Soccer analyst: We were poor, we were outplayed, outfought and outthought. Cyprus opened us up all over the place: down the left, down the right, through the middle, they played through us, they played around us, they played over us. We ended up making them look a very good team, which they are not.

But at the end of it all we've put ourselves in a position that the majority of teams in Europe would love to be in on Wednesday: we still have a chance of qualifying for the World Cup.

So yes, a poor, poor performance but, come Wednesday at 7.45, it will be irrelevant. We're still in it so between now and the Swiss game Brian Kerr and his staff have a massive job to do to turn all the negatives into positives.

Wednesday is a cup final, and quite often when you win your semi-final you win it ugly. Which is what we did in Cyprus. And ugly is the only word for it.

For long periods on Saturday we looked like a bunch of strangers. The three departments of the team - defence, midfield and attack - never really met.

Brian Kerr knows if we play like that on Wednesday we'll be beaten, simple as that, but the players . . . well . . . generally footballers, when they win, are very good at shutting out the negatives, regardless of how poorly they might have played. Confidence and form, though, are clearly at a low.

The really, really good sides in football, once they take the lead in a game, will say 'let's get a second, let's have this game over in 60 minutes', but when you're not sure about things, when you're struggling, you go backwards, which is exactly what we did on Saturday night.

It hasn't, of course, been the first time in this campaign that we've struggled once we went ahead. The problem is that when we've had leads we've had no leaders, strong personalities who instead of allowing the team step five yards back, to make sure we don't concede a goal, see to it that we push five yards up to try and score a second.

But managers, whether it be for club or country, just can't find enough leaders these days; they just don't seem to be there. Look at England. They're blessed with some outstanding players but very few, if any, leaders. I think it's a sign of the times, to be honest with you, but that's a whole other debate.

It is a worry for Wednesday. It's one of the reasons I would have started with Matt Holland and Graham Kavanagh, in the centre, against Cyprus. They're not the best in the world in those positions but they don't go charging around, they don't run out of position, and when you're lacking leadership, as we are, you need a solid base in those areas, players who will just do their job and give the team some structure.

The defence? Well, John O'Shea just kept getting done by a ball that was coming from the left side of midfield, 40 yards over his head. Really, since the year he broke through at Manchester United, he's been in reverse. I just wonder if the versatility tag has gone against him, he's really not learnt his job, he hasn't had 50, 60 consecutive games in the one position.

And Richard Dunne is just a little bit inclined to make a mistake a game, it's waiting to happen. The whole back four, though, played like strangers, it was alarming at times just how easily they were opened up. Even France didn't open us up as much.

On the plus side there was Stephen Elliott and Shay Given. I was against starting with Elliott, I just didn't think he was ready, but I thought his understanding of how to play in a game like this was very, very good. He took his goal extremely well, his movement was very good, his awareness too, his ability to just get on with it was excellent. A big, big plus.

As for Shay Given? Well, we've seen it for years from him, I can't even remember his last mistake. He's never really got the praise he deserves in England, praise he would have got if he was with one of the top four clubs. I love him as a goalkeeper, too, because he doesn't panic, no hollering and bawling. Thank God for a goalkeeper like him.