Seamus Coleman has been speaking to RTE ahead of Sunday night's RTE Sports Awards, and he has taken the opportunity to praise his former Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni.
Trapattoni's reign in charge of Ireland seemed to divide opinion, both with the supporters and players in the squad, but Seamus Coleman had only positive things to say about the veteran Italian manager despite many people believing that the Everton full-back was being ignored at the time.
I obviously felt that I should have got more caps than I did because I was playing quite well at the time for Everton and the manager didn’t see fit to put me in. But on the other hand, Ireland were doing really well to qualify for major tournaments. I know the media side of things wanted me playing but I never had a problem with Giovanni Trapattoni and if anything I learned a lot from him on the defensive side of things.
Coleman also mentioned that he believed his experience in the League of Ireland as a teenager was what gave him the edge when it came time to prove himself in the Premier League:
I know a lot of people go over to England when they are 15 or 16 years of age. I personally think if I had gone over at that age I would have been back by the time I was 18 or 19 because I would have struggled being away from home. I was homesick enough when I went away at 20. I was playing with men from the age of 17 and 18. I suppose I missed out on the coaching side of things but I got a lot more from the League and it stood me well and made the step up kind of easy I suppose.
The RTÉ Sport Awards are live on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player from 9.30pm on Sunday, 21 December.
via RTE.ie
