“My players will be up for the game and I think that they will genuinely be ready for it.”
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Martin O’Neill.
He had been hiding away somewhere for the last two weeks. He had been taken it easy for a few months as well, trying to steer his side carefully through a minefield of a European Qualifier group.
Now, the gloves are off. Now, there’s no more time for deliberating or calculating. Now, it’s time for action.
It’s the time for Martin O’Neill to come alive again.
After the draw with Poland back in March at the Aviva, Ireland sat two points behind the Scots and the manager bellied afterwards, we must beat them.
As the build-up drew closer, as the side fired blanks in friendlies against England and Northern Ireland, O’Neill played down Saturday’s fixture. It wasn’t the be all and end all. It wasn’t a must-win.
He has dropped the act. He means business.
Ireland are going out to beat Scotland and Martin O’Neill is leading the charge.
“It’s naturally very, very important,” the Derry man spoke at the pre-game press conference. “It’s important for the nation, it’s important for the players and it’s important for us – myself and the backroom staff. We would love to do well in it.
“It’s about playing with passion and desire but also trying to play with a cool head as well. I think all of those elements constitute a game and all of those elements are part of the make-up of a very good player, too. This is a big game.”
O’Neill is an experienced manager. He has been leading teams for over a quarter of a century but he isn’t concerned by the fact that he’s relatively new to the international stage.
“I think that, despite the fact that it’s an international game – where, in terms of experience in international football, I might not have a great deal of that – but I have been managing for quite some considerable time – it doesn’t take too long before you come round to real pressure games and this is a big game for us.
“I have players – like John [O’Shea] beside me here – who have played in umpteen of these matches and who, like a number of experienced players that we have, are able to take these things in their stride.
“In terms of myself, in terms of international level. I thought I’d maybe remind you that I did play in the quarter final of a World Cup. I thought I’d let you know about it, 1982. I’ve got plenty of experience, I think.”
And the boss is refusing to play down the importance of Saturday now when Scotland come to the Aviva. There’s an occasion there and he’s not going to ignore it. He wants to use it.
“I never really understand what that means, ‘playing the occasion'” O’Neill said. “I think it is an occasion, it’s there, and you can’t deny that. It’s a big occasion. But the point is this, you have to play with that desire that the occasion makes but you have to be cool, cool under pressure.
“I think the importance of the game [speaks for itself]. I think that motivation can come from within, naturally. I will try and do my job as well but I think the players are highly motivated for the match and it’s up to us to just address it in that fashion: being passionate about it, but playing with a cool head.”
The Scotland camp has been attempting to lump all the pressure on Ireland this week and there’s talk that Gordon Strachan and his men will set up for a draw in Dublin. It doesn’t affect the Irish mentality.
“I really don’t know what the approach of Scotland is,” O’Neill said. “I know what our approach is, we’re going to try to win the game. That’s very important. We’re half way through, we have games at home to try and take some advantage of and that late goal against Poland has still given us that big lift.
“Here, we have the opportunity to not only close the gap on Scotland but to go in front of them. A win takes care of that.”
