On Soccer: After a summer in which Cork and Shelbourne performed well but ended up soundly beaten without making the European breakthrough they crave, the place among Uefa's top 30 leagues that Genesis identified as a goal last week looks as demanding a target as anything the consultants have set in terms of club finances or facilities.
With the ladder based on the performance of clubs from each country over five years, the Eircom League's representatives have had to run hard to stand still this year. The performances of Shelbourne and, particularly, Bohemians in 2000 marked a turning point for teams from the Republic, and the upshot is that there are now significant numbers of points to be defended each season.
That it was done successfully this year - with the result that the league remains in 40th spot when it faced a drop into the mid-40s - is clear evidence of a sustained improvement by Irish clubs. But the manner in which Shelbourne have been beaten over the past 14 months by Deportivo La Coruna, Lille and Steaua Bucharest, combined with the home and away defeats suffered by Cork at the hands of Slavia Prague, has underlined the gulf that still exists between our best clubs and those operating at the next level up in Europe.
In the wake of Thursday's loss at Turner's Cross, Cork manager Damien Richardson said he felt an Irish club could be playing in the group stages of one of the European competitions within the next two seasons. Given Cork came within one round and might have come up against slightly easier opposition than Slavia, he may have a point, but a glance at the problems encountered over the past few weeks by the likes of Celtic, Everton, Leverkusen and Galatasaray, among many others, suggests much better teams than many an Irish club can struggle at this level.
That there has been an improvement on the part of Irish sides in recent years can't be disputed. In statistical terms, in fact, it has been dramatic, with clubs from this country winning only 35 European games out of 293 prior to 2000, but more than doubling their success rate to 18 from 76 during the six seasons since.
They have been helped by a number of factors. The introduction of preliminary rounds and the regionalisation of draws have tended to ensure National League sides face more manageable opposition in the earliest stages.
Summer football has played a significant part in improving fitness levels, while the growing level of professionalism among players and clubs themselves has made a considerable impact.
Shelbourne's defeat of Hajduk Split last summer and Cork's win over Djurgardens a month ago are the most significant of the successes, but progress at this level is far from uniform and it's worth remembering that Longford's performance in Carmarthen, where the FAI Cup holders lost 5-1, was the worst by an Irish side in Europe for many years.
And the concern for Shelbourne and Cork is that, having achieved good wins over decent continental sides, they have then been comfortably beaten by sides of more proven quality. In the home match against Deportivo, Shelbourne barely created a scoring chance, while those who cling to the idea the Dubliners might have progressed if only Jason Byrne had taken his two opportunities in La Coruna overlook the fact the Spaniards peppered the Irish goal for almost the entire game.
The 2-2 draw against Lille in Lansdowne Road was a remarkably flattering result for Pat Fenlon's side, who were handily beaten in France. This year, the leap required if an Irish team is to succeed at this level was again highlighted as the champions were easily contained in Tolka by a Steaua side that simply looked a cut above their opponents both technically and physically. Shelbourne lost in Bucharest largely because of what were uncharacteristic blunders, but it is not a coincidence that reliable players were suddenly making costly errors on a big European night.
City, by contrast, appear to have lost to Slavia in no small part because of a misplaced faith in their ability to repeat their success in Stockholm, where a single away goal paved the way to progression.
Beating the Czechs in the second leg always looked a tall order, but then Richardson's side, rather alarmingly, failed to win any of their three home games and managed just one victory in six outings. Shelbourne's tally in a summer widely hailed as a triumph last year was just one win in eight. These are not statistics likely to strike fear into the managers of prospective opponents, and the confidence of the Steaua's coach, Oleg Protasov, ahead of the Dublin game was barely disguised.
Still, things are moving in the right direction and the hope is that the improvements at club level will bring further progress in European competition. The players at Cork and Shelbourne will certainly benefit from having played 24 European games between them over the past two seasons (an unthinkable number a few years ago), for at this level they are still very much learners. The Dubliners look as though they will miss out on a place in even the Uefa Cup, but it is hard to imagine them not featuring in one of the main competitions again very soon.
In the meantime, the battle over the reshaping of the league will have a central impact on Irish fortunes in Uefa competitions.
Assuming any move back to winter football is rejected, the ability of the league to pull off the wide-ranging reinvention the people from Genesis envisage will be the critical factor.
The shortcomings of the last couple of years cannot be viewed in isolation. What is needed is a better league. Only then will our best stand a chance of being good enough.
emalone@irish-times.ie
