Gibson gamble must pay off

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND V CYPRUS - Croke Park Kick-off: 7.45pm: ALMOST EXACTLY two years ago Steve Staunton was hauled over the proverbial coals following that infamous defeat in Nicosia, accused of having gambled in selecting his team, writes Emmet Malone

Now his successor has taken what might be considered the first real gamble of his tenure by naming Darron Gibson to partner Glenn Whelan in central midfield tonight.

The 20-year-old Manchester United midfielder will make his first international start after earning a late call-up to the squad thanks to his performance over the first 56 minutes of last week's B team game against Nottingham Forest and his form in training since the weekend.

Previously, the Northerner had played just 18 minutes of competitive football this season, coming on late in his club side's 3-1 League Cup defeat of Middlesbrough last month.

Trapattoni explained the decision to go for Gibson over Liam Miller primarily on the basis of the younger man's greater physical presence.

"He is physical, he plays with confidence and sees the easy ball," said the veteran Italian, "but we also need his height because Duff and McGeady are little. Also, the strikers, they need this support to push them forward."

Gibson, long regarded as a major prospect, did provide evidence of that attacking side of his game last Thursday at Dalymount, where he did well in what was admittedly a low-key game.

It is quite a leap for him to go from that to being named in the team for tonight's game at Croke Park, a fact tacitly acknowledged by the coach, who prior to training yesterday said he would need to make sure Gibson was sufficiently "serene" before confirming him in his line-up. Apparently he was.

To date, Gibson has played just two senior international games, both from the bench, against Denmark and Slovakia. Most of his competitive experience came during a loan spell at Wolves last year, when he was also reckoned to have done well.

His talent, indeed, is considerable and has won him many admirers, but his inexperience made him a long shot to replace Steven Reid, not least because Whelan, though he has done well so far, has himself just five senior caps, all of them this year and only two of them in competitive games.

Though the balance of the players' styles is better than when Staunton partnered Stephen Ireland with Kevin Kilbane and the pair ended up being overrun, there will surely be concern about how this new combination might cope if things don't go well.

There is also sure to be considerable disappointment among those overlooked. Liam Miller, for one, is unlikely to be much happier than Andy Reid as he weighs his prospects under Trapattoni.

In other areas, the team is very much in line with what had been expected. Damien Duff returns to the wing at the expense of Stephen Hunt, while Paul McShane of Hull City fills the defensive vacancy created by Steve Finnan's injury.

Where McShane will start was not completely clarified yesterday, but Trapattoni hinted fairly strongly the young Wicklowman's effectiveness as a "stopper" made him best suited for the central defensive role, while John O'Shea would be assigned to marking the "very, very dangerous" Efstathios Aloneftis, who is expected to start on the left wing for Cyprus.

Trapattoni's opposite number, Angelos Anastasiadis, has quite a few problems ahead of the game and could be without the scorers of four of his side's five goals from the game two years ago.

Constantinos Charalambides, who got two that night in Nicosia, is definitely out because of suspension. And Michael Constantinou is a doubt with knee and heel problems.

Whatever the visitors' difficulties, though, Trapattoni is adamant the game will be a tough one, the task made more difficult, he believes, by a sense of complacency among press and public.

"Cyprus is a good team with good, fast players," he said. "Against Italy, in the first 20 minutes they could have scored three goals.

"But we are confident, we have to think we can win and go to the top of the table. We will be in a different situation psychologically from when we lost 2-5.

"We are a confident team now. It's the same players but we believe in what we are doing."

The first two competitive games under Trapattoni were encouraging but it will still be interesting to see how they fare at home in a game they are expected to win.

Duff's return is a major boost but it remains to be seen whether the Newcastle United winger is back to his best and, if he is, whether he's allowed to roam the left flank, where he is far more capable of causing problems for tonight's opponents.

Richard Dunne, who was sent off in Nicosia and missed the drawn return game 12 months ago because of suspension, will have to contribute much more, but the big defender should be capable of rising to the challenge.

Whether the team is capable of the coherence and fluency Trapattoni is aiming for, however, remains to be seen.

Yesterday, in one of his more entertaining moments, he suggested he wanted them to work together much more instinctively.

"The team must play like a blind man," he remarked while apparently working on an imaginary keyboard with eyes closed. He went on to recall his days playing for Italy alongside Gianni Rivera, remarking, "After two or three years when I wanted to give him the ball I knew exactly where he would be and what he would do with it."

Against these opponents two years ago, of course, it looked very much like a case of the blind leading the blind.

It will be a major step forward this time if there is evidence the players are playing for a man who has inspired them with some grand vision.

Oh, and a return to winning ways against a side Ireland had beaten four times out of four prior to two years ago would, needless to say, be welcome too if a top-two finish in the qualification group is to remain a serious prospect.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:Given (Newcastle Utd); O'Shea (Manchester Utd), McShane (Hull City), Dunne (Manchester City), Kilbane (Wigan Ath); McGeady (Celtic), Whelan (Stoke City), Gibson (Manchester Utd), Duff (Newcastle Utd); Doyle (Reading), Keane (Liverpool).

CYPRUS (probable):Giorgadillis (Omonia); Ilia (Apoel), Charalambous (Omonia), A Constantinou (Anorthosis), Garpozis (Apollon); Christofi (Omonia), Nikolaou (Panionios), Makridis (Metelurg Donetsk), Aloneftis (Omonia); Okkas (Omonia), M Constantinou (Iraklis).