Door stays open for Ireland’s return

ONCE again, Giovanni Trapattoni has refused to close the door to Stephen Ireland, even though the Manchester City player has been recently quoted as saying that he will not play for his country again.

Speaking in Dublin yesterday, the manager appeared to harbour doubts about the accuracy of an interview with Ireland in which the player accused the Italian of arrogance and of taking calls on four telephones during a meeting to discuss his international future.

Trapattoni said that he could not remember if he took a call at any stage during their talks but maintained that in an important meeting like that, his habit would be to switch his phone off. As for Ireland’s claims that he was arrogant, Trapattoni said that it would be worth asking the opinion of others who were in the room at the time, including the player’s agent, Willie McKay, as well as Liam Brady and Marco Tardelli.