I'M a card carrying member of the 'Plastic Paddy Brigade', so much so that I could be sold as a novelty toy during the St Patrick's Day Parade in Birmingham.

That being the case I am getting a bad dose of the shakes, like a stone-cold sober Paul McGrath, before the Republic of Ireland's World Cup play-off matches against France next weekend.

On paper this is the hardest draw possible for Giovanni Trappatoni's troops.

The 1998 winners and 2006 finalists have a fearsome looking squad but I think that this game will be won in the technical area.

While French manager Raymond Domenech is regarded by everyone (even his players) as a bit eccentric, the wily old Italian has galvanised the disparate members of his squad to get the best out of them and guide them to the edge of the World Cup.

As a result I haven't felt such passion for Ireland since the heady days of Jack Charlton and to a lesser extent Mick McCarthy.

But if (and it's a big if) they make it to South Africa, I am going to suffer a serious split in my allegiances.

I am English born and raised and they will always be my first international team, but the Republic isn't far behind in my affections, so god help me if they are drawn together in the group stage.

I can only hope of a repeat of Italia 90 (not the ill-fated Euro 88 debacle), where both teams made it through to the knockout stages.

If they do play each other, then I will have a pint of Guiness in one hand and a cask ale in the other to balance out karmic conflict (while watching the game, obviously) raging inside me.


BE CAREFUL, DAVID

DAVID Haye will finally let his fists do the talking against Russian ogre Nikolai Valuev on Saturday night after giving him a verbal battering over the last few months.

The Londoner has talked the talk ahead of his World Heavyweight title fight but now we'll see if he back up his claims.

Of course, Hayes seems far too canny to just be cocky, but I hope the double burden of training for the fight and promoting it with his tongue-in-cheek trash talking doesn't come back to haunt him.

If he could stop the 23 stone Russian and win the WBA title, it would re-energise a top division demoralised by the play-safe tactics of the Klitschko brothers and a string of very poor title contenders since the retirement of Lennox Lewis.

By Sunday morning, we will learn if he's another flash in the pan or the real deal.