What next for Northern Ireland and Ian Baraclough?
Lauren McCann
Northern Ireland had a dismal end to what has been another dismal Nations League campaign on Tuesday night as they were defeated 3-1 by Greece in Athens in League C.
Ian Baraclough’s men finished third in Group 2 of League C, amassing just five points, ten fewer than Group winners Greece and narrowly avoiding an embarrassing relegation to Group D by virtue of goal difference.
Their one win since the competition’s inception in 2018 came on Saturday and even that was unconvincing as Northern Ireland came from behind to beat Kosovo at Windsor Park courtesy of two late goals, the second of which was a superb header from Josh Magennis.
The glimmer of hope that the Kosovo result offered long suffering fans was quickly extinguished by the country’s inept performance at the Georgios Kamaras Stadium and now serious questions must be asked as to where Northern Ireland are heading under Ian Baraclough.
Northern Ireland boss Ian Baraclough is under mounting pressure after a string of poor results and performances.
After conceding a sloppy opening goal (the fourth time in their last six games which they have conceded first) after just fourteen minutes, a moment of quality from Steven Davis to pick out Shayne Lavery who produced an instinctive finish, got Northern Ireland level just four minutes later.
Yet, like in many other games in this campaign, they failed to test Vlachomidas for the rest of the game, and barely even managed to make it out of their own half.
Greece were not made to work particularly hard for the victory, their second goal from Masouras was gifted to them by a mistake from the surprisingly off kilter Davis before Mantalos compounded their misery by firing home a soft third from the edge of the area.
The home side were there for the taking and whilst Northern Ireland have never been renowned for their goalscoring prowess, they simply failed to produce any patterns of play which even brought them close to the opposition box.
Baraclough has persisted with a 5-3-2 system, and opted for Lewis and Bradley here, apparently in the hope that both could at different stages of the game, provide the width and quality from wide areas which the likes of Magennis in particular thrives off.
Yet Lewis looked every bit a player who has barely kicked a ball in the last year and a half and Bradley, arguably one of Northern Ireland’s best attacking outlets in the starting lineup, was forced to stay back as the visitors aimed to remain compact before eventually being taken off.
That word ‘compact’ has always been associated with Northern Ireland, and a solid foundation is what Michael O’Neill was able to build his success upon, yet under Baraclough in recent fixtures they have looked a mess at the back, despite having such a defensive system in place.
Even the ever-reliable Jonny Evans on his 100th cap for his country was poor, and the substitutions which Baraclough opted for in the direct aftermath of Greece regaining the lead served only to weaken the squad and compound what had been an insipid, error strewn display from front to back.
If this was a one-off bad performance away from home Baraclough may be given the benefit of the doubt, but these performances have become all too frequent under the manager’s tenure and calls for him to be relieved of his duties have only grown louder this campaign.
Yes, he has helped to unearth and develop the likes of Ballard, McCann, Bradley and Lavery, but the spine of the team in the last two games has practically been the same as which he had inherited from O’Neill and as a result questions have to be asked as to the extent in which he has succeeded in this remit. and how much he trusts these young players to deliver.
Calling up the likes of Shea Charles, Dale Taylor, Brodie Spence and Trai Hume at various stages and giving them their debuts before dropping them back down to the youth teams has been a bizarre sight as there doesn’t seem to be a clear plan for these players to come into the senior international set up and cement themselves there.
Performances have not improved at all; they are no longer defensively solid and rarely look like scoring. This short synopsis is hardly inspiring for Northern Ireland fans to hear from a man who is set to lead them into Euro 2024 qualifying, which has also become a whole lot harder as a result of their wretched form.
Northern Ireland face an uphill battle to qualify for Euro 2022 as they will be in Pot 5 for next Sunday’s draw due to their poor form.
Northern Ireland will now be in Pot 5 for qualifying, potentially the second or lowest seeds of the group, ensuring it will be a difficult task for them to even get points on the board never mind dream of qualifying.
The ideal time to change manager would be now as the Nations League brings down the curtain on a hectic international schedule for Northern Ireland until those qualifiers begin in earnest in March.
Even if the IFA decide to arrange friendly games before then (which doesn’t seem like a good idea given the hectic schedule already in place for many players) having a new manager in place by the new year would allow them to prepare properly for what could be a huge qualifying campaign.
Two problems exist however, one is that Baraclough still has over a year left on a two year deal he signed last December, and two is that given Northern Ireland’s recent form it may be hard to attract a better manager.
The IFA wanted to show their support for what Baraclough was building last year, but the length of the contract has been questioned by many fans as the only way they could get rid of him is if they pay off what is expected to be a considerable sum for the remainder of his contract as it appears unlikely that the former U21 boss would walk away.
All the names which have been touted are Northern Irish and represent a significant risk. The ideal available candidate is of course Michael O’Neill but whether he will want to return to the international set up after a long spell in club football to try and turn around this mess is up for debate.
Other names who could be interested are the likes of Grant McCann, Stephen Robinson and Neil Lennon but it is unknown if they could be lured away from their clubs whilst Irish League managers such as David Healey and Oran Kearney represent significant risks, akin to that which was taken when appointing Baraclough.
For now, Northern Ireland fans will welcome the long break from international football as they watch the World Cup from home, pondering what could have been and worrying about what is to come.
It feels like a fresh start is needed, and Baraclough seems unlikely to be able to execute it, but whether the IFA agree and are bold enough to make the necessary change is a different story.
The new year and the beginning of spring normally bring renewed optimism, but for many fans, if Baraclough is still at the helm come March those sentiments will be hard to find.
Lauren McCann is the Scoop’s Sport Editor and an English and Spanish student at Queen’s University Belfast.