WORLD CUP LEGEND DESERVES OUR BEST WISHES

O'Neill on international duty for Northern Ireland

 

Former Northern Ireland captain Martin O’Neill is the man John Delaney and those nice chaps down at the FAI are closing in on to be new Republic of Ireland manager. It’s an obvious choice in my opinion, and one that unsurprisingly has been warmly welcomed by fans of the "Boys in Green".

The Derry man had successful spells at Leicester City, Celtic, Aston Villa and more recently Sunderland, which albeit ended somewhat prematurely.  However, it was only a few years ago O’Neill was touted as a possible successor to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Now, the man from Kilrea looks set to be presented with the opportunity to try his hand at international management with the Republic of Ireland. It's a proposal O'Neill would find very hard to refuse given that he was very nearly handed the England job at the peak of his managerial career.

Some might say trading one shade of green for another might be a bitter pill to swallow for many Northern Ireland fans, but is it really?

Let’s face facts.

Martin O’Neill has, and always will be, an advocate of an all-Ireland football team. He does not share the same sense of rivalry that many NI and ROI fans may have with one another. He simply does not see a border in footballing terms, therefore no matter which Irish side O’Neill had chosen to manage, you can guarantee he would be 100% behind either one. He is not alone in this view. Amongst others, George Best had said he would be just as comfortable representing a unified team as he was playing for Northern Ireland.  

This concept should not be viewed as a slap in the face to the Irish Football Association -  in fact, to the contrary. For when you delve into the proud history of football in Ireland prior to partition politically, the IFA were at the forefront of organising international and domestic football on an island-wide basis. It was only in 1921 and a decision taken by those based in the newly formed Irish Free State, and in particular it's capital in Dublin, that would serve to rock the very foundations of both the domestic game and international football on the island to the point where even today we are still feeling the tremors.  For the first time in sport, as it was politically, a complete severance of ties between North and South had now taken place.  

The local media on both sides of the border would have many believe a United Ireland football team is viable.  In truth, it has never been further away. The modern day Football Association of Ireland who represent the 26 county Republic of Ireland would not wish to give up their status within FIFA, therefore prospects of a unified 'Ireland' side competing in the near future are extremely unlikely.

Comparisons with rugby are drawn on a regular basis as this is organised on an all-Ireland basis.  But unlike rugby where the the IRFU had no split in it's association, relationships were somewhat strained in football circles. Belfast was football's original home in Ireland.  Perhaps the fact rugby was already based primarily in Dublin and the team played the vast majority of their home games at Lansdowne Road was a factor. Arguably, Ulster rugby could have gone down the 'breakaway' route (many still believe it should) but to date the IRFU remain unscathed from the wreckage of our troubled past.  

However, the unique situation football on this island finds itself in can not be placed at the door of Martin O'Neill.  He is merely grasping a chance to manage on the international stage with an Irish side, albeit not the one he hails from and represented with such pride all those years ago. In contrast, O'Neill's arrival in Dublin will see him reunited with fellow Derry native's James McClean and Darron Gibson, two players who used the IFA and Northern Ireland football as a stepping stone towards defecting to the FAI.  I am quite sure had the proposition of switching associations presented itself to O'Neill forty years ago it would been dismissed without a second thought.  Not many players from such a small footballing Nation can say they've been to two World Cups. O'Neill attended two.

Collectively, Northern Irish fans should be proud of Martin O'Neill's achievements both as a player and now as a high profile manager.  The FAI recognise he is the best man for the job and I would have to agree with their choice.  Of course, it will be uneasy for even the most liberal Northern Ireland supporter to see one of our former players paraded around Dublin before a rival association, but thats football.

But, unlike the bad blood of recent defections across the border, I look forward to seeing this move remain purely about football.  Leave the political baggage at the turnstiles.

Good luck Martin, and we look forward to your return to Windsor Park for the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Third time lucky perhaps...

ELIGIBILITY RULING DIVIDES NOT UNITES

A dark day for Northern football limits Nigel Worthington's talent pool

Make no mistake, today is a landmark day in Irish football.

It seems player eligibility on the island of Ireland has reached it's climax.  The topic follows on from a post I did almost three years ago, and does not make pretty reading for the Irish Football Association.

Following a number of defections to the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) of it's players, the Irish Football Association (IFA) took the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to stop the talent drain to the Republic which threatens to spiral out of control.

The IFA case has quite clearly fell on deaf ears with those at CAS, and has now opened the door to Northern Ireland's footballing elite to switch allegiances to the Republic of Ireland if they so wish.

In a statement, the IFA said it was "disappointed by the decision".  Rubbish.  Underneath, they will be absolutely seething and will be left reeling by the decision, and rightly so.  Why would an association who govern's, trains, and educates it's emerging talent wish to see that talent then handed over to a rival association whenever they are wanted?

The FAI 'victory' can no doubt be attributed to their continued referral throughout the case to the historic 'Good Friday Agreement' whereby anyone born on the island of Ireland can indeed be recognised as a citizen of Ireland.

