Republic alarm bells ring as Germans loom
Kevin Kilbane fears Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton lacks the time to right the wrongs of last night’s embarrassing defeat to Holland.
The 4-0 thumping by the Dutch at Lansdowne Road fell one goal short of equalling a record loss on Irish soil, that 5-0 to Spain 75 years ago.
The reverse clearly highlighted the lack of strength in depth of the Irish squad, and that is worrying just 16 days ahead of the opening Euro 2008 qualifying clash against Germany in Stuttgart.
Staunton will now spend the next 13 days fretting over who will play in that game as he was without several first-choice regulars.
To add to his angst, Steven Reid and Stephen Carr joined the growing casualty list with ankle and hamstring injuries that make them doubts for the opening Premiership weekend.
The following three days are all Staunton will have to repair the damage inflicted upon his players by the Dutch before sending them into battle against a German side that finished third at the World Cup.
But in refusing to hide behind the ready-made excuse easily afforded by the injury woes, Everton midfielder Kilbane was refreshingly frank in his appraisal of an abysmal Irish performance.
“It was a bit of an embarrassment,” assessed Kilbane.
“We didn’t have any possession, didn’t put any tackles in, didn’t close them down. We just gave them the whole pitch to play with.
“They played free-flowing football, but that’s because we gave them too much time and space and as we were the home team that is not on. We should be doing better.
“We had players out, but that’s no excuse. It’s 11 versus 11 at the end of the day, so there’s not much we can take from the game.
“We simply have to learn from it, that we can’t expose ourselves like that to a team of their quality.
“We allowed them to do what they wanted, and the fact they could have had three or four more is very disappointing.
“We have to block this out as quickly as possible, and look to the next game in Germany in which we have to be a hell of a lot better.
“We’re lucky this wasn’t a competitive game, while for the new lads that came in, it was a bit of an eye opener for them as to what good teams can do to you.”
Kilbane knows three days preparation to take on an in-form Germany is not enough – although on the evidence of last night, two weeks would arguably not correct the deficiencies.
“I feel we need at least four or five days before a big international like that,” added the 29-year-old, who won his 71st cap last night.
“It’s going to be difficult because we’ll have a lot of work to do in the three training sessions before that game.
“But we certainly have to improve, be more positive, a lot brighter.
“Hopefully we’ll also be sharper, but again we can’t use that as an excuse because we were played off the park.
“They were at the World Cup and have not had much of a break. We have had more of a break than them, so we should have been sharper and up for it more, but we weren’t at the races.”
Staunton has often commented on, and been delighted with the fact, the players have taken to his ideas as they attempt to leave behind the Brian Kerr era.
But Kilbane is not so sure, stating: “Judging by last night I don’t think we have taken things on board.
“We’ve clearly a lot to learn. Myself and the other experienced lads have to help more the young lads who came in because I don’t think we did that.
“We were left exposed, and we left them exposed.”
Kilbane, though, reassuringly insists there are no early problems with Staunton, who has spent precious little time with the squad overall since taking charge in January.
When asked whether the players had taken to Staunton since his appointment, Kilbane replied: “Yeah, definitely.
“He has come in, been bright and bubbly, but the last two results and performances have simply not been good enough.”
