Taking Russian lessons

Ireland’s 2-0 victory against Russia has left Mick McCarthy with the sort of headaches that managers normally crave.

While it’s by no means a given that they’ll make it into the World Cup squad, Colin Healy, Richard Sadlier and Stephen Reid demonstrated at Lansdowne Road that they’re not phased by the big occasion, and all turned in decent performances. I was particularly impressed with the way Reid took his goal. The Russian keeper may have decided to do a somersault over it, but it still had to be struck well and Stephen certainly delivered on that score.

The fact that this threesome – and a few other lads as well – are coming through will keep everyone on their toes, which is exactly what you want with a big tournament coming up. It’s also important to have an insurance policy if somebody crucial like a Quinn or a Keane gets a bad injury. There are options there now, which, at the start of the season, we didn’t know existed.

Mick’s gone on record as saying that he tried to bring Richard Sadlier to Milwall while he was manager there, so he obviously rates him. Ideally you want your players to be competing against the best every week in the Premiership, but Mick knows how tough the Nationwide is and won’t mind that Sadlier and Reid are at Millwall, and Healy on loan at Coventry. There’s almost more pressure on you to perform in the Nationwide because, with the exception of Man City, Wolves and a couple of others, clubs don’t have five players on the bench who are as good as the guys in the starting 11. If you’re out of sorts, the whole team suffers. I finished my career off at Sheffield United which was as tough, physically and mentally, as anything I encountered at Old Trafford.

Of course, one of the Premiership strugglers might look at the 17 goals Richard Sadlier has scored for Millwall and think, “This guy could save our bacon” – but I think he’s better off staying at a club where he’s more or less guaranteed his place, at least for the moment.

Another fella who had a great first-half against Russia was Stephen Finnan. The biggest

compliment you can pay him is that Stephen Carr’s injury hasn’t detracted from the overall quality of our performances. You’d swear

watching Finnan that he’s got 20 or 30 caps to his name – he’s looked that good. Along the way, I’ve said how impressed I am with Martin O’Neill as a motivator. Well Jean Tigana at Fulham’s another manager who gets the best out of his players, and Finnan is clearly benefiting from that.

Getting back to the Premiership – at this stage, it’d take a miracle for Leicester to beat the drop, and despite all their toil and team spirit, I’d put my money on Derby and Bolton to go with them. Signing Youri Djorkaeff from Bayer Leverkeusen is a huge gamble on Sam Allardyce’s part, but it might just be what Bolton need to give them a lift. The other lads will relish playing with a World Cup winner, and the fans will see that all the stops are being pulled out to keep them up.

I just hope that Djorkaeff’s arrival works out better than George Weah’s brief stay at Manchester City. The problem wasn’t his ability – which was still there for all to see – but the fact that he was so far ahead of his teammates that they weren’t able to read his intentions. He’d split the opposition wide open with a flick, only to find that there was nobody there to capitalise on it.

I imagine it’ll frustrate the hell out of Djorkaeff if he experiences the same kind of thing at Bolton.

There’s been a lot of debate about the government’s decision to give tax breaks to professional sports people based in Ireland. Football-wise, I don’t think it’ll stop young lads wanting to try their luck in England, but it would certainly be a major incentive for established players to join a Dublin-based Premiership team at some time in the future. It might be five or 10 years down the road, but I strongly believe that it will happen – and if it does, it’ll be a major benefit to the game here.

I don’t know about you, but try as I might I haven’t been able to get into the Winter Olympics. They’re fabulous athletes I’m sure – but, well, there’s something about Irish people and snow that just doesn’t go together. Even if I wanted to, with my knees there’s no way I could go skiing. Fair play to that Lord Clifton Hugh Lancelot De Verdon Wrottesley fella, but there’s no way you’d get me on one of those tea-trays either!

I’m also thinking of giving up on rugby after the mauling England gave us! Even though I was sickened and switched off at half-time, I had to hold my hands up and say, “Wow, what a magnificent performance by the English” – which was a first for me! Johnny Wilkinson, in particular, was phenomenal.

Returning to football, I have to say I’m thrilled that Slattery Travel have invited me to go to Japan with them. Having played in a couple of World Cups, it’ll be nice to hang out with the fans and, indeed, get the opportunity to be a supporter myself. I wouldn’t be one for raw fish, but I’m definitely up for trying the local grub and generally getting a feel for the country. I loved the crack David Beckham made about, never mind Japanese, he’s still getting to grips with English! I’m a bit like that myself, I’m afraid, and so I’ll be hoping that there’s a translator around.

As for the rest of you, good luck with the Linguaphone course!