WHEN John O’Shea last had the Ireland squad together, eyebrows were raised about the length of time he had players on the pitch the day before the game.
So it should not come as a surprise that he would point to how Adam Idah’s goal had resulted from his and his staff’s attention to detail.
For someone essentially on trial for a job he had previously been told he would not get, the desire to highlight something which has come off was understandable.
Idah picked up for his country where he left off with his club Celtic, following his Old Firm Scottish Cup winner, with the opener against Hungary on Tuesday.
And O’Shea explained how his header from Will Smallbone’s cross came from meticulous preparation.
He said: “It’s reminding him beforehand, we showed him a couple of clips from training on Monday.
“Robbie Brady should have crossed one in training, Adam was in the perfect position. Then he did cross one and Adam is trying to link up play.
“So we just reminded him before the game that, if we are in crossing positions, why we should get the detail right on it.
“Thankfully, Will Smallbone’s technique and ability, very little backlift, boom, and Adam’s done what he’s done for the last six months, and longer than that in terms of he’s got some good headed goals for Ireland already.
“He’s got to keep developing his game in terms of everything. He does what he does, he was in the right position and it was a fantastic goal.
“It was good movement. The clip we showed him just beforehand from training was about that. If he had been in the position that he was in in the game he would have got a goal in training.
“It’s nice when you’re working on things like that, you’re showing lads and they take it on board because it was actually the first time I really felt we took a bit more care and detail in our passing. I think we connected three or four passes, Will made a run we were looking for in terms of that corner kind of run and then that delivery he made was top-class.”
The quiet satisfaction he may have felt at that goal was surpassed by the elation which greeted Troy Parrott’s injury-time winner.
There was a time when Parrott was Ireland’s great hope, before his early progress slowed and he was supplanted in the nation’s affections by Evan Ferguson.
But the Dubliner has offered reminders that he should not be written off.
In March 2022, he scored another last-minute winner in a friendly, against Lithuania, when he fired home an unstoppable long-range volley.
Seven goals in four play-off games — to add to the ten he scored during the regular season — may not have been enough to keep Excelsior Rotterdam up but it should enhance his options if, as assumed, his future lies away from Tottenham.
After playing on Sunday night, when he scored a hat-trick, Parrott could have been forgiven in delaying his arrival for international duty.
But O’Shea was glad he was there on Tuesday, even if he was left hanging when the striker opted not to square to Sammie Szmodics who, to be fair to Parrott, had not held his run to ensure he was onside.
O’Shea added: “The calmness from Troy when going through on goal — as we had to defend the set-piece and the next thing we’re breaking away, I’m just convinced he’s squaring it and happy days, it’s a tap-in and we have the win, incredible!
“Then he has done what he’s done and time stood still for a few seconds. But I think the team, the staff and the group and the work they put in, not just here but in the last three games, they got their rewards.
“I’ve mentioned how tricky it is in terms of fitness and managing lads, whether it be weddings, and you think of Troy playing up until a couple of days ago, and you’re trying to get details into them.
“There was one with, I think, five minutes to go and had Troy been in earlier in the week he would have known just to drop back in and pick up the ball.
“Séamie Coleman had gone high, which is the right thing to do, and there’s a little bit of confusion and the next thing Hungary are going attacking us.
“That’s the sort of thing you’re having to cope and react to and thankfully the boys did and Troy in particular, I’m delighted for him.
“He showed that desire for his country to get back in as quickly as he could, get his recovery done and be ready to go.”
JAKE SHOP
O’Shea was pleased with defender Jake O’Brien’s 45-minute contribution on his international debut and said: “Jake did well. It’s tricky coming into a situation like that and it’s a case of Jake’s going to keep progressing.
“We’re really strong in that area and all Jake can keep doing is keep performing like he is and he’s going to make it very hard for me to leave him out of the team.”
But the fact that O’Brien, 23, had to wait to come on for 32-year-old Shane Duffy showed O’Shea is not prepared to ditch the old guard just yet.
He explained: ”If it’s a certain scenario that I do get the job, or myself and the staff did get the job, there is lots to be positive about in terms of planning and prepping but also knowing there are still players who can do a job for Ireland that were maybe thinking, ‘Is my time done?’
“No, we need experience. We’d experience on the pitch to win the game.”
None more so than captain Coleman, 35, with O’Shea chuckling at how he rushed over to the Everton man at the final whistle to stop tensions boiling over after he got riled by Liverpool star Dominik Szoboszlai.
The gaffer continued: “It was brilliant, I think Séamie kind of needed it to fire his system up again for the last 15 minutes if you know what I mean.
“He loves a battle, he loves a challenge, there were plenty of verbals with Szoboszolai. It was brilliant for Séamie to have that, to get the system going.
“We were thinking of making changes, the changes and the timings were going to be key, but I knew Séamie was not going to be one.
“You mention his age but I know the level of detail and care he’s prepared with throughout his career, he was one not to come off.
“That fight is always going to be needed but we also need more detail and care in our passing and our technique.”