This was tough to watch.
The Republic of Ireland played out a 1-1 draw with Georgia on Saturday night, leaving them in second place behind Serbia in Group D. On the surface, it looks like a decent result in a tricky away fixture. But Ireland were very poor in the game, struggling to string three passes together and Georgia deserved more from the match.
Over on Irish TV channel RTE, Tony O’Donoghue had a tough job following the game. The reporter was tasked with asking Ireland manager Martin O’Neill why his team had played so terribly.
It’s not an easy job the RTE reporter has. He’s the one who has to pester players and managers during their rawest moments on live television for millions of people at home, who are probably even more frustrated.
So, O’Donoghue has to put the tough questions to them at tough times and he can’t win because, if he asks them, the squad are unhappy. If he doesn’t ask them, the public are up in arms.
He’s had too many nights like Saturday during O’Neill’s reign. Sure, there have been cracking highs and thrilling results but, too often, the only thing left to do at the end of the evening is to pick the bones off the display and question some decisions.
Why didn’t Ireland play ball?
Why did Ireland get completely dominated by Georgia?
Why on earth did Wes Hoolaha not even feature for one single minute?
You ask that to any manager after a poor result and worse performance and you’re going to get an inevitably cutting reply. But O’Neill has dealt with these questions a lot and he’s dealt with them from O’Donoghue specifically a lot.
The culmination of that is a tetchy interview after Ireland dropped two points in Georgia.
"I don't think there is a quick fix" – Martin O'Neill tells @CorkTOD how Ireland will focus on Serbia #RTEsoccer #GEOIRL pic.twitter.com/utsNa5LQ9D
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 2, 2017
