Let Staunton get on with plan - Given

The goalkeeper argues that few appreciate just how tough a job Steve Staunton has. Mary Hanniganreports

After the Germany game on Saturday the more youthful members of the squad, Kevin Doyle, Shane Long and Andy Keogh among them, spoke enthusiastically enough about the future, about how confident they were the young blood coming through would help boost Ireland's chances of qualifying for a major tournament, maybe even as soon as the 2010 World Cup.

But when you're a footballer in your early 20s you have time on your side, and perhaps missing out on Euro 2008 doesn't seem like the end of the world - with at least another 10 playing years ahead of you there will, you assume, be plenty more chances.

Not so if you're 31, although as a goalkeeper Shay Given should be around longer than most of the outfield players in his age group. Still, another major tournament will pass him by.

"It is extremely frustrating that we haven't qualified since the World Cup in 2002 and that will hit home again next summer when I'm sitting at home and the European Championships are on," he said. "Playing at the World Cup was one of the highlights of my career and, once you've been there, you want to be at every single tournament. I thought we would be able to go on from there and be involved in World Cups and European Championships, but it hasn't happened.

"We've been going through a tough spell for the last while. There have been a lot of changes in the squad and it takes time for people to bed in, but we are all impatient and want results yesterday. The fact is that we haven't done well enough. There is no nice way of putting it, we simply haven't been good enough.

"In this campaign it has been our away form that has really let us down. Our form at home has been pretty good, but not in the away games. The two real disappointments of the group were drawing in Slovakia and losing in Cyprus and they are results which have really cost us."

Given, of course, missed the debacle in Cyprus through injury, when his replacement Paddy Kenny endured a nightmarish evening. "But I think everyone here wants to put that wrong right," he said. "It was a one-off game, a terrible result for Ireland and we all want to make amends. Robbie (Keane) said they were show-boating a bit near the end, which was hard to take.

"But there's no doubt, that result cost us dearly. We know that we need to achieve a level of consistency, we haven't had that and that is why our chances of qualifying are so slim with a couple of games to go. There have been a lot of changes in the team throughout the campaign, but a lot of them have been enforced because of injury and the thing is we don't have the biggest of squads. We are not a big nation like England so we can't pick three different starting XIs. When we do lose key players, such as Damien Duff, we find it difficult to replace them."

The loss of key players through the campaign and the necessity for Steve Staunton to rebuild when he took over from Brian Kerr is, Given insisted, reason enough for the manager to receive more sympathy for what he has had to endure in this campaign.

"Steve is learning as he goes along, as all managers do. It's a learning curve for everyone and you have to give people time to gel and get things right. Because players were retiring, Stan had to breed new players into the team and the squad and it hasn't been easy for him to get the mix right. He brought in players that a lot of people had never heard of before. They have had to grow up quickly but hopefully the experience they have gained will stand them in good stead.

"For Joey O'Brien, for example, to come in after more than a year out, in what is not even his natural position, and do so well against Germany was exceptional. And Andy Reid was fantastic too. He ran midfield - and when you see things like that it would have to fill you with hope for the future.

"Stan always said the four-year plan was to qualify for the World Cup. Deep down, we all wanted to qualify for the European Championships, but it looks as though that has fallen by the wayside. But, hopefully, we showed against Germany that we are going in the right direction."