Trapattoni’s concern for injury victim Pilkington
Speaking after an Irish training session in Newport ahead of Wednesday’s friendly against Wales, Trapattoni said he had spoken to Wes Hoolahan about his club-mate’s injuries and also texted Pilkington to advise him to take good care of himself.
“Pilkington had to pull out with a swollen knee and it’s a pity because this would have been a good opportunity to see him,” said Ireland’s manager.
“Hoolahan told me that he has pain and needs injections. I haven’t spoken to him directly [since his withdrawal] but I sent him an SMS saying ‘be careful, because if you continue with the injections it could be dangerous for the future’.
“I am confident about the professionalism of his doctor at Norwich but I also said ‘pay attention because we need you in September when we have very important games’. I just made him aware of that.”
Although Trapattoni said he shares David Forde’s optimism that the goalkeeper will have recovered from knee surgery in time for the games against Sweden and Austria — despite his club, Millwall, putting a four- to six-week timeframe on his recovery — the manager confirmed Keiren Westwood will take his place in the starting line-up on Wednesday in what could turn out to be a World Cup rehearsal for the Sunderland man.
Suggesting that the keeper’s confidence took a blow when he was relegated to the bench at the Stadium of Light last season — and subsequently replaced as Ireland’s No 1 by Forde — Trapattoni said he sees this week’s game in Cardiff as an important psychological boost for the player.
“We want to give him this opportunity to lift his morale by starting this game,” he said. “This is something I’ve spoken about with [goalkeeping coach] Alan Kelly. We want to show confidence in him. In football, the goalkeeper is a man alone, and it is important that he is psychologically secure.”
On the subject of another man whose confidence must have taken quite a buffeting in recent times, Trapattoni said that for Kevin Doyle, who has been left out of the latest squad, it “would be better if he gets a move” from League Two Wolves. He also said that, with reference to the example of James McClean in his transfer from Sunderland to Wigan, it would be up to Doyle and his agent if they thought it fit that the player should take a drop in wages to facilitate a transfer.
“Kevin is intelligent and will know what to do,” said Trapattoni.
Shane Long looks set to be a certain starter on Wednesday night while, if the manager follows through on his idea of playing 4-1-1-1, there could also be a role for Hoolahan in the No 10 slot. New boy Paddy Madden, who trained with the senior squad for the first time yesterday, will also be hoping for a shot at his debut.
“He’s a mix of Cox and Long,” said Trapattoni of the Yeovil Town hotshot. “He’s quick and has good personality.”
While few are expecting Gareth Bale to feature, the international obsession with his future has an understandably heightened appeal here in his native Wales, with a local journalist yesterday asking Trapattoni if he thought the player could really be worth £100 million.
And while the Italian did not disguise his admiration for Bale, he also made clear that he regards such astronomical figures as having no place in the real world.
“This money,” he smiled, “for me there is no player worth this money. One player cannot alone win a game, not even Messi or Ronaldo or even, in the past, Pele or Cruyff. They all need the team.”
There have been no new pull-outs from the Irish squad following the weekend games and while, for a variety of reasons, a number of players missed yesterday’s first training session, they were all expected to arrive in camp by this morning.
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