What has happened to Ireland under Martin O’Neill?

Martin O’Neill is facing the biggest test of his near five-year reign as Republic of Ireland manager after a run of five competitive games without a victory.

Tuesday night’s 1-0 home defeat by Wales left Ireland staring down the barrel of Nations League relegation and a more testing Euro 2020 draw amid growing criticism of the manager and the job he is doing.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at some of the issues surrounding the Northern Irishman’s tenure.

Is O’Neill under pressure?

Will he jump or be pushed?

What has brought matters to a head?

Football managers ultimately deal in the hard currency of results and since a run of just one defeat in 11 competitive fixtures gave way to the current malaise, O’Neill was always able to point to his record on paper in justification of his methods. He guided the Republic to Euro 2016, where they exceeded expectations by reaching the last 16, and to within 90 minutes of last summer’s World Cup in Russia. However, for all the joy at famous victories over Germany, Italy and Wales, there has been concern in some quarters at the pragmatism of his approach.

Is there a way out?

Has he got the players to engineer a recovery?

Like predecessor Giovanni Trapattoni, O’Neill has repeatedly bemoaned the lack of world-class talent, while saluting the passion and commitment available to him. Where Trapattoni at least had Shay Given and Robbie Keane to call upon, his successor has more modest resources. However, there were six Premier League players in his starting XI against Wales, who included seven Sky Bet Championship players in theirs. Ultimately, he needs to find a system to best suit the personnel at his disposal, something which remains very much a work in progress.