IT MIGHTN’T HAVE affected the outcome of the group, but Ireland’s victory against Cyprus in our final qualifier was important from the point of view of confidence, and maintaining a certain level of performance. The Cypriots showed in their last outing against Portugal that they’re no mugs, so to break them down so early and then go on to score three more was a good day’s work.

Ian Harte’s fast taking on the David Beckham role – give him a couple of free-kicks in decent positions and you’re more or less guaranteed that one’ll go in. He has the ability to put the ball right into the angle, which is the kind of skill that usually only comes with an awful lot of practice. I used to stay behind after training alright, but usually it was in Alex’s office being fined and explaining where I’d been the previous day!

I was thrilled for Niall Quinn when he got the second goal – firstly because he deserved the record, and secondly because he hasn’t got to worry about passing Frank Stapleton out any more. You could see from his snatching at one or two things that it was on his mind. It was a great ball in from Kevin Kilbane and a typically brave header from Quinny, who could easily have ended up with a boot in the head. If we do go on to qualify for the World Cup, we’ll have to pray to the footballing gods that his back remains okay.

David Connolly had a reasonable game, and Clinton Morrison looked busy when he came on, but you’d still have to start with Niall and Robbie Keane, which might mean finding a spot for Damien Duff on one of the wings. What’s positive, though, is that we now have options up front and the ability to change things if needed. Quinny’s one of the best target men around if you want to knock in the long ball, while we’ve a few nippy players who are capable of feeding off scraps.

I was thrilled with the performance of the back-line. Gary Breen played very well after missing the last one through injury, and Stevie Staunton, as against Holland, had a brilliant game. With his ability to marshal the younger players, he’s another experienced player who you hope will be able to keep fit for 2002. Roy bossed everything in midfield and stuck in another quality goal.

With the bombing in Afghanistan, I don’t think there’s any way that we’ll be travelling to Saudi or Iran in the play-offs. I imagine there’ll be a one-off game in a neutral country like Holland or Switzerland, which would actually concern me more than a two-legged affair. I’d fancy us against any Asian opposition over 180 minutes, but when it’s a cup final affair, upsets happen.

I know I’m going to have people at me for being a closet England fan, but I had a bit of a cheer when that David Beckham free-kick went in. I’d agree with the Greeks that the decision to give the free in the first place was a bit dubious, but his ability to stay calm and deliver the perfect shot in such a high-pressure situation was world class.

The way Beckham bounced back after his sending off in the last World Cup finals – and the treatment he received from the tabloids at the time – marked him out not just as a great athlete, but a real gutsy individual. If there was any debt remaining from the Argentina game, it was paid in full at Old Trafford.

The other big news last week was the sacking of Peter Taylor, who must be wondering how he went from hero to unemployed in less than a full season. Matt Elliot and the other senior pros coming out in support of him suggests that, given time, he’d have turned things round. It’ll also help him, I think, when it comes to finding a new job, which may very well be as part of the England World Cup set-up.

The only time I experienced a manager "losing the dressing-room" was when we had a fella called Dr. Joseph Venglos at Aston Villa. He was a lovely, lovely man, which was great from a social point of view but meant that discipline went astray. We nearly got relegated that season, which was an extremely stressful experience.

Talking of managers, Roddy Collins has definitely got his work cut out at Carlisle where, never mind blank cheques, I doubt if there’s even petty cash available. He’s like his brother, though, in that he has the balls and front for the job. They got what I think was their first victory on Saturday, so maybe he’s starting to turn things around.

Of course, there mightn’t be any more games for a while if the Professional Footballers’ Association go on strike. While I hope it doesn’t come to that, I have to say I’m one hundred percent behind Gordon Taylor and his members. The fact that the £20,000-a-week players are saying "we’ve got to look after the lower division lads" is lovely. David Weir at Everton summed it up nicely when he said: "This isn’t so much about us as it is about Tommy Smith needing a new knee-cap, or the 23-year-old guy at Colchester breaking a leg and having to retire."

There are a fair few players from my day who I imagine are going to need new hips and new knees. Twenty years of trawling round the divisions take its toll, especially if – as happened to me – you were encouraged to have painkilling cortizone injections before games. Basically you did what you were told because you wanted to play and appease the management. Some of the things that went on were really bad, possibly because they didn’t know any better. You’re not a surgeon yourself, so when someone in a position of responsibility says "this is the way to go", you follow their advice.

Actually, I twisted my knee quite badly playing a five-a-side recently and am going to have to get it washed out. I’m hoping it’s just a scrape of the cartilage, because I turned out for Manchester United in the Masters a while back and had great crack. There’s a United v. City game coming up in support of the New York Disaster Appeal, so as long as the knee doesn’t get any worse, I might do a ‘super sub’ and come on for five minutes.

Try as I might, I can’t seem to hang my boots up!