Another round of International friendlies has passed and what did it prove, well as far as I’m concerned the answer is Sweet F.A. Norn Iron and Wales fought out a goalless draw at Windsor Park and players seemed to be almost apologetic when they had a shot at goals. Even the antics of Craig Bellamy, booed almost every time he touched the ball, could lift this game from the depths of mediocrity. That game was played on Tuesday night and then on Wednesday night, England, the biggest chokers in Europe, took on the team who promise much and deliver nothing, Spain. This game had nil, nil, written all over it from the outset, but suddenly there was a flash of brilliance (or was the keeper too far off his line) and Spain scored the only goal of the game. Managers trotted out the usual claptrap, making statements like, ‘it was a learning curve’ and ‘we gained loads of positives from it’, but I’m sure deep down they’re saying to themselves ,’what a bloody waste of time’. The Republic also had a game on Wednesday, not a friendly this one, but a European qualifier against the worst team in Europe, San Marino. To say the men from Eire didn’t cover themselves in glory is to make a vast understatement, but as manager Steve Staunton said, at least they won and winning is what it’s all about after all. Being at a loose end on Monday past I took in the U17 friendly between Norn Iron and Scotland, well admission was free and it’s been a few years since I last visited Taylors Avenue. What a boring and predictable display from the lads in green, as they displayed the same predictable tactics as United also did under Kenny Shiels’s management. Once Scotland realised they just had to wait for the Irish boys to play into their hands, the game was over as a contest. I never heard Kenny’s comments from the game, but I can imagine him saying, ‘it was good learning curve for us’. The heaviest defeat in this round of friendlies occurred when the Norn Iron U21’s lost by 4 goals to nil against the Wales U21’s. Norn Iron’s manager Roy Millar actually said, ‘we got a lot a positives from the game’. Who are you trying to kid Roy, just admit it, you were crap, your team was crap and you rightly got the crap kicked out of you. Its time to start calling a ‘spade a spade’ (no racist comment intended), lets forget about all this positive thinking, sometimes there’s nothing better than a good dose of the truth!
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