Trading Places was a 1980s Eddie Murphy hit comedy film, but it could be confused as a likely sentiment being felt by Rep Ireland manager Steve Staunton as his eyes gaze north from Dublin tonight. Faced with a fifth successive international defeat in only six games as manager (one more than in Brian Kerr’s 32 match tenure as manager), Staunton will surely be hoping/ praying/ baying for a reversal of fortunes ahead of tonight’s fixture with the Czech Republic.
100 miles to the north, and the grass looks certainly greener- and the sky a lighter shade of blue- for the North’s most successful manager since Billy Bingham. Lawrie Sanchez has his fans actually believing qualification can be attained for an International tournament for the first time since 1986, and has publicly set his sights on overtaking Staunton’s men in the International Rankings. With Latvia bound for Windsor tonight, who’s to say Lawrie’s dream ride won’t continue? For Stan, at least a draw is required to relieve the pressure and give him time to ride out the storm.
We shall see…
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