Strength in numbers still key for John O'Shea's midfield

Stephen Kenny may not have found what he was looking for, however, the former manager certainly knew what he was attempting to achieve while in charge of the national team.

Irish players playing possession football, working the ball out from the back and taking on high-quality teams in a manner not normally accustomed to Republic of Ireland XIs.

Interesting times, yet ultimately a project that failed to flourish despite the occasional green shoots suggesting there was method to the oft-perceived madness.

There was also a comedy of errors on occasion throughout the process as the team played their way out from the back but into awful situations.

And yet it was not this particular tactic that caused the downfall of the former manager, but rather a strange combination of long-range shooting and an inability to take advantage of the teams considered of similar standard or even below.

The Scotlands and the Ukraines more palatable, however, Greece, twice, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Armenia…it was just too much in the end.

Remarkably the best performances came against the quality outfits, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Serbia, suggesting that the manager may have been on the right track, but when he came to that fork in the road, he chose the path less travelled.

Kenny built his team around the midfield, and one player in particular, Josh Cullen; a competent, composed ball-player who always wanted to take a pass and was happy to receive the ball under pressure.

Cullen was certainly not to blame for the malaise that set in, however, and aside from that one stray pass in the home game against France, he gave a very good account of himself throughout.

The problem seemed that Kenny just couldn't create a dynamic midfield unit around