Expectations that the start of the new season would present Mick McCarthy with a clean bill of health for the resumption of his European Championship qualifying programme are already proving overstated.
Days into the big kick-off in England, it's clear that the residue of the troubles which beset the Republic of Ireland in the latter part of the old campaign still hasn't cleared. Notably, McCarthy has a potentially serious goalkeeping problem, as he looks ahead to the meeting with Yugoslavia at Lansdowne Road on September 1st. For some time, it's been apparent that Shay Given's recovery from the knee injury which struck in the run-up to the Macedonian game in June would prove a lot more complex than was anticipated. The Newcastle goalkeeper, deposed as Ruud Gullit's first choice for the FA Cup final against Manchester United, has yet to resume full training after an operation which was originally designed to have him back in time for preseason training. Unfortunately, that problem has been aggravated for the Ireland manager by a second development which saw Alan Kelly, Given's replacement in the 1-0 win over Macedonia, move from Sheffield United to Blackburn as a replacement for the departed Tim Flowers.
As of now, Kelly is viewed by Blackburn manager Brian Kidd as cover for Jack Filan, an Australian who at one point last season was mentioned in an Ireland context. Should that situation remain unaltered in the coming weeks, it will mean Kelly facing the Yugoslavs without a first-class game in months. The alternative would be to promote the uncapped Dean Kiely but given the importance of the occasion, that is scarcely a realistic option. A second problem for McCarthy is Jason McAteer's probable unavailability. Like Given, McAteer missed out on the Macedonian win with an injury which had defied treatment in the last month of Blackburn's troubled season. The hope was that the damage would repair itself during the close season but with the Ireland player unable to resume training because of what is now suspected as a trapped nerve in his leg, rehabilitation looks as elusive as ever. If the problem is not quite as urgent as that occasioned by Given's absence, it is still a setback, for at his best, McAteer still has much to offer, a point illustrated in the first game against Yugoslavia in Belgrade last November.
Gary Kelly, playing well, would offer an acceptable replacement on the right side of midfield but yet again McCarthy can only wait and wonder as he monitors David O'Leary's plans for the player at Elland Road. After participating in the club's pre-season programme, Kelly was rated inferior to Danny Mills, one of O'Leary's new signings, for their opening Premiership game against Derby County last Saturday. On the manager's admission, Kelly is again playing well after missing all of last season but at this point the suspicion is that in the short term, O'Leary will opt to chase his investment in Mills.
That leaves Jeff Kenna as a possible candidate for selection but no less than Gary Kelly, he too is struggling for match fitness after an injury which effectively ended his season last February. He was left on the bench by Kidd for the start of Blackburn's First Division programme against Port Vale on Saturday when Lee Carsley and Damien Duff were the only Irishmen to merit a place in the starting line-up. With almost a fortnight to go to the naming of the preliminary squad, much can still happen but at this point McCarthy's main concern is that those on the fringe of first XI status will have the opportunity of pressing their claims at club level. One of the interesting aspects of the weekend programme from an Irish perspective was Terry Phelan's introduction as a late replacement in Everton's 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Goodison Park. With so many options available to McCarthy at full back, it is scarcely likely that Phelan will be afforded an opportunity of rebuilding his international career at this belated stage of his career. Yet, there will be a lot of admiration for the manner in which he has got himself back into the game after an injury which kept him out for the better part of two years. Much has changed at Goodison Park since he was last a first-team regular at the club but he still believes he is capable of forcing his way into the plans of manager Walter Smith.
Meanwhile, McCarthy is among the unwitting victims of the decision to extend the veto on international flights from western Europe into Belgrade for at least another fortnight.
The ban, imposed in the wake of NATO air strikes on Serbia, was scheduled to be lifted next Monday and McCarthy planned to take advantage, by travelling to Belgrade for the crucial Group Eight game there between Yugoslavia and Croatia tomorrow week.
Now, in the light of the latest development, he plans to confine his homework on the teams Ireland will be meeting in the coming weeks, to watching a video of the game. "After playing both countries earlier in the competition, there is not a lot extra we need to know, apart from assessing any new players who may be brought into the teams," he said.
On the Croatian front, Zvonimir Boban, yet to reproduce his form of two years ago but still undeniably the team's rainmaker, is struggling to prove his recovery from torn stomach muscles. In addition, two other key members of the team which reached the World Cup finals in France last summer, Igor Stimac and Slaven Bilic, are likely to absent.
