Kevin Kilbane: Weak in midfield and toothless up front, Ireland now left clinging to blind hope
I'm back in Ireland this week. Out west in
Galway
and
Mayo
. There is no better way to judge the mood of our nation towards the men's football team than over a few pints in Westport.
The same question is continually asked: how do we beat Hungary in September's World Cup qualifier?
Gone are the days when bigger football countries feared a manic night at Lansdowne Road.
There is still no sign of an Irish midfielder who can take possession, pass it forward and put the opposition under pressure.
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After an impressive season for Bristol City, Jason Knight was invited to nail down the position against Senegal and Luxembourg. A relentless athlete without the ball, he's no number six.
John Patrick, Killian Phillips and Will Smallbone were also given chances to impress at training and in the games, but the rested Josh Cullen remains the only midfielder Ireland can truly rely on. We know Cullen is a good player without being a visionary passer.
Nobody is coming to save this
Ireland
team. We have what we have heading into the 2026 World Cup campaign.
Chiedozie Ogbene has been missed since his achilles tendon tear. It's not just his pace. Ogbene keeps the crowd and his teammates engaged by chasing lost causes and somehow winning the ball back.
Kasey McAteer did well in Ogbene's role down the right during the draws against Senegal and Luxembourg. I actually thought the performance against Senegal last week was all right. However, every person I have encountered this week, for the inevitable football chats before the Luxembourg game, could not see any positives through all the negatives.
Nil-nil in Luxembourg damaged Irish football's reputation. Ninety minutes from a flight to somewhere sunny and stress-free, the players were unable to produce a performance.
This happens in June. Take Nathan Collins. After playing every minute for Brentford in the Premier League last season, the captain admitted to being physically and mentally spent.
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No shortage of effort, but Ireland fail to find the net against Luxembourg
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At least Heimir Hallgrímsson told Tony O'Donoghue on RTÉ that the performance was nowhere near the standard required. He even said the first-half 'boring'. Previous managers have done themselves no favours by clinging to vague positives when the truth is obvious to see.
Call it what it was and move on. The players have already forgotten, I guarantee you that.
So, how do we beat Hungary on September 6th?
Honestly, I have no idea. The glass is half empty at the moment.
Under Stephen Kenny, when it really mattered, Ireland produced one
brilliant performance at home to France
, only to lose 1-0 in that opening Euro 2024 qualifier. Collins's late header drew a phenomenal save from Mike Maignan. Séamus Coleman marked Kylian Mbappé into obscurity in a leader's performance that showed how much Kenny missed his injury-cursed right-back.
France goalkeeper Mike Maignan saves from Nathan Collins in 2023, during one of Ireland's best performances in recent years. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Knight was an all-action, defensive cog that evening. That's what he does.
The other time Ireland under Kenny were faced with a nowhere-to-hide situation, against Greece in Athens two years ago, the selection of Smallbone and Adam Idah backfired as the 2-1 loss made it clear that Kenny's days in the job were numbered.
What really concerns me is Evan Ferguson's performance against Luxembourg. Let's not panic. He's still only 20. The West Ham loan did not work out. Brighton appear to have moved past him as well.
But the version of Ferguson, at 18 and 19 years old, who briefly lit up the Premier League, has gone missing in the past 18 months.
The physicality is not there. We know about the injuries. We don't know how much they have stunted his progress. We do know that he is no longer backing into top defenders and looking likely to score.
Maybe Ferguson needs to look at Troy Parrott's career path. When life at Tottenham Hotspur did not pan out, Parrott moved to the Eredivisie in Holland, where he has accumulated 37 goals in two seasons.
Troy Parrott's career has been rejuvenated by his move to the Eredivisie. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
It was suggested in January that a club like Bayer Leverkusen might get Ferguson's career back on track.
Unless Adam Idah hits the ground running at Celtic in August, Parrott deserves to start against Hungary, ideally with Sammie Szmodics, Finn Azaz and Ogbene backing him up.
We have what we have. Add Robbie Brady's left foot to the equation and the blind hope starts to rise again. We're going to need big performances right across the team and a rub of the green come September.
Speaking of blind hope,
Mayo to beat Donegal
in the Hyde on Sunday.
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