In Trap’s cack-handed system, Long pays the price for success

Shane Long's abysmal treatment at the hands of our esteemed national team manager can only deepen the resentment which has been plain as day in recent weeks.

By Shane Breslin

Despite a blistering season which hauled Reading to within one game of the Premier League, Shane Long has found himself demoted to a fringe role once again for Ireland – by flashes of ability from a virtually unknown rival in a couple of meaningless friendlies.

Simon Cox – seriously, hands up if you knew what this guy looked like a month ago – has somehow jumped his way to the head of the queue to replace the injured Kevin Doyle as Robbie Keane’s strike partner.

The reason for his promotion? One half-decent goal against arguably the worst international team ever seen in Dublin.

Trap and his team of hired hands and sidekicks base all their judgment on their week or fortnight-long get-togethers. Who cares what a player has proved capable of in the rough-and-tumble of games with their club? Show a bit of promise in a Malahide kick-about and you're sorted.

Marco Tardelli, the manager's trusted lieutenant, said on Thursday: "It is fair to say that Simon Cox is ahead of Shane Long at this moment in time. He has impressed not just me but you as well, no? He has played well but I think he's a good player.

"For us, he's very important because he receives the ball and waits for the team. He helps the other striker. He's good. He works very, very hard for the team. He plays well. He holds up the ball well and can wait for his team-mates to link up. He is a good player. He has a good level of technical ability also."

Just when everyone thought Long's time had come, with Doyle sidelined and Keane doubtful, it seems that he must play the surrogate striker once again, and this time to a no-name forward who struggles to get in the West Brom team

Trapdelli may, occasionally, commandeer a couple of flight tickets for a weekend excursion to London, but for all they get done during those all-too-infrequent trips, the time they spend on the hop-on, hop-off buses around Trafalgar or Big Ben is probably more productive.

Because make no mistake. It defies all logic for Simon Cox to have found his way past the Tipperary man in the pecking order.

Cox has been rewarded for his performances in Long’s absence during the Carling Nations Cup – a tournament low on both quality and interest. But the only reason Long was absent was because he had the small matter of a Championship play-off final to concentrate on, the climax of a fine season in which he scored 25 goals in 51 starts.

There has been a lot to like about the way in which Long has served his time as understudy to Keane and his former Reading teammate Doyle.

Blood pumping

Every time he has been given a chance, whether it’s been up front or on the wing, he’s buzzed around with exactly the right attitude, showing an explosiveness and lack of respect for opponents that has got the blood pumping in