The European question

I don’t want to add to the pressure that’s already on the team, but lose to Switzerland next week and we can wave “bye, bye” to automatically qualifying for the European Championships. Even a draw would mean that we may have to settle for the play-offs, which isn’t something I’d relish given our recent track-record. To get that close to a major tournament and lose – as we did in the ’90s against Holland, Belgium and Turkey – is something that can haunt a player for the rest of his life.

What Mick needs to do is strike a balance between the lads being focused and relaxed. If letting them have a few pints beforehand helps with the relaxed part, so be it! I know some people were horrified by what Niall Quinn said in his book, but the Irish camp has always had that bonding thing. The key, of course, is moderation.

Personally I reckon that the fight and unity we displayed during the summer are still there, and we’ll put the Moscow nightmare behind us by beating Switzerland 2-1.

I’d love to be able to predict a clean sheet, but Steve Staunton retiring has left us without a natural leader at the back. It’d be one thing if Gary Breen, Gary Kelly and Kenny Cunningham were playing out of their skins for their clubs, but they’ve all had a mixed start to the season and that can effect confidence.

One player who I imagine will be delighted to escape the Premiership for a few days is Kevin Killbane. Kevin’s shown great courage in the way he’s dealt with the Sunderland boo boys, but it does get to you after a while and come January I wouldn’t be surprised if he wants away from the Stadium of Light. I had a taste of it myself when a certain section of the Man United crowd didn’t take kindly to the news that I was leaving for Aston Villa.Fans have every right to voice their opinions, but jeering somebody when they come out for the warm-up isn’t going to help them play better.

I’m not convinced he’ll be Mick’s choice, but personally I’d go for Gary Doherty as Robbie Keane’s strike partner. As I’ve said before in hotpress, it’s nice to have the option of a big, strong fella up front. Another player who probably won’t start but should definitely be on the bench is John O’Shea. You might question him having a ‘big match temperament’ if he was in the First Division, but he’s shown with United that nothing phases him.

Talking of Man U, the “crisis” there seems to have eased in recent weeks! Their European form has been sufficiently good for me to think that they can go all the way and win the Champions’ League. Real Madrid are a great team made even better by the arrival of Ronaldo, but I honestly think that if you get at their defence there are goals to be had. United are a far, far better team than AEK Athens and they managed to put three past Real! I’m going to contradict what I said a month ago, though, and tip Arsenal for the Premiership. Watching them against PSV and Leeds, you’d almost think that there’s a telepathy thing going on between their players. Teams go into games against them expecting to lose, which is what Man U are missing this season. The reason I think they’ll fare better than Arsenal in Europe is that they’ve been there, seen it, done it before. Experience at that level is crucial.

Finally, a few words of praise for Steve McLaren and the job he’s doing at Middlesbrough. Compare the way they’re playing now to when he took over, and you can understand why people – some of them at Old Trafford! – are tipping him as Alex’s replacement. I still think Martin O’Neill’s the leading candidate for that job, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the F.A. have him in mind for Sven’s successor.