WINNING Glenn WhelanHanded his international debut by the Italian at the age of 24, the midfielder had played every minute of every game for the new manager until the friendly against Nigeria in London where he came on an hour in. Still second only to Richard Dunne in terms of the amount of action he has seen under the current regime.
Keith Andrews
An overdue move up to the English top flight was followed by a first international cap last November against Poland. The midfielder came on late and scored, paving the way for a first start against Georgia in February and has rarely been out since.
Liam Miller
His career has never really recovered from the spell at Manchester United where all upward momentum was lost and the Corkman is without a club, although he is said to be close to signing for Preston North End. He is still in the squad, though, while Premier League regulars like Lee Carsley and Rory Delap are left behind.
LOSING
Lee Carsley
The omission of the midfielder from the team that started last time out in Nicosia was seen afterwards as one of Steve Staunton’s greatest miscalculations and he was quickly sent for so as to provide protection to a demoralised defence for the visit of the Czech Republic four days later. Discarded by Trapattoni, though.
Andy Reid
Having started five of Ireland’s last six games in 2007, the Sunderland player, a favourite of Brian Kerr’s, was shunted aside by the new manager for whom creativity was not top of the wish list for central midfield. Was initially included in squads but never given game time before Trapattoni claimed that the player’s attitude made his presence undesirable.
Shane Long
Not really a loser on the scale of the previous pair in that he’s still about but the young striker featured in seven games, scoring three times, during Steve Staunton’s second year in charge, one of a number to benefit from the chopping and changing that was, in part, forced upon Trapattoni’s predecessor. Since then, there have been 81 minutes of football spread out over just four games for the 22 year-old who has fallen behind Caleb Folan in the pecking order.
IN BETWEEN
Stephen Ireland
The Corkman ended his international career, at least for the time being, in rather spectacular fashion two years ago and said only last week that he regards it as the best decision he ever made. Has developed during that time into one of the Premier League’s most gifted creative midfielders.
Steven Reid
More than anyone, the Ireland manager has hoped to build his midfield around the unfortunate Blackburn player but injuries have blighted his career in recent years and there have been just three appearances, all of them impressive, under Trapattoni. Expected to return to club action during the coming weeks, with an international return still possible, at least, in time for the Italy game next month.
Keith Fahey
After making a positive impact over the second half of the season at Birmingham and a good start to his first Premier league campaign, Fahey is being viewed by some as a barometer of how quickly a player might progress to the international level once they have moved out of the League of Ireland. Being a gifted creative central midfielder who can be dangerous from set-pieces may not constitute the ideal CV just now, however.
