Striking the right balance of work, rest and play

Since the word "linked" is perhaps the most beloved in the football journalism lexicon – well, apart from "receipt" obviously – we simply couldn’t let a day pass in the Irish camp without generating some further food for speculation concerning the, ah, junior party in the management coalition.

So then, what about all this talk of Roy Keane as the next Tánaiste?

“Has he been linked with the Labour Party?” Martin O’Neill deadpans. “I’d better let him know. He’s been linked with everything every single day, so why not? We’ll only spend half an hour on him again, alright?”

The banter reflected the buoyant mood at Malahide yesterday, the sea sparkling and the sun beaming down on the Gannon Park training pitch.

The squad will be hoping for more of the same today, although this time to facilitate some downtime as O’Neill has sanctioned a rest day which will be partly spent on the golf course.

“The players have been terrific,” O’Neill declared. “You give them a little bit of leeway. They are professionals. Some of them have families living not too far from here. We’ve done the training, it’s the end of the season and I think they enjoy the little bit of freedom. And none of them, at this minute — famous last words these will be, of course — but none of them have abused it.

“After the game against Turkey, they came back (to the hotel) and those who had some families in Dublin could go (see them). There was a curfew on to just after midnight and one or two went home to their families. The rest were here and they were absolutely fine, obviously disappointed with the result but essentially, they are good boys. Genuinely, really good. And if given, I suppose, a normal feeling of a bit of respect for them, they have not abused it.”

For the extended duration of this end of season gathering, getting the balance right between work, rest and play is a key part of the management strategy.

“There’s great emphasis now in terms of recovery, physical recovery, from games,” said O’Neill. “It has changed from my day, and I would wonder how some of the old-style managers would look at this length of time that players recover. But it is the end of the season and I think those who have played the 90 minutes will take a little bit longer, those who played 60 odd minutes in the match are coming back into things, and we had a really good session yesterday for those who didn’t play at all. We’re trying to get the players who haven’t played for a while into reasonable physical condition for the games ahead, if called upon.

“I don’t want to preempt anything but I think they’ve enjoyed the training. Days like this are absolutely terrific. What I’ve tried to do is allow them a little time. The Stoke lads asked early for a little time with their families. I had no problem with that. Some other lads will leave. I’ll see how Seamus Coleman is after the second game. I kind of think those two matches might be enough (though) he obviously wants to play them all. But I have to keep an eye on that.”

While the Steves, Walford and Guppy, have both been visible on the training pitch, O’Neill – conscious the coaches have other irons in the fire — has yet to make a decision on whether they will continue to have roles to play with Ireland beyond the summer.

“I’ve worked with Steve (Walford), I know what Steve can do,” he said. “He’s come in at short notice in the sense that I didn’t give him a great deal of time to prepare. I said to him sometime earlier about maybe doing a little bit of work in the summertime. Steve has had some offers to go and coach elsewhere. Stevie Guppy also has had an offer to go on a full-time basis. I think we kind of enjoy working with each other. But we’ll see. I can’t promise anything. Nor can I promise to keep people who can have a full-time job elsewhere.”

Meanwhile, the focus is now firmly on the meeting with the Azzurri in London on Saturday.

“Italy are obviously in final preparations for the World Cup so they will, I assume, be pretty strong,” said O’Neill. “They could be experimental in some shape but they’ve so many to choose from. I’ve been an admirer of Italian football for a long time. In recent years perhaps, Spanish football, with Barcelona and Real Madrid, has been very, very strong. With the extra spring of money into the Premier League, the Italian league seems to have lost a little bit of its lustre. But am I an admirer of them? Absolutely. They’re a big tournament team as well.”

The only injury news from the Irish camp yesterday concerned Ciarán Clark who sat out training having picked up a knock to his back the previous day. However, O’Neill suggested the issue appears to be a minor one and the Aston Villa man should be available for selection.