SOCCER:The players clearly believe in him and considering our current standing in the group, they have every right to, writes PAT FENLON

A REALLY valuable result but nothing new. There is a clear pattern to the way the Republic of Ireland have gone about their business for some time now. The manager introduced it and the players who embraced it the quickest became mainstays in the side.

The likes of Kevin Kilbane, Keith Andrews and Glenn Whelan have the conservative approach down to a fine art.

Talking to football people over the weekend the same frustration was apparent. It is true we don’t retain the ball to the required international standard (strangely not a necessity for those who feature prominently in the Premier League) but long-term aspirations about our philosophical approach to this game of ours must be shelved at this stage of the qualification process.

All that matters are the results and we couldn’t have hoped for a better return than two-nil.

It was the usual set-up on Saturday night in Skopje. Firm, well-organised defence and midfield lines, with the full-backs refusing to make any overlapping forays, leaving the wingers – both Stephen Hunt and Aiden McGeady got through a mountain of work – to go it alone on most occasions against two or three covering Macedonians.

McGeady actually holds possession well, although not in the conventional sense, as his dribbling brings the play deep into opposing territory and if the quality of his crossing and passing continues to improve, well, he can eventually become as important as Shay Given and Robbie Keane.

Everyone sees what is happening. And yes, if those in wide positions didn’t force crosses when only Keane or Simon Cox were in the box, but instead turned and went back to their full-backs or central midfielders (if they were not lying so deep) then we could have constructed better chances.

It is not a lack of intelligence by the players, mind, it is how the manager wants them to play. The system requires constant discipline so Giovanni Trapattoni must be given credited for how his team maintained their shape.

The players clearly believe in him and considering our current standing in the group they have every right to. Everyone knows their job.

I also watched England’s draw with Switzerland on Saturday and still can’t figure out what system they were playing. I don’t think they knew either.

Jack Wilshere has the ability to get into Wayne Rooney’s talent stratosphere but otherwise England were technically inferior to the Swiss. Basically, they simply could not keep hold of the football for any significant passages of play.

That’s the way of it these days – all European teams have a better appreciation of how to control a game. The hope is Slovakia don’t punish us for a similar weakness.

In the last 10 minutes in Skopje we maintained possession a bit better, even if our wingers were still unaccustomed to checking back and finding a man in space deeper into our own territory.

And still, the endeavour of the collective cannot be faulted. Despite all the crying-off of players in recent weeks, it is clear those who take the field are willing to sweat blood for the cause. That is a heartening sight from an Ireland team.

The major positive was our two best players for many years now, our two natural leaders, both performed to their high standards. Shay looked sharp, making some really good saves, while Robbie never stopped moving into space and he took his two goals well. No more can be asked of either man.

They cannot be taken for granted. When you travel to a place like this your senior players must take this responsibility upon their own shoulders. If Ireland make it to Ukraine/Poland a huge debt of gratitude will be owed for Saturday night’s contributions. Especially considering the absence of Richard Dunne and Damien Duff.

The German referee, Florian Meyer, proved very good for us on the night. But we deserve that in this campaign considering our recent history. He probably could have booked a few more Macedonians for some cynical tackles, especially on McGeady, but he missed a clear Macedonian penalty against John O’Shea.

I think the back four did enough to be applauded but it does need to change come September’s defining games against Slovakia and Russia.

We cannot go to Moscow and get a result without all our best players.

O’Shea, I expect, will shift to right back, with Dunne and Seán St Ledger, if fit, both returning. I’d like to see more of Kevin Foley but considering the remaining games are all about getting a job done, experience trumps most other attributes, including youth. Kilbane proved as much with some timely interventions here.

It is also crucial, if we are to top the group, that Duff, somewhere, and Kevin Doyle (I still don’t buy into dropping Shane Long and I think he must remain the primary understudy to Keane and Doyle) must be accommodated if they return from injury. Their presence seems essential in Russia so that means they also need to start four days beforehand in Dublin against the Slovaks.

Everyone knows how we will play by now but, equally, nobody can doubt the team’s desire to qualify for a major tournament.