Meagre crowds and weak sides make for a limp competition but England are expected to take part in 2013
Any attempt to justify the past week's Carling Nations Cup fixtures can easily be undermined by snapshots of the Aviva Stadium itself. There is a legitimate debate over whether or not the first edition of the tournament will also be its last. A competition initiated with the best of intentions will be remembered for thousands of empty seats, regardless of what occurs in the crucial encounter between the Republic of Ireland and Scotland on Sunday. Getting the on-field mechanics out of the way, a win for either team would claim the trophy.
If quoted attendances of around 15,000 and 6,000 for the hosts' gamewith Northern Ireland and Scotland versus Wales respectively were poor enough ? both of those figures appeared on the high side to the trained eye ? a further low was set on Friday night. Tournament organisers and sponsors could surely only shuffle uncomfortably in their seats as 529 turned up to watch Wales take on the Northern Irish. The joke doing the rounds before kick-off was that those in charge of the Carling Nations Cup would seek a super-injunction to prevent the media from reporting on the ridiculous scene. The Aviva Stadium holds 51,700.
This has not been a week short on news stories in Dublin, albeit few of them positive. In no particular order: Northern Ireland's manager, Nigel Worthington, questioned the validity of the tournament in which his team were playing; Gary Speed blasted the schedule given to his Wales side; and the Ireland coach, Giovanni Trapattoni, presided over a farcical saga involving members of his squad who ? like thousands of fans ? failed to turn up.
The Scots, conversely, have emerged unscathed. Although a truer sign of what progress they have made under Craig Levein will be deduced from a performance against Ireland than during the midweek win over Wales, there have been clear signs of encouragement.
Levein was not beset by anything like the call-offs which dogged the other competitors. Still, the Scotland manager, like many others, has found himself grappling with the fact that, to the wider world, the Nations Cup looks like something of a waste of time. For those involved it is not even lucrative.
"It's been great for us because we have had the players together for the Northern Ireland game [in February] and the players together for this week; [it is an opportunity normally] I wouldn't have had and it's another step in trying to get better all the time," says Levein.
There is more than a whiff of a public relations exercise around the Scottish FA's claim that they sought cut-price, even free, tickets and travel for supporters to attend today's game. It would seem unfair, after all, for those who had committed to attending the match against the Irish some months ago to pay more for that privilege than someone who made a last-minute pledge.
Poor planning and equally bad luck have caused problems elsewhere. It would, for example, be beyond anybody to foresee that an ash cloud would cause travel chaos for Scottish and Welsh supporters seeking to cross to Ireland.
Yet the recurring message is that ticket prices have been too high for a competition which, for those fans who would think about travelling to Dublin, comes at the end of a costly domestic season.
Given the economic climate in Ireland itself, home fans were never likely to accept premium prices. Tuesday's derby crowd was the lowest on record for an Ireland match at the Aviva. Pertinent in that, however, was a well-organised boycott of the match by Northern Ireland followers, as a protest at security arrangements and what was perceived as profiteering from specially arranged transport.
The wider issue of international football's significance in the modern day is at play. Players are apparently even more reluctant to report for friendlies in the immediate aftermath of a club campaign.
Salvation is likely to arrive from England, contractual issues notwithstanding. The Football Association's desire to re-establish a home nations tournament in 2013 as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations coincides with the scheduled, second playing of the Nations Cup. There is no question that an England team against Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland would be considerably more appealing to supporters and television companies.
The slight complication is that Carling have an agreement to sponsor the event again in 2013, while Vauxhall are the main commercial force behind the planned competition with England's involvement. After the spectacle of the past week it would not be much of a surprise if Carling walked away.
"I believe that England are going to be involved in two years' time and that will spice things up greatly," Levein says. Scotland's manager, along with those precious few who turned up in Dublin, know how badly that allure is needed.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/29/scotland-ireland-nations-cup
