I desperately wanted Steve Staunton to succeed, but based on what we've seen during this qualifying campaign, he is just about treading water. At this stage you would have expected more progress, more positivity, more evidence that players are settling in at this level. Right now, I have no confidence when World Cup qualifying comes that our prospects are going to get any better.

It was a pretty lacklustre first-half performance, and the second 45 minutes were worse if anything. The state of the pitch didn't lend itself to creative, skilful football, and the ball was bobbling, taking unpredictable bounces.

That didn't help, but it can't be offered as an excuse.

I was astonished at the team Staunton picked. Initially, Stephen Ireland was rendered completely ineffective by being played out of position, and it was only when Damien Duff (right) was pushed wide that things improved and that the side had a better balance about it.

Sometimes you have to give a coach credit for changing a formation that's not working, but on this occasion, the lack of shape was so glaring at the start, that a change simply had to be made.

Ireland was a fish out of water, Duff was running around rather aimlessly when he's exactly the sort of player you want on the ball against a third-rate side like Wales. In the end, it was if Staunton stumbled from a chaotic situation to a winning formation.

Then there was the decision to leave Kevin Doyle on the bench. If Doyle was the victim of an overly tactical approach, his omission smacked of negativity. The manager obviously wanted two tough guys in the middle of the pitch, yet during the opening half hour, neither Lee Carsley nor Jonathan Douglas made a significant pass that I could remember.

Even if a certain type of midfield player is primarily there to break up the opposition's rhythm, now and then he still has to get on the ball and serve his front men. That should be a basic requirement of an international midfielder, but we never saw it from Carsley or Douglas.

And why set out your stall to stop a team which can't really play in the first place?

The Irish were up against a defence that everyone knows is a bit of shambles . . . just think back to Wales's 5-1 thrashing at home by Slovakia . . . and that's way it amazed me that someone of the goalscoring talent of Doyle didn't start the game.

I had hoped that Staunton would have looked at the opposition, and concluded that if his side performed any way well, the match was going to be won pretty comfortably. It was made for an attacking combination of Robbie Keane and Doyle up front, with Duff doing what he does best out wide.

Even though he managed to get a result, that caution was never vindicated for me. It wasn't a case of Staunton not being bold, it was a case of him not being sensible.

Given the way the ball was bobbling about, Ireland took his goal brilliantly.

He was very composed considering the occasion, and considering the pressure the team is under, and it looks to me that he could well have the right sort of temperament to play at international level.

If his confidence can hardly have been helped by being initially played out of position, there was not the slightest sign of nerves when the chance presented itself. Before he was substituted due to injury, he was still struggling because he is most definitely not a deep-lying striker, however, he deserves a lot of credit for that finish.

Great occasion at Croke Park, pity about the game.