However, this farcical situation where two Irish Associations go against one another is quite blatantly based on religious affiliation, and not citizenship; a right which the Gibson's, Duffy's and Wilson's of this world are guaranteed from day one by the way.  Therefore the FAI's insistence on quoting the GFA in order to bolster it's already minimal local based talent looks to be both narrow-minded and greedy.  Of course the FAI strategy would have to be expected when you take into consideration the number of non-Irish born Republic of Ireland internationals in the past.  When an association is so used to having it's pool of talent UK-wide, Northern Ireland was always going to be vulnerable to the prying eye of the FAI.

But it is also extremely insensitive.  Many within Northern football would view the FAI's strategy of claiming players not entitled to them as out-of-touch with the 'new' Northern Ireland that is being created following the signing of that historic agreement.

'Shared', 'inclusive', 'partnership' were all keywords that feature within creating peace and prosperity in Northern society.

Did those at the FAI miss that section of the agreement?

Their claims that they maintain good relations with their Northern counterparts may well be true, but is something more sinister lurking in the background?  Their actions can be seen as opportunism, yet for many in Northern football it is seen as a blatant sectarian grab for the Roman Catholic population who might be easily 'sweet-talked' into a switch of associations.

A defection based on religious grounds then.  Really...

Does this seriously respect a 'shared' future?

No.

It places yet another religious barrier over a 'war-weary' Northern society that is trying it's best to find a way to embrace the relatively new concept of 'shared future' together.  Unfortunately, it was the high profile Northern Ireland youth international Darron Gibson that set the negative trend, and so far Armagh's Marc Wilson and Derry's Shane Duffy have followed suit.  No doubt there will be more to come following Don Givens appointment to Chief Scout in the United Kingdom.

I'll leave you with a depressing scenario that could well emerge from the whole elligibility debacle...

Envisage five to ten years down the line where 'Catholic Ireland' is led by the FAI, and a 'Protestant Ireland' is governed by the IFA.  The so-called 'Orange' and 'Green' firmly set apart from each other.  An Ireland of equals?  A building of bridges?

Don't believe the local media hype for one minute.

Football Apartheid in Ireland is progressing from a political level to a religious one, and like it or not the FAI have been handed a huge advantage over their Northern counterparts from this decision.

Reasons to be cheerful.. Un, Deux, Trois

Today seen the biggest ego in football (next to Cristiano) get the draw he wanted.  The 'big boys' of European football have been issued their life-line for world cup qualification.

It was this afternoon that the play-off's in the European Qualification region for the World Cup were drawn.  Republic of Ireland were dealt arguably the cruelest card of all, paired alongside former World champions France. 

The draw in full was as follows (left team at home first)...

Republic of Ireland vs France

Portugal vs Bosnia Herzegovina

Greece vs Ukraine

Russia vs Slovenia

FIFA's decision two weeks previous to introduce seedings for the play-off draw in order to help the bigger, more marketable nations take their 'rightful' place on the world stage, could have a detremental impact on everyone else... and FIFA doesn't seem to mind.  How the so-called protector of smaller nations Michelle Platini has kept so quiet during this quite blantant moving of the goalposts beggars belief.  Have FIFA gagged the UEFA chief? Have they slipped a few extra sugars into his tea?  Or could it be that Platini's own country stood to gain massively from the change of rules? In my view, this seems to be the case.

As a neutral looking at the draw, it would seem the next eight games will be a mere formality.  France, Portugal, Greece and Russia all have favourable draws due to their seeding status.  However, as much as I'd rather see the likes of Ronaldo, Benzema and Arshavin showcasing their 'star-power' at the greatest competition in world football, I would (to quote Kevin Keegan) "LOVE IT, JUST LOVE IT" if this masterplan to bundle them into the tournament through the back door back-fired.

So here's to the little guys... Republic of Ireland, Slovenia (should have been NI!), Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Ukraine. 

But you know what, despite the cards being stacked against them, I still think there's room for at least one shock somewhere in Europe. 

The French should have coasted their group with Serbia their only real threat, yet they only just sauntered over the finish line into second place.  The Republic of Ireland came close to topping a group that involved the current World champions, Italy. They will give France a fright at Croker but I feel with the all-important second leg being in Paris it could be curtain's for the Irish if Benzema and Henry up the ante.

The same can be said for Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.  They got lucky in the final round of games and have Denmark to thank for disposing of the Swede's for them to sneak in behind them.  They're up against super-minnows Bosnia-Herzegovina, a relatively unknown quantity, but as we saw with Serbia topping their group, Portugal should be on their guard.

Greece versus Ukraine is probably the most likely one of the four matches to go against FIFA's seeding stategy.  The Greeks are fading quickly.  The Euro 2004 winners had aruably the easiest group during qualifying yet made a bit of a hash of even attaining second spot.  They did it, but face a strong Ukraine side who pipped Croatia to second place in a group that contained a resurgent England.

Finally, Russia will be up against Slovenia.  Expect a Russian win at home and away in this one.  No disrespect to the Slovenian's but they're not a great side.  They did well in beating Czech Republic, Poland and Northern Ireland to second place, but really that was all about the amount of draws those three teams had with each other... not realising they were leaving the door open for the unfancied Slovenia to shimmy on through!  No sour grapes from me though, I think they were value for second place (even though we beat them at Windsor!)

Good luck to all the minnows. Cristiano can top up his tan elsewhere this year, South Africa and the footballing world doesn't need you... but FIFA unfortunately does.