RTÉ Soccer pundit Richie Sadlier believes that speculation regarding Martin O’Neill’s stint as Republic of Ireland manager is a minor point compared to another glaring issue facing the FAI.
Ireland’s hopes of qualification for Russia 2018 via the play-offs were dashed in the most comprehensive manner at the Aviva Stadium, as Denmark ran riot in the second half to record a 5-1 victory in the second leg in Dublin.
Postmortems have following the sobering defeat and after the match, O’Neill insisted that he would need time to consider his future.
The former Celtic and Aston Villa manager agreed in principle to a two-year extension prior to the play-offs that would see him in charge until at least 2020, but the manner of the defeat has led to further discussion around the management team.
Sadlier believes that while the display was hugely disappointing, there is a bigger issue at play.
"There were elements of last night’s performance that we haven’t seen before. Defensively, we were very, very poor," the former Ireland international told RTÉ Sport.
"I think the bigger issue facing us, irrespective of how long Martin stays in the job, is the production line of youngsters seems to have dried up.
"There hasn’t been a big long list of young players who have been knocking on the door of the senior side for quite a while.
"That’s a greater concern."
