After the loss to France in Paris tonight, we are dangerously close to seeing another Ireland campaign peter out without as much as challenging for a top two finish in the group.
Finishing in the top two was always going to be an unlikely prospect considering the presence of the French and Dutch, but it is the nature of the way things have gone in recent months that will cause real concern for Ireland fans.
The loss to Greece hammered home how little progress this team has made on the pitch over the last couple of years. Whatever about the top seeds in the group, the manner in which they were outplayed in Athens by a team of similar quality has caused a real changing in the tide in terms of public opinion on the Stephen Kenny era.
The defeat in France was far from a disgrace, but it has further compounded the pressure that is building on the Ireland manager.
Damien Delaney feels Stephen Kenny's words coming back to bite him
Stephen Kenny cannot be criticised for this result tonight, but many are now asking serious questions about his reign as a whole.
Damien Delaney has long been harsh evaluator of Ireland during his tenure, and while he has no issue with the performance on this occasion, he said on Virgin Media this evening that Kenny's own comments have come back to bite him in recent times.
In the middle of the last campaign, Stephen Kenny moved the goalposts. He said it was all about Germany 2024.
I remember in studio when we heard that, I think Brian [Kerr] was with me, and we all kind of went 'did we miss that memo, when did that come about?'
It was all future, future, future. Well guess what, the future is now, it's here and we haven't done well.
We have to beat the Dutch on Sunday, we have to. I know that might sound ludicrous, but the Greece result put us in that position.
Stephen said in his post-match interview that there's a a fair chance we will all be level on six points if we beat the Dutch. Well Greece are playing Gibraltar, so there is every chance they are going to be on nine and we will have played a game more than the Dutch as well.
Again, the framing of our situation is not accurate. We haven't done well. We now have to beat the Greeks when they come to Dublin to salvage something out of it.
Otherwise, we will have to go to Gibraltar and get a result to not finish bottom. That's what we're looking at four years into the job now. It's not good enough.
I remarked that after the last set of games, it's not good enough. We haven't been good enough as a whole, not just tonight. I'm not castigating him for tonight, but as a whole.
Ireland will need to beat the Dutch on Sunday to keep any slim chances of a top two finish in this group alive, a prospect that looks incredibly unlikely as things stand.
If they fail to get three points, you can expect a serious inquest into the direction of travel of this team to get underway next week.
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