Trap decision gets domestic support
Last Saturday, in the wake of the previous night’s hiding against Germany, Trapattoni scheduled a press conference at the same time as Sligo Rovers were clinching the league title, leaving former Ireland boss Eoin Hand to say his behaviour towards the league is “insulting”.
Yet manager of the newly-crowned champions, Ian Baraclough, believes sacking the Italian this week would have been poor timing.
“I think it would have been harsh at this moment because they’re sitting in third and just a point behind Sweden after already playing Germany. There’s still a possibility that Ireland will qualify.
“The expectations placed on him are massive, it’s a difficult job. Plus, you can’t argue with what the man has achieved.
“You have to look at the players available to him as well, and there are questions over their performances of late.”
That is also a view shared by Cork City boss, Tommy Dunne, who questioned whether anybody else would be able to do a better job than the 73-year-old with the current crop of players.
“His record speaks for itself and I think he should see out the end of the campaign for that reason alone,” Dunne says.
“Who would you bring in instead of him? His CV says enough and he did get us to the Euros.
“I know there have been issues with players and maybe the style of play, but we have to realise that, against teams like Germany, it will always be a big ask with this group.”
On the other hand, Dunne firmly believes that his commitment in watching his players in action with their clubs needs to be questioned, especially when you consider his wage.
“What I don’t agree with is the salary he is on for a nation of our size and him not going to watch games. For the salary he is on, that’s the minimum you could ask him to do.”
That was a sentiment echoed by Mick Cooke of Drogheda United: “When you don’t go and see people playing, it’s very hard to pick them. It was great to see Robbie Brady and Marc Wilson playing on Tuesday, but what about the likes of Wes Hoolahan?”
Meanwhile, Dundalk’s Darius Kierans, a manager who has experienced plenty of pressure himself this season with his side rooted to the bottom of the table, feels that the convincing scoreline on Tuesday night was enough to save his job.
“The result against Germany was terrible but looking at the Germany team, they are capable of doing that to a lot of teams and not just against Ireland,” said Kierans.
“In saying that, the Faroes result no doubt kept him in the job because he was in the height of trouble following last Friday night’s hammering.”
Overall, the general feeling within the domestic game is that if Ireland had somehow failed to beat the 158th ranked team in the world, the FAI would be currently searching for a replacement.
Billy Dennehy of Shamrock Rovers said: “It would definitely have been harsh to have sacked him after a 4-1 win.
“It would have also been harsh because before the games everyone would have only expected three points and that’s what we have from the games.
“The goal was still achieved, even though the Germany performance was so bad.”
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