EMMET MALONEreflects on some of those whose insubordination has come at a cost

STEPHEN IRELAND

FAMOUSLY OUTSIDE the squad when Trapattoni took over, there was talk of a return but with the Italian set on a tactical approach that he believed was ill-suited to the midfielder’s game, he never seemed all that bothered. When Ireland then told a tabloid about how he had been disrespected by the eight-time Serie A winner when they met to sort things out, the Republic of Ireland manager just laughed the whole thing off with what appears to have been half-baked attempts by the player to extend an olive branch since contemptuously snubbed.

JAMES McCARTHY

The third person in this list whose best position was seen at the time of his greatest difficulty with the manager. He was regarded as an attacking midfielder, just off one or behind two strikers, a role Trapattoni insists he decided against when Andy Reid failed to show for the audition in Faro. When McCarthy became flavour of the month, the manager seemed to react badly to pressure to play him and matters were not helped by Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, who probably didn’t want him playing international football, suggesting, mischievously, McCarthy might declare for Scotland. Trapattoni gave him three minutes against Macedonia in a qualifier but has shown little interest since and the player felt obliged to restate his loyalty in a statement ruling himself out of the Euros because his father is seriously ill.

THOMAS STRUNZ

AH YES, the mother of all fall-outs. The YouTube footage of Trapattoni’s March 2008 press conference in which he railed against senior Bayern Munich players who were complaining about him rather than pulling their weight remains hugely entertaining viewing. In broken German the coach struggles to convey the scale of his contempt for those he clearly feels have let him and themselves down. “What dares Strunz?” he demands to know in one of several references to the midfielder who had been injured for stretches of what was proving to be a difficult campaign. What dares indeed.

MARC WILSON

The Northerner does not come across as the most communicative type and as the manager is definitely of the miscommunication type there may be two of them in it but it is hard to fully grasp why he hasn’t been more involved in the Republic of Ireland squad over the last couple of years. His failure to arrive for a Carling Cup of Nations game after being named in the team is certainly a factor but he is adamant that he was in the room when a Stoke City official phoned the FAI’s medical staff to say he wasn’t fit. Trapattoni then attributed a breach of discipline to him that he was apparently entirely innocent of. Both appear willing to discuss the situation in the media but there is rarely any evidence of any direct conversations, something somebody in the FAI should really do something to rectify.

STEPHEN REID

THE WEST Brom defender’s exclusion and, in particular, the manner of it is harder to fathom but there is a certain resonance in the wake of the Foley case given that both the player and his club manager suggested that Trapattoni was talking up injuries in order to justify ditching him. The Italian denied it but certainly seemed to be factually incorrect when he attempted to answer detailed questions about the player’s situation although his position would have been trickier had Reid not had a genuine habit of being laid up an awful lot of the time.

ANDY REID

THE DUBLINER played five of Ireland’s last six games in 2007 but then Trapattoni arrived and he has not kicked a ball for his country since. Certainly didn’t help himself with a clumsy withdrawal from a training camp that appeared to give the impression he would prefer to be away partying than in Portugal, but killed off chances of a comeback thanks to “guitargate” in Mainz.

Versions of events vary but Reid doesn’t come out of many brilliantly even if the extent of the punishment seemed both harsh and counterproductive for a while afterwards, especially when he knuckled down and showed clear signs of improvement during the next season at Sunderland. Trapattoni held firm, however, the player’s form declined again and the controversy passed.