Tardelli confident Long can bounce back

SOCCER:THERE ARE, it was observed yesterday, some "very sad" players in the Republic of Ireland camp ahead of tomorrow's departure for Skopje with John O'Shea, Keith Fahey and Shane Long all licking their wounds this week for one reason or another.

However, assistant manager Marco Tardelli hailed the restorative powers of their chosen profession and predicted all three can make a big impact this weekend in Macedonia after a few days of positive thinking on the training pitch.

“Football is fantastic,” said Tardelli, “because after two or three days everything can change.”

O’Shea, to be fair, looked to be in good spirits yesterday but Long’s morale, as well as the fitness of Fahey and Seán St Ledger – both of whom are still struggling with knee problems – must be a concern to manager Giovanni Trapattoni.

Fahey looks more likely to make the final cut than the Preston North End defender, but Tardelli was very forthcoming with regard to Long, who he reckons can make a telling contribution to events in Macedonia, as well as looking forward to a big transfer in the near future. “I think he will be the key man in the transfer window,” said the London-based former World Cup winner. “I see him as a Premier League player now. He’s very good now, he has improved.

“Like (Aiden) McGeady, when we arrived here he was very shy but now is very strong. The experience in Russia has been very good for him. Shane, physically, has become very strong; he’s not scared, he’s very fast and he reads the game better.”

Long himself is certainly likely to see this week’s game as a way of putting Monday’s 4-2 Championship play-off defeat to Swansea behind him but the greater challenge may be to stay focused on the international game as the speculation regarding his club future begins to take pace in England.

The 24-year-old has suggested more than once this year that his first preference had been to make it back to the top flight with Reading. However, it now looks certain he will be moving on to pastures new.

His record of 25 goals in 51 games this season is bound to catch the eye of a few Premier League managers, most of whom tend to be in the market for someone they think can make it into double figures at the top level. The firmest display of interest in the Irishman to date, though, has come from Celtic, with Neil Lennon having watched the play-off defeat.

Reading owner John Madejski admits that a move for Long is probably in everybody’s best interest at this stage and would presumably be delighted to see a bidding war develop between the Scots and a couple of English clubs with cash to spend.

“I’m aware of Celtic’s interest in Shane Long,” said Madejski after Monday’s game. “Neil Lennon has been watching him for three games now. He’s been at our past two games and he was here (Wembley) again.

“We are still to hear anything official from Celtic but it’s obvious they are interested. How confident am I we can ward off their interest? Not very.

“It’s sad that we didn’t get promoted because Shane would have liked to stay at Reading if we had reached the Premier League. But that has changed because we will be in the Championship.”

What sort of fee the striker will command in the summer market remains to be seen but Madejski is opening the horse trading on a very optimistic note.

“Shane is world-class,” he said. “What is the value I would place on him? £20 million (€23 million). Now we will just have to see what happens with him.

“As well as being a great player, he’s a lovely lad. If Celtic are to land him, they will be privileged indeed because he’s just a super player and a super individual. He has all the right credentials to go to the very top of the game.

“He’s hard working and extremely cool in front of goal. I don’t know if he will end up at Celtic, but what is certain is that he will not be at Reading next season.”

The sort of numbers he is talking about are clearly inflated and way beyond what the Scots would be prepared – or able – to pay but even at a rather more modest price Reading are still looking at making a tidy profit.

Two years ago, the club sold Kevin Doyle to Wolves for around €6.9 million having originally paid something in the region of €120,000 to Cork City for both strikers in 2005, with Long estimated to have accounted for around one-sixth of that.

In the course of the League of Ireland club’s various battles against bankruptcy a sell-on clauses on both were sold back to Reading at a huge discount and so Cork City, now owned by its supporters, will get nothing if Reading manage to cash in on their investment over the summer.