Defiant Trapattoni in for the long haul

Game over, game on — that was the clear message from Giovanni Trapattoni yesterday as Ireland try to pick themselves up from the disappointment of their Euros exit in time for Monday’s valedictory game against Italy.

Speaking after squad training in Gdynia, the manager declared he didn’t want Ireland to go home with no points, said he’d attempt to talk senior players, like Shay Given, out of retiring too soon and left no one in any doubt that, despite some calls for him to step down, he intends to fulfil his FAI contract and lead Ireland into the next World Cup qualifying campaign.

The manager also took the opportunity to reject Roy Keane’s criticism of the Irish team’s performances in Poland.

Confirming his intention to stay on as manager, Trapattoni said: “When I lose, I don’t sleep in the night. I think immediately about the great revenge. I am convinced we can improve the players so this situation doesn’t happen again. I am not full. I am still hungry. Whatever I have achieved is in the past. I think we deserve [to stay on]. We have a reason because we achieved qualification after 24 years. I have more enthusiasm to stay than you and your colleagues. The Irish people can decide. The people yesterday at 3-0 and 4-0 were still applauding. They are our people and we must be proud. I repeated today to the players, we must be proud of this country and for our supporters.”

Trapattoni said he accepts there will be a need for change in the team for the road to Brazil but wants senior players to stay on to help with the process.

“Surely with one or two or three, I will speak with them about the plan for the future,” he said. “I need to speak with them, and have respect for them and also their opinion. The intelligent players can help by holding the hands of the younger players in the group. I know that for two or three they must also think of their families and others but I will ask them if they can wait until we have changed the situation and help us build for the future.

The veteran Italian said that while, as manager, he had to accept the blame for Ireland’s poor results so far in the Euro, he was still baffled by why the team cracked so early in both games.

“We had belief right up until Croatia,” he said. “It is difficult for me to clarify why we conceded in the first few minutes in two games. It’s my fault we lost but when we were going out of the dressing room if you had asked me to put my hands in the fire, I would have put my hands in the fire. That is how confident I was.

“We started these two games with fear, we had a fear of the ball and the players didn’t have the same attitude as when they have played with us in the past. Maybe, maybe it was the impact of the Euros. It’s not a friendly, it’s not a qualifier, it’s very, very different.”

But Trapattoni made clear that he has no intention of using Monday’s game against Italy as an opportunity for experimentation.

“If we change now and suppose Italy beat Ireland, what do you think Spain and the other teams would say?” he pointed out. “That I maybe made it easy because I changed two or three players. You know the first rule of the manager? The manager must put on the pitch the strongest team, that is the number one rule. If I change five, six, seven looking for the start of the next campaign, we have a friendly in August [away to Serbia] before the new campaign and in this situation we can change. But not now. We don’t want to leave with three defeats.”

Meanwhile, Trapattoni responded to Roy Keane’s scornful criticism after Ireland’s 4-0 loss to Spain in Gdansk on Thursday. Keane had charged that both players and supporters needed to change their mentality.

“It’s just nonsense to say how great the supporters are,” Keane said. “The supporters want to see the players do a lot better and not give daft goals away like that. Let’s not kid ourselves, they want to see their team winning. Let’s not just go along for the sing-song now and again.’’

Asked about the comments, Trapattoni praised the Irish supporters for “making us applause even after losing four-nil.” And he said that Keane, the player, hailed from a time when Ireland had a stronger team.

“Now he is a coach and should focus on [his own] results,” he said. “I am proud of these players. We have a team which deserves respect.”