SOCCER:GIOVANNI Trapattoni will be at Stamford Bridge this afternoon to see for himself what all the fuss is about regarding James McClean.
The Italian insists, however, the 22-year-old Sunderland winger is one for the future and that only injuries will prevent him from standing by the players that helped the Republic of Ireland achieve qualification for this summer’s European Championships.
McClean can take some consolation, though, from the veteran coach’s suggestion yesterday that he can have a bright international future with Ireland beyond this season.
Like the former Derry City player, Stoke’s Marc Wilson this week rebuffed talk of a switch in allegiance back to Northern Ireland. But Trapattoni made it clear he would not lose any sleep over the loss of Wilson just now and said the player would, at the very least, have to apologise for what he implied was a significant breach of discipline on international duty before he would be called upon again.
“There are certain situations where a player betrays the spirit of the group and there has to be discipline,” he said. “When he sees us he must say: ‘I’m sorry, I made a great mistake.’ Because when you come you work.”
Trapattoni suggested another player was involved in the breach of discipline but refused to say who.
In relation to McClean he observed: “He can come in and learn what we do, that would be good, but we already have Duff, McGeady, Lawrence, Hunt . . . and if we bring him in we cannot be fair to the others.”
He revealed he has been in touch with a team-mate of McClean – presumably John O’Shea – to make sure the former remains committed to playing for the Republic after new Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill made it known he is hoping to persuade some of the players born in the six counties to switch their allegiance back. But Trapattoni suggested he would not be calling the player up for the friendly against the Czech Republic next month because he does not want to “put more pressure on him at this time”.
Everything could change, he admitted, if he was badly hit by injuries and he admitted his main concern at this stage is to see his key players get through the second half of their league campaigns.
When Damien Duff’s plight at Fulham, where he has been finding first-team action hard to come by, was raised, Trapattoni was anxious to put the Dubliner’s problem down to a lingering calf problem but then made it fairly clear Duff’s status does not have a great deal to do with whether he is starting week in week out at Craven Cottage.
His attitude was different when it came to Darron Gibson whose move yesterday to Goodison Park from Old Trafford the Italian welcomed with good humour. “Can I say,” he almost shouted out, “at last! I said to him many times; ‘why stay there on the bench, on the bench, on the bench?’ Now he has gone and so again I say: At last!”
Gibson’s switch gives him a chance, the manager said, “to show us how well he can perform and also to be more fit for the Euros”.
“I’ve already said Darron has many good qualities, including his vision on the ball. But in a tournament like this when you are playing a game every two or three days a young player like him might be able to play in every game but their energy levels go down if they have not been playing regularly for their club.”
TAKING SHAPE: Summer schedule mapped out
THE IRISH squad’s schedule ahead of Euro 2012 appears to be taking shape, with a preliminary timetable for the team’s preparations beginning to emerge. Although still subject to confirmation, it appears the bulk of Giovanni Trapattoni’s players will meet up at their traditional base in Malahide around May 20th or 21st.
On the 26th, Bosnia Herzegovina are likely to provide the opposition for Ireland in their final game prior to their departure for the championship.
Trapattoni and co are then expected to head for a training camp outside Florence in Italy where they will stay for about a week.
On June 3rd they will move on, probably to Hungary, for a game on the 4th and the day after that they will head for their tournament base at Gdynia in Poland, their final stop-off before their opening game of the championship against Croatia on June 10th.
