Gary Connaughton reporting from the Aviva Stadium
It's not a good night to be an Ireland fan.
Having entered the game against Luxembourg with hopes of a first victory of the Stephen Kenny era, few envisaged that the night would end in defeat against the world's 98th ranked side.
Another game gone by without a win, this result could hardly have done more to mount the pressure on Stephen Kenny.
Where does the team go from here? Everyone knew that it would be a process in the manager, but few imagine we would go ten games without a win under his tutelage. Fewer still considered that we would lose at home to Luxembourg.
The rest of the campaign will have to be used to show real progress.
Speaking after the game, Stephen Kenny said he accepted full responsibility for their system failing to work in this game.
I'm not making excuses at all. It showed me some players struggled with the physical capacity of playing two games in three days because they're not playing for their clubs.
That was very evident with quite a few players.
It wasn't anything to do with psychological preparation or determination, they love playing for their country and wanted to do better than they did...
I take responsibility. I introduced a new formation and we have no points after two games. I'm not getting away from that, I have to accept responsibility...
It's a disappointing result to say the least. We certainly wanted to win, were desperate to win. We needed to get that first goal and we didn't and got punished.
James Collins said after the game that some 'home truths' had been spoken after the loss.
The striker also said that the players had not given up on World Cup qualification and place no blame on the manager for the result.
There's no point in any of us thinking like that because that's not going to get you anywhere.
We need to get ready for Tuesday and get a result there. Hopefully that will give us a life as we go into the games in September...
It's not the manager's fault for the performance tonight, the responsibility lays with the players.
We are out there and we are the ones on the pitch. I full back the manager and all the staff.
I think we need to look at ourselves as players and try to do better. I'm sure that will be the case.
Ireland now face into a friendly against Qatar in Hungary on Tuesday evening, a game we imagine that very few Irish supporters will be looking forward to.
At least it can't get much worse?
SEE ALSO: Ireland Player Ratings After Embarrassing Loss At The Hands Of Luxembourg
