There's a dance in Billy Brennan’s barn tonight; but Stephen Kenny and his Republic of Ireland team are not on the guest list.
While Greece and the Netherlands are battling it out for automatic qualification for Euro 2024 in Athens, the underperforming Irish are in Faro for an underwhelming encounter against group whipping boys, Gibraltar.
The road to the European Championships was always going to be long and winding when matched in a group alongside the World Cup finalists and the top-seeded Dutch, however, few would have forecast that this new-look Ireland side would sit languishing near the bottom of the group with a paltry three points from six games played.
Six wins from six for the French, who have stamped their ticket to Germany with two games remaining, while Greece could set up a grand finale in November if they can take their good form into the clash with Ronald Koeman’s side at the OPAP Arena.
A venue that has already had its say in this campaign, as it was there that Ireland’s campaign went off the rails in what was only the second group game of the qualifying phase.
That defeat in Athens left Ireland with a mountain to climb in their quest to conquer either of the top two seeds, but in truth, Kenny's team failed to even make their way out of base camp, and aside from that one home victory over tonight’s opponents, they were unable to lay a glove on France away from home and followed it up with two Dublin defeats to the Dutch and Gus Poyet’s impressive unit on Friday night.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of tonight’s away game against Gibraltar is the fact that the match has to be played at a neutral venue due to the fact that the Victoria Ground is caught between a Rock and an airport runway, and does not meet essential UEFA requirements until upgrade work is completed.
As a result, the match moved west, and beyond their noisy neighbours, to the south coast of Portugal; the Estadio Algarve will host tonight’s game.
And from an Irish perspective, perhaps no bad thing, having struggled to cope with the conditions the last time they played in Gibraltar, where the return of Mick McCarthy as manager exposed the national team’s continuing deterioration, with Jeff Hendrick eventually sparing Ireland’s blushes in a game that will be mainly remembered as the night that John Delaney resigned as the FAI chief executive.
There will be no Hendrick to dig Ireland out of a hole tonight, but you must imagine that this team can add another three points to the tally by completing the double over the group’s lowest seeds.
"A professional job" is how the manager described his team’s last performance against Gibraltar, but it is not so long in the memory banks to recall a rather rancid opening half, which was more akin to amateur hour.
Mikey Johnston’s introduction at the break in that game proved the catalyst to a decent second-half showing, as Ireland put three past their opponents, and perhaps the Celtic man might get a chance to do it from the start in the Algarve tonight.
For the tricky winger’s 20-minute cameo was one of the very few highlights from Friday’s disappointing defeat to Greece, with Ireland enjoying a brief spell of dominance following Johnston’s introduction, which perhaps came 20 minutes too late with the team chasing a 2-0 deficit in what was a must-win encounter.
Otherwise, Chiedozie Ogbene and Liam Scales, on his international debut, are probably the only other players who did enough to guarantee selection for a game that will neither have an impact on the group standings nor the public’s imagination.
Ryan Manning impressed off the bench, coming on at the break as the manager substituted Nathan Collins after Ireland conceded a second goal on the stroke of half time.
The sporting nation may still be searching for an antidote following the rugby World Cup heartbreak in France at the weekend, however, the only thing that this Monday night showing looks set to offer is an element of light relief with potential for some comedic moments.
Despite the doom and gloom surrounding this one, Kenny must be pondering his own personal predicament regarding his future beyond the national team, and he will be looking for a win to take to Amsterdam next month in an attempt to rebuild his reputation.
Kenny should really ring the changes for tonight’s game and offer an alternative following the poor performance, however, he will most likely stick to the core of the team as he looks to avoid the unthinkable outcome of not beating the oft-perceived part-timers.
Festy Obosele, Dara O’Shea and Andrew Omabamidele will all be putting their hands up for inclusion at the back, while Mark Sykes and Jamie McGrath could certainly add a touch of creativity and excitement into the starting eleven.
Evan Ferguson was unable to bring his Brighton club form to the party on Friday night, but the reality is that the emerging striker probably needs the accompanying club quality to get the best out of him in a green shirt.
The young striker will surely start, and a morale-boosting encounter against Gibraltar is like manna from heaven for a goalscorer looking to build on his emerging reputation, while the manager will be looking at how his attacking unit can best complement Ferguson – Adam Idah will also be itching for a run in such a scenario.
Gibraltar have yet to win a European championships qualifier, although their two recent games where they kept Ireland scoreless for the opening 45 minutes will certainly offer an incentive to make it third time lucky tonight.
An Ireland defeat is an unthinkable outcome for an already under pressure manager, while anything other than a comprehensive, controlled and confident victory against Julio Ribas’ outfit will heap more pressure on the manager ahead of the final international window in November.
Watch Gibraltar v Republic of Ireland in Euro 2024 qualifying on Monday 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
