Quinn: Reid can emulate O’Leary

REMEMBER Dave O’Leary!

That’s the message Niall Quinn has for Andy Reid, as the player Giovanni Trapattoni appears not to want knuckles down to the business of trying to command a regular starting place for his club and at least a squad position for his country. And the Sunderland chairman believes the Sunderland player has “turned a corner” is his bid to confound those who have ever doubted his fitness for the fray at the highest level.

“Andy Reid would love to play for Ireland, it’s as simple as that,” says Quinn. “He’s reacted very well and he’s training his socks off. We have Prozone stats, we put heart monitors on them, and he’s up there at the top.

“He’s maturing into a player that will be able to deliver.

“He’s doing things the right way and it will come his way because of that. He’s not moaning and groaning, he’s working ever so hard. He did play very well down at Arsenal and I know Liam (Brady) was there and would have seen that. So they’re aware that he’s there and that he’s turning a corner in his own approach. There are several ways of reacting to something like that: blame the world or look in the mirror and get yourself going. And Andy’s been superb. I spoke to him once about it and haven’t had to speak to him again about it.”

And if the Dubliner needs any additional encouragement, Quinn suggests he look no further than the experience of O’Leary.

“Dave O’Leary looked out in the wilderness in my time and, about a year later, he scored one of the most famous goals we’ve ever seen. In Dave’s case, a couple of injuries saw him called in from the cold (by Jack Charlton) and he ended up having a great swansong to his career. Andy has plenty of time on his side.”

Quinn admits that he’s bound to be biased about his own player’s claims to be picked for his country but attests that, watching the recent 1-1 draw at home to Bulgaria, he felt strongly that “with 15, 20 minutes to go, I thought might have been the time for him”. “But then we all try to pick Mr Trapattoni’s teams,” he adds. “It must drive him mad.”

Asked if he thinks that Reid’s continued omission has seen a football issue become personal, Quinn replies: “We hope not and I don’t think it has, to be honest. I think it’s a football issue. We can all see that the Irish team is set up in a certain system. From what I can gather, Andy doesn’t fit into that. I guess there must be a worry about his workrate. But I can assure you he’s going the right way with that. And he’s got big plans for next season. I have to say, Andy’s weight is fine, he’s absolutely on target. And his stats and his high intensity work are amazing.”

MEANTIME, life continues in its all-too-familiar rollercoaster fashion on Wearside, with Sunderland hovering just above the relegation zone after losing to Manchester United last weekend.

“We’re kinda getting used to it,” the chairman smiles. “But I was really encouraged by the way we played last Saturday, by the courage and spirit we showed. There was a standing ovation after the match and that was very important too. The Hull game (this Saturday) is now a big one and everyone is up for it. There was tension flying about the place recently but I think we’re out the other side of that now. I slept on Saturday night for the first time in about a week.”

Quinn also takes the opportunity to dismiss as “embarrassingly inaccurate” media reports that someone like former Charlton and West Ham boss Alan Curbishley might be parachuted into the Stadium of Light for the run-in. “I don’t know where that story came from,” says Quinn. “I rang Ricky (Sbragia) because I felt I had to but I also felt embarrassed even ringing him. We were in a terrible place when Ricky took over. The club was in danger of sliding and he steadied the ship. Okay, the last few weeks the results haven’t gone our way but, in the bigger picture, he’s on target. When he took over, we were in the bottom three and we’re not now. All he’s been asked to do is keep us up.

“You miss someone like Roy Keane — ask the people selling our boxes,” Quinn adds with a laugh before going on to note that he has only had “one or two bits of contact” with the Corkman since his shock exit last December. And the chairman reiterates that he feels there was nothing more he or anyone else could have done to keep Keane on Wearside.

“You can bring up various things, Saipan, you name it… Roy is Roy and once he crossed over that line, there was no way we were going to spend days and days getting the Taoiseach to ring him or anything like that,” he laughed.

So life is duller without Keano but, dare one ask, is it easier too?

“Well, in football, when you’re winning, everything is easier,” says Niall Quinn. “Roy and I, we were both aiming for the one thing at Sunderland and it worked really well for a long time but in the end, over the final few weeks, the tension and pressure built and Roy felt he’d had enough. And that was the first jolt — it wasn’t as if we had to get over three or four jolts. And I think Roy would say the same thing. It is different (at the club) now because he is so powerfully compelling, you know? But our paths crossed at the right times, it was very professional.”