Currently living in Scotland, Packie Bonner is well placed to assess the mood in both countries after the unforgettable events of Thursday night.
He thought James McCarthy was the most impressive Irish performer on the night. Of the criticism of McCarthy in the past few months, Bonner sees it as a by-product of his reputation and his ability.
Ahead of tomorrow night's opportunity in Poland, Bonner urges caution. He thinks the last thing Ireland should do is go to Poland and play in a cavalier manner.
They should instead seek to keep it tight and prevent Poland scoring firstly.
You can't lose goals and give yourself an uphill struggle to win the game. I think you've got to be strategic and tactically aware and keep it as tight as possible. Ireland's not going to score three or four goals. I'd be shocked if Ireland did that. I think they'll score a goal. I think they're capable of doing that. They have to give themselves a chance. And the only way to do that in international football is not to go gung ho, keep it very tight and don't allow people like Lewandowski to score in the first couple of minutes, like Scotland did.
Bonner watched the match from the Sky box in the Aviva and was in Geneva until this morning. However, he knows the feeling on the ground in Scotland.
The rather salty headline in the Daily Record captured the mood and there have been voices wondering about Strachan's culpability. A harsh proposition. How quickly they've forgotten the Craig Levien era?
Just devastation and despair... There's a lot of people wondering whether Gordon Strachan should stay on. I personally think he should. I think he's done a decent enough job. The big problem they had was the Georgia game away which was always going to be difficult. They lost it and they were under pressure then. I think the nature of the way it happened (against Poland), losing a goal in the first minute, losing a goal in the last minute when they were 2-1 up. I think that's what's caused the biggest despair among the people. And it's been so long since they qualified for something...
Listen below:
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