SOCCER:GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI yesterday reaffirmed his intention to bring a squad of established players to Poland this summer while resolving to hand opportunities to a new generation in the autumn when the World Cup campaign gets under way.
The Italian said he spoke with Sunderland winger James McClean on Thursday and informed the player he does not feature in his immediate plans, but asked him to be patient and, he says, was told by the 22-year-old: “I am happy to wait.”
Anthony Pilkington, Robbie Brady and Shane Duffy, the manager suggested, can all expect to be considered favourably, too, after the summer if they maintain their club form.
Liam Lawrence, Paul McShane and Andy Keogh will take less encouragement from either yesterday’s squad announcement or the manager’s comments.
The trio, who have amassed more than 50 caps between them in recent years, failed to make the panel for the game against the Czech Republic on February 29th and were left in little doubt that they now need misfortune to befall a member of the squad of 24 if they are to stand any chance of being at Euro 2012.
Lawrence, for instance, had missed out, the manager said, “because we have many players in this position and five strikers too who at their clubs can also play on the left or the right”.
His exclusion, it seems, as well as that of Keogh and McShane, is a firm indication of Trapattoni’s intentions regarding his squad for the finals.
They will all be upset but none can be enormously surprised considering the Portsmouth captain last featured in a competitive game when the Republic of Ireland lost to Russia at home.
Keogh made the last of three substitute appearances in the campaign a few days later against Slovakia and McShane never once made it beyond the bench in a group game.
Pressed on his decision to eschew the opportunity to freshen up the squad by bringing in the likes of McClean or Pilkington, Trapattoni insisted such a move would represent “a calculated risk” and that he prefers “to consolidate our performances, to show these [his established] players how to achieve the results we need”.
As it is, he suggested, James McCarthy and Séamus Coleman, with just three minutes of competitive international football between them to date but a fair bit of time on the training ground with the Italian, may yet get the opportunity to make their mark in Poland.
One of the pair, however, might well be a victim when Trapattoni names his final 23 for the championships ahead of the May 29th deadline with Coleman probably looking like the favourite to miss out in light of the manager’s response to a question about whether he would be happy to give the Everton midfielder his competitive debut in a tournament game.
“Let’s not put the cart before the horse,” said Trapattoni.
McCarthy, it was pointedly suggested, in contrast may well get another run out against the Czechs although he, too, it was noted, “needs to mature”.
That, he said, is a process he hopes the senior squad members will assist with, not just now but into the next campaign, with the Italian confirming he hopes to persuade the likes of Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne and John O’Shea to stay on and help with the development of their successors.
“The older players can help the younger players to come in. I hope they will do it,” he said.
“If they do then they show not only that they are proud Irish players but also that they are willing to help the team because to do this is a sacrifice.”
Coleman and Aiden McGeady, meanwhile, have both indicated that despite recent injury problems they should be fit to join up with the squad tomorrow fortnight when the players will initially gather for the FAI’s International awards.
Asked about the decision of his compatriot Fabio Capello to resign this week as England manager after his authority had been undermined by the English FA’s decision to strip John Terry of the captain’s armband against his wishes, Trapattoni was cautious.
“It seems that the situation originated with something that Fabio said on Italian television, but really I don’t know the truth,” said Trapattoni.
“When Fabio tells me then I can say what I think. But there should be situations that are the responsibility of the federation while the team is the responsibility of the manager.”
When an attempt was made to press him on whether he would tolerate the FAI acting in the way the FA had, the association’s communications director, Peter Sherrard, intervened to say they had no intention of doing so at any point.
In the wake of Capello’s departure it has been suggested that while the England players respected him, some continued to be somewhat frustrated by the fact they found him difficult to understand at times.
It is a complaint that was certainly made, though, mainly in a good natured way by some of the Irish players during Trapattoni’s early days in his current job, but he insists it is not a problem as the team prepare to head to Poland.
“Usually,” he says, “when I speak with the team I ask them: ‘Have you understood me very well?’ All said ‘yes’, but it’s my habit to clarify every moment with the players.”
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND SQUAD
GOALKEEPERS: Shay Given (Aston Villa), Keiren Westwood (Sunderland), David Forde (Millwall);
DEFENDERS: John O’Shea (Sunderland), Stephen Kelly (Fulham), Stephen Ward (Wolves), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), Seán St Ledger (Leicester), Darren O’Dea (Leeds), Kevin Foley (Wolves);
MIDFIELDERS: Glenn Whelan (Stoke), James McCarthy (Wigan), Séamus Coleman (Everton), Keith Andrews (West Brom), Keith Fahey (Birmingham), Darron Gibson (Everton), Damien Duff (Fulham), Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Stephen Hunt (Wolves);
STRIKERS: Robbie Keane (Aston Villa), Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Shane Long, Simon Cox (both West Brom), Jon Walters (Stoke).
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