Giovanni Trapattoni has paid tribute to Fabio Capello, saying: "England have lost a great manager."
However, the Ireland boss declined to be drawn into the detail of the controversy which resulted in his compatriot’s departure, saying he had yet to hear Capello’s side of the story.
"I don’t know the truth," he said.
"I will when Fabio tells me why. It seems what originated the problem was something that Fabio said to television. But Fabio resigned, he was not fired. That is different."
However, Trapattoni added that, as a matter of principle, he did not agree with a football association interfering in the job of the manager.
"The federation is the federation, the team is the team, they should be different," he said.
The Italian also left the clear impression that he’s happier to be working on this side of the Irish Sea.
"I had the opportunity in the past to go to England, two or three times, not as national coach but with different clubs," he said.
"But I was doing very important work with Juventus, Bayern Munich and other clubs and I didn’t accept the offers.
"Now we are proud to be here in Ireland. I liked the people immediately. They are similar to the people of my region.
"And your flag is like the Italian flag, the only change is the red and orange colours."
And as English football endures another convulsion just four months before the Euro finals, Ireland keeper Shay Given yesterday spoke warmly of this country’s relationship with the national team’s manager.
"It’s probably the opposite of what is happening in England," he said. "We have an Italian manager who we are all really proud to have as our manager. He’s doing a great job and we’re all really excited about the summer. We’re all really excited about playing at a major championship again."
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, February 11, 2012
