Trapattoni set to have say on reprieve

The FAI might have a job on their hands shifting tickets for the November 14 friendly against Greece but they should have no problem filling the room for today’s Irish squad announcement at the association’s headquarters in Abbotstown.

Barring a few brief words to a journalist at Carrow Road following Norwich’s 1-0 win against Arsenal and a handful of other lines attributed to sources allegedly close to the Italian’s camp, Giovanni Trapattoni has yet to publicly speak in any detail about the sequence of events surrounding the recent World Cup qualifiers against Germany and the Faroe Islands, a tumultuous week during which it appeared he was headed for the exit door only for a dramatic reprieve to be delivered in the form an emergency FAI board meeting.

The manager subsequently travelled to Dublin for a meeting with FAI chief executive John Delaney in the course of which a number of concerns raised at the board meeting were discussed, not least Trap’s apparent reluctance to turn up in person at games in England to assess Irish players in action for their clubs.

Just 24 hours later, the manager was spotted at Carrow Road and a week after that he showed up in Stoke to watch the home side play out a listless 0-0 draw against Sunderland last Saturday.

Unfortunately, the bad news Irish story out of the Brittania Stadium was that Marc Wilson broke his leg, ruling him out of today’s squad and possibly for as long as three or four months. Wolves’ Stephen Ward should benefit by regaining a starting place for the Greece friendly but, considering how much Wilson impressed against the Faroes — his long-ranger set the visitors on the way to a crucial 4-1 win — his loss will be keenly felt by Trapattoni.

Richard Dunne continues to miss out through injury but Glenn Whelan’s recent hamstring problem shouldn’t prevent him from being named in the squad. And, after impressing for Norwich in front of Trapattoni, Wes Hoolahan is in line to get a long-awaited recall after having to pull out of the post-Euros friendly in Serbia through injury, especially if there is no news of any change in Darron Gibson’s self-imposed international exile.

The Norwich midfielder’s team-mate Anthony Pilkington is another with reason to hope he will be named in today’s squad announcement. Some ground has also been prepared for the possible return of Kevin Foley, who said that he felt “betrayed” when Trapattoni sent him home from the pre-Euros training camp in Italy and replaced him with Paul McShane. The manager explained at the time that, given worries about the fitness of both Dunne and Sean St Ledger in the run-up to the finals, he wanted a “stopper” as extra cover, but that cut little ice with Foley who was devastated to be left surplus to requirements so late in the day. However, the player now says that he has put that Euros disappointment behind him, so it only remains to be seen if he is willing to resume his international career and if Trapattoni is true to his word that the door would remain open for the full-back’s return.

Of course, since then Trapattoni has had a difference of opinion with yet another full-back, Fulham’s Stephen Kelly having become embroiled in a training ground dispute with the Irish management before boarding the flight for the Faroes. His will be another name eagerly looked for in the squad list when it’s made public this afternoon.

Meanwhile, James McCarthy had to cancel promotional interviews in Dublin this week after sustaining a knock in training at Wigan, though the indications are that the club are confident he will still be fit for the fray this coming weekend.

Selection issues aside, however, the main line of questioning at today’s press conference is bound to focus on the manager’s own take on the headline-grabbing saga which followed the 6-1 mauling by Germany at the Avivia Stadium. In the middle of it all, in the Faroe Islands, Trapattoni admitted to being wholly “in the dark” about what might happen next although, while making it clear that he had no intention of walking away, he did hint that he would be ready to act on other offers if a decision was taken by the FAI to dispense with his services.

As it transpired, that didn’t happen, but it will be interesting today to see if there are any signs of strain apparent under the changed terms of the relationship between employee and employers.