The Irish FA muddied the waters by including a reference to Lafferty having a back injury when explaining his removal, before it then emerged on Monday that the video was believed to have been taken last Tuesday after the players had enjoyed a team night out organised by the manager. Kyle Lafferty was withdrawn from the squad on Friday after his club Kilmarnock launched an investigation into an alleged sectarian remark by the striker in a video that emerged on social media. The manager's future and the team's bid to stave off relegation were expected to dominate the agenda before the emergence of a social media storm. International windows generally tend to produce a number of talking points, but this last one has been one of the most eventful in recent years, largely due to off-field issues. What next for NI after challenging window? Despite very obvious pressure from supporters, as well as the inevitable increased media scrutiny, he has remained resolute that there is no need for him to be considering his position. Most importantly, however, has been his firm stance that he is the right man to take the team forward. The former under-21s boss has regularly referred to the number of young players he is giving vital senior international experience, and said he had no choice but to do that in the June window. Be it in pre-match or post-match media briefings, he has insisted that he is building towards Euro qualification and that his managerial performance should be judged on that. Throughout it all, the Northern Ireland manager's mantra has remained the same. On to Kosovo, then, and it was ironic cries of "cheerio, cheerio" aimed at the manager when a late rally could not prevent a 3-2 defeat, and the harrowing 10-day period came to an end with a last-gasp 2-2 draw with the Cypriots in Belfast. That target immediately became unattainable after a 1-0 opening night loss to Greece before, three days later, the strong sense of disgruntlement that was seeping from the Windsor Park stands turned into boos from the away fans at the end of a drab - and some would say fortunate - 0-0 draw away to Cyprus. It had all begun with optimism in June when, despite having a number of senior players unavailable, Baraclough set a target of four wins from the quadruple-header his side faced over a hectic 10-day period. While they narrowly avoided a Nations League third-tier relegation play-off, their co-efficient now means they will drop into pot five for October's Euro 2024 qualifying draw. That's two draws and one win from six matches, with their sole victory having only been secured by an injury-time winner against Kosovo on Saturday at Windsor Park - just a few minutes after chants of "we want Bara out" were clearly heard from the Kop. Having entered Nations League Group C2 in June as top seeds, Northern Ireland flew home from Athens on Wednesday with just five points from a possible 18 to their name. The results those performances have delivered have been crushing. 'We'll lick our wounds and go again' - NI boss Baraclough I think performances just haven't been there for us." Baraclough resolute as fans' morale crumbles "I don't think that's through a lack of trying or desire. We are trying to entertain them and fill them with pride and there have been times in the campaign where we probably have felt we haven't done that. As players you don't always see that side of it. "You do have that sadness and disappointment for them. We aren't trying to win the group and they are still here supporting us right to the end. "It is incredible the number of fans who came out to Greece. At the end of the game I felt disappointed for the fans," the Leicester City defender said. "You do feel you let the fans down, especially at home games. Some those fans called for manager Ian Baraclough to go at the final whistle, something that had also happened at times during the previous two matches. The disappointment was palpable as he described how he and his team-mates had let the vocal 1,000-strong travelling supporters down, not just on Tuesday night, but across what had been a demoralising few months. This was not how the 100th appearance of one of Northern Ireland's greatest ever defenders was supposed to end.Īnd the 3-1 defeat by Greece in Athens was a million miles from how Northern Ireland's third Nations League experience was meant to finish, too, although there was very little about the six-game, two-camp campaign that went anywhere near according to plan.Įvans was standing on the side of the Georgios Kamaras Stadium pitch, reflecting on how the pain of defeat consumed him immediately after full-time on his milestone night - when he became only the fourth male centurion in his country's history.
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