SOCCER/Republic of Ireland v Czech Republic: Steve Staunton expressed the hope yesterday that Irish fans will forgive and forget his side's hapless performance in Cyprus and get behind the players for what will be a much tougher assignment against the Czechs.
He may not, however, have been left brimming with confidence that he and his players will receive 90 minutes of unconditional support from the stands by the sound of stadium workmen whistling Laurel and Hardy's signature tune as he passed them on his way to yesterday's lunchtime pre-match press conference.
As if he did not have quite enough problems, Staunton watched as Aiden McGeady went over awkwardly on his ankle before being carted away to hospital. The Celtic midfielder, it turned out, had sustained a sprain and so became the fifth player in 24 hours, after Andy O'Brien, Paddy Kenny, Stephen Ireland and Kevin Doyle, to be ruled out of tonight's game.
Ireland's withdrawal prompted a belated call-up for Everton's Lee Carsley and the 32-year-old arrived in time to take part in yesterday morning's training session. Though Jonathan Douglas and Alan Quinn are available too, it seems certain that Staunton will throw Carsley straight into the team now that he has relented and drafted the former Blackburn Rovers and Coventry City player in at the 11th hour.
Given Clinton Morrison's poor performance on Saturday, the limited alternatives and the urgent need to shore up his midfield, it is distinctly possible, indeed, that Staunton will hand Carsley the role of anchoring a five-man midfield. More than two years after he last played a game for the Republic, the idea would be that he sit in front of Ireland's back four and look to limit the influence of Czech captain Tomas Rosicky, the talented and dangerous Arsenal player who tends to lurk menacingly behind the team's two strikers.
With a number of "knocks and niggles" still outstanding, though, the manager insisted that he is still not sure what his final line-up will be tonight. What is certain, however, is that barring some further setback over the course of today, the back four will consist of Stephen Kelly, John O'Shea, Paul McShane and Steve Finnan.
Kelly, like the most likely replacement for Kenny, Wayne Henderson, has two friendly international appearances to his name, both of which have come this year. West Brom's McShane, like Kelly, a former skipper of the Irish under-21s, has never started a game at this level and though he has long been regarded as a very bright prospect, he may have been handed his start ahead of the marginally more experienced Seán St Ledger on the basis that he and O'Shea are more familiar with each other from his days coming through the ranks at Manchester United.
"It might be a little sooner than I thought it would happen but his chance has come and he's relishing it," said Staunton when asked how the 20-year-old was reacting to the news that he would make his senior debut against the team ranked number seven in the world.
"He could be the next Richard Dunne or the next Mick McCarthy. He's aggressive, good in the air and he can play a bit. I have no problem throwing him or any of the other young lads in because they've never let me down."
Heading into what will be only his fifth game in charge, but already under tremendous pressure, Staunton again handled himself relatively well in front of the media yesterday. He would, he claimed, "be here next month no matter what is written and no matter what happens tomorrow (tonight) so we just have to get on with it".
His insistence that he believes he is secure in his position, though, was somewhat undermined by his clear suggestion that the team's main priority tonight will be to avoid what would be a record-equalling fifth successive defeat for the Republic. And in the circumstances - and this was three hours before John Delaney's comments regarding the manager's position - it was hard to avoid the conclusion that even Staunton suspects a third humiliation in four games would render his position untenable.
Whether it can be avoided depends in large part on how the visitors play, for this Czech team, when playing at its best, is comfortably good enough to beat a stronger Irish side than this.
Staunton's aim is to unsettle them with a more physical approach while hoping that his own players rise to the challenge and perhaps get a little bit of luck.
"They're a top-class side with top-class players," he said, "but they don't like the aggressive side of the Irish nature and we have to show them that tonight."
It is not the most inspiring of formulas but then there is little or no logical basis for expecting an Irish win tonight. Thankfully, football often defies reason to throw up surprises and on this occasion a lot more cohesion and passion on the home side's part, as well as some big displays from the senior players, could yet combine to yield a point or three for the Irish as long as the Czechs don't sparkle.
If his side does lose, however, then a vast improvement on the performances against the Netherlands and Cyprus is surely the very least that is required for Staunton to be allowed the opportunity to turn things around over the longer term.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Henderson (Brighton); Kelly (Birmingham City), McShane (West Brom), O'Shea (Manchester United), Finnan (Liverpool); Reid (Charlton Athletic), Quinn (Sheffield Utd), Carsley (Everton), Kilbane (Wigan Ath), Duff (Newcastle Utd); Keane (Tottenham).
CZECH REPUBLIC: Ujfalusi, Grygera, Rozehnal, Jankulovski; Jarolim, Polak, Rosicky, Plasil; Kohler, Baros.
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