,
and don’t realise that the people want the hurt of letting the country
down to stay with them for weeks and months, not hours and days.
It used to be that Irish players saw international football as a break,
but now some seem to see it as a chore and are relieved when they return
to their mock-Tudor mansions where (presumably) no-one boos them for making
a balls of a home match with Cyprus.
The big house on Jones’s Road normally sees the defeated team nurse
an indescribable sense of loss for months on end. It’s a world the
majority of our soccer team do not understand.
No, those entrenched Irish racial superiority theorists who thankfully
make up a very small part of the GAA and the country will not have been
pleased at all with such muck being spread on the field by the canal.
Thing is, the faces and anger of the nation’s core soccer supporters
last week suggested that they are far from alone.
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