INTERNATIONAL NEWS: ITS MORE enthusiastic exponents these days reckon you'll hear just about everything first on Twitter if you keep a close enough eye on it but it would be unfortunate if that's where Kevin Kilbane went looking for news of Giovanni Trapattoni's latest squad yesterday.
Around noon the FAI tweeted a link to the Italian’s preliminary 32-strong panel for the European Championship qualifiers against Slovakia and Russia and Kilbane’s name was conspicuous by its absence. The 34-year-old can take some consolation from the fact that it was just a mistake but, as it turned out, not too much really.
At about the same time, Trapattoni was giving a press conference out at Dublin Airport’s Clarion Hotel where he signalled in the clearest fashion yet that Stephen Ward will be his first choice left back for the tail end of the current qualification campaign which recommences at the start of next month with the vital games against Slovakia and Russia.
The Italian had touched on the subject immediately after Wednesday’s scoreless draw with Croatia at the Aviva Stadium but went a good deal further when pressed on the issue yesterday.
Having initially run through his options for the full-back positions without so much as mentioning the Derby player – he talked about Ward or the possibility of switching John O’Shea to the left with Stephen Kelly, Paul McShane or, over time, Séamus Coleman starting on the right – he was asked if he was suggesting that Kilbane’s time was essentially up.
“You saw that we finished last season with Ward,” he said, “and every year we change things when it is possible to change. When we are certain that a new player gives us confidence and trust then we can change it. We need this situation, we need younger strength.”
Pressed on whether the decision is set in stone at this stage, Trapattoni replied: “It is not sure, life is not sure. We have 20 days before the next game and we can look at them both for their clubs.”
Still, he talked up the Dubliner, who made a particularly positive impact in June’s friendly win against Italy, when asked about his relative inexperience, pointing to the fact that he had “played the last (Premier League) against top players”.
When the questions persisted about Kilbane, who has started each of Ireland last 66 competitive games, a run that stretches back to the first of the two Euro 2000 play-off matches against Turkey, he replied: “We can speak also about (Lee) Carsley. Life goes on.”
It has, to be fair, been apparent that the search for Kilbane’s replacement has been a priority for Trapattoni for the last year or two with Greg Cunningham and Ciarán Clark among others to emerge as contenders.
Ward, a striker or left-sided midfielder through most of his career, has now emerged as the preferred successor after filling in at left-back for Wolves during an injury crisis a couple of years ago and impressing Mick McCarthy with his performances.
He has not, however, established himself as a regular there for Wolves where he continues to be used in a wide variety of roles and there still appeared to be a certain rawness to aspects of his performance there against the Croats.
Kilbane, by comparison, is hugely experienced in the role at this stage, although he is still prone on occasion to being caught out of position, and clearly Trapattoni views his lack of pace as an increasingly significant issue.
Both players are likely to make the cut when the manager pares back the 32-man squad, which included 12 players who missed this week’s game, named yesterday. Bohemians officials will be hoping Trapattoni presses ahead with the change given the club stands to pick up a bonus of €50,000 when the 25-year-old completes 15 minutes of competitive football for his country.
McCarthy, meanwhile, confirmed that Kevin Doyle’s knee injury is not nearly as serious as had initially been feared when he pulled out of the Ireland squad on Tuesday and suggested that, far from missing next month’s internationals, he will probably feature in Wolves’ opening game of the season against Blackburn.
Séamus Coleman still seems unlikely to be available for the games in early September after suffering ankle ligament damage in a pre-season friendly with his club last weekend but the Everton player has been included in Trapattoni’s preliminary squad. Paul McShane is another major doubt while the Italian acknowledged that he is unsure whether Keith Andrews will recover from a groin strain in time to be involved.
Aiden McGeady is the most prominent of the other doubts for the games but Trapattoni said yesterday he had spoken recently with the Moscow-based player who was hopeful of being fit enough to travel back to Dublin for the match against Slovakia on September 2nd as well as the game away to Russia four days later.
- FAI officials have acknowledged that supporters attempting to buy season tickets in the build-up to the Croatia game may have encountered problems but insist the issues will have been resolved by the time they go back on sale this morning at a reduced rate, to allow for the fact that one of the games has taken place.
Supporters trying to purchase the tickets in recent days had reported being advised to buy ordinary tickets outside the stadium on Wednesday after initially being unable even to get through to the FAI ticket office. There also appears to have been some delays processing existing orders.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND SQUAD: Given (Aston Villa), Westwood (Sunderland), Forde (Millwall); O'Shea (Sunderland), Coleman (Everton), McShane (Hull City), Foley (Wolves), Kelly (Fulham), Ward (Wolves), Dunne (Aston Villa), Clark (Aston Villa), St Ledger (Leicester City), O'Dea (Leeds United), Delaney (Ipswich Town), Kilbane (Derby County); Whelan (Stoke City), Gibson (Manchester United), Andrews (Blackburn Rovers), Fahey (Birmingham City), Keogh (Wolves), Duff (Fulham), McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Hunt (Wolves), Lawrence (Portsmouth), McCarthy (Wigan Athletic), Treacy (Burnley), Wilson (Stoke City); Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Doyle (Wolves), Cox (West Brom), Walters (Stoke City), Long (West Brom).
