Once more, with feeling…

A dead rubber it might be, but an entirely worthwhile one, given the circumstances.

We’re playing Montenegro tomorrow night at Croke Park, in our final Group 8 qualifier, and in terms of the result, at least for us, it mean absolutely nothing. If the game against Italy was two and a half minutes shorter on Wednesday, then this could be a must-win, along with praying that Cyprus summoned the spirit of North Korea in 1966. Alas…it’s only the unbeaten record on the line for us, which would be nice to hold onto, but not imperative. Montenegro could finish 4th in the group if they beat us tomorrow night, which could potentially help their seeding for the Euro 2012 draw in Febraury of next year, but beyond that they’re merely going through the motions as well.

The team? Forget what I said at the back-end of my last post, it would appear that there are going to be a number of changes for the match, given the precarious situation for some individuals who are one booking away from a suspension in the first leg of the play-off against France (a hunch, not a conspiracy). Using information gleamed from the BBC and RTE, expect something like this. Assume a 4-4-2.

GK: Given
DL: Kilbane
DC: Dunne
DC: St. Ledger
DR: O’Shea
ML: Hunt
MC: Rowlands
MC: Miller
MR: Duff
FC: Keane
FC: Doyle

Martin Rowlands, Liam Miller and Stephen Hunt are all in because Glenn Whelan, Keith Andrews and Aiden McGeady are all sitting on yellow cards. Liam Lawrence appears to be the only unenforced sacrifice from the team on Saturday night, making away for Duffer, who has recovered from his calf injury. A bit unfair on Lawrence, but expect to see him feature at some point, he will be an asset to this side for a while to come I feel. Also pleased to see Martin Rowlands getting a chance to prove he’s something other than the smoking gun in the Andy Reid feud.

The return of Liam Miller is something else to keep an eye on. A few weeks ago I questioned what Miller was doing in the squad, when he was at the time without a club. Since then, Miller has joined Hibernian and started well for his new club, who find themselves on the coat-tails of the Old Firm, at least for a few more weeks. I hope it continues for Miller, he was a player with enormous potential when he started off at Celtic under Martin O’Neill, before making the (understandable) mistake of joining Manchester United before he was an established player on the European stage. His career has stagnated ever since that move, but certainly given the dearth of quality in our central midfield at the moment, Miller can stake a claim for a place. If a few of his performances for Celtic in the Champions’ League way back when are anything to go by, he’s more than qualified to take one of the two spots in the central midfield. The rest of the side? Standard issue, unless Trap decides to throw a few curveballs in when he does actually announce his side, probably an hour or so before kick-off tomorrow night.

Montenegro? Not bad for a first qualifying campaign, they being the lesser of the two nations formed out of the split of Serbia and Montenegro after the last World Cup. (Congratulations are due to the Serbians by the way, even if it could potentially spell disaster for us…) They drew 0-0 with us at home, were beating Bulgaria at home 2-1 until the 92nd minute (I’ve seen that before!) and also kept Italy honest in Lecce, going down to a 2-1 defeat after pegging them back early in the game. Couple those results with an undefeated record against their genuine competitors in the group (Two draws with Cyprus, four points off Georgia) and it has been a decent campaign for the Montengrans, steady if not spectacular. Their side is compromised of a few familiar names. Simon Vukcevic seemed set for big things early in his career, before Sporting Lisbon snapped him up, where is carving out a decent niche for himself.

More familiar however will be the duo of Stevan Jovetic, the Fiorentina youngster with a hammer of a right-foot shot, and a trade in humbling massive European teams (Ooh, ABBA!) Mirko Vucinic should also stick out in the memory for a few people. For the Serie A watches amongst us, he’s an important if perhaps not integral part of Roma’s squad with a knack for scoring ridiculous goals. For those amongst us whose European knowledge only goes as far as the Champions’ League, he’s the fella who let Arsenal off the hook. (I shudder to think what that text could possibly mean at the start, my Italian is shamefully bad) He also happens to be Montenegro’s top scorer, with 7 goals in 14 games. So no more jibes from me.

Truth be told, I remember scarce little from our goalless draw with them more than a year ago, beyond Given’s lucky save to preserve us a point at the death, so I can’t tell you much about their style of play, sorry. Montenegro’s record however would have them down as a side going through the learning curve. Three defeats from nine qualifiers would suggest a team that is difficult to break down, but one win from 9 also suggests they have a bit to learn about how to get it right in the qualifying process. They’re a decent side, and a hard nut to crack at home. Whoever gets them in qualifying for 2012 should expect two difficult, if winnable matches.

All things told, it should be a fairly even contest. Don’t expect us to be too expansive, just try and keep it tight as against Italy the other night. This isn’t an opportunity to let off some steam, rather a trial run for November, so it should still be of some interest to see who’s going to be in and out of the squad and the starting line-up for the two-legged play-off. Chances are Trap has almost all of his side pencilled in for that first leg, so it will be up to anyone who’s place isn’t assured to give him a selection heache, or an option should someone else succumb to injury or suspension. Beyond that, there’s little to say really…if you want a prediction, go for 0-0. It might suffer for the lack of edge in terms of entertainment, loathe though I am to say it.

Despite the lack of a genuine competitive edge to tomorrow night, the match will bear some resonance for Irish fans. Tomorrow night marks the 100th cap for Shay Given, who has been given the armband for the night, as well as Kevin Kilbane. I’m hoping to provide a write-up for both men in the next few days, unfortunayely University work forbids me from doing so this evening, but this is a landmark which should not go without mention. Expect to see something in the next few days.

For now, I can only refer you to Daryl’s piece on the pair of them on the front of the blog and extend my own gratitude to both men for their service in the national shirt. I may have knocked Kilbane more times than I can remember, I will argue that there are more viable options at left-back than himself these days. I wonder were it not for his own goal in the home match and his mistake in the away game to gift Bulgaria equalisiers in our two matches with them, how much more important tomorrow night’s game would be, and I still can’t fully forgive him for his shinned rebound to Ian Harte’s missed penalty against the Spaniards in 2002…but despite all that, 100 caps for a country playing to our standard is no mean achievement. Thanks are due from all Irish supporters, whether we like him or not. He may not be the best defender we ever had, but it’s not for his lack of effort. Thank you Kevin.

There’s plenty more to come on Shay…for now, all I can say is…if there are any budding scientists out there who have unlocked the secret to cryogenically freezing individuals, could you please inform the FAI, because the longer we can keep Shay Given in between the posts, the better it is for us. The greatest goalkeeper in the history of the national side, and arguably the greatest servant to the Irish national side in it’s near 90 year history…thank you doesn’t even come close to recognising Shay’s contribution to Irish football, so there’s more where that came from. I hope both lads mark the occasion suitably tomorrow night.

For now, I’ll leave it at that, analysis and hopefully a few more bits and pieces in the days to come. Until then, all the best everybody.