Sean all business despite diversions

As the Irish squad prepare to leave Tuscany for Hungary, Sean St Ledger reflects on an eventful week in camp

Headlines suggesting mutinous discontent in the Irish camp this week might have been overstating things a tad but it turns out that there was one big split after all — between those who opted for the golf course and those who chose a trip to Florence on the players’ day off on Tuesday.

There is no denying that, for some players more than others, feelings ran high regarding the unhappy fate suffered by their friend and colleague Kevin Foley. No one was unsympathetic to his plight and those especially close to the Wolves man were genuinely upset, yet footballers as a breed are accustomed to abrupt comings and goings in their professional lives and, as a consequence, have developed a reliable ability to roll with the punches. Because, whatever happens, there is always a new day, a new game and, in special times, a new tournament to look forward to.

Indeed, even as Foley was leaving the team hotel in Montecatini on Tuesday to catch his flight home, some of the squad were already on the first tee at the local golf club while others were en route to sample the sights and sensations of one of the great cities of Italy.

Sean St Ledger was one of the latter, though he confesses that his reason for going to Florence was not wholly inspired by visions of art and architecture.

“There was a shop there that I had seen on the internet and I just went there,” he explains.

Must have been a special shop, eh? “It was just a clothes shop,” he offers. And then, suddenly aware of how this might be coming across, he hurriedly and a touch guiltily adds: “I had never been to Florence before and we went into the cathedral too. So, yeah; it was a cultural experience.”

Quite apart from anything else, St Ledger says that it felt nice to be footloose and fancy free for a day. “It was good to get away,” he says, agreeing that cabin fever in the prolonged build-up to the Euros is something players need to combat as best they can.

“It was nice to get a break in and get away from the hotel and the same scenery,” he expands. “But, at the moment, I think everything has been fine. Spirits in the camp are good. I think we have been together two weeks and it feels all right, it feels good.”

That feelgood factor was seriously disrupted, however, by the Foley affair.

“I’ve never been involved in something so heart-wrenching,” St Ledger observes. “Football throws those things up but I wouldn’t wish that on anyone: to be announced in the 23 and for that to happen, it was soul-destroying for him. And it was tough for all of us because everyone really likes him. And everyone feels for him. If it was me, I would be absolutely gutted.

“Kevin was very, very emotional but I think he dealt with it really well and in a dignified manner. It was obviously very tough for him. And it was a tough decision for the manager. Football is a cruel game. But, congratulations to Paul [McShane]. He came into the squad not thinking he would get here. But now he has and he has to try and make the most of the opportunity.”

St Ledger reckons Foley will need some time to come to terms with what happened this week and suggests that whatever decision he makes about his international future ought to be respected.

“I am sure his emotions at the moment are taking over,” he reflects. “I am sure that now he’s back home he will have a word with his family and talk it over and I am sure he will make the right decision. You just have to respect it, if he doesn’t want to return. All the boys want him to [make himself available in future] because he is a great lad and a very good player. But the manager made his decision and you just have go with it.”

Going with it this week meant that St Ledger — and Foley too — were in action against a Tuscan XI on Tuesday night, just hours after the biggest story of Ireland’s Euros build-up had broken. And, as ever, once across that white line the focus was back exclusively on the most basic of footballing first principles: beat the other lot.

A final 5-0 scoreline confirmed the gulf in class between the internationals and the semi-pros but, still, it was a refreshingly different test to yet another training game.

“It was — and they weren’t that bad, to be fair,” he smiles. “I would give them credit for the way they actually tried to play it from the back. I know that if that was in England and you’re playing against League one or League two, they are smashing it forward for the big man. And as easy as the score made it sound it was a decent work-out.”

The Irish squad depart Montecatini for Budapest tomorrow, in preparation for Monday’s rather more glamorous and testing fixture against Hungary. “And we go there trying to win the game and to keep our confidence high getting closer to the tournament,” he says.

And, again, one presumes the change of scene will be welcomed by the players too. But Sean St Ledger looks doubtful.

“Dunno, I keep having to pack my bags all the time, which is a nightmare, squeezing stuff in,” he laughs.

That’ll teach him to go shopping in Florence