Patient Martin O’Neill prepared to play waiting game for Shane Long
Long saw a specialist in England yesterday and has had an injection to treat the problem, but O’Neill is encouraged by the fact that the player himself believes he can still beat the deadline.
“The big positive thing about this is that Shane has not ruled himself out,” said the manager after the Irish squad’s first training session of the week, at a wet and windy Abbotstown.
“Now that could all change again on Wednesday morning and I would not want to say anything other than that. But it is good. And if he says ‘I’m really ready here, I’m ready for the game’, that could not be more positive. That’s great.
“If some player said; ‘you know what, I can’t do it, sorry, I won’t make it,’ at least that clears that issue up. But (it’s different) if someone like Shane says ‘I’m really desperate to play’ and desperate in the right sense, desperate because he is actually properly fit to play.
“I don’t want people saying that they are fit to play and then going down in three or four minutes. That’s not any good to any of us. Do I trust him? Yes, I think that I know Shane well enough, I think I do.”
According to O’Neill, the next 24 hours could prove critical to the prospects of the match winner against Germany having a chance to replicate his heroics in the play-off against Bosnia.
“If he got two or three days of training in and Friday was too soon for him, and he even thought that Monday might be okay, yes I would go with it,” said the manager.
“I would wait until the last possible moment.”
Similarly to Long, John O’Shea, who has stayed at Sunderland to receive treatment on his hamstring, has not ruled himself out of the second leg against Bosnia, the only game for which he is eligible, with suspension ruling him out of Friday’s match in Zenica.
Such optimistic noises, O’Neill acknowledged, are in stark contrast to the gloomier prognosis which has been emanating from the Tyne and Wear clubs.
“I know Sunderland and Newcastle seem to be saying there’s no chance of people playing but Robbie (Elliot) did play at the weekend, in fact played brilliantly and was given man of the match, and he is seeing a specialist today and will give me the results of that, so we’ll monitor that as well.”
Further exchanges on the subject revealed that O’Neill was less than impressed by Magpies boss Steve McClaren’s call for his keeper not to join up with the Irish squad.
“It seems a wee bit strange that, while there was definitely a doubt about Robbie on Saturday, he plays brilliantly in the game, wins the match for Newcastle and then, suddenly, he’s not fit for us – which is going to be a week later. You’d have to be a soothsayer to know that. I think a lot will depend, without me overstepping the mark, on what happens when the specialist has seen him.
“But it seems a wee bit strange to say that he shouldn’t be travelling with us when in actual fact he has just won the game for Newcastle and performed miracles.
“I’ve been a club manager, I understand these things, but I’m not so sure that I could actually honestly step up and ask someone to play on a Saturday, who plays brilliantly and wins the points, very very important points, and then say ‘Sorry, you can’t go, you’re not fit’. Well, when were you not? Did you slip in the bath? He’s not fully fit obviously because he has a bit of a problem, otherwise he would not be seeing the specialist, but… all right then, I have been there as a club manager.”
As part of his planning for the play-off, O’Neill confirmed that he has spoken to Chris Coleman, the manager of Bosnia’s qualifying group rivals Wales.
“He was very helpful both on and off the field about things they had experienced there,” he reported. “Yeah, he was very good.”
Meanwhile, with John O’Shea definitely missing on Friday, Ciaran Clark could hardly have better timed his recovery from a thigh injury, having arrived in the Irish camp fresh from helping Aston Villa, and their new manager Remi Garde, to keep a clean sheet against Manchester City.
“There is a lot of competition there and there are places up for grabs,” Clark said of his immediate international prospects. “I think it will all depend on training this week and how the lads do. I’m sure everyone will be fighting for a spot. Everyone will be looking to play in these two games.
“I think I’m at a stage now where I want to be involved as much as possible and play as much as possible. You can only do that by playing regularly for your club. Hopefully if I can keep playing now and stay fit (taps table), I can get my place.”
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