Trapattoni considers tinkering on the double

IT might not quite amount to a Russian revolution but change is definitely in the air for Ireland as Giovanni Trapattoni prepares to plot the nation’s course through the final four games of Euro 2012 qualification.

The Italian has always been an advocate of evolution — a Sean St Ledger introduced here, a Simon Cox there — but as he looks ahead to the double-header against Slovakia and Russia next month, he is clearly giving thought to a couple of significant tactical and personnel alterations.

Acutely conscious that Ireland’s only defeat in Group B saw the team overrun in midfield by a rampant Russia in Dublin, Trapattoni is contemplating the activation of a Plan B for the return trip to Moscow on September 6.