Great expectations of youth

It's a weekday morning in Merrion Square and Brian Kerr, as he likes to, is discussing the media with the media.

Asked about the growing level of expectations which his underage international teams find themselves having to face up to, he looks around the table and speculates aloud as to how many of those attending last week's press conference to announce the Irish squad for the European Under-18 Championships in Cyprus, which starts today, would have attended a similar event two years ago. "A few of yiz, yeah, but not many, that's for sure."

Now a dozen papers and radio stations have enough interest to send reporters to meet him and most of those will have people at pitchside tomorrow evening in Ayia Napa when the Irish kick off their first group match against Croatia.

If the team finishes third or better in their group and qualifies for next year's under-20 World Cup in Nigeria, you can bet that there'll be more than the couple of journalists who made the trip to Malaysia for the under-20 world championships. Things have come a long way since the country discovered underage football last July and just about everybody reckons there's a fair bit of mileage left in this bandwagon yet.

Failure to qualify for Nigeria over the coming week, Kerr admits, would be a considerable letdown. But having led teams to third place in an under-20 World Cup, fourth in last year's under-18 Europeans, first in the under-18 friendly tournament in Oporto earlier this year and, most memorably, first in the under-16 European Championships in Scotland a couple of months ago, the Dubliner also realises that anything less than a spot in the third place play-off would represent a disappointment at this stage. "It's you guys and what you write that has the effect of raising expectations," he told us last week. We could have argued the point, but nobody bothered, he knew the truth as well as we did.

What Kerr and his assistant, Noel O'Reilly, have achieved so far is all the more remarkable given what they inherited. True, the Irish have enjoyed some sporadic success at underage level over the years, most notably during Liam Tuohy's time when Kerr was also involved. However before now the achievements of our teams have never been consistent enough to earn the Republic the sort of reputation it is now beginning to enjoy internationally and what success there was tended to be achieved despite rather than because of the way in which our players have been developed.

That process has been, and is still, dominated by the needs of the big English clubs. There are plenty of willing accomplices - from parents of would-be stars eager to see their teenage sons take what is seen as the only route to the top, to managers of teams here who act as scouts on the side and take commissions in one form or another in return for sending youngsters across the water.

Kerr has repeatedly said that he wants to play a part in changing this process and the appointment of O'Reilly as a regional coaching director by the FAI is a sign that things are starting to move in the right direction. So far, however, his main achievement has been in standing up to the major players in the system, the English club managers, asserting what Howard Wilkinson, his opposite number in England, would take for granted - his right to take players when he needs them - and making it clear, with some conviction, that when the clubs get them back they will be better players.

Few club managers could argue with the way things have gone so far and the fact that, in the continued absence of any real support from Mick McCarthy, Robbie Keane is in Cyprus this week rather than in pre-season training with Wolves is a sign that the battle is beginning to be won. Damien Duff's absence, on the other hand is a reminder, albeit an expected one, that there remains some fighting to be done.

In one way, of course, Kerr is rapidly becoming a victim of his own success. The Irish now go into championships such as these widely regarded as being amongst the favourites. This side's chances look particularly good on paper with five having the experience of last year's tournament in Iceland under their belts and several more the satisfaction of having gotten the better of some good sides in Portugal in the spring.

The Greeks have enjoyed considerable success at underage level themselves over the past couple of years, but they were convincingly beaten over two legs in the qualification play-offs for Cyprus, while the draw, by placing Ireland in the same group as the hosts who should be the weakest team in the eight-nation competition, appears to have helped Kerr towards his initial goal of qualifying for Nigeria.

Unfortunately the Cypriot game is Ireland's last, on Thursday night, and the Irish manager knows that his must do well against Croatia tomorrow night and England on Tuesday if they are to progress to next weekend's play-offs. The system under which the two group winners simply play each other in the final and the runners-up meet to decide third place is unforgiving, as Kerr discovered last year when Ireland lost 3-2 to France in the opening game and he realised that any hope of winning the tournament was effectively over.

"That was difficult," he says "because we hadn't really realised how important the game was. The lads actually got better every time they played after that, and the best game they played was the third place play-off, which was their fourth game. But everything had depended on the opening game, there wasn't any way to make up for that."

The Croatians, he knows will be a tough team to start against this time, while the English, even if his players are delighted to be playing them, are a particular source of anxiety.

"They're looking forward to it," he laughs, "but I'd prefer to be facing the continentals."

You can be sure, it seems safe to assume, that Wilkinson, as he reflects on the week ahead, is thinking along very similar lines this morning.