The aftermath of Wednesday's World Cup qualifying play-off between the Republic of Ireland and France has been nothing short of chaotic.

From the tirade launched against Thierry Henry to the debate over video technology to a quite surreal press conference with Giovanni Trapattoni saying one thing and FAI Chief Executive John Delaney saying another, it has been a whirlwind adventure.

Calls for a replay to be staged are bound to echo through the long-winding corridors of FIFA's Swiss headquarters without any positive message being sent back. Ireland need to move on.

Just like a bad relationship break-up one side is refusing to come to terms that it is all over. Life has gone, but still they cling onto the hope that things can change and the clock can go back to right the wrongs.

Henry has said that there should be a replay (albeit after FIFA said there wouldn't be), but it is over with now. Trapattoni's team were cruelly denied a place in the World Cup, but that is the harsh reality that the Irish nation have to come to terms with.

Missed chances in the game

For those baying for Henry's blood, they should take some time out of their pointless hunt to watch the footage of the game again.

If they did, then they would acknowledge the fact that Ireland should have killed off their more high profile hosts in normal time. Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle, John O'Shea, and Damien Duff all failed to convert chances that would have settled the tie.

Okay, Hugo Lloris made two fine saves, but surely the finishing of that quartet has to be looked at. It is not often in international football that opportunities like that fall for a team like Ireland, so they should have made the most of them.

They didn't score more than once and that is why the game stretched into extra-time. By that stage the men wearing white jerseys were understandably tiring. Of course, there is always the possibilty that they could have scored again or won on penalties, but it never got that far.

We need to talk about McShane

This blog tries to be as fair as possible when reviewing the performances of players, yet there are some (just a select few) that inspire little confidence when they take to the pitch.

Paul McShane falls into that bracket. The Hull City defender does not appear to have the speed, game intelligence, self awareness, or skills to perform on the international stage.

Rather than go on and on about Henry's blatant handball, why not have a closer look at how his marker, Mr. McShane, reacted to the danger of Florent Malouda's free-kick that ultimately led to William Gallas' goal?

The Irish defender, on as a replacement for the injured O'Shea, chose not to attack the ball in the air, then made the unforgiveable error of allowing the ball to bounce in his own box, was caught on the wrong side of his marker, and did not get anywhere near blocking the cross.

It was terrible defending. But he was not alone. Kevin Kilbane also lost track of Gallas and could have intercepted the cross if he was more focused. Yes, Henry did handle the ball, but players have to play to the referee's whistle and they could have prevented that goal from going in.

Positive steps have been taken

As everyone continues to have their say about what happened in the Stade de France, very few have acknowledged just how well Trapattoni's team did throughout their qualifying campaign.

Not only did they twice draw with the world champions (Italy), but they claimed excellent results against Bulgaria, Georgia, Montenegro, and Cyprus - as well as out-performing the runners-up in the last world cup (France).

Trapattoni has done an excellent job and deserves a huge amount of credit for it. The future is certainly something to look forward to as he attempts to guide them to the 2012 European Championships.

Feedback

Thanks for all of the comments posted on the previous blog entries. Feel free to ask questions or make more comments.

Cedthehead: Good point about the extra referees that Uefa have trialled. I'm yet to be convinced on it, but it is definitely something to explore.