Writing on wall for Dublin Euros games as lack of crowd ‘guarantee’ narrows UEFA options

Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny and coach Keith Andrews, left, during a recent training session in Debrecen, Hungary. Andrews has defended the manager's style of play amid calls for an 'old-school' approach. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Daniel McDonnell Twitter Email

April 07 2021 02:30 AM

UEFA are preparing to replace Dublin as co-hosts of this summer’s European Championships – and could make the call as early as today although issues in other cities may delay the inevitable.

European football’s governing body set an April 7 deadline for representatives in the 12 host cities to let them know what their position was as regards admitting crowds to their scheduled games this summer. The organisers want each venue filled to at least 25pc capacity but the FAI are not in a position to offer that guarantee after ongoing discussions with the Irish Government and public health authorities.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said last week that it would be “very challenging” to get fans into stadiums this summer but suggested there was hope for Ireland because other countries were also in bother.

But at UEFA level, Ireland are problem number one and while there are issues to resolve elsewhere, they are viewed as minor compared to the prognosis on these shores and well-placed sources have described Dublin’s exit from the stage as a “foregone conclusion”.

It is thought to be highly unlikely that UEFA would decide to allow Ireland host their four games behind closed doors when other hosts had been encouraged to accommodate fans.

Senior FAI figures have privately acknowledged this scenario was likely and the fact Ireland will not be playing has removed any prospect of a political gamble in the hope the picture will be better by June.

Fixtures involving Poland, Sweden and Slovakia are unlikely to form the basis of any case to get fans back in stadiums with the focus set to fall on domestic events in the short term.

Meanwhile, Ireland assistant boss Keith Andrews says that Stephen Kenny doesn’t have the players to revert to the style of play favoured by a section of his critics.

Kenny has come under fire from pundits who feel he is trying to be too ambitious by favouring a passing style and should revert to old-school qualities.

But Andrews says there is a flaw in that plan.

“Old-fashioned 4-4-2, are we talking that, playing direct? We haven’t got the personnel to play that,” said Andrews, speaking on Virgin Media Sport.

“We haven’t got a big target man we can play off direct. A lot of the younger players play in a certain way for their clubs and through our underage and we know them really well. In terms of what we are doing and trying to achieve, it really suits the players.

“You have to take criticism but short-term pain – if that’s the way you want to look at it – (will be) long-term gain hopefully if we can collectively get a team that we are proud of watching.”

Andrews conceded that some older players found it hard to be left out of the shock defeat to Luxembourg. Yet he stressed there were physical considerations due to a lack of game-time at club level that influenced decisions.

“If you’ve got 50, 60, 70 caps and you see a player fresh off the 21s or just making his way at a club (get picked) . . . your nose is going to put out of joint, there’s no doubt about that. Has there been a couple of frowns and people getting down? That’s natural, that’s what you have to deal with it.

“The one thing I would say is there are no divine rights to caps in my opinion. There certainly wasn’t when I played and I don’t think it is the case now. But the attitude of the players has been impeccable.

“The issue we had, James McClean is an example, he couldn’t start the first game physically. Robbie Brady, unfortunately got injured again, and is a constant concern.

“The tough one to take is Luxembourg, we didn’t perform on the night . . . our physical stats were down. But then we got a good reaction against Qatar. It shows the togetherness we have in the camp.”

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Writing on wall for Dublin Euros games as lack of crowd ‘guarantee’ narrows UEFA options

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