Trap a success but his time was up

I suppose with all the hype in the media and the growing pressure on Giovanni Trapattoni since the European Championships last summer, it didn’t come as a huge surprise to anybody to see him relieved of his duties less than a day after the defeat to Austria in Vienna which effectively made it impossible for Ireland to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil next summer.

Having made my debut under the manager, most people will assume that I look at him through rose-tinted glasses but, after being left out of these last two crucial qualifiers, — without any contact from him or Marco Tardelli — I can assure you, I do not.

But, being as objective as I can be, I have to say that, on the whole, his reign as our national boss has to be regarded as a successful period in our football history. Before him, we had endured years of not qualifying for a major championship, and in his first campaign we came agonisingly close to getting to the World Cup in 2010. He then kept the majority of the squad together for the following campaign which saw us qualify for the Euros and give the country the massive lift it needed in tough economic times. What subsequently transpired at the finals shouldn’t make us forget the infectious buzz of coming through the play-offs the previous November.