Greece defeats were the killer, says Jason Knight
Jason Knight admits the pair of defeats against Greece marked Ireland’s downfall in a Euro campaign they took points off only Gibraltar in.
Third-seed Ireland were guaranteed to finish fourth prior to their final game on Saturday in Amsterdam.
Netherlands got the win they needed to secure qualification with a game to spare and were far more dominant than the 1-0 scoreline suggests.
Knight was part of the generation introduced to the senior international stage by Stephen Kenny during his three-and-a-half years and is working on the basis of his continuity despite the generally accepted reality of his imminent release from the post once Tuesday’s mundane friendly against New Zealand is over and done with.
The Bristol City midfielder, who once again operated behind sole striker Evan Ferguson at the Johan Cruyff ArenA, declined to contemplate on what a new manager could change, instead reflecting on another substandard display at the conclusion of a disastrous campaign.
“I’m disappointed,” summarised the Dubliner.
“We wanted a good performance and result which ultimately we didn’t do. There were good parts to it. We just lacked a bit of creativity and cutting-edge up top.
We started well and it was quite even for large parts of the first half. There was a 10-minute spell before the end of the first half we were penned in and they took control. We were disappointed about the goal. It’s more coming straight through the middle of us which is disappointing.
“There’s no doubt they’re a good team but we can certainly be better in all aspects of our game, especially creating and scoring goals.
“Adam (Idah) must have been offside for his goal but those things aren’t falling for us. Look, we need to make things happen as well. That’s
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