We're not going to tire of talking about Ireland/Wales anytime soon, so we're glad to report that Kevin Kilbane and Robbie Savage spent a decent chunk of last night's Off The Ball chatting about Monday's game. Savage was in magnanimous form, praising both sets of supporters and admitting that part of him didn't want Wales to equalise in the final few minutes in Cardiff lest the game end in a draw, which would have knocked both sides out of contention for qualification.
Savage was also full of praise for Martin O'Neill, and last night he doubled down on an opinion he held during a promotional trip to Dublin a few weeks ago. Savage defended O'Neill back then - these were those hazy days in the aftermath of the one point from Georgia and Serbia - and he was consistent on air last night.
I was in Ireland a few weeks ago at a media roundtable, and I saw how much criticism there was of Martin O'Neill. I was very supportive of Martin O'Neill, asking how many of the Irish players would get in the Welsh side.
He was getting hammered for getting a draw in Georgia...well how important was that draw in Georgia? I can't believe he is still getting stick off a few people, which is absolute nonsense. We can all have an opinion on the game, whether you've played the game or not it doesn't matter, but to hammer people when they are with the team all the time...for Martin O'Neill to get his criticism he did.
That point in Georgia now is huge. He beats Moldova and then goes to the Cardiff City Stadium and beats Wales, what more can he do?
Savage was very good, you can listen back in full here.
See Also: Frame By Frame: Harry Arter's Incredible Awareness For McClean's Goal In Cardiff
