The next step or too much to ask? NI earn promotion chance
Will NI close the gap to Europe's elite?
Callaghan had touched on what has been a frustrating theme from NI's Nations League campaign. There has certainly been bright moments from the youthful squad, but the lack of a full 90-minute performance has left points on the table after conceding soft goals - most notably in the draws with Romania and Bosnia. It has been a campaign of transition for the squad, with debuts handed to teenagers Kascie Weir, Aimee Kerr and Abi Sweetlove.Players such as Rebecca McKenna, Joely Andrews, Keri Halliday, Danielle Maxwell and Brenna McPartlan, all in their early 20s, have taken more steps forward as leaders in the team, popping up with pivotal moments.At the top end of experience, Magill has led the way, but players such as Lauren Wade, Jackie Burns, Holloway and Rachel Dugdale have had their moments too.While the campaign has been inconsistent, the blend in the squad shows things are pointing towards a bright future.If the positives, such as the flowing first-half football at home to Romania and defensive solidity in the second half away in Poland (albeit when the team were already 2-0 down) can start outweighing the negatives then the team will continue to move in the right direction. Is it enough for Northern Ireland to take the next step and join the top tier of European football? Time will tell.
The 7-0 aggregate defeat by Norway in the Euro 2025 play-offs showed that Europe's elite are on a different level, and the two Nations League games with Poland suggested there's work to do to close the gap to the best of the rest too.However, in the autumn they will get another opportunity to try and bridge that gap in a promotion play-off. They will be drawn against either Iceland, Denmark, Belgium or Austria, and will have nothing to lose as the underdogs - a tag which has suited Northern Ireland well in the past. "They would be really tough games. Iceland might be a team we would hope to get, but all four of them are League A teams who have qualified for major tournaments in recent years," Callaghan added. "We've played Austria and we know what they are capable of, but you can only take it one game at a time."Tanya and her team will make sure they do their homework on the opposition and set up accordingly."Even if the step up to League A is out of reach in the autumn, Callaghan doesn't necessarily believe that staying in their current tier would be a bad outcome."We're bringing a lot of youth into the squad and there are so many players who have less than 10 caps or just come out of the Under-19s. "So, to expect them to go up to League A and compete, I think it's a little bit too much to ask."We have a few 30-year-olds in terms of experience. Listen, League B has been a good league for us and it's been challenging for us."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
35 minutes ago
- Telegraph
One year on from Starmer's election victory. Here's my report card
One year on from Starmer's election victory, how has he done? The British public say very badly indeed: Starmer's net favourability has fallen to the lowest level on record. But what's the full picture? Has he kept his promises? As I await my children's end of year reports, here's my report card for the Prime Minister. Immigration 1) Starmer promised time and again he would 'smash the gangs'. Unfortunately for the public, the gangs are smashing him. The number of migrants entering on small boats is up 48 per cent, despite a fall in illegal migration into Europe. Only a tiny fraction of people smugglers have been arrested and sentences for immigration offences are being watered down. Despite promising to end asylum hotels, Yvette Cooper has been busy opening more. In May it sounded as though the penny had dropped. Starmer said 'we risk becoming an island of strangers' and that mass migration had caused 'incalculable damage'. He was correct. But last week he said he regretted those comments and had just read them out like a ventriloquist's dummy. Starmer's aides were furious with him, calling his u-turn 'weak', and saying that he 'lacked moral fibre'. I couldn't have put it better myself. Healthcare 2) Starmer boldly claimed he would fix the NHS. He has managed to increase the number of NHS appointments by 8 per cent, which is welcome. But that is a smaller increase than Victoria Atkins delivered last year – and on other metrics, things are going backwards. A&E waiting times are higher than they were last year. Starmer has directed extra cash to the NHS, but without real reform, that money is going into a black hole of waste and inefficiency. With social care reform delayed until at least 2028, the fundamentals will remain poor. The NHS is still being treated as a religion, not a critical public service in need of reform. Economy 3) Labour promised they wouldn't increase National Insurance or change the fiscal rules. In office, they immediately did the opposite, raking in £25bn from the national insurance increase and borrowing an extra £142bn by the end of the parliament – causing growth forecasts to be downgraded. This £167 billion lie is surely one of the most brazen cons on the electorate in history. Ed Miliband promised to cut energy bills, yet