Not the End of the World.

Chin Up Lads.

As disappointing as Ireland's draw against Bulgaria was last night, it is not the end of the world. All the same if are going to qualify we will have to get an unexpectedly good result. We need to beat either Italy or Bulgaria. Defeat to either of these teams will probably see us consigned to 3rd place. The current campaign isn't too dissimilar to that of Brian Kerr a couple of years ago. In that campaign we played OK and got a lot of draws. The games against Israel were particularly disappointing where we drew both from winning positions against inferior opposition. I fear that Bulgaria could be our Israel in this group. At that time, the results against Israel seemed to knock the confidence completely out of Kerr's teams and we finished the campaign very limply with a a defeat to the French and a home draw to the Swiss (which suited them).

Trap has cut out a much of the indiscipline and flakiness of the Staunton era but he seems to have overlooked the shortcomings which led to the demise of Brian Kerr. Essentially it is the same group of players. There is little emphasis on retention of the ball unless as happened last night and against Georgia we are in real need of a goal. Would it be too much to ask that we play with this sort of urgency for the 90 minutes without sacrificing our defensive responsibilities.

In the latter days of Kerr's management, Ireland looked devoid of ideas. No one was willing to take responsibility and the team looked happy to take a 0-0 even if a win was what was required. Last night Doyle and Keane were often isolated in possession. They were not supported by the midfield. I presume that Trapatonni has instructed his midfield not to get forward so as we don't be exposed if our attacks breakdown.

It also means that we give the ball away a lot and show no ambition to create chances from advanced attacking positions. It's not all gloom and doom (as Bill O'Herlihy would say). We should have won the game last night. In every game under Trap the team has created about 3 good scoring chances per game. It's not a lot but we should have scored the ones that were presented to us last night. McGeady had a golden opportunity to double our lead while Kevin Doyle should have won it for us in the last minute. Our failure to take these chances cost us the game more than our caution.

The RTE panel's criticism's of Trap have been reasonable (for a change). Indeed they are obvious to most observers. It seems strange that the manager has not addressed him. Stephen Ireland might be a difficult customer but he is a player we need and the management have not done enough to get him back.

If we think of Stephen Ireland as a woman (difficult, awkward, irrational) who has broken up with her boyfriend (Ireland) who has since changed and the factors leading to their break-up no longer exist. Frankly I don't think Ireland have done enough to win her back. We have done a certain amount but there is no passion or love. Tell a bird that she has your number, the door is always open for her to come back and see where it gets you. Stephen Ireland like women, for all their faults have qualities the Irish football supporters cannot live without and we need them more than they need us.

The Andy Reid situation is puzzling as well. There hasn't been a single rational argument against him being in the squad. There is no objective justification for his exclusion. Trap picks the squad and it is his prerogative but surely our squad is too small and too short on quality to warrant his exclusion. He is not the best player in the world but he is better than players in the team ahead of him. He would help the squad and make us more likely to qualify. Isn't that what we want?

Trapatonni is stubborn which is which is fine when you're manager of Juventus but for a team like Ireland we need everyone on board especially when the incentives to play for Ireland are not as great as they once were.

We should be more adventurous at home. Brian Kerr was pilloried for bringing on Graham Kavanagh in place of the injured Robbie Keane in the home game against Israel. At least there was some rationale to his thinking. Surely he could have expected the team to see out a 2-0 lead at home Israel. Letting Bulgaria have so much of the ball gave them more opportunities to create chances. There again maybe we just don't have the players to retain possession but then neither do Bulgaria. They are not exactly world beaters themselves. I think the Irish players were instructed to put their defensive roles before ball retention.

Losing Duffers was a blow but it wouldn't have been so significant if we'd been able to call on Reid or Ireland. I assume we'll produce a similar performance against the Italians. I just hope we're not trying to defend a lead because if we do that we'll lose.