Those shiny new FIFA rankings were wheeled onto the stage during the week and it turns out we're just about hanging onto a spot in the top 50, with Lawrie Sanchez and Northern Ireland among the movers and shakers almost as a small reminder of how many backward steps Ireland have taken. Not life or death but worth a closer look.

Okay, the case for the rankings can be a little flimsy at times and there are some obvious glitches in the system but the new procedures are much more relevant than before.

Friendly results have been pushed way, way down in importance and only results from the last four years are included for calculation, which makes it not at all unlike the seeding system UEFA uses for qualification for tournaments. Which makes it more than a little pebble in the shoe of inconvenience. Take out the nonEuropean teams and this placing tells us a lot about where we could be by the time qualification groups for South Africa 2010 are being bandied about. It's not quite the end of the world just yet but another few months of results like we've had and even pot four might slip away, making future tilts at the majors trickier and trickier.

Thing is, instead of carping on about the rights and wrongs of Nigeria and Cameroon in the top 15, perhaps we should wonder if 49th sums up where Ireland are right now. Does it tell the whole story? Probably not.

Is it a country mile away from reality? Well, without getting all glass half-empty about it, there are arguments to be made that most of the teams above us have every right to be there. Let's play devil's advocate with that idea for a minute.

As much as Scotland's placing at 25th and Northern Ireland's four places ahead of the Republic seem a tad false, well Scotland have beaten Norway, Slovenia and Estonia away, drawn with Italy and beaten France at home and our neighbours up north have beaten England and Spain and drawn with Denmark, all in the last couple of years. All in competitive matches. And if the Northern Irish team that beat Spain was made up of guys who get their game at the Burnleys, the Motherwells and Southamptons of this world, then they'd point out that our new great white hope, Paul McShane, could very well spend much of the season as third choice centre-half at West Brom. Still, that usual chestnut of an all-Irish squad would probably have something like a 3:1 ratio of players in the Republic to Northern players and you'd expect most games between the two teams to end with the team of Duff and Keane on top. Same as you'd expect the rankings to sort themselves out over the longer term. Only results will do that though.

And how many of those 48 countries ahead of us would we fancy our chances against?

Egypt, Mali, Guinea, Iran, Morocco and the like . . . sure.

But what about Ivory Coast, who were only a hint of experience away from getting out of the group of death in the World Cup and have the pace and energy of Drogba, Zokora, the Toures? Or Ghana, with Essien and Appiah, who were last spotted overrunning the Czech Republic during the summer? Would we really expect to come out on top against Mexico or be hugely confident going into a game with the USA?

European teams are a more appropriate comparison and there are teams we might scoff at but in a results industry they've pulled wins out of the bag. Croatia have beaten England, Sweden (twice) and Bulgaria in the last two campaigns. Romania have beaten the Czech Republic. Bulgaria have beaten Turkey.

Ukraine may have been about as exciting as the Coronation Street omnibus but they've beaten Turkey, Denmark and Greece. Sweden have won big games. Switzerland we've attempted to beat four times over a few years and never really come close.

Slovakia may well prove a handful we'll struggle with in a different way but with similar outcomes. All are placed higher than us along with Israel, Poland and the big names. All the while Ireland have been totting up plenty of draws and losses in the meantime and not a single significant win over what you'd call meaningful opposition. Perhaps it's down the list in the greater scheme of things but it's important enough that John Delaney made reference to FIFA rankings when sacking Brian Kerr.

As recently as March 2005 Ireland were 12th, Northern Ireland were 111th and Scotland were 88th and as much as that shows the faults with taking these positions too seriously, it also sums up the couple of years we've had.

There's a nagging feeling this could get worse before it gets better.