Is this to be Trap’s last stand?
Altogether more country village than teeming metropolis, the capital of the Faroe Islands has oodles of charm but hardly what one could call, in all conscience, an electric atmosphere — indeed for a couple of hours after the Irish squad landed here on Sunday, all the cosy homesteads dotted around the hills had to revert to candlelight as a power cut plunged the islands into darkness.
Nothing, however, could disrupt the buzzing grid of rumour and speculation that Giovanni Trapattoni has finally reached the end of the road as Ireland manager — a journey of singular highs and lows which had taken him from Dublin to Kazakhstan and many points in between — in this wild and wondrous outpost in the North Atlantic.
The FAI are refusing to make any official comment on reports that a decision has already been taken to relieve Trapattoni of his post in the wake of the 1-6 mauling by Germany at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, with former Spurs manager Harry Redknapp and former Ireland boss Mick McCarthy said to be in the running as the Italian’s successor. However, Redknapp — at one point considered a certainty for the job of England manager until it went to Roy Hodgson — is also understood to be interested should a vacancy arise at struggling Liverpool.
But when a dignified and defiant Trapattoni appeared before the media for his pre-match press conference yesterday, he insisted that he would not jump before he was pushed and, when asked, dismissed outright the idea that tonight’s match will be his last in charge of Ireland.
“Absolutely no,” he replied. “I ask you why? We have just started the qualification (for the World Cup) and we lose one game to Germany. There is no reason. When they (the FAI) are sure, they have to decide not me. I have crossed the Alps barefoot and I have overcome most difficulties in my entire years. After the Euros, we lost only one game to Germany, the second team in the world. It’s no problem.”
Of the avalanche of criticism which began in Poland in the summer, gathered momentum in Astana and which has threatened to engulf him since Friday night, the 73-year-old said he was neither saddened nor angered. More philosophical and bemused, it seems.
“It’s normal,” he said. “If I watch in other countries, they have managers who if they lose a game, the media must be critical, it is their job. It’s normal, this. But you can’t change after every bad result, you can’t change 10 players. I accept the criticism. We played badly and they [Germany] were very, very superior.”
Trapattoni indicated that he has not spoken with FAI chief executive John Delaney about his position since the Germany game, a match which ended with booing from a substantial section of the crowd and which, against the backdrop of even wider public and media criticism, raised further concerns in the cash-strapped FAI about the potentially catastrophic impact on the gate at next month’s scheduled friendly with Greece at the Aviva Stadium. Until now, Trapattoni’s salary has been part-funded by Denis O’ Brien but the businessman has made no public comment about the latest developments.
And despite his largely spirited show yesterday, Trapattoni did at one point concede that he couldn’t be sure he would actually see out his contract to end of the World Cup 2014 campaign.
“I don’t know. Game to game, we can show the results we have achieved, but it’s not me who will decide. Until now, we lost one game. Why change immediately after Germany? We lost one game against Germany and, I repeat, we were missing six players from the Euros. Why I have to discuss it, I don’t know. My job is to overcome the criticism. Every 90 minutes is 90 minutes. If they decide, they decide, it’s okay. If you write one bad article, does your editor says ‘Okay, you are out’ because of one bad article?”
Trapattoni was flanked by Robbie Keane who admitting players were “embarrassed” by the Germany result, went on to mount an at times impassioned defence of the manager.
“Listen, everybody is in this together, of course we owe him,” said the Irish captain. “It’s clear to see and I don’t need to tell you the job he has done for the country. The manager has a contract and the players want to see that continue. Do I hope we can qualify with him at the helm? Of course. We have only lost two qualifying games since he has taken over, Germany and Russia. I think as players, we let ourselves down and we let our country down (against Germany). We are all going to be criticised together and it’s important we all pay back together. Against the Faroes, it will be interesting to see the separation of the men from the boys. It was not good enough on Friday and it’s important now that we stand up and be counted.”
Responding to stories of unrest in the Irish camp, Trapattoni played down a reportedly heated exchange which full back Stephen Kelly — overlooked in favour of Seamus Coleman against Germany and again tonight — had on the training pitch with Marco Tardelli before the squad flew out of Dublin, the manager even suggesting that no such row had taken place. “It’s not true, it’s not true,” he repeated. However he did concede that he had spoken to Kelly about his frustration but denied that the player had threatened not to travel to the Faroes.
Keane also sought to put the Kelly controversy into context.
“Listen, there are always going to be rifts in the camp,” he said. “The players who are not playing are going to be disappointed, that’s normal. Every week since I have been playing football there is one argument in the team. It happens all the time. Unfortunately we are in a bubble here with the Irish set-up.”
The fact Ireland are playing for three World Cup qualification points in Torshavn tonight was almost relegated to the status of sideshow yesterday, with scant enough attention given to the fact Stoke’s Marc Wilson comes in instead of Stephen Ward at left-back while rising star Robbie Brady gets to make his first senior competitive start in place of Simon Cox on the wing.
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