Ireland consider the yellow peril

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI is still weighing up the risks of fielding Irish players on yellow cards in tomorrow evening’s final Group 8 game against Montenegro.

While Marco Tardelli yesterday said that Ireland want to go unbeaten through their qualifying campaign, the comparative unimportance of the Montenegrin match when set against next month’s death or glory play-offs, means that the yellow peril continues to loom large in the minds of the Irish management.

Aiden McGeady, Keith Andrews and Shay Given are the main figures at risk with Paul McShane and Leon Best also one card away from suspension.

And, yesterday, the young Coventry striker – who came off the bench against Italy and picked up a booking on Saturday – revealed that Giovanni Trapattoni was likely to rule him out of tomorrow’s game.

“The gaffer mentioned it today that he might not be playing players with yellows,” he said. “I’m disappointed with that as I was fouled before I got the yellow. That’s a bit of a downer as tomorrow could have been a game that I might have started because he might have wanted to rest players. We will want to win tomorrow but it makes sense because the game after that is a lot more important.”

The yellow card factor meant that it was also riskier than usual to read too much into the ‘yellow bib’ selection at yesterday’s training session. There was certainly a strong indication that Martin Rowlands will start in place of the suspended Glenn Whelan but there must be at least a question mark over the prospect of him being paired, as he was in training, with Keith Andrews.

While Trapattoni has previously hinted that, on the occasion of his 100th cap, Shay Given will be given 45 minutes, Aiden McGeady is almost certain not to be risked against Montenegro, meaning that Stephen Hunt and a fit again Damien Duff should be patrolling the flanks. Stephen Kelly got an outing at full-back yesterday, with John O’Shea and Richard Dunne reunited at the heart of the defence, a set-up which, if replicated tomorrow, would mean a night off for Sean St Ledger. And the unfamiliar sight of captain Robbie Keane in the ‘second eleven’ offered up the prospect of Noel Hunt and Kevin Doyle as the strike partnership to face Montenegro .

All of which speculation comes with a huge health warning, of course, but there is no doubt that while the Irish camp badly want to keep confidence high with a good result against Montenegro, the main order of business now is preparing the side for the altogether more meaningful challenge of the November play-offs.

Yesterday, Marco Tardelli made clear that Greece are the Irish preference in Monday’s draw, with France the team the assistant manager would most like to avoid.

“Greece is a team like us,” he observed. “They are very passionate and have character and maybe are less technical and less tactical.

“I think they are the team for us. Greece won the European Championship. In football everything is possible. They are an example to follow. I think France is the worst draw because they have many good players in Ribery, Benzema, Henry and Trezeguet.”

Tardelli also said that, with a month to go to the first leg of the play-offs, he hopes that Blackburn’s Steven Reid might still have time to come back into the reckoning.

“I hope he is fit because I went to see Steven Reid three times and he played very well,” he said. “But he is not match fit yet. I hope he feels well (in time) and then it is possible, no problem. He is a good player and played well against Montenegro.”

Meanwhile, the Italian World Cup winner admitted he was still struggling to recover from the tumultuous conclusion to Ireland’s game against his homeland on Saturday night.

“I am very sad because there was a great possibility to beat the world champions,” he said. “It was important for the players and for the fans. I wish to thank the fans because we need their support and in every match they help us. In 20 years we would remember a win but not a draw.”

Tardelli also admitted that he found it much easier to discharge his emotions as a player than as someone who is now confined to the dugout.

“When I was a player it was possible for me to physically get rid of it. But the other night the referee told me to ‘get away’ and ‘sit down’.

“And I never sit down! But, yes, Saturday was very emotional.”

And a memorable night, if one of mixed emotions, for Coventry City striker Best too with, for the first time, members of his extended family on hand to watch him appearing in the senior national team “My mum (Irene) flew over from England and my brother, uncles and aunties, who were there too, all live here,” he smiled. My missus’s parents came over from England as well. That was the eighth game my mum has came to watch me play. She doesn’t like football but she came to watch me against Italy which was another boost.”

And what did she make of it? “It goes over her head, she was just disappointed I got the yellow,” he laughed. “She just said, ‘Why did he give you the yellow?’ I blamed it all on the ref.”

Ahead of tomorrow’s game, problems continue to pile up for Montenegro, who have now lost wonderkid Stefan Jovotic – the 19-year-old who scored twice for Fiorentina against Liverpool in the Champions’ League – to a yellow card picked up in their 2-1 win at home to Georgia on Saturday.

Coming to Dublin, Montenegro were already without Roma striker Mirko Vucinic through injury and have now also lost Vladimir Bozovic of Rapid Bucharest. Bozovic received his second booking of the campaign on Saturday, a match overshadowed on the same day by the death of the mother of Montenegrin coach Zoran Filipovic.