On SoccerHe has had his own critics down the years, but, when Steve Staunton was unveiled to a mixture of surprise and disappointment as the new manager of the Ireland team, it was the inclusion of Bobby Robson as part of a package deal that allowed John Delaney a little wriggle room on his commitment to hire a "top class" successor for Brian Kerr.

While Staunton has apparently struggled to get to grips with various aspects of the job since, the Englishman provided a much needed reminder yesterday of how things were supposed to work out.

A succession of health problems may have resulted in visible physical deterioration during the past couple of years, but Robson remains as engaging as ever when it comes to discussing this Ireland side with members of the media. At Malahide yesterday he provided what nobody else within the camp has been able to in his absence: a reasoned and rational critique of this difficult campaign.

He was, understandably, inclined to look on the bright side, but there was still a willingness to identify and discuss how and where things had gone wrong, as well as clear signs that he retains a passionate determination to see them put right.

Sadly, ill health has prevented him playing anything like the role envisaged when he and Staunton occupied the top table in the Mansion House, and while he talked yesterday of sitting down to discuss his future with the relevant parties at the end of this campaign, it's almost impossible to imagine he and the FAI could, however much they both might like the idea, end up agreeing a new deal.

It is a terrible pity that things did not work out differently. Robson still produces a heady brew of enthusiasm and expertise when he gets going, and he could clearly have brought a good deal more to the table over the course of this campaign if he had not had to divert so much energy to his remarkable battle against cancer.

Staunton's team selections have repeatedly been the subject of fierce criticism, with Saturday's game the latest case in point, and it's hard to know how much of a hand the former Barcelona, PSV and Porto boss has had in the decisions made.

But there is a strong suspicion that Staunton would have benefited from having his more experienced friend around when things were going wrong mid-match on a couple of occasions, because those have been the times when the Louthman has looked most lost and made some of his most baffling calls.

Some time after the Cyprus game, curiously enough, Staunton suggested that he would have started Paul McShane that unforgettable night in Nicosia but for a conversation with Robson, who hadn't travelled, that resulted in a less-than-fit Andy O'Brien playing.

It was an occasion on which the manager was better placed to make the call himself, but it is a sign of his need for another's counsel that he apparently decided to follow the advice he was given.

Yesterday, Robson was emphatic that Staunton has learned a great deal over the past year and deserves a crack at the World Cup campaign. If the Republic manage a couple of half-decent results over what little is left of the campaign, he will presumably get it, although it is hard to say how the FAI would react to the 74-year-old "consultant" deciding to hang up that particular hat of his.

More specifically, it remains to be seen what new managerial arrangement could be sold to the team's clearly sceptical supporters.

The problem is that Staunton will presumably bridle at the suggestion that he needs a new mentor, but none of the rest of his management team has anything close to the credentials or standing required to replace Robson as the manager's chief advisor in the public eye.

And Delaney will not, even if the last two games are won, find it easy to claim - without further damage to his own reputation - that no successor is required as the former Irish skipper's time in his new trade has been satisfactorily served.

Those who know Robson believe that he took on the role because of his love of being involved with the game. The job carries a salary of around €250,000, which he doesn't need, but would hardly be expected to waive.

Quite where the FAI might find a credible alternative for that sort of money is anybody's guess.

The other possibility, of course, is the Cypriots inflict another humiliation of some sort on Ireland tomorrow night and/or everything goes horribly wrong in Cardiff and that they suddenly find themselves looking for a new main man.

In that case money will really become an issue, just as one or two of the country's leading league clubs, entities with a proven ability to spend the stuff much faster than they can actually generate it, are complaining about being behind the national team on the association's list of priorities.

Delaney's difficulty would be that to have another candidate in the ever-so-attractive Staunton price range blow up in his face really would prove tricky to walk away from, and so a seriously fun-sized cheque may have to be waved at passing candidates in possession of a genuine track record.

More than the rest of us then, he has cause to hope things really start to pick up in the wake of Saturday's improved showing against Germany.

Robson's likely departure, though, makes it as hard as ever to feel optimistic.