Martin O’Neill’s odd gumption could be key to beating Wales in Cardiff

If Bear Grylls ever decides to stop making TV shows, perhaps Martin O’Neill could replace him. The Northern Irishman might not be able to tell viewers which plants to eat or how to make a bivouac from turtle faeces – in fact, his methods might remain unclear throughout the entire series – but he would probably survive and thrive, nonetheless.
It is a rare and fascinating quality that O’Neill has, some kind of gumption that means he and anyone he leads regularly finds a way to prevail in awkward environments, including messes of their own creation. He appears to revel in doom-or-glory scenarios. Which is why Monday’s World Cup qualification showdown between the Republic of Ireland and Wales in Cardiff is right up his street. There is no danger of him playing down the significance of the match to his players.
“It’s a really great game to have,” he says. “I’ve been involved in a few – including a couple of European Cup wins – and I’ve got to tell you, this is big. I keep telling the players that it’s absolutely fantastic to be involved in a World Cup, dealing with great nations. With a bit of luck you could be in the same group as someone like Messi. It’s fantastic. I tell the players: ‘This is it, so don’t die wondering. Go for it!’”
The Republic’s best performances during O’Neill’s four years in charge have come in matches where they had no choice but to win. They have jumped from disappointments to memorable triumphs by beating Germany in October 2015, overcoming Bosnia-Herzegovina in a play-off to reach Euro 2016 and then progressing to the knockout stage of that tournament by pulling out a victory over Italy.
Not only has O’Neill been able to inspire his players to rise to those occasions, he has made some big and slightly surprising decisions for them, and been vindicated. Against the world champions he handed a first competitive appearance to goalkeeper Darren Randolph, and against Italy he did the same for the centre-back Shane Duffy. He suggests he could spring a similar surprise or two for the clash in Cardiff. “In big matches we have taken a lot of risks with people,” he says. “We may have to do it again.”
Perhaps the biggest decision he has to make relates to his strike force, in particular Shane Long. Getting the win they need will entail scoring at least one goal and Long has not done that since February. The Southampton player has produced special moments in the past and continues to do a lot of valuable work stretching opposing defences but his finishing has been so shoddy in recent months that he looks drained of confidence, especially after missing three clear chances in the win over Moldova on Friday. Will Long be dropped for the Wales game and replaced by someone less experienced but in better form, such as Preston’s Sean Maguire?
“I’ll have to think about it,” says O’Neill. “Centre-forwards get great confidence from scoring goals and he [Long] has missed a couple of chances. I’ll have a look at it and see how he is. It would have been nice if one of those chances had gone in because it would have been a big boost for him.”
The manager knows Ireland can ill-afford to be wasteful in Wales. “To win we will need a couple of things,” he says. “One, in an intense atmosphere like that, you have to play with your head and with a great deal of intensity. The two sometimes don’t marry. And if we have some chances, we have to take them, be more clinical. As simple as that. Because if you keep spurning chances, you’re not going to win a football match.”
There are other big calls O’Neill must make in the attacking sector. James McClean and Robbie Brady seem certain to return to the side after being suspended for the game against Moldova, with Callum O’Dowda likely to drop back to the bench despite his excellent display in that match. But will Wes Hoolahan also make way? O’Neill’s reluctance to pick the 35-year-old regularly, especially for away matches, vexes most Irish fans, who have noted that whenever Ireland have produced incisive moves in recent years, Hoolahan has tended to be at the heart of them. Without the Norwich schemer Ireland have often been bereft of creativity. One example was the defeat against Scotland at Celtic Park in the qualifiers for Euro 2016. “That became like a league game as much as anything else,” recalls O’Neill. “And this [against Wales] might turn out to be exactly the same, I don’t know.”
Monday’s match threatens to be even more feisty if the bad blood that infected the countries’ meeting in Dublin in March has curdled. How much animosity lingers from that will soon be seen. What is already clear is that Ireland are not rushing to commiserate with Wales over the absence of Gareth Bale, who has been ruled out with a calf injury.
“Gareth Bale is a top-class player and Wales will feel that he is a loss to them in the same way I feel Seamus Coleman has been a big loss to us,” says O’Neill. “If you go through all the games we’ve played both in this and the Euro 2016 campaign, we’ve had to battle through with players that are important to us missing. So try to put it into some sort of context. I’m sure Wales will feel they’d have a better chance of winning if he was playing but that’s the nature of the game.” The nature of Monday’s game could be gripping.

SOURCE : GUARDIAN SPORTS
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