What has happened to Ireland under Martin O’Neill?

Martin O’Neill is facing the biggest test of his near five-year reign as Republic of Ireland manager after a run of five competitive games without a victory.

Tuesday night’s 1-0 home defeat by Wales left Ireland staring down the barrel of Nations League relegation and a more testing Euro 2020 draw amid growing criticism of the manager and the job he is doing.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at some of the issues surrounding the Northern Irishman’s tenure.

Is O’Neill under pressure?

Ireland have not won a competitive game in a year, a run of five matches; they have tasted victory in just one of their last nine (including friendlies) and scored only nine goals in 13 outings. Being difficult to beat has mutated into finding it impossible to win and while there are mitigating factors – injuries have depleted a squad already short on both genuine quality and experience – their famously loyal fans are starting to make it clear that they have had enough.

Will he jump or be pushed?

In the short term, neither scenario seems likely. O’Neill remains confident in his ability to organise and motivate a group of players he openly admits is short in key areas, and his knack of getting a result when he needs one has only recently deserted him. The Football Association of Ireland, who will hosts games at the Euro 2020 finals, are desperate for the national team to be among the contestants and having invested so heavily in O’Neill and assistant Roy Keane, are banking on them to achieve their mission.

What has brought matters to a head?

Football managers ultimately deal in the hard currency of results and since a run of just one defeat in 11 competitive fixtures gave way to the current malaise, O’Neill was always able to point to his record on paper in justification of his methods. He guided the Republic to Euro 2016, where they exceeded expectations by reaching the last 16, and to within 90 minutes of last summer’s World Cup in Russia. However, for all the joy at famous victories over Germany, Italy and Wales, there has been concern in some quarters at the pragmatism of his approach.

Is there a way out?

O’Neill certainly believes so. The prospect of Denmark losing to both Wales and Ireland next month and handing his side a Nations League reprieve seems remote, but the manager is hopeful that the return from injury of the likes of Seamus Coleman and Robbie Brady, as well as the emergence of some youngsters, will give Ireland a fighting chance of making a better fist of qualification when the new campaign gets under way in March next year.

Has he got the players to engineer a recovery?

Like predecessor Giovanni Trapattoni, O’Neill has repeatedly bemoaned the lack of world-class talent, while saluting the passion and commitment available to him. Where Trapattoni at least had Shay Given and Robbie Keane to call upon, his successor has more modest resources. However, there were six Premier League players in his starting XI against Wales, who included seven Sky Bet Championship players in theirs. Ultimately, he needs to find a system to best suit the personnel at his disposal, something which remains very much a work in progress.