Ireland rules out Irish return

GIOVANNI Trapattoni has long insisted that his door remains open to Stephen Ireland but, far from showing any intention of walking through, the Manchester City midfielder has now ruled out the possibility of a return to international football, at least in the short term, saying he “feels better off away from it”.

In an interview published yesterday, the Manchester City midfielder said: “I’ll never say never, but right now I don’t miss international football, not at all. I’m happy playing for the club and I’ve got a young family to think of. My commitment is to Manchester City and my family.”

The Cobh native hasn’t played for his country since his sudden departure from the Irish camp in Prague last September spawned the notorious ‘Grannygate’ saga.

Reflecting on his short but hardly incident-free Irish career, the player remarked: “I wouldn’t say I hated playing for Ireland, or that there’s something wrong with the players or staff. I just feel I’m better off being away from it.”

On becoming the manager of Ireland, Trapattoni organised a meeting with the player and, despite getting a less-than-positive response to his attempts to lure him back, has refused thus far to eliminate him from his plans.

But Ireland’s latest comments suggest the manager’s hopes of persuading him to return to the international fold are now slim to non-existent.

Currently in sparkling form for his rejuvenated club, the 22-year-old said: “I think concentrating only on City has enabled me to play better. If you look at the fixtures, we had a game against Wigan (yesterday), then there’ll be another Thursday (against Omonia Nicosia in the UEFA Cup), then Sunday again (at home to Liverpool) and then it would be Ireland (the World Cup qualifier against Cyprus at Croke Park).

“But instead of playing for them, I’ll have a few days off with my family to get ready for the Premier League again, which is getting harder and harder every year.”