Red faces all 'round

Like every other Ireland supporter, I’m in a state of shock after that terrible performance in Moscow. The 4-2 scoreline tells its own story. I’m sorry to be so blunt but, defensively, we were dreadful. When Shay Given, who’s normally Mr. Reliable, starts making unforced errors you know you’re in trouble.

We’ll get round to discussing Roy Keane in a moment, but an immediate factor on Saturday was that there was no Stevie Staunton to chivvy the younger lads, and make sure everyone remained focussed when we pegged the score back to 2-1. Allowing Russia to restore their two-goal lead straight from the kick-off was an appalling lapse in concentration, and one that probably wouldn’t have happened if Stan had been there to marshal things. Kenny Cunningham is an experienced professional, but I’m not sure if he’s a natural-born leader.

I definitely think that there were a few players suffering from World Cup hangovers. I know from personal experience that the hype and emotion that goes with a major tournament can take it out of you. Steve Finnan looked particularly sluggish, which could have something to do with the 10 Inter Toto Cup games Fulham have already played this season. The same’s true of Matt Holland, who had to report back a week early for the start of Ipswich’s Nationwide League campaign – which, if anything, is an even tougher slog than the Premiership.

That said, they’re young lads, who should be able to prepare themselves physically and mentally for a big qualifier. Given how poor we were at the back and in midfield, I’ll be surprised if Mick McCarthy doesn’t start Colm Healy against Switzerland and call-up John O’Shea. If he’s good enough for the Man U first-team squad, he’s good enough for Ireland.

Our cause wasn’t helped by the injury to Damien Duff. With you-know-who sat at home in Cheshire, we were relying on him for the extra bit of creativity you need at international level. After he went off, it was in short supply.

While we’re on the subject, I think Duffer’s best position is out wide on the left, where he can run on to things and whip in crosses for the forwards. In my opinion Robbie Keane and Gary Doherty should be paired upfront. While I’m not overly enamoured of the long-ball game, there’s a lot to be said for having a big, strong lad like Gary, who has the makings of Niall Quinn’s successor, to get on the end of things. At the moment, we’re playing with two similarly sized lads that defenders twig early on how to cope with.

The calls for Mick McCarthy to resign are as inevitable as they are wrong. Even if – horror of horrors – we were to lose at home against Switzerland, I don’t think giving Mick the bullet would be fair or desirable, given that there’s no one obvious to take over from him. The only time he was guilty of bad management was when he allowed the Roy Keane affair to spiral out of control in Saipan. If I’d been in Mick’s position, I’d have gone, “He’s a miserable git but he’s also my one genuinely world class player, so I’ll cut him some slack.”

To send somebody home for a scuffle on the pitch, or saying he wants pasta instead of bread for his lunch, is Mickey Mouse stuff.

I didn’t see it myself, but I understand that Jimmy Magee offered to act as an “honest broker” between Mick and Roy on The Late Late Show. It’s a noble gesture from a man who’s highly thought of in the game, but there’s no way he, or anyone else, is going to bring about a reconciliation. Too many harsh words have been exchanged, and will continue to be exchanged no doubt when Mick’s book comes out.

On the subject of Roy, I was thinking things couldn’t possibly get any more controversial for him when, lo and behold, he got sent off at Sunderland. Jason was indulging in gamesmanship – you know, “let’s see if I can wind him up” – and Roy bit. Whatever about the pretend writing, I thought him clattering into Roy early in the second half was out of order and should have resulted in a booking. That’s what lead to Roy clocking him – not very well as it happened! The connection may have been slight, but raise your arm like that and you’re off.

What happened afterwards with Niall Quinn was unfortunate too. Even if the reports are correct and their agent, Michael Kennedy, had stage-managed a handshake, Niall was naïve thinking that was the best time to do it. You didn’t have to be a lipreader to realise that Alex Ferguson wasn’t impressed, and I can’t say I blame him. Nice gesture, terrible timing!

He may have this great spirit and will to win, but Roy knows you can’t smash people round the jaw and expect the F.A to overlook it. He’s going to be punished – which will hurt not just him but United as a whole. As for the book, I understand he’s going to fight the disrepute charges on the grounds that he’s entitled to freedom of speech, but he’ll be lucky to escape a six or eight game ban.

I’ve said a few times to Roy that, at this point, he ought to be keeping his head down, but the book carried contractual obligations with it that he couldn’t get out of. I imagine that if The Observer rang up now looking for an interview he’d say “no” to them, but he wasn’t in a position to do that four or five weeks ago when the latest interview to cause a furore happened.

It’s a bit of a mess at the moment, but rest assured, Roy Keane will get himself fit and do everything he can to bring the Premiership trophy back to Old Trafford. And despite the bookies offering good odds on them failing, I reckon they’ll do it!