Irish players accept some of the blame

Two members of the Republic of Ireland squad accepted yesterday the players contributed to manager Steve Staunton's downfall, with Lee Carsley describing their performances as "unprofessional at times" and Stephen Hunt admitting he and others had failed to perform against the Cypriots last week. Emmet Malone, Soccer Correspondent, reports.

Everton midfielder Carsley feels Staunton deserved more time to get what he believes were good ideas across to a group of players whose attitude and lack of concentration late on in games hastened his departure.

"I'm gutted for Stan," he said. "It's never nice to see anyone lose their job but I think the manner in which he has lost his job is poor. He is a young manager coming through. It's difficult at international level as it's not as if you can go out and buy players.

"He never had much luck in that department. He should have had more time. The ideas that he was getting across to the players were good. We were unprofessional at times in letting in late goals. That's ultimately cost him the job."

Hunt also admitted players who had under-performed, including himself, had left their manager in an increasingly tight corner.

In the end, though, he saw Staunton's dismissal as part and parcel of the game. "It's disappointing and we have to take some of the responsibility," said the Reading midfielder.

"I didn't play that well in my last game. I could have helped a bit more with my performance. It's not always the manager's fault. Players have bad games and some of us certainly did in the last game against Cyprus. The players crossed the line and didn't perform.

"But ultimately the manager is responsible for the team," Hunt continued. "Results are what determines where managers go and results haven't been good. You have to take the criticism, and he has done, to be fair. He took it on the chin and he'll learn from it, I suppose, as all the players will.

"It's not a hard life to have," he concluded, "especially being an international manager. It's a great life. I'm sure he'll get the next two years of his contract paid up and it's a job well paid."

He said he had talked to Staunton on Wednesday as the Louthman rang around members of the squad to thank them for their efforts and wish them well for the future.

"Steve phoned me yesterday. I think he rang everyone. It was just a brief conversation. 'Thanks for your effort', 'thanks for giving me my debut, see you later'. It was that quick and I'm sure he was doing the rounds with everyone else.

"He said thanks for my effort, which he appreciated. He said look forward and get on with your careers. And I'm sure he'll do the same with his managerial career somewhere else."

Hunt's manager at Reading, Steve Coppell, meanwhile, joked about speculation linking him to the now vacant Ireland job without ever really ruling himself in or completely out of the reckoning.

"It was just mischievous," he laughed. I did an interview with TV over there and I just said that the older I'm getting, the more international football appeals to me. You know, eight games a year . . . I could quite happily do that. I did also mention that my grandmother was Irish so, to all intents and purposes, I do qualify!"