You in or out? Trap vows to pin down 'missing' players

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND manager Giovanni Trapattoni plans to pin down up to four players on whether they want to continue to play for their country.

Basking in last night’s 2-0 victory over Italy in Liege which gave him four wins on the spin, the manager said he wants to end communication issues that have strained relations with some squad members in recent weeks, the Irish Times reports.

Last month Wigan star James McCarthy did not return the FAI’s phone calls about squad arrangements and there were later withdrawals from other fringe players such as Marc Wilson of Stoke and Manchester United’s Darron Gibson.

Celtic striker Anthony Stokes also claimed he was too tired to take part in the Carling Cup games against Northern Ireland and Scotland and the Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia in Skopje on 4 June.

Trapattoni said of the players today: “I want them to show respect for the other players, to tell us they are fit and will come over, or that they are not.

“If they tell us it is impossible, fine, we have time to call other players. It’s simply good manners and we never force a player to go anywhere.”

Reflecting on last night’s game, the former Italian international said he didn’t care who the opposition was as long as his squad performed well.
Trapattoni also said he would prefer if captain Robbie Keane and veteran netminder Shay Given get regular club action before the autumn’s crucial qualifiers.

“My philosophy is that they can play for a time even when they are not in their club teams, because they don’t lose their condition after a few weeks. But in the longer term it’s important that they play,” he said.

Read more in Carl O’Malley’s report in the Irish Times>

As it happened: Ireland v Italy | The Bootroom: the state of play for Trap’s men