As part of Keith Andrews’ “own personal development”, the Republic of Ireland assistant manager spent time in the Irish rugby camp when they were coached by current All Blacks number two Joe Schmidt and last February before the Six Nations match against Scotland.
“I’ve spent time with the IRFU and what they have done in terms of development of the provinces and schools is obviously very impressive,” said Andrews ahead of Friday’s European Championships qualifier against Greece at the Aviva Stadium.
“There are elements where we need to introduce that into our schools and be a bit more strategic around it. We have to align everybody at grassroots, which is very, very difficult in this country, and League of Ireland, and us.
“To bring that all in a straight line of where we want to go, which is ultimately to create the best possible players we can, to give them the game time, to give them the infrastructure, to give them the expertise of all the coaches that we are trying to develop, I think it all needs to come together. But what the rugby has produced over a sustained period of time and with the provinces in particular is very impressive.”
Andrews reserved high praise for Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, before the English rugby league legend leads his adopted country into a World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand this Saturday night in Paris.
“He’s outstanding as a man. The way he carries himself and the staff he has around him, all the different coaching departments, sports science, everybody again very inclusive in terms of how they invite me into their environment. I was very, very impressed and very appreciative of them.
“I was a couple of days in and around the build up. [Sitting into] team meetings and how they go about things from a physical perspective, nutrition, so it was brilliant to see that and just one of those I’ve been into. I’ve been into many others.”
Andrews also revealed that Greece manager Gus Poyet brought in an Irish coach, based in English football, to analyse Ireland’s strategy ahead of the qualifier in Athens on June 16th. The 2-1 defeat last summer severely damaged chances of qualifying for the European Championships in Germany next year.
“In terms of the approach in June, it wasn’t rocket science was it?” said Andrews. “We had played a similar system for a long period of time.”
Ireland, however, did make surprising changes in personnel and formation before the Greece game with Will Smallbone and Adam Idah starting in an attacking 3-4-1-2 shape that was abandoned at half-time.
“In terms of this game coming up, I don’t think I can say anything here that would jeopardize it as I am sure [Poyet] will be reading, and getting some Irish staff in clubs around England to come in and watch his training session and have an opinion or view of sorts that will maybe help his game plan.”
When asked to clarify, Andrews said: “Well, Gus has a thing where he invited certain people in to watch training pre Athens. I am sure that assisted his preparations. He is quite cute, very experienced in his preparation. He said certain things post game, he alluded [that] he had done his homework.”
[ FAI has no issue with John O’Shea double-jobbing with Birmingham CityOpens in new window ]
Unless there is a spectacular turn in fortunes, like victory over the Netherlands at the Johan Cruyff arena on November 18th, that Greek result in Athens will probably define Stephen Kenny’s time as Republic of Ireland manager.
Afterwards, Poyet delivered a stinging criticism of the Irish management’s tactical approach. Not only did the Uruguayan expect Kenny to start with two strikers but he claimed to have predicted Ireland’s half-time changes. He added that “you become the Republic of Ireland” when the pressure was at its highest in Athens. “You depend on a corner, you depend on a long ball, you depend on fighting for second and third balls.”
Andrews described the Greek result, as a “blot on the copybook” of the management, despite the FAI arranging a week of warm weather training in Turkey to avoid a repeat of the lethargic performance that led to a 1-0 loss to Armenia in June 2022. An ongoing problem for Irish squads, he explained, is the majority of the players are based in the EFL Championship and the international window in mid-June comes six weeks after the English second tier concludes.
“From a physical perspective, we did everything we could, realistically. In terms of what I think tactically, now even a few months on, I still think we should have done things a lot better than we did but I thought Greece played very well on the night.
“I do think the reaction was blown out of all proportion in terms of some comment around scoreline and the level of the defeat,” he continued. “So, A, I’m not happy with the performance but, B, I certainly don’t go along with the reaction of we should be beating Greece, in Greece. I certainly don’t go along with that.
“I don’t think there is a divine right where you go to Athens and win, you have to go to Athens and perform very very well. But we can’t rewind the clock.”
Andrews confirmed that Irish coach John O’Shea will remain on the FAI payroll if he is appointed as an assistant to Wayne Rooney at Birmingham City.
