Easygoing Features

He doesn’t say an awful lot, but when Paul McGrath does speak, Irish fans tend to shut up and listen. Giovanni Trapattoni should do likewise.

Instead of reflecting on what should have been a straightforward win over a side ranked well over 100 places below us in the World Rankings, Irish soccer fans are up in arms this morning, with many calling for Trap to be given his P45.

Liam Brady and Richie Sadlier had a pretty frank exchange of views on our Italian manager last night and even though Brady still supports a man he worked with in the Irish camp, even he acknowledged the need for change.

His sentiments were echoed in a tweet from the Black Pearl of Inchicore himself this morning, who warned Trap that while loyalty is to be admired, there comes a time when it has to take a back seat.

Big Jack, of course, remained loyal to the old guard right up until his departure at the end of the qualifying campaign for Euro ’96. The players that had served him so well in Italia ’90 and USA ’94 very nearly made that tournament, but they showed their age during that campaign, never more so than when Kluivert and company destroyed us at Anfield in the play-off.

Even McGrath can see that Ireland need an injection of something, whether it be youth, a change in approach or to actually play players who are excelling at Premier League level.

Unfortunately, the future of one of those, James McClean, in an Irish shirt looks pretty perilous after a completely honest but ill-advised tweet sent after the game last night, but hopefully Trap will take on board the advice of McGrath and others as long as he does remain in charge, even if his position looks pretty unsteady at the moment.