If the Republic of Ireland's 5-1 defeat to Denmark was more disastrous in principle, tonight's 4-1 hammering by Wales in Cardiff may signal the final straw for Martin O'Neill and his assistant, Roy Keane.
Outclassed by a Welsh side admittedly boasting a wealth of talent Ireland were never going to equal, tonight's result was perhaps more troubling for the ineptness with which O'Neill's side tried to counter these obvious threats.
3-0 down at half-time, one scuffed effort from Callum Robinson on his competitive debut for Ireland summed up the high-point in 45 minutes of nothing but lows. Some were left looking for a miracle.
With all due respect to wales!i thought I’d never see the day when we were losing at HT 3-0😡even with all our players out!istanbul needed!but I very much doubt it.
— John Aldridge (@Realaldo474) September 6, 2018
Don’t worry lads, it’ll be grand. Don’t you know, Martin O’Neill played under Brian Clough. And sure Roy Keane was a top midfielder back in his day. All theit experience and positivity will coach and nurture those Irish players...any day now. #WALIRE 3-0 (HT)
— Dara de Brún (@DaraDeBrun) September 6, 2018
Although Eamonn Dunphy wasn't on hand to offer his acerbic assessment of this disappointing performance, Irish fans were adamant that this performance surely indicated the desperate need for change.
Can’t believe what the score is in the Ireland game!!! Come on lads where is the fighting Irish spirit....
— Ian Harte (@ianharte23) September 6, 2018
Martin O’Neill will be thinking, ‘How can I blame Tony O’Donoghue for this?’
— Paul Howard (@AkaPaulHoward) September 6, 2018
Nathan Ampadu, Father grew up in Dublin, left Dublin to play for Arsenal (now a coach there) “Son do you want to play for Martin O’Neill or with Gareth Bale” ... tough choice infairness
— Gar⚽️Breen (@GarBreeninhoLfc) September 6, 2018
As short as we are something seems very off. ! Not even kind of hard to break down which is rare with this team regardless of personnel.
— Daniel St Ledger (@DanStL89) September 6, 2018
You would think with Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane running the team, Ireland would be getting the simple things right.
They look totally out of ideas. Getting everything wrong, keeper beaten at the near post twice in the first half and losing possession. Shocking stuff.— Ciaran Quinn (@CiaranQuinn9) September 6, 2018
I would say “Martin O’Neill should just walk away after this game”. But why would he? He’s getting paid extremely well.
Absolute shambles. Horrendous, hideous football. Something has to happen. #WalIrl— Rob Smith (@robsmithireland) September 6, 2018
I’ve always defended Martin O’Neill, but this is unforgivable! Even with big players missing, this is embarrassing #ireland #Wales #fai #COYBIG
— Gavin O’Reilly (@Gavin_O_Reilly) September 6, 2018
The sooner Roy Keane and Martin O'Neill go the better. They have Ireland playing crap and I'm sick of them being the story. And people fawning over James McLean being there...Big rip
— Greg Hughes (@GregHughes2) September 6, 2018
Sacking Trap and bringing in Martin O'Neill appears to have been like selling a Lada and buying...a different Lada #WALIRL
— Colly M 🇺🇦 (@phunsiz3) September 6, 2018
The plus side is that you won’t have to worry about what the Nations League actually is because Ireland are clearly going to get nothing out of it!!!
Now, how thick is O’Neill going to get about being asked why we are so shit tonight??— Derrick Lynch (@DLynchSport) September 6, 2018
Scandalous tactics by O’Neill.#WALIRL #UEFANationsLeague #Eire #COYBIG 🇮🇪
— Danny Boyle (@DanjoBoyler) September 6, 2018
Jesus Christ we are very bad! Wales are sucking us right off here. Martin O’Neill fella needs to call it a day. Hes a dinosaur with his extinct tactics!
— OBriener ☘️ (@OBriener_) September 6, 2018
After the disappointment of Ireland's first-half performance, very little appeared to change for the second '45 - after 55 minutes, Wales had their fourth; Connor Roberts with an admittedly wonderful hit.
In complete control and working through Ireland's porous defence with alarming regularity, the harsh truth is that the final scoreline scarcely flattered Ryan Giggs' side.
A rare moment of complacency from Wales' Aaron Ramsey did allow Ireland in for a goal; Shaun Williams capitalising on that error to get Ireland on the scoreboard, at least.
For Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane, where there had already been plenty of external pressure, serious questions regarding how long they can hope to stay in their jobs are bound to be asked.
You know when Martin O'Neill said he was worried about the Danish futsal team and integrity of the group... He was just worried about still coming last, right? #WALIRL
— Ewan MacKenna (@EwanMacKenna) September 6, 2018
“Every Manager has difficult spells. Brian Clough was sacked after 44 days at Leeds and then went on to win the European Cup with Nottingham Forest. Twice.”
- Martin O’Neill, 10pm this evening— Ronan Murphy (@swearimnotpaul) September 6, 2018
