Keith Andrews believes that there was an element of insider trading taking place ahead of Ireland's summer defeat to Greece in Athens.
The Ireland assistant manager said that he has been alerted to Greece manager Gus Poyet’s imaginative tactical approach to the game between the two Group B rivals ahead of the Euro 2024 qualfier in June.
Greece took all three points on a night that the manager openly admitted that he knew Ireland’s tactics and implemented a game-plan to nullify the threat of the visitors, which resulted in a 2-1 victory for Poyet’s side.
The defeat for Stephen Kenny’s side put a major dent in their qualification ambitions and it proved a devastating blow from which they have been unable to recover, heading into the final three group games with a meagre three points on the board.
"In terms of the approach [to the Greece game] in June, it wasn't rocket science was it?" said Andrews, speaking at Tuesday’s press conference. "We had played a similar system for a long period of time.
"In terms of this game coming up, I’m not going to say anything here that’s going to jeopardise anything, because I am sure he [Poyet] will be reading, and possibly getting some Irish staff from clubs around England to come in and watch his training session and have an opinion or view of sorts that will maybe help in his game plan."
When asked to elaborate in relation to the Irish people aiding the Greece manager with his preparations, Andrews said: "Gus has a thing where invites certain people in to watch training. Pre Athens, I am sure that assisted his preparations.
"He is quite cute, very experienced in his preparation. He said certain things post game, where he alluded to, he has done his homework...
"It is out there, it is not me coming up with it, there was a text off my phone. It is out there, so I am sure you will have a look into it."
Andrews was then asked were there any spy concerns ahead of Friday? And while he did not accuse Poyet of breaking any rules with his methods, he implied that it was not how the Irish management would go about their match preparations.
"I don’t know, I don’t know, it’s not my game," he said. "I like to sleep well at night so I don’t know. We’ll find out post camp I’m sure."
But Andrews did admit that the game in Greece was a blot on the copybook in terms of the qualification campaign as a whole, and following the defeat he said the first place he looked for answers was in the mirror.
The Ireland management had targeted the game as one that they could win, which would set up an assault on qualification in a tough group that also contained France and the Netherlands.
And while he said that Ireland do not have the divine right to win away in Greece, he felt that the performance was not at the level compared to other outings in this campaign, namely the narrow home defeats to France and the Dutch.
"Look in the mirror first, it's the first place you have to look and then go back to team performance and individual performance," said Andrews, reflecting on the defeat.
"You constantly question what you have done, how you do it, by watching back training, study it, observe it. That's an ongoing process, if you want to get better as a coach and my input into the team and as a management staff.
"[There is] definitely frustration and disappointment. You can’t steer away from where you are in the group, you can’t bury your head in the sand. The reality is we are where we are.
"I think when you look at the performances against some of the big teams - France at home, I think you’d all agree was very, very good, Holland first-half in particular, I was really impressed with how we pressed, our out-of-possession strategy, we possibly could have been a little more clinical, because 1-1 at half-time wasn’t a fair scoreline.
"And Greece, which is very prevalent in our minds as we are sat here today, was a blot on the copybook that we have to accept. We weren’t happy with our performance against Greece."
Arriving into camp this week, Andrews said that it was a case of business as usual with no further clarification of who will be in charge of the national team following the completion of the October and November fixtures.
He also clarified that fellow assistant John O’Shea was completely committed to the role with the national team and that it would not change whether the rumoured job at Birmingham City comes to fruition.
Ireland are all-but out of the running to take one of the two automatic places in the group, however, a small chance still exists that could see a play-off place present itself in March, where two victories would see the Boys in Green qualify through the Nations League back door.
"I think it’s just the nature of football, to be honest," said Andrews. "You sign a contract and that’s the reality of it. There are permutations for if you qualify, if you don’t qualify… we won’t go into all those. But that’s the reality.
"The FAI in terms of what they’ve said and the statement they put out after the whirlwind of reaction to the games last month, I thought, was very fair and acceptable, just cementing exactly what was signed however long ago.
"It’s business as usual for us in terms of our preparation and certainly the first day on the grass with the players, which is where we want to be, really."
And despite the failed campaign and uncertainty surrounding the management’s future, Andrews is proud of the squad that has been created over the past three years and the unity and pride that it has brought to the national team.
"I don’t think that’s in doubt," said Andrews, regarding the squad unity.
"The players love coming in, the vibe is really good around the place, the energy, the enthusiasm around the place. The desire to get better as a group and the desire to put their game plan into place that we introduce.
"The player aspect of it in terms of where they’ve bought into it, I don’t think that has ever been in doubt. Certainly from our point of view, we love working with this group.
"You’ll have to ask them [the FAI] that," added Andrews, when asked was there any chance of a new deal for the current management team.
"In terms of us and in terms of what we do, between last month and this month nothing changed so the desire to succeed in this job has been the same since day one to the day after the loss to the Dutch and today.
"So our preparations haven’t changed, our game plan will be tweaked accordingly to the opposition, ultimately the powers that be decide post November, post March, post next summer, whenever that will be."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Greece in Euro 2024 qualifying on Friday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live radio commentary on 2fm's Game On
