Monday, October 26, 2009
FAI chief executive John Delaney admits he has "probably heard too much about Stephen Ireland and too much about Andy Reid," as the Republic of Ireland bid to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals.
Reid’s omission and Ireland’s self-imposed exile from Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad continue to dominate the headlines and the airwaves however the FAI boss wants fans to concentrate their efforts on getting behind the national side ahead of next month’s two play-offs with France.
Speaking on RTÉ 2FM, Delaney heaped praise on the manager, despite continued calls for Sunderland’s Reid to be recalled to the fold given his form in the Premier League.
Delaney insisted: "That (Reid’s exclusion) is the manager’s decision and we can only trust in our manager. He has proved himself all his life, not only as a manager – he won two European Cup medals as a footballer. He has managed European Cup winners and has won trophies in Italy, Portugal, Germany and Austria.
"And he has done an exceptional job in managing us through our group stages to get us to the play-offs.
"He is the manager, he picks the team. At this point and time he does not see a place in the squad for Andy Reid. That may change as he has outlined himself.
"But at the moment there is not a place for Andy Reid."
Delaney stressed that supporters should accentuate the positives ahead of the clashes with France.
He said: "I think it is important over the next couple of weeks to be concentrating on the real positive and getting behind the team. For me I have probably heard too much about Stephen Ireland and too much about Andy Reid over the last couple of months. What I want to hear about is how well we are going to do against France and hopefully get to the World Cup finals. That is what I want to hear about."
Delaney described ticket demand for the opening play-off clash with France at Croke Park as ‘unprecedented’.
"We have been inundated with calls for the past week since we discovered we were getting France in the play-offs. In terms of the home game I’d say if we had 100,000 tickets we wouldn’t have enough.
"We are being very loyal to the people who came to the Montenegro game – anyone who went to that match or purchased a ticket for that game is entitled to a ticket for the French game. In terms of the home game I would expect next week we will be announcing that we are sold out. The level of interest is unprecedented."
Delaney admitted the FAI are struggling to meet demand from Irish fans for the second leg at the 81,000 capacity Stade de France in Paris .
"In terms of the away game, we looked for more than the 10% which we are entitled to from the French FA. They have only given us 8,500 tickets which is their entitlement. We keep asking for more tickets because we want to get as many Irish fans as possible into the game. The fans have been our 12th man on many occasions."
Delaney revealed: "I think there is a policy from the football side of the FA that they don’t want many Irish fans in the ground. They would fear the atmosphere they (the Irish) would create in the ground. You only have to go back to the Giants Stadium in New York when there was 50 or 60,000 Irish there when we played Italy.
"Everyone knows the Irish fans are probably the best fans in the world."
Irish hopes of making South Africa have been boosted with news that Bayern Munich’s Frank Ribery is certain to miss the ties while Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema is a doubt due to injury. But Delaney was keen to downplay such developments.
"We have a good chance anyway, we are unbeaten in our group. That said the most important thing for us over the next couple of weeks is that our top players - the Shay Givens, Richard Dunnes, Robbie Keanes, John O’Sheas and Kevin Doyles remain fit. If all our players are fit we will give this a go.
"We play better against the bigger teams. We proved that against Italy, the world champions over two games. We drew 3-3 on aggregate if you like and we were the better team in both you could argue."
On the domestic front, Delaney expressed disappointment at the continued off field sagas at Cork City and revealed the FAI will meet club bosses to discuss matters at the season’s end. Last week’s Premier Division clash with Shamrock Rovers remained in doubt until hours before kick-off when players were paid.
"Some of the incidents in Cork I don’t think are good enough. Cork City supporters are terrific, it is a great club with a fabulous ground. It is not good enough that this is happening. It is something we will address when the season is over. I wouldn’t be happy with the way events have gone through the year with the club in terms of how it has projected on Cork City as a football club and the league in general. We have to sit down with City at the end of the season and make it clear to them how we felt."
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