So with half of our Euro qualifiers played and Ireland on 10 points with Slovakia and Russia, Trappatoni has to decided to lobby for a new contract. Before returning to Milan yesterday, he informed the media that he does not intend to go quietly into the night and is interested to stay on through the 2014 World Cup qualification process, should he be invited back and duly compensated.
"If they want me, I am available. If they not want, I can look about other possibilities," he said.
To which Balls.ie says: thanks, but no thanks Trap.
We're all grateful to the man for giving the Ireland team credibility and structure after the Staunton years. Trap has probably forgotten more than he now knows about football, and that's exactly the problem. In the last six months, there's been a clear decline in logic with many of Trap's decisions: the cock-up in recalling Keith Fahey for Ireland v Wales, the McCarthy farce (calling him up to the U-21s etc). His body language is less animated than it was when he took the job and I'm beginning to wonder if he is able for the job. Fast-forward three years and imagine Ireland on the verge of qualification for Brasil 2014 (humour us if you can't imagine it). Is a 75-year-old Trap really the man for the task? Would not Tardelli, Brady or some cheaper alternative be just as good?
I think Ireland supporters can tolerate the bad football, if the results are there. But if Trap can't get us to Euro 2012, what has he really achieved? Four years of weird press conferences and broken English is enough, thanks. Ireland with Trap has been like an unlikely fling on a long holiday. There were some amazing times, some scary moments, but both sides of the coupling have intrinsic differences that make a longer-term marriage impossible. What was it Paulo Coehlo said: love means being able to walk away?
Bill Simmons has a theory about NFL head coaches losing their mojo at 55. Now international football management is a Sunday stroll compared to the intensity of pro football coaching, but how many great football managers work deep into the 70s? Lippi certainly looked past it at the World Cup. Capello's acumen seems to have taken a dip and I doubt Ferguson will stay on too much far beyond his nineteenth. There are a lot of potholes awaiting Ireland en route to Poland/Ukraine over the next 6 months. The best thing John Delaney can do is wait and see.
Then again, as Trap would have it, football owes him one after the injustices committed against him.
"But I think, with this group, I achieved some very good results with a strong team. So maybe with UEFA and FIFA, I'm due a bit of credit, a bit of luck. Some payback."
