MARCO TARDELLI has advised Shay Given to “stay calm” if he is not in Manchester City’s starting 11 at Tottenham tomorrow as the English Premier League kicks off.
Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Given said on Monday he would be knocking on City manager Roberto Mancini’s door early next week if he is left on the bench in preference to Joe Hart.
“We’ve spoken to him,” said Republic of Ireland assistant manager Tardelli of Given at yesterday’s debriefing following Wednesday’s 1-0 friendly defeat to Argentina at the Aviva Stadium. “(It’s) better to stay clam.
“Shay Given is (one of) the best goalkeepers in the world, like Buffon and Cech. If he doesn’t play at the weekend, I think he will play next week. Better to stay calm because Mancini knows football,” added Tardelli, who said he couldn’t compare Given to Hart because he doesn’t know enough about the England goalkeeper.
Tardelli, who is now likely to remain in situ for the announcement of the squad for the upcoming Euro 2012 games in Armenia and at home to Andorra in Wexford next Friday, as Giovanni Trapattoni recuperates following minor surgery, said he has spoken to fellow Italian Mancini, but not about Given or Stephen Ireland.
“I spoke to Roberto about (Greg) Cunningham,” said Tardelli when pressed on the Galway teenager’s prospects of edging 33-year-old Kevin Kilbane out of the left-back berth in Yerevan next month. “He is a good player. Roberto said he is a good player, but young. When he receives the ball he knows what to do. That’s very important for us.”
Tardelli said Trapattoni was pleased with certain aspects of Wednesday’s game. “I saw Giovanni an hour ago. He was very happy. He is like a lion, very strong,” said Tardelli who added he was sure Trapattoni would be fit to travel to Armenia for the September 3rd opener.
“He told me the match was very good in the second half. In the first half, we were very spread out. Maybe the strikers were isolated up front. The other things were good. The younger players played very well in the second half.
“Also the old players, Richard Dunne, John O’Shea. I think the squad has more options now with Cunningham, Green, Treacy, Keogh. The squad is good now.”
Accepting that six points from the opening two games against the Group B minnows were a must, Tardelli was nonetheless cautious.
“Yes, but it depends on the other results also. We want to take six points. But football is not like it was many years ago when there was the team that doesn’t play. Now all teams play very well and have motivation to win. You saw the World Cup. For me the World Cup was won not by the best team, but the team with balance.”
Asked who he felt should have won, Tardelli said: “Brazil, for me. Mistakes cost them.”
McGeady passes medical for Moscow
AIDEN McGEADY has passed his medical with Spartak Moscow and the Russians expect his €11.5 million transfer from Celtic to be completed by the weekend.
The Republic of Ireland international, who had the medical in Frankfurt yesterday, has already agreed a lucrative four-year deal with Spartak.
“Tomorrow or the day after McGeady will sign the contract and then we will officially make an announcement on his transfer,” Spartak’s head coach Valery Karpin said yesterday.
The winger could make his debut for Spartak at home to Siberian side Tom Tomsk in the Russian top flight on August 21st. The Moscow club are eighth in the Russian Premier League, 19 points behind leaders Zenit St Petersburg. While frustrated to see the winger leave Celtic manager Neil Lennon admitted he was reluctant to stand in McGeady’s way once the player made his intentions clear. “It’s what he wanted to do and sometimes you can’t stand in the way of that,” Lennon said.
“It’s a huge offer for one player and I think it’s the right offer. It’s probably good business for Spartak and good business for us.
“I’m sorry to lose him but he came to us and said that he felt at the end of the season it would be better for him to move on.”
