Failure not an option in final summer exam

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING GROUP C:

The last time Giovanni Trapattoni led his Irish team into a game against the Faroe Islands, there were many declaring he’d already flunked after a particularly brutal German inquisition while, according to one mysterious FAI source at the time, the manager was even on the brink of being expelled, irrespective of how his team might fare in the North Atlantic.

Recalling that fraught couple of days, Trapattoni was his usual philosophical self yesterday, observing with a smile that with victory the gaffer is “a god” but, after defeat, it’s easier to get rid of a manager than a team.

As it transpired, after bouncing back from that 6-1 mauling in Dublin to win 4-1 in Torshavn, the cat escaped the sack last October — and has continued to confound his critics since then by overseeing a run of just one defeat (to Greece) in seven games, including good performances in Stockholm and London. Unfortunately, another promising outing, at home to Austria, was spoiled by the all-too-familiar sight of an Irish side retreating from a position of strength and paying the penalty through the concession of a late goal which meant two home points dropped in qualifying.

No such regression can be countenanced tonight — anything less than a win and not even Trapattoni will be able to deliver a Houdini act capable of keeping him in his post as anything other than, in the professional sense, a dead man walking. Or put it another way: a fail tonight and Trap really will be doing The Leaving.

But, after running in four goals against an admittedly depleted Georgia as recently as last Sunday, the hope and expectation is that the Irish will pass this test with flying colours, in the process maybe even delivering the kind of healthy strike rate that would go some way towards eating into Austria’s current supremacy in the goal difference table.

The part-timers of the Faroes will, we know, endeavour to offer their usual proud and spirited resistance — and, as we saw in the first half in Torshavn under Lars Olsen they can play a bit too — but, realistically, Ireland’s only fear tonight should be of the enemy within. Banish any complacency from their thoughts and there’s no logical reason why they can’t end their international season on a resoundingly positive note.

That’s certainly what Trapattoni has in mind, his team selection designed to put the emphasis on attack, from Seamus Coleman and Marc Wilson as forward-going full-backs through the midfield mix of Wes Hoolahan’s style and Glenn Whelan’s steel to the front duo of Jon Walters and the record-breaking Robbie Keane.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Trap team if there wasn’t some element of controversy in his choices. While the decision not to risk Richard Dunne from the start was straightforward, the selection of Simon Cox ahead of James McClean is certainly a talking point, not least because it seems the manager is content to sacrifice the direct wing play and dead ball delivery of the Derryman in order to permit, as he sees it, more fluidity in his deployment of Ireland’s attacking players.

“We can change the system,” he explained. “Cox can start on the right but because Walters can also play on the right, Cox could then go central with Robbie. With this game it is very important to try all that is possible to win. McGeady and Cox — or Walters — could also switch wings but McClean couldn’t play on the right. But also, after say 30 minutes, if we have not scored a goal, I can change the situation. At this moment we have to try to do everything that is possible to achieve the result.”

Now that, belatedly, Trapattoni has decided to give Wes Hoolahan his first competitive start for his country, the manager could hardly have been more effusive in his praise for the Norwich playmaker at the pre-match press conference in Malahide yesterday.

“Wes is fantastic with the final ball,” he said. “He has experience, he can smell where the ball is going and quickly pass. He’s not shy. He has a good personality.”

The loss through suspension of James McCarthy and Shane Long is, of course, a double blow for Ireland — the West Brom man especially, since you would back a player of his pace to make the most of those incisive passes with which Hoolahan will look to thread the ball through the anticipated forest of Faroese defenders.

Still, there’s considerable consolation to be gleaned from Robbie Keane’s current productive strike rate and, on a night when he breaks Shay Given’s all-time caps record of 125, the skipper will doubtless want to make the occasion even more memorable by edging closer to the 60-goal mark.

That’s the aim, at any rate, and if all goes according to plan at the Aviva, a satisfying night for Ireland would be made even more rewarding should group rivals Austria and Sweden manage to damage each other’s prospects in Vienna.

Confirming that he wants to see a draw in that game, Trapattoni once again lamented those points dropped at home to the Austrians.

“I thought, with a couple of minutes to go in that game, that we would achieve second place behind Germany,” he said. “Our performance deserved three points, now we have to think we can achieve the same.”