Shane Long had a stinker at the Aviva Stadium.
The Tipperary striker hasn’t been in the best of form recently. He is going through one of those prolonged spells in a player’s career where they’re struggling, they’re stuck in a rut and they just can’t catch a break to get out of it.
Long’s job as a front man is to hit the net, to take the chances that are created for him, and of late he hasn’t been doing that, and plenty of criticism has been coming his way as a result.
His confidence is on the floor, and when that’s the case, you’re not eager for the ball, you’re nervous and don’t have the belief in yourself to do the things that previously came as second nature.
That’s not the Shane Long we know and love, the competitive ball of fire that never gives defenders a moment of rest, the attacker that huffs and puffs until he can’t do anymore, the unflappable spirit that always throws himself about.
Shane Long will come out of this rut and it will soon become a distant memory, but that’s the fickle, unforgiving nature of football that he has to put up with for now.
The criticism was flowing towards the Southampton striker online, and from Ronnie Whelan, and he’ll know himself that his missed opportunities weren’t good enough, and he could have been forgiven for being a frustrated figure.
Long was replaced late on in the game, by the young, hungry Seanie Maguire, a man who’s career graph from Cork City to the Championship bears an uncanny resemblance to Long’s own rise from the banks of the Lee to Reading a couple of years ago.
The heir to Long’s throne, some might say, especially given the form our other front man Daryl Murphy is showing recently.
Total bleedin' football https://t.co/lJI0wVPXTo
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 6, 2017
You might have thought Long would have been cross at himself, worried that Maguire is coming for his place, that he mightn’t be wishing the best onto Maguire in the dog eat dog world of being a centre forward.
No, actually it was quite the opposite.
It was a natural, genuine reaction from Long, as a warm smile descended upon his face as he went over to high five his replacement.
It wasn’t a begrudging smile, it was a willing, kind, selfless look and it was definitely appreciated by the Preston front man.
He knows how Maguire feels, he knows how much his best wishes are worth to the 23-year-old, he is a team player, a class act, and he deserves huge credit for this.
A bad day at the office for Shane Long but this was class 👏 pic.twitter.com/d8zt4SrQ5t
— Niall McIntyre (@NiallMcintyre) October 6, 2017
This is the type of team-spirit we will need to perform the impossible and beat the Welsh.
