Soccer Digest: Republic of Ireland under-21 manager Don Givens believes his side are in need of a Roy Keane-type figure to shout and bawl at players.
Givens's squad are in the last-chance saloon with regards their Uefa Under-21 Championship qualifying hopes going into today's latest Group Four clash, with France the visitors to Turner's Cross in Cork. Ireland can still clinch a top-two place, but with three matches remaining, they trail second-placed France by six points and third-placed Switzerland by five.
Givens believes his side have lacked a natural-born leader throughout the campaign, with the players all too softly spoken for his liking.
"We've a bit of a quiet team," said Givens. "We don't really have anybody who pushes and pulls people around. We need a player like Roy Keane in our squad to get the players going, while I'm sure someone like Tony Adams at 18 or 19 was a leader.
"But it seems to be the way of the modern game these days, producing players who seem to be more concerned about taking responsibility for themselves.
"In my day, players had plenty to say for themselves and they were two a penny, someone like Frank McLintock being a prime example.
"You dare not come out of the dressingroom if you hadn't done your job properly. You would get a right earful from both him and the manager.
"I'm sure if we had that type of player in our squad then we would have done better because we have lacked concentration at vital times in matches. A player like that would keep the other players on their toes at dead-ball situations, which have proved very costly."
Givens has again lost three key players in Leicester's Paddy McCarthy, Glenn Whelan of Sheffield Wednesday and Darren Potter of Liverpool to injury, with Mansfield's Steve Dawson, Gary Dicker of UCD and Longford's Seán Dillon the replacements.
Brazil maintain record
Although striker Ronaldo and defender Roberto Carlos limped out of Brazil's 5-0 World Cup qualifying win over Chile on Sunday night, it was revealed yesterday their injuries are not serious.
The World champions maintained their record of being the only nation to qualify for every World Cup finals tournament by booking their place in Germany next year with the win, their goals coming from Juan, Robinho and a hat-trick from Adriano.
The Brazilians have joined Argentina, Ukraine, United States, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Iran and host nation Germany at next year's finals.
Gemmill comes clean
Former Scotland midfielder Archie Gemmill has claimed four team-mates took banned substances at the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina.
Winger Willie Johnston was sent home after testing positive for an energy boosting stimulant. Johnston said it was to combat hay fever.
Now Gemmill, in his autobiography Both Sides of the Border, claims three other players also took pep pills. He said: "I saw the guys openly taking them in the changing rooms. It was something that, seemingly, quite a few people did. But it was the first time I had seen it."
Gemmill refused to name the players but wrote: "Willie (Johnston) took all the blame but it is most certainly true that three others in the team took the same pep pills. I saw the guys openly taking them in the changing rooms."
In Brief . . .
Scotland manager Walter Smith has drafted Aberdeen midfielder Scott Severin into his squad as cover for tomorrow's World Cup qualifier with Norway . . . Debt-ridden Irish League club Coleraine FC was yesterday saved from extinction after a Northern Ireland High Court judge placed it into administration.
