Staunton's days numbered

Soccer:Steve Staunton's reign as Republic of Ireland manager looks to be coming to an end as the FAI's chief executive, John Delaney, said last night the association's board of management could meet to consider "recent performances" over the "next number of days".

Speaking on RTÉ's Six Onenews, after declining a large number of other interview requests yesterday, Delaney described the situation in relation to the national team as "hugely disappointing", but insisted the matter is one for the 10-man board rather than just him.

Delaney went on to say he had spoken to Staunton immediately after the match, and again yesterday morning, and that on both occasions the Louthman had indicated his desire to carry on in the job. At no point yesterday, however, did Delaney voice any support for the manager nor did he suggest he had reassured Staunton in either of their conversations regarding his future.

The board's next meeting is scheduled for November 13th, just four days before the Republic are due to take on Wales at the Millennium Stadium in their last Euro 2008 qualifier and well after Staunton would be expected to name his squad for the game.

Delaney, however, said that: "In the past, what's happened about major decisions of every nature, board meetings have been brought forward to consider major decisions and we'll see over the next number of days what our board members want to do in that respect."

Asked about whether the current "crisis" requires decisive action on the part of the association, he observed: "It's a matter for the members. This is the third or fourth crisis - in inverted commas - around the current management team. We had it after Cyprus, we had it after San Marino, we had it after Prague so people are getting conditioned to this form of crisis but I think that it's important that the members of the board get time to reflect on recent performances and they'll do that over the next number of days."

Staunton's position has indeed, as Delaney, points out, been called into question several times before, but this is the first instance in which the association's chief executive has offered no public support. Previously there had invariably been talk of the "four-year plan" and the need to allow Staunton to work his way through a difficult but necessary period of transition, but there was no attempt to make any allowances for him yesterday.

His primary concern, in fact, was to make it clear that the appointment had been the work of a three-man subcommittee rather than his alone. "It was very clear," he said, "that three people were involved when Steve was appointed, it was a subcommittee of the FAI of three people who made the appointment of the management team. It's unfortunate that I've been personally linked to the appointment when it was a decision of a committee of 10."

He went on to outline the part that he has played in the progress made by the association on other fronts. "Certainly the chief executive can't play on international football pitches and score goals - if I could I'd love to."

It now seems likely that a meeting of the board will be called to consider Staunton's position within a matter of days. It is likely to take place next week although it is possible that, given the almost complete lack of support for the manager, either private or public, preliminary talks on the terms of his departure could be initiated before that.

In statistical terms Staunton's record is not all that disastrous, with six wins and six draws from 17 games in charge. His time in charge has, however, been littered with seriously below-par performances and puzzling team selections. His dealings with the media have invariably done him more harm than good.

Not only has Ireland missed out on qualification again in the current campaign - hardly a sackable offence in itself given the presence of Germany and the Czech Republic in our group - but it remains at least notionally possible heading into November's last rounds of games that the Republic could finish sixth of the group's seven teams.

He has brought a significant number of new players into the squad and promoted more than his predecessor to the team. The problem has been several have not looked ready to make the step up while other, experienced figures, have been inexplicably sidelined.

There has been a consistency to his talk of "progress" having been made and there have indeed been some decent performances. The game against Cyprus, however, presented a fairly clear-cut opportunity to judge how far things had come since the 5-2 defeat in Nicosia and as it turned out both the result and, in particular, the performance, suggested that they were no better than 12 months previously. It is a damning verdict for Staunton.

For his employers, the most compelling reason to consider the manager's position is financial. Paying him off could cost anything up to €1 million if, as has been stated, his four-year contract has no break clause, but the potential cost of the team's continued failure is far higher.

Playing at Croke Park could again be a major money spinner next year but only if games sell out or go fairly close to a full house. Wednesday's game clearly suggested that the supporters' patience is running out.

Ireland still look set to clinch a third place seeding in the draw for the World Cup qualifiers but a dramatic improvement in the team's performances is required if they are to emerge as serious qualification contenders.

Even before a final decision has been made on Staunton's future, former Wigan manager Paul Jewell yesterday ruled himself out of the running for the job, saying he would prefer a return to club management, while sources close to Coventry manager Ian Dowie suggested he would be interested in the post.