It will have taken 18 years, and treble that number in disappointments, but if the chosen verse of the Scotland support on the Dublin transport network is to be believed, they are headed for “Gay Paree” once again. Unlike the Republic of Ireland the Scots have weight behind their expectation.
It would not take much scraping of football’s surface to deduce Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan may never be the best of friends. Perhaps they are too similar in character, if entirely different in managerial style.
For now Strachan has usurped the man he succeeded as Celtic’s manager in 2005. When Scotland were once again weighed down by international eagerness last November, Strachan delivered a win when it mattered most in the defeat of O’Neill’s horribly agricultural side at Celtic Park. O’Neill’s team have yet to produce a result or performance that endorses the 63-year-old’s status.
It was little wonder O’Neill cut such a wounded figure after Saturday’s 1-1 draw. Ireland do not create enough chances, let alone score enough goals; six Group D matches have yielded 12 goals, seven of which arrived against Gibraltar.
After facing Scotland the most damning indictment of O’Neill’s Ireland was that their greatest threat came from the set pieces of Robbie Brady. “We have to try to become more creative,” O’Neill said. “We have to have midfield players trying to get goals. Players have played a lot of international matches and we don’t score a lot of goals. We don’t score them.
“It’s unfortunately there in black and white but we have to try and try and try to improve our chance ratio. And not just have a final 15-minute burst where you put absolutely everything in the area. You have to try to be more creative. I thought in periods when we had possession we did fine.
“We kept it, it opened up and I thought Scotland were on the back foot for probably all of the first half. But what a lift they got just after half-time when they’ve scored a goal they haven’t really worked for. And of course that knocks you, particularly with the pressure on you to win.
“Some midfield players I believe, attacking midfield players, should be thinking of not coming off that field without having at least three or four shots in a game. Without even thinking about it.”
O’Neill has a mitigating factor – injury denied Aiden McGeady the opportunity he craved to face the nation of his birth. The blunt hosts threw on Robbie Keane and Shane Long for the closing stages but to no avail.
Ireland had Scotland rattled during a ferocious opening to this tie. Yet they could neither maintain such a pace nor combine it with progressive football. James McCarthy should have been sent off for a sneaky elbow into the face of Russell Martin and the Ireland midfielder used his lucky charm to escape an earlier caution for a deliberate foul on Scott Brown.
Ireland’s goal, scored by Jon Walters, highlighted as appalling a decision as multiple officials could combine to offer. He was clearly offside and yet it was an interval lead his side merited.
Scotland’s reply arrived courtesy of one of their anonymous first-half performers. Shaun Maloney, labelled the most conscientious player Strachan has worked with, was crucially assisted by John O’Shea’s back but had still offered a positive touch so desperately lacking during the previous 45 minutes.
“I think the performances have exceeded my expectations,” Scotland’s manager said. “Sometimes you get through in life by scraping a goal away from home somewhere or winning a match you didn’t deserve to win. But it’s not been like that for us. I think we’ve probably taken the right amount of points but the performance levels have been magnificent.”
O’Neill was pressed once more on whether Ireland’s pursuit of Jack Grealish could bear fruit, even if only to offer much-needed positivity to this campaign. “I really think you’d have to ask Jack and the family themselves,” he said.
“There’s wee things we think we might be able to help along the way, but what I’ve said to him is that he’s a fairly decent chance, a better chance, of getting into our team than he would have of getting into England.”
Man of the match: Robbie Brady (Ireland)
Teams
Republic of Ireland: Given; Coleman, Wilson, O’Shea, Brady; Walters, McCarthy, Hendrick, Whelan (McClean, 68); Hoolahan (Keane, 73); Murphy (Long, 80).
Subs not used: Forde, Keogh, McGeady, Meyler, Christie, Ward, Quinn, McGoldrick, Westwood.
Booked: McCarthy, Whelan, McClean.
Scotland: Marshall; Hutton, Martin, Mulgrew, Forsyth; Brown (McArthur, 85), Morrison; Ritchie (Anya h-t), Naismith (Berra, 90), Maloney; S Fletcher.
Subs not used: Gordon, Whittaker, D Fletcher, Adam, Greer, Robertson, Forrest, Griffiths, Samson.
Booked: Naismith
Referee: N Rizzoli (It)
