Dublin Opinion

[ Photo pinched from bbc.co.uk / AP ]

Very likely due to the fact I’m just sitting in front of the PC in a town Nostradamus used to live in to listen to the Republic-Georgia match on the radio , I’ve got that doom-laden feeling in my guts again. Perhaps it’s also due to us being up against the team Stalin would probably be cheering for if he was still among us today. We may have the canniest, most Italian manager we’ve had in a long while but looking at that Republic teamsheet, it has to be one of the weakest line-ups on paper I can ever remember.

Steven Hunt, who reminds me more and more of a supporting actor in one of those bawdy Pasolini films (that Italian influence again ?) was the usually perceptive footballer in midweek press conferences in claiming the venue change forced on the Georgian FA would give them added motivation. He appears to have overlooked the fact they’ve recently been at war - which may be somewhat more of a motivational factor for them - as it was in beating the Welsh in a friendly in Swansea the night the Republic were second best in Oslo.

One sole factor reassures me - Georgia were thumped by Norn Iron 4-1 in a friendly at the end of the summer - so they don’t seem to be exactly worldbeaters. Norn Iron are, however, arguably a better side than us at the moment. We will see in 90 minutes time.

Here, as an aside, is a Guardian interview with Georgia’s midfielder Irakli Klimiashvili giving some background to the delicate logistics of getting to that afore-mentioned Swansea friendly while a war was going on… Klimiashvili Interview, Guardian