John Giles joined Nathan Murphy on Thursday's Off The Ball to discuss Ireland, Stephen Kenny and Callum Robinson.
On last week's show, John Giles said that Stephen Kenny needed to win both games or he'd be in serious trouble.
Ireland scored seven goals, didn't concede, and won both games convincingly. Callum Robinson scored five of those seven goals.
Kenny's side won a competitive away game in a fashion that Ireland haven't managed to for years. Then, at home, they played arguably the best football an Irish side has played. Regardless of the opposition, Ireland players showed cohesiveness, creativity and control as they swept past Qatar.
Ireland were so good that Robinson scored a hattrick and wasn't definitely the best player on the pitch. Lisa Fallon captured it perfectly when she said that Ireland controlled the Qatar game with and without possession.
Kenny ticked every single box he could have so John Giles couldn't have any complaints this week.
The Ireland legend noted the importance of Robinson, his goals and how he inspires his teammates on the field.
"It's a good start...hopefully this gets Stephen on the way," Giles said.
"Definitely the confidence issue would be huge with Robinson getting the goals that he has done in the two matches early on. No matter how much you're attacking, if you don't score goals it counts for nothing. And what Robinson has done in the two matches is taken the chances that we got.
"Especially early on in the game, that was the big thing."
Robinson's early goals gave the rest of the team confidence in both games, Giles believes.
"The Irish lads didn't let either of the teams get back into the game. Scoring those goals early on was huge because when you're not scoring goals like we haven't been, it does go through the team and it goes through their heads that this is going to be very, very difficult.
"Whereas if you get the goals early on like we did in the last two matches, it's a huge confidence booster for the players.
"It lifts the confidence, it lifts the belief from the players on the pitch. We're actually in front and we're going well. And Robinson was responsible for that."
Including Robinson in the starting lineup for both games gave Ireland a focal point, an incisive finisher and someone with experience at international level. His movement was particularly impressive in both games and his willingness to shoot from distance reflected his confidence.
When you're trying to lift the confidence of an Irish team that always struggles to score, these performances are huge. Ireland are used to clinging onto 1-0 wins so putting together back-to-back convincing wins is abnormal.
It's what Stephen Kenny has envisioned for as long as he's been Ireland manager. And Robinson is amongst many players who want it to continue.
Kelly Cates on growing up as Kenny Dalglish's daughter influenced her career.
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