The new era of Irish football management got off to a near perfect start with last night’s 3-0 win over Latvia, and after the game Martin O’Neill spoke of his delight at the smooth first step into international management. 

Goals from Robbie Keane, Aiden McGeady and Shane Long eased Ireland to a convincing win against a poor Latvia side, but the low calibre of challenge extended to Ireland did not dampen spirits at the Aviva stadium as a sense of new beginnings grew as Ireland’s shift in tactical approach, markedly distinct from the previous manger’s rigid adherence to 4-4-2, became clear.

O’Neill spoke afterwards of delight with the performance and result: “Delighted with the performance and delighted with the result obviously. I accept the fact that there will be sterner tests ahead, of course, there’ll be one on Tuesday night, but it was nice to win, it was nice to play well, it was nice to get a few goals and I thought some of our play was terrific.

“I’m going to have a little look back at the DVD sometime this afternoon and assess things. Some things that you would miss during the course of the match that you think maybe we could do that a wee bit better, but overall the players were terrific, they put a lot of energy into the game and played some really nice football.”

Beyond the score line and increased presence of intricate passing football there was also the noticeable shift in demeanour of the players from the final days opf the Trapattoni era. O’Neill remarked on the squad’s positive attitude: “I’ve been pleasantly surprised at their attitude. They really want to go. There’s disappointment of course, one or two of the lads remarked that tonight was playoff night and we haven’t made it. We just maybe have a lot of hard work ahead of us but I know it’s just the start.”