On Soccer:Steve Staunton, as we all know, is under a wee bit of pressure heading into Saturday's game against Germany and next Wednesday's against Cyprus but even he might spare a thought for his counterpart across the Border where the only thing distracting attention from Nigel Worthington's woes as Northern Ireland boss are the deepening troubles of his employers, the IFA.

Worthington faced a rather unenviable task when he took over from Lawrie Sanchez but it was hard to imagine just how quickly things would go wrong for the former international whose managerial CV, though modest, was decidedly superior to anything possessed by most of those willing to be publicly associated with the Republic's job when it was last vacant.

Still, the former Norwich boss appears to have seriously misjudged his approach to a squad that has spent the bulk of the last couple of years defying expectations with performances and results. Competitive wins over England in the last campaign, Sweden and Spain in this one transformed the mood around a side that hadn't scored a goal in close to two years when Sanchez arrived. His team rose steadily in the world rankings and looked, at one stage, as if they might emerge from a tough group to secure a place at next summer's European Championship.

David Healy's heroics were repeatedly central to the side's success but along the way one-time Sligo Rovers manager Sanchez brought structure and purpose to players' game on the field while apparently helping to generate considerable team spirit off it. Neither seems to have survived the transition.

Worthington arrived, attempted to stamp his authority on the squad and quickly alienated key members. The decision to drop central defender Stephen Craigan is said to have appalled other players who saw him as being spiritually central to the team's fortunes.

The "Really Proud Ulsterman", as he was described by one close observer yesterday, did not make the greatest start to his international careers but this was, he said, in part due to the fact he was overwhelmed by the honour of playing at Windsor Park.

Through application, though, and strength of character, Craigan became one of the squad's real leaders under Sanchez and, Healy aside, perhaps its most important player.

Not starting him against either Latvia or Iceland backfired badly for Worthington, compounded by trying, not entirely successfully, to impose a curfew after the match in Riga on a group used to being allowed to socialise in such situations. The fight involving Keith Gillespie on the way back from Reykjavik, though scarcely his fault, didn't do much to help a manager whose side, after a dismal win over Liechtenstein had seen their chances of qualification all but evaporate thanks to two equally dismal defeats.

Nine points from games against Sweden (away), Denmark (home) and Spain (away) would still rescue the situation but, hey, don't put your house on it.

For the IFA's chief executive, Howard Wells, none of this is great news because Worthington is seen as his choice which would be bad enough if progress on the new stadium front - Wells's real cause celebre - was going a little better.

Reports out of Belfast over the weekend suggest a recommendation is about to be made that the South Stand at Windsor Park be closed for international games from January, a move that would reduce the capacity at Linfield's home to just 9,000 or so.

Wells has enthusiastically backed a proposal to develop a new stadium on the site of the old Maze Prison near Lisburn which was looking like a real runner until devolution was restored and the local politicians got involved. Now, the dispute over the new ground's location may well fatally undermine the British government's backing for the scheme.

The difficulty is Sinn Féin have made the retention of one the prison's blocks as well as the hospital wing (where the hunger strikers died) their price for support. The buildings, they say, are to be used as an International Centre for Conflict Transformation or, as DUP members prefer to see it, a monument to terrorism.

Belfast City Council, meanwhile, would prefer to have the stadium in the city but the relevant subcommittee has discounted several locations while stating it is not "opposed to the concept".

The Rev Ian Paisley has not given too much away regarding his position, suggesting only that what was the leading Belfast contender as a site, Ormeau Park, was not suitable because it would affect five churches including, as it happens, his own and it would not be appropriate to have children arriving for Sunday school adjacent to a greyhound track.

It remains to be seen whether dog racing would actually feature at the 35,000 venue if and when it ever gets built but the GAA and IRFU have agreed to stage games there although they too have different views regarding location: the former having expressed a preference for the Maze site, the latter for a city venue.

The IFA, one senses, are so desperate to see something built they would not worry where it goes up and are already exploring ways of breaking their remarkable tenancy agreement with Linfield, signed in 1984, which has another 80 years to run.

Getting out now, though, might just prove embarrassing in the event that the Labour government opts to take the cheap way out and simply patch up Windsor Park. But when Liechtenstein came to town, that's probably not a major factor.