Ireland's plane to Poland won't be named the Spirit of Adventure, writes EMMET MALONE

HE SPEAKS regularly enough about the spirit of adventure with which some of his sides have played down the years but Giovanni Trapattoni’s innate conservatism when it comes to this Republic of Ireland team was underlined yesterday by his decision to pass on the opportunity to view this month’s game against the Czech Republic as a final audition for Poland.

Trapattoni acknowledged that come May, when he names his final squad for the European Championships, there would be some players disappointed. Essentially, though, he’s given most of those who will be excluded plenty of time to get used to the idea. It seems the Italian will, barring injuries, simply whittle yesterday’s 24 down by one, with the likes of Liam Lawrence, Andy Keogh and Paul McShane getting notice they are set for the summer off.

The manager noted the progress made by Anthony Pilkington, Shane Duffy and Robbie Brady, while acknowledging the particular claim for consideration staked by James McClean in recent weeks, but ended up simply restating his default position: they are all players for the future and he must concern himself with those who are already playing a key part in the team’s present.

It’s not an especially flattering view of the bank of talent available to him. Trapattoni does sometimes lavishly talk up the likes of Damien Duff, as he did yesterday, or Shay Given or Richard Dunne, but the unmistakable impression he gives is of a man who believes the group is generally so limited in terms of ability that he must concentrate all of his efforts on drilling a pretty simple system into what he sees as his core group.

Chances to break into that central cast are rare and, as we have seen, must be grabbed with both hands.

Kevin Foley made the most of his opportunity and will almost certainly travel to Poland now because of his ability to play perhaps three different positions, but Ciarán Clark and Marc Wilson are on course to be left behind despite offering much the same range of options on the left, because they did not make as much of their chances to shine.

For McClean, Duffy and Pilkington, it seems, the championships have, in the Italian’s eyes, simply come too soon. Duffy, to be fair, is likely to drift back out of the Everton side for a bit when more established players return from injury and, in part because Trapattoni almost never replaces a defender in a competitive game, the Northerner stood little real chance of displacing someone like Darren O’Dea or Stephen Kelly as back-up for the first choice centre halves, but Pilkington and particularly McClean might yet make life uncomfortable for the 72-year-old.

Duff and Aiden McGeady may merit their status as automatic first choices out on the wings but there is very little reason for any certainty after that. Of those named yesterday, Stephen Hunt has been in and out of the team at Wolves and bringing him on has, in any case, represented something of a step into the (admittedly energetic) unknown, while Séamus Coleman has been injured at Everton.

Coleman, in any case, looks one of the most likely to be the 24th man when Trapattoni names his final squad in May. The Italian has suggested he sees the 23-year-old as a long-term prospect at right back rather than in midfield.

James McCarthy may be the other big contender to miss out but there was encouragement for the Wigan midfielder yesterday, with the manager noting the amount of first-team football he has been playing and his increasingly established ability to play a more defensive role.

Dedication is what Trapattoni requires more than anything of his players and duplication is what he strives for. Two by two the Irish players will board the plane for Poland and that is why McClean’s ability to bring something a little different to the party has probably been his downfall.