It’s time to prove my worth, admits returning star Gibson
While Anthony Stokes, Joey O’Brien and — in particular — Andy Reid have demons of the Giovanni Trapattoni regime to banish in the cauldron of the Müngersdorfer Stadium, it’s the return of the Derryman which offers the intrigue on a night when performances will matter more in a wider context than the result.
By straying into regal territory inhabited before him by Roy Keane and Stephen Ireland, Gibson knew well his decision of a year ago to mount a one-man picket on the Trapattoni era would divide opinion.
Additional paraffin to the impression by some of a cosseted footballer came recently via his assertion that Paul Green was nowhere near worthy of game-time at his expense during Euro 2012.
All of which heaps an almighty level of expectation upon the Everton man should, as now seems certain, his first appearance in an Irish midfield for over 16 months materialise against the likes of the gifted Mesut Ozil.
It will be a sharp contrast to Gibson’s only previous two competitive international starts, which were against Macedonia and Cyprus.
No pressure, then? “No, this is a fresh start for me and I know I’ve to prove myself to the Irish fans,” said the 25-year-old.
“Germany away is a tough one but I’m just delighted to be back in after the time out of the squad.
“It was tough looking at the games but I made my decision and stuck to it. I just felt I should have been playing and hopefully, now, I get that chance.”
The choice by the former Manchester United midfielder to pull rank and then use Green’s brief absence of club status as justification appeared an anathema to the unwritten code amongst professional footballers. His former team-mate for one, Irish Examiner columnist Keith Andrews, took that stance but had any of the current squad greeted him with hostility since he reentered the team base in Portmarnock on Monday?
“They’ve been quite bad to me...” started Gibson, replete with his trademark deadpan look. “Ah no, I’m only joking. I thought they’d be alright and that’s been the case. There’s no problem between Paul Green and me. We get on well and, anyway, I didn’t say anything bad about him. Only that I should have played ahead of him.”
That scenario now looks likely, with Gibson set to anchor midfield alongside Glenn Whelan in Noel King’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. Germany’s intention to execute their plan of securing automatic qualification with Tuesday’s concluding qualifier against Sweden to spare leaves the Foylesider in no doubt of the tactics necessary.
“I think it would be a good idea to pack midfield because we saw what happened in Dublin when they won 6-1,” reasoned Gibson.
“I watched that game on television and everything went wrong. This is a chance to get our tactics right and try go for a result.”
Beyond these two ties, there’s a new manager on the way. With Gibson back onside, and his Toffees’ colleagues Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy becoming mainstays for Ireland over the past 12 months, Gibson thinks club cohesion can benefit the new man.
“If you’re playing together every week, you know each others’ game inside out,” he said. “It’s going to help coming away with Ireland having three players that know each other so well.”
Proving that connection can wait — firstly, some doubters closer to home need to convinced.
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