The 21 Republic of Ireland players present in Dublin on Wednesday for the dismantling of Sweden returned to their clubs as happy bunnies and, judging by their manager, Steve Staunton, yesterday, camp Ireland is indeed an all-singing, all-dancing, promising place to be these days.
"You can see it in the players¿ body language that they¿re happy," Staunton enthused yesterday. "I¿ve asked them to go about things in a certain way and they just get on with it. Not once has someone had to question or challenge me and I¿m delighted with that.
"Talking to the media has been a big issue," the manager continued. "The players were a bit wary in the beginning as there are some lads in there that are very shy and conscious towards you lot. But they came back delighted (from Monday¿s continental style briefing), just as you were."
Indeed, the fresh approach to media relations, not to mention the presence of returning wet sponge marvel Mick Byrne, are just two of a number of off-field adjustments lending substance to the refreshing ambience at base camp. And now, the group gets its chance to build upon those foundations following confirmation that Chile will travel to Lansdowne on May 24th.
"It¿s another big game for us," said Staunton, who pushed hard for a final friendly before the summer break. "I don¿t know much about them now but I will in a couple of weeks. They¿re a typical South American side though, so it¿ll be good for the lads to play against a different kind of style and system. It¿s a good fixture to have."
Although four of the six uncapped players named in the squad for Sweden took to the pitch on Wednesday night, Sunderland¿s Liam Lawrence and Stephen Kelly of Tottenham are still awaiting their chance. Staunton, though, is likely to afford the duo an opportunity against Chile, the team that Roy Keane made his international debut against 15 years ago.
"There¿ll be other people coming into the fold," Staunton said. "I could have played them the other night but we could only have the six substitutes. I wanted to keep the happy balance between throwing too many on and disrupting what had been going well for us. But people will get a chance.
"The lads have now set standards for themselves and we¿ll be looking to maintain those," he added. "I know they can improve and we have to improve. We¿ll go through some ideas and if they take them onboard,like they did after last Monday and Tuesday, then I¿ll be delighted. The lads will then have a good rest as it¿s going to be a big year for some of them when we resume after the summer."
Again adamant not to read too much into Wednesday¿s result, Staunton warned that similar principles should be applied to Germany¿s Italian disaster. Juergen Klinsmann¿s side, who Ireland face in their opening Euro 2008 qualifier in September, were humbled 4-1 in Florence.
Germany's top newspapers have since laid into Klinsmann and his players and are predicting a debacle for the host nation at this summer's World Cup finals. The manager was also heavily criticised for omitting the experienced Christian Woerns from Germany's World Cup plans following remarks about Klinsmann¿s management style.
"Look, I¿m not reading too much into 3-0 for us either," said Staunton when quizzed about Germany¿s performance. "All I know is our players played on the front foot and put Sweden on the back foot and never let up. That definitely shocked some of their players.
"I was also very pleased to see Henrik Larsson¿s comments about how physical we were," he added. "If Damien Duff, Robbie Keane, Stephen Ireland, Stephen Elliott and Kevin Doyle can be as rough as that every time I¿ll be happy because I know the bigger lads can handle themselves. It¿s what I want when we play at Lansdowne and Croke Park - to be as tough and physical as possible."
pohehir@irish-times.com
