Changed times as Northern Ireland come for kickabout

Sunday’s game against England will, everyone hopes, add to the sense of how much things have changed over the past 20 years but perhaps this afternoon’s encounter with Northern Ireland is of just as much significance in its way.

Games between the Ireland's two teams used to be tense and deeply tribal affairs. Then, four years ago the Nations Cup encounter attracted a crowd that even the organisers put at just 15,000.

Now, we have Michael O’Neill and co popping down the M1 for a glorified joint training session. Somewhere, a good many of those who packed into Windsor Park on November 17th 1993 must be wondering “where did it all go wrong?”.

Since taking on the job, Martin O’Neill has repeatedly lamented the lack of bright, new, young players banging on the door of the senior squad but the 2011 game, which the Republic won 5-0, still highlights the amount of turnover there has been in four years. Nine of the 15 players who featured that day for Giovanni Trapattoni are no longer involved with the squad with two of the three unused substitutes also out of favour.

Sounded sceptical

The exception amongst those who spent the entire evening on the bench is

Darren Randolph

, the now West Ham goalkeeper who has a few days away from the squad in the United States for family reasons.

Jonathan Walters

and

Wes Hoolahan

also missed yesterday’s session and O’Neill sounded sceptical enough afterwards about either of them now featuring in a game that will be so informal that the manager remains uncertain even as to whether it will be divided into halves or thirds.

“I am not sure if they will be involved tomorrow at some stage,” he said. “It’s less of a problem for Wes [than for the other Championship players] because he played not so long ago. It’s the same with Jon but I am hoping that when they have had scans and X-rays [(on slight knee problems] that they are perfectly alright.”

‘Influential game’

As for whether they can both be involved in the qualifier, he says: “Fitness permitting, I don’t see why they should not be. Wes had an influential game and Jon has been excellent for us so they are big parts of our squad.”

It is, for all that, of some significance to the manager as he prepares his squad for the games against England and, in particular, Scotland with the various Championship players needing to recover sharpness after almost a month away from full-time training and those from top flight happy with the opportunity to keep their hands in.

“All the players here will be involved at some stage” he said. “Primarily, this one will be to do with fitness. Some of the Championship players who’ve not played for a little while were blowing a bit towards the end [of yesterday’s session] which was understandable. It allows me to try a little with regard to formations and stuff like that but generally speaking tomorrow’s exercise is about fitness against another international side.”

The crowd have been removed completely from the equation with the game, such as it is, to be played behind closed doors and O’Neill insists that a pretty tight rein will be kept on the players so as to ensure none of that lingering on-field rivalry ends up producing a problem or two.

He laughs, a little knowingly, at the suggestion that a couple of those who have defected south might come in for close attention when on the ball and jokes that if things even start to get out of hand, the referee will be in a position to dispense with cards and move straight to the final whistle.

“The great thing about it is we can haul it up anytime,” he says. “We can call a halt to proceedings. We’re down to start at one o’clock and we could be finished by 10 past, very easily.”

England, he says, should be just that . . . a proper game. A big crowd and two teams with enough enduring rivalry that both will want to win.

‘Proper game’

“I think there will be an edge, of course I do,” he says, “I think it will be great. Hopefully, serious injury apart, you’ve got time to recover [before Scotland]. Great for the Championship players who’ve been out for a little while, but yeah I think it’ll be a proper game. England will want to go into their final game in the summer time not having being beaten by us.”

Asked if he thinks that he and Roy Hodgson might come to any agreements ahead of that one on how to keep a lid on things, he says not. “No, I don’t see it that way. I think the game is prestigious enough for us to be really wanting to have a go. And I’ve never really thought about it any other way.”