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Steve Staunton's reign in pictures
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
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Steve Staunton's appointment in January last year was supposed to herald a new era in Irish football.
Steve Staunton's appointment in January last year was supposed to herald a new era in Irish football.
'I'm the Boss. I'm the Gaffer. What I say goes,' he told the assembled media at the Mansion House.
But Bobby Robson was brought in as International Football Consultant to act as a mentor.
Staunton was a popular choice having captained his side at the 2002 World Cup.
He had worn the Ireland jersey 102 times since his debut in 1988.
A new manager. A new captain. Robbie Keane took the armband from Kenny Cunningham.
It started positively for Staunton and his team with a 3-0 win over Sweden at Lansdowne Road.
However, the results got worse. A 1-0 home defeat to Chile was followed up with a 4-0 thrashing by the Netherlands.
The pressure began to show on Staunton as he received a touchline ban following the 1-0 defeat to Germany in Stuttgart.
Staunton was forced to watch the Cyprus game from the stand.
Cypurs 5-2 Ireland!
Ireland's fortunes plummeted even further when we scrapped past part-timers San Marino thanks to a last-minute goal from Stephen Ireland.
A media and public backlash followed that game and signalled the beginning of the end.
As a result of his treatment at their hands, Staunton became extremely terse in his dealings with the media.
One of the few highlights was the 4-0 away win over Denmark on a night when young Irish players came to the fore.
But a failure to beat Slovakia, the Czech Republic or Germany saw Ireland's Euro 2008 chances vanish.
A header from Cyprus' Stelios Okkarides meant the writing was on the wall for Staunton.
And so it was that the man who had starred in the highest point in Irish football was now a central figure in one of the lowest.
Where next for Staunton as he and the FAI go their separate ways?
FAI chief executive John Delaney is now leading the search for Staunton's replacement.
