An open letter to the Irish team

Read the latest YBIG blog from Ireland fan Bob Bashford...aka Roger Milla and the forty thieves

We were lucky enough this summer to watch one of the greatest tournaments of all time.The beautiful game played at its highest level. A championship where negativity was treated with the disdain it deserves. I presume like me you switched off the telly after the final or turned back round to your mates in the pub and said or thought "What a great tournament that was, I'm gutted it's over". Unlike me however you could have taken part in it so perhaps your viewing was a bit more wistful than mine. After all I got to go to the tournament and sample the atmosphere in Vienna, but of course it wasn't the same, mine was the only Irish jersey that I saw over the three days, a far cry from Stuttgart, Bratislava or Prague during the last qualifiers where the towns were drenched in green.

Did you see the wily old fox Aragones in action over the last few weeks, or Fatih Terim or even Karol Bruckner? Perhaps you recognised the difference that an experienced manager can make to an international team? Well now we have our own wily old fox in charge of our team and you as players have been presented (through luck? chance? design?) a manager who can help you to achieve your goals in international football, if you have any. This is a huge chance for you but also for us as supporters.

Look lets face it, we have grown slightly apart over the past few years, some blame it on Premiership wages, some on Premiership managers, some on Premiership TV coverage and some on Premiership supporters but I know that deep down you feel like I do about the Irish team. How do I know? Because I saw it in Kevin Doyle's eyes that night in Bratislava as he ran behind the Slovakian goal to the Irish fans, those few minutes summed up the whole two years for me, it wasn't about the disaster that it was, it was about the beautiful thing that it could have been and what it could be again. Perhaps in your heart of hearts you know you underperformed in a green jersey over the past two years. Perhaps you feel that you didn't get enough support from your colleagues? Perhaps you want to get out on the park and test yourself against the best. Well fXXk it, the last campaign is in the bin now. Xabi Hernandez wakes up this morning having to face into a new season just like everyone else. Let’s give it a real lash this time, and when it gets tough and you perhaps need a bit of inspiration then look up and we'll be there, roaring you on.