Out...Stan...Ding

There are no easy games in international football anymore, especially for Steve Staunton's hapless Republic of Ireland outfit, who are forever finding creative ways of making hard work of games that should be won comfortably. The 5-2 defeat to Cyprus in October was a nadir in the history of the Irish game (though we had previously thought that the ragged 1-0 win over the same opposition a year before represented the same) but only managing to beat San Marino with a Steven Ireland goal eight seconds from the final whistle is possibly lower still. Stan doesn't even have the excuse that he was banned from the sideline, as he was in Nicosia. I didn't watch this game (did anyone bother?) but the distinct impression given off by the Irish camp is that no one has a clue what is going on. He has to go. Bring Brian Kerr back for the Wales and Slovakia games. Please. He was never this bad. How far we have fallen.