Pool of talent runs dry for Ireland

Last updated : 16 October 2005 By Gerry Ormonde
Counting the cost: Status. Seeding. Squad. Funds. All have been drained by such a discouraging qualification campaign, when Irish football examines itself in the mirror it will be shocked at how much thinner it has become since the last World Cup.

Only three years ago, Ireland were one of the hits of the finals in Japan and South Korea. From being a penalty shoot-out away from the last eight of the 2002 finals, they have nose-dived to a lame fourth-place finish in their qualifying group behind France, Switzerland and (this one hurts) Israel.

'Decline' was the buzzword in Dublin last Wednesday night, after the Republic of Ireland whimpered out of contention for Germany 2006. As the post mortem picked over the predictable ills - naturally the manager got it in the neck, the lack of quality of the squad was exposed, the most damaging results bemoaned - a more alarming diagnosis came to the fore.

Are Ireland heading towards the kind of slump that has held Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by the ankles in recent times? The Republic were able to stay several steps ahead because they had a production line of players, dating back to the Jack Charlton era, capable of taking on all comers. But that production line is drying up and there is genuine fear for a fallow time ahead.

'Resources are probably as limited as the Irish team has had for 20 years,' assessed Liam Brady, former maestro who included among his international team-mates the excellence of Pat Bonner, Paul McGrath, David O'Leary, Mark Lawrenson, John Giles, Kevin Moran, Ray Houghton, Ronnie Whelan, Frank Stapleton and John Aldridge.

Every member of that ensemble was a leading light at a major side in England, able to hone their experience through regular top-class competition. With respect to the current squad and their efforts, the same does not apply so widely.

It is too simplistic to blame the inflated global presence in the Premiership. Although that evidently isn't helpful, the influence of Roy Keane and Damien Duff at Manchester United and Chelsea confirms that if you are good enough it matters not if you are from Ballyboden, Cork or Timbuktu. Premiership clubs are falling over themselves to recruit talent, wherever it comes from. But there isn't so much of it coming from Ireland these days.

John Giles, legendary captain and one-time manager of the Republic team, laments that standards have slipped. 'There has been a decline since the golden generation under Jack Charlton. That can happen to any team. Even the great 1970 Brazil team didn't win the World Cup again until 1994 - a demise by their standards. All teams go through it.

'The decline in the likes of Wales, Northern Ireland and, in particular, Scotland, has been dramatic. Go back to my time and the Scots could have picked three teams - incredible to think the likes of Alan Hansen got 26 caps and Dave Mackay 22. For some reason, the decline in Ireland has been delayed. But we don't look like producing any Bradys or O'Learys at the moment, and only time will tell whether this situation is temporary.'

Brady, from what he observes in his job as Head of Youth Development at Arsenal, is not too optimistic. 'The worry is we're not producing the amount of boys that we used to. We've managed to compete at the highest level in world football while countries like Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland haven't been mapped in that respect, but the pool has shrunk and it is beginning to tell. There are not that many outstanding players knocking on the door. Look at England under-21s, the likes of Carlton Cole, Jermaine Pennant, Jerome Thomas, Michael Dawson, would be in the Irish set-up already.

'The sports administrators have to get to grips with the situation. We must be losing scores of kids to non-sporting activities - as everyone in western Europe is, but the smaller countries will suffer more acutely. People probably didn't realise the damage the technological age would do to sport. We know now. It is serious and somehow we have to come up with a solution.'

Giles advocates trying to produce facilities for kids that can recreate the experience of playing street football. 'There is nothing like learning your trade on the street. But there are less kids playing football, because there are less working-class streets,' he says. 'Social conditions have improved dramatically. Now kids have their TVs, plus it's not safe to go out unsupervised any more. The consequences of being a wealthier country is there are less professional athletes. It's no coincidence that in Africa and South America they are producing better players.'

The FAI may well have noted the long-term work being done by their Swiss counterparts. They spend a third of their annual budget on youth development and academies, and have also sent a mailshot to over 600,000 second-generation Swiss living abroad to make sure they don't miss out on any future talent. The side that drew in Dublin contained a number of players - including Highbury defender Philippe Senderos, the impressive Tranquillo Barnetta and youngest scorer Johan Vonlanthen - who could have represented other nations.

It's a variation on the old 'plastic-paddys' theme utilised so prominently by Charlton. Players such as Zat Knight, Kevin Nolan and Anton Ferdinand were available to Brian Kerr, but it never materialised.

The shallowness of resources is emphasised by Roy Keane and Kenny Cunningham bidding the squad farewell. Ireland can no longer compensate for big players retiring in the way the baton was passed from Giles to Brady to Whelan.

In the short term, whoever takes charge of the next campaign will have a young squad on which to make his mark - more than likely as fourth seeds in qualification for Euro 2008. 'The personality of the coach has got to be right,' says Brady. 'He has to have the character to bring the players with him, to stop them from looking confused.'

End of an era? For Kerr, almost certainly. But for Irish football? That is the most pertinent question of all

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