Vardan Minasyan has overseen the unlikeliest of footballing transformations

Ger McCarthy

A week to forget for the Rooney household overshadowed England's qualification for Euro 2012 and dismal performance in Montenegro. Elsewhere, the Republic of Ireland negotiated a slippery Andorran slope, Northern Ireland turned on their manager and South Africa gave new meaning to the term ‘premature celebration’.


WINNERS
Giovanni Trapattoni
THE Italian is just 90 minutes away from guiding the Republic of Ireland to consecutive play-offs for a major international tournament following a workmanlike 2-0 win over Andorra. Despite his many detractors - who argue against the implementation of his ultra-defensive approach - Trapattoni has steered Ireland to within touching distance of Euro 2012.
Yet negotiating second place from a qualification group that contained Russia, Slovakia and an emerging Armenian side will not be enough to guarantee Trapattoni an extended contract with the FAI. Only a two legged play-off victory over potential opponents such as Sweden, Croatia or Belgium will keep the former Azzurri coach and his assistant Marco Tardelli at the helm for next summer's tournament and the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

Vardan Minasyan
THE Armenian coach has overseen the transformation of his country from a European minnow to possible Euro 2012 play-off qualifier following a memorable qualifying campaign. Any lingering doubts about Armenia's quality were dispelled following their 4-1 dissection of Macedonia in Yerevan on Friday.
Marcos Pizzelli, Henrik Mkhitaryan, Gevorg Ghazaryan and Artur Sarkisov are not household names in this country but these players travel to the Aviva tomorrow night as part of an Armenian squad capable of upsetting Trapattoni's men and snatching the runners-up spot in Group B. Vardan Minasyan has overseen the  unlikeliest of footballing transformations with some astute tactics and now only the Republic of Ireland stand between Armenia and a place in the play-offs.

Craig Levein
THE much maligned Scottish manager has come in for some stinging criticism throughout his Euro 2012 Group I qualifying campaign yet Levein has been unfortunate in that he has rarely been able to pick from a full strength squad. His decision to cap Craig Mackail-Smith for the first time against Lichtenstein at the weekend was vindicated with the Brighton striker netting the only goal of the game. Scotland need an unlikely point from their trip to World Champions Spain on Tuesday night and hope Lithuania can do them a favour at home to the Czech Republic to make the play-offs.

Gary Speed
THE rookie Welsh manager has enjoyed a positive conclusion to his country's Euro 2012 Group G fixtures with a weekend win over Switzerland at the Liberty Stadium elevating Wales off the foot of the table. Victory from an away trip to Bulgaria on Tuesday night could yet secure third place in the group and with Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale in excellent form Welsh football prospects are finally looking up thanks to the steadying hand of new manager Gary Speed.


LOSERS
Nigel Worthington
WINDSOR PARK can be an intimidating venue at the best of times but it was Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington on the receiving end following his side's 2-1 capitulation at home to Estonia last Friday. The North slumped to second from bottom in Group C having taken the lead on the half hour through Steven Davis only to cough up two goals in the final 20 minutes.
Worthington's pathetic attempt to clap at his supporters as he trudged off the pitch only served to further anger an already agitated home support.

Wayne Rooney
WAZZA endured a torrid week with his red card in the 2-2 draw with Montenegro providing the British tabloids with plenty of headline ammunition for their weekend editions. Rooney's father was detained earlier in the week along with eight other men following an investigation into alleged (suspicious) betting activity. Rooney's dismissal in the 73rd minute for a petulant kick at a Montenegrin defender means he will now miss at least one of his country's opening group matches in Poland / Ukraine. All in all it has been a bad week for Rooney and his extended family.

Pitso Mosimane
South Africa's draw at home to Sierra Leone over the weekend resulted in huge celebrations from the Bafana Bafana and their supporters at the full time whistle. A place in next year's African Cup of Nations was secured prompting the South African football president to go on state television and congratulate the national side on their achievement.
The only problem was South Africa's manager Pitso Mosimane failed to understand the FIFA head-to-head rules which govern qualification and his side actually needed to win (not draw) their last game to top the group. South Africa played for a draw but missed out on qualifying which allowed Niger to make it to the Gabon and Equatorial Guinea hosted tournament next year. Mosimane looks certain to receive the South African equivalent of a P45 in the post later this week.

Follow Ger on Twitter: @offcentrecircle

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/1p5nLZvyfUg/post.aspx

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