experts say that bills are expected to increase next year. Meanwhile factory after factory is closing down. Vauxhall is closing in Luton. NEG in Wigan. Sabic in Teesside. We are haemorrhaging critical industries. Housing 4) Angela Rayner's flagship pledge was to build 1.5m new homes by the end of the Parliament. I admire the ambition, but her plan is destined to fail. Rayner slashed London's housing target by 20 per cent; 23 of London's 33 boroughs had zero new housing starts in the first quarter of this year. In any case, Labour can't build their way out of the housing crisis when 5 in 7 of their new homes are forecast to go to migrants. Justice 5) During the election, Starmer was happy to boast about his time as Director of Public Prosecutions. But in his first year, the court backlog increased, with 77,000 cases awaiting trial. His Justice Secretary introduced two-tier sentencing rules that were eventually defeated. Tens of dangerous prisoners were let out by mistake and thousands have been released after serving just a fraction of their sentence. Most embarrassingly, Starmer's plans to scrap short sentences for 'minor offences' prompted unprecedented warnings from MI5 that they would risk public safety. My conclusion? Starmer is a creature of our failed elite consensus and he's going down with it. A man unable to convey any purpose for his government or unifying vision for our country. Worse, he is now beholden to his hard-left backbenchers. As bad as things are today, things can always get worse.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Burnley sign England defender Walker from Man City
Burnley have signed defender Kyle Walker from Manchester City on a two-year right-back completed his medical on Friday and will work again with head coach Scott Parker, who he played alongside at Tottenham Hotspur for two 35-year-old made 15 appearances in the first half of last season for City before joining AC Milan on loan in January, but the Italian club decided not to make his move won 17 trophies during his time at Etihad Stadium and was part of the squad that won the Treble in signed for City in the summer of 2017 and made 319 appearances for the were promoted back to the Premier League last season following their relegation in is their fifth signing of the summer, following the arrival of defender Axel Tuanzebe, left-back Quilindschy Hartman, goalkeeper Max Weiss and French winger Loum to follow.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Pope Leo XIV signals continuity on fighting abuse with new head of child protection board
Pope Leo XIV signaled commitment to continuing the fight against clergy sexual abuse by appointing France 's Bishop Thibault Verny to head the Vatican's child protection advisory commission on Saturday. Verny, 59, replaces American Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the retired archbishop of Boston. O'Malley was the founding president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, an advisory group Pope Francis established in 2014 to advise the church on best practices to fight abuse and protect children. As the abuse scandal spread globally during Francis' 12-year pontificate, the commission initially lost influence and its crowning recommendation — the creation of a tribunal to judge bishops who covered up for predator priests — went nowhere. After many years of reform and new members, it has become a place where victims can go to be heard and bishops can get advice on crafting guidelines to fight abuse. Verny, who is currently the bishop of Chambery, France, has been a member of the commission since 2022 and heads the child protection council of the bishops conference in France, where the church has been rocked by revelations of decades and abuse by priests and bishops. He was among commission members who met with Leo last month. The bishop has been responsible for doing an annual audit of the French church's centers for receiving victims, an initiative that was started after a devastating 2021 report into the French scandal estimated 330,000 children in France had been sexually abused over the past 70 years by church personnel. Cardinal O'Malley praised the appointment, saying Verny has developed in-depth experience helping victims and working with law enforcement and civil authorities to ensure accountability 'for the serious failures of the church in France.' In a statement, O'Malley also praised Leo for continuing to consider the commission a priority. 'The Holy Father's words and deeds in these early months of his pontificate assure the world that the Church will not grow complacent in her efforts to as best possible ensure the protection of children, vulnerable adults and all people in our communities,' he said. Verny, for his part, praised O'Malley's leadership as courageous and having served as 'a moral compass' for the church, a reference to O'Malley's occasional statements of outrage when even Francis bungled an abuse case. 'I am committed, together with the members and personnel, to building on that legacy,' Verny said in a statement. The American-born pope made the appointment the day before heading for a six-week vacation at the papal summer retreat south of Rome. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
