“What are we going to do with this management team?”
Eamon Dunphy has delivered a damning verdict on Martin O’Neill’s management of the Republic of Ireland team. Which isn’t a surprise, Dunphy has been critical of every Ireland manager and has taken aim at O’Neill in the past.
However, the veteran broadcaster has labelled Ireland’s performance against Denmark on Saturday night an “embarrassment” and a “shambles.”
Dunphy lays the blame squarely with O’Neill for the nature of the goalless draw at the Aviva Stadium.
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“It’s what we’ve come to expect from this failed management team,” Dunphy said in his column for The Irish Daily Star.
Dunphy claims that the team selection was “off the wall” and that he feels sorry for the players “under this failed regime.”
“Jeff Hendrick played in three different positions in midfield and was up front for a spell,” he said.
“Cyrus Christie was in midfield. James McClean was effectively hamstrung by being handed a role as left wing-back.
“How could players be expected to perform when suddenly handed unexpected roles in a new system? It’s off the wall stuff. No wonder the fans grew so restless inside the ground.”
Dunphy said that the match showed that “the work isn’t being done on the training pitch” and it was “as dismal a night as the opening night in Cardiff” when Ireland lost 4-1 to Ryan Giggs’ team.
According to the former RTE pundit, the draw with Denmark “made clear we’re on the road to nowhere.”
“Maybe O’Neill just wants to prove he’s the smartest guy in the room.
“The system on Saturday night was a nonsense. It needlessly took players out of their comfort zone and they were wandering around like zombies.
“Denmark couldn’t believe how easy it was for them.”
Ireland play Wales on Tuesday night in Dublin.
Should Ireland fail to win that match, they will be on course to finish bottom of the mini-group. That will result in them being third seeds for Euro 2020 qualification.
Dunphy claims in his column that many Ireland fans are becoming “disillusioned with this set-up” and they are “angry and frustrated.”
You can read the entire column in Monday’s Irish Daily Star.
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