Cool Folan ready to walk tall in Sofia
But if there is a silver lining for the manager it’s that, in Bari in April, the man who will replace the Reading striker — Hull City’s Caleb Folan — showed that he wasn’t in the least bit phased by being unexpectedly pitched in against the reigning world champions on their own turf.
An unlikely hero, Folan came on just 22 minutes into the first half, after Trapattoni had boldly withdrawn Andy Keogh and reorganised his troops in response to Ireland going a goal down and Italy being reduced to 10 men. And Folan, a gangly 26-year-old, did well for a man who, up until that moment, had only two caps, one from the friendly against Poland and the other for the merest of competitive cameo appearances as Trapattoni sought to run down the clock against Cyprus.
But despite being raw at international level and not enjoying the most rewarding season at his club, Folan proved the proverbial handful for the Italians with his pace and strength, his physical presence a big factor in Robbie Keane’s late equalising goal. With that heady experience under his belt, Folan feels much better equipped to deal with the challenge of going up against the Bulgarians.
“I learnt a lot from it and we came away with a positive result. To be a part of that was massive. You’re coming up against the best players in the world so you’ve always got to be at your best. You have to remain level-headed and focus on the job. If you do those kinds of things, it sort of falls into place. It’s only another football game.”
The philosophical tone befits a man with an artistic bent, though it still takes a little leap of the imagination to square his interest in graphics and interior design with his muscular presence on the field of play. However, in person, Folan is softly spoken and thoughtful, a seemingly calm individual even if his patience was tested by a frustrating personal season with his club.
The campaign began well, with Folan coming on as a substitute on the opening day to score the winner against Fulham. But injury and non-selection restricted his appearances and, even after the high of Bari, he suffered the low of a red card against Liverpool which meant he missed three of the final four games in Hull’s narrow escape from relegation.
“It’s been a difficult year at Hull but it’s always been good for myself to be acknowledged by Trapattoni,” he admits. “It’s kept my spirits and confidence high. I’d not featured too much for Hull before Bari but I got my head down and worked hard to get my way back into the team. The most disappointing thing was that I was going to miss three games of the last four. That was a massive blow. But you’ve got to get on with it and I did. And we were lucky enough to stay up.”
Trapattoni’s vote of confidence was not echoed by Phil Brown at Hull who, according to Folan, had nothing particularly encouraging to say when he reported back to the club after his outing in Bari.
“Not really. No, no, no. Not too much,” says Folan with an enigmatic smile. “When I got back, I was pretty focused on the job at hand and what I was doing. There was not much praise. But I’m kind of used to that. I wasn’t annoyed, I was sort of prepared for that.”
At least Folan got to come on for the last 30 minutes of the final game of the season, as Hull managed to stay up despite losing 0-1 to Manchester United.
It doesn’t take too much reading between the lines to detect an air of disillusionment in the man who arrived at the KC Stadium from Wigan as Hull’s most expensive signing at just over €1 million in August 2007.
“I’m still contracted to Hull for a while yet but I’d like to feature more,” he confesses. “It’s something I’ll have to look at in the summer. But I still love playing and being up there. I think I’ve got two to three years left at Hull. It’s okay but I just wish I could feature more. I feel I have a lot more to give, I need to be utilised a bit better. I’m not getting any younger.”
Has he made his feelings known to the gaffer?
“Yeah. Over the season, you have words. At the end of the day, he’s the manager. He’s going to make the decision about what team he selects. We’ll see what happens. I think, over the years, people are aware of what I can do. Trapattoni calls me up quite consistently now. I can only take confidence from that and put that into my performances when I’m given the opportunity.”
Indeed, the contrast with his international progress could hardly be more acute. Qualifying for Ireland through his Galway grandparents, he reveals that he’s discovering new relatives with each fresh crossing of the Irish Sea.
“I’ve met a few actually, on my dad’s side,” he smiles. “Every time I go over, there seems to be one more.”
Looking for tickets? “Looking for tickets, exactly,” he laughs. “But it’s good.”
The striker admits he could never have imagined he would one day be on World Cup duty with Robbie Keane, a player he trained with when coming up through the ranks at Elland Road.
“Yeah, we played at Leeds for a while. I was part of the first team squad [at Leeds]. I got to know a lot of the players very well, including Robbie.”
And what has he learned from playing alongside him in the green shirt?
“He’s a very experienced player. Sometimes it’s easier to play into Robbie ‘cos I know where he ultimately wants the ball. He wants to be in and around the box. You’re aware of his movement which allows you to naturally move into the right positions as well.”
Now Caleb Folan will be hoping the novel partnership comes up trumps in what is shaping up to be the biggest game of his career. The big man sounds like he can take it all in his stride.
“I look at every game as a big game,” he says. “But, yeah, this one’s massive. We got a point against the world champions over there and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be confident.”
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