THERE is hope but not a great deal. Not enough to shift the awful feeling of gloom that descended the instant after Nicolas Anelka hit the luck button and made this World Cup play-off the property of France.

The Republic of Ireland carry a puncher's chance into the second-leg at the Stade de France tonight but no more than that. Raymond Domenech and his players hold all the cards and, in football, it's very difficult to win unless you have a few aces up your sleeve, and win they must.

TRUMP

Robbie Keane is clearly Giovanni Trapattoni's trump card but he couldn't do it at home when all the circumstances were flowing in his direction, and for that reason, and others, World Cup 2010 in South Africa will progress without the Irish team.

That's when the weeping and wailing starts.

Consequences will travel out from Paris in rings and by the time the weekend is upon us, the FAI could be in the throes of another and possibly the most damaging crisis yet.

But we will still have Trapattoni no matter what else happens. His freshly minted new contract will keep him in good wine and fine food for a long time to come though it remains to be seen whether Irish football fans will appreciate his contentment.

Nobody really enjoys watching Ireland play any more. We like the results and the fact that Trap has brought us to within an inch or two of the big show.

UPGRADE

But the football could do with a makeover and his system could do with an upgrade.

Of course, without him, we would have long ago waved goodbye to South Africa. He brought discipline and confidence with him and, of course, the system that makes us hard to beat, but pretty awful to watch.

But if he cannot find new players to add refinement and bring more imagination to his system, it is difficult to contemplate another two years of what can best be described as lumpish football.

It was interesting to hear Damien Duff yesterday talk about how Roy Hodgson uses exactly the same system as Trapattoni but if you compare the two teams, there seems to be very little in common.

When Fulham don't have the ball, they do many of the same things Trapattoni's Ireland do, but when they have possession, their approach is entirely different.

Hodgson encourages his players to get on the ball and push forward. Fulham attack as a unit and defend as a unit. Ireland just defend.

But this is an old argument and one that has long ago been won by Trapattoni.

crumbs

He has imposed his ways almost without opposition and other than the RTé panel, most of us seem happy enough to roll along with an Italian legend and take whatever crumbs he can deliver.

That's how bad the circumstances Steve Staunton left behind him and the more you compare Stan with Trap, the more stupid the decision becomes to hire Ireland's first 100 cap man to run the team when he had never done it before anywhere.

That's why we took to Trapattoni so quickly and with very few conditions.

Starved of even civil behaviour from management and players at the end of the Staunton regime, the arrival of a legend at least carried the certainty that the team would be properly organised.

Unfortunately, we didn't realise exactly how Trapattoni would go about it and how much enjoyment he would remove from following the team around Europe to achieve the kind of results we wanted and the FAI desperately needed.

None of that has changed, yet there is a sense of unease around Paris among Irish fans who are worried about the future and how two more years under Trapattoni without the benefit of a summer in South Africa will pan out.

In the meantime, Raymond Domenech and his arrogant players will make their languid way into the World Cup finals draw and Lasanna Diarra's ignorant outburst aimed at Keith Andrews will prove to be entirely accurate -- apart, of course, from the description of the Blackburn midfielder that caused so much trouble.

It was just shadow-boxing though. There is a small chance that the two sets of players will choose to continue their feud this evening -- in that scenario, keep an eye out for red cards early on.

ACCURATE

The heart of the battle will be in those opening ten minutes when we will see if Trapattoni's relentless boast about Irish confidence and energy is accurate.

For 45 minutes in Croker, the team had it all.

Despite Trapattoni's innate caution, they matched the French in all the right areas and would not have been flattered by a goal.

This time, they simply must get an early goal and turn Parisian fears about Domenech into a wall of nervousness and produce an indication of disquiet from the stands which the French do very well indeed when they are bothered enough.

But here's something to chew on. Talk to anyone in this extraordinary city about the game tonight and they will tell you that it will be a draw, that France do not have enough talent or spirit to beat the Irish.

They fear Irish aggression and physicality and they are terrified of their manager and the influence he has had on the team but they know they are going to South Africa and the only issue now is which teams they will be grouped with in June.

Big teams move on quickly from things like play-offs and quickly forget about them.

Unfortunately, heroic failure is the best we have to contemplate and the certainty that we'll be talking about it for years to come.

Prediction: France 3 Republic of Ireland 1

FRANCE v REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

LIVE RTé 2 (KO 8.0)

- Paul Hyland