Hands Up Stan - future of Irish National soccer team

Stevie was a great defender in his day and he chose the best form of defence (run away) when confronted with a gun totting "well wisher". Another example of the dangers posed by mobile phones - Stan had just popped out of the hotel to take a call when he met Mr Uzi. The gunman threatened to kill the Irish manager. If the radiation out of them phones doesn't fry your brains the rogue gunman will blow them out. Apparently the gunman was carrying an imitation firearm according to the Gardai. The man has now apologised to Staunton. Ireland's team for the friendly match with Holland has been ravaged by withdrawals of top players. More long term, Staunton and the FAI face major strategic challenges. One of the key difficulties is the dearth of quality (English Premiership quality) Irish players. This trend looks like continuing as top flight English clubs continue to buy in "ready to use" players from other professional leagues rather than develop Irish (and other) youngsters through youth schemes. I fear the decline of the Rep of Ireland national team over the next 5 years into a N.Ireland style situation - declining quality, poor results, increasing perponderance of lower league professionals and a tumble down the FIFA rankings. The bleak outlook means little chance of qualifiation for major tournaments.