England have enough in reserve to silence the boo-boys

Mike Bassett; England Manager is one of my favourite films. Blazing Saddles, Airport, and the Naked Gun series are others. None of them won Oscars, but they’re funny, and that’s good enough for me.

There’s a scene in ‘Mike Bassett’ where the England team, having, astonishingly, qualified for the World Cup finals, are congregated around the airport in Rio de Janeiro, getting ready to move to their hotel.

The Republic of Ireland and Scotland have also made it through. The Irish squad are next to arrive, and Basset’s assistant spots them. “Ah, here comes the England Reserves team.” There’s a bit of a brouhaha, nothing very serious.

The Scots then come on the scene, and get a welcome from the English. But it all goes sour when one of the Scots – probably a Celtic player – is called a Taig. There’s a row as big as a fight, with them all, the Irish included, getting a bit of the action.

I keep waiting for ‘Bassett’ and my other favs to come up on Sky, but all seem to have been mothballed. (Sky’s costing enough without me linking up with Netflix. And even if I did, there could be an extra charge to see Ricky Tomlinson, Leslie Neilson and others coming out with their rib-ticklers.)

The direction in which this story is going is probably known to those who read it before on this page. It’s been written on the weekend of another set-to between the Republic of Ireland and England, this one having taken place at The Aviva.

Just say that for some reason the Ireland squad had reason to be at Dublin Airport as Lee Carsley’s crew troops passed. There could be a reversal of roles, John O’Shea borrowing the words of Bassett’s assistant all those years ago to declare: “Ah, here comes the Republic ‘B’ team.”

Carsley, Declan Rice, and Jack Grealish all have sound Irish credentials, and have worn the green jersey. And maybe if you were to examine Conor Gallagher’s lineage you might find a shamrock or two. Harry Maguire as well.

As for Harry Kane: If he takes any more holidays in one of his parent’s native Galway, especially in soccer’s off-season, Padraig Joyce might want to give him a call, sticking him in at full-forward in an ould challenge.

The game on Saturday ended in a comfortable 2-0 win for the visitors, giving, you would think, the Irish in the capacity crowd no reason to raise their voices.

But they did. Every time Greaish and Rice got a touch, boos rang out. Some of them must have left the place more exhausted than they would have been had Ireland won.

They were at their loudest when the English National Anthem was being played. And we thought back to Croke Park 17 years ago, when England played Ireland in a Six-Nations rugby match.

The reverential silence then for the playing of God Save the Queen could be heard, as the fella says, all over Dublin.

Sods Law – or is it Murphy’s Law? – being what it is, who should the England scorers be only Grealish and Rice. Both enjoyed their goals, but their celebrations weren’t exactly laced with exuberance.

And the time machine was boarded once again, taking us back to when Denis Law back-heeled the ball to the net in a league match.

He was wearing the Man City colours, and in opposition were United, where the great Scot had enjoyed a stellar career. He didn’t want any congratulations, and might, just might, have thought to himself, there’s something not right about this.

Saturday’s game was one of two firsts on the managerial front. Heimer Hallgrimsson was making his debut as Ireland boss, and on the other bench, Lee Carsley was also calling the shots for the first time.

Carsley was always likely to make a winning start. His panel comprises of most of the players who almost gave his successor, Gareth Southgate, European Championship success last year, England going all the way to the final before narrowly losing to Spain.

Icelander Hallgrimsson is in a much colder place. Like his successor, Stephen Kenny, he has to start building, but won’t, hopefully, have an epidemic or an inconsiderate media to contend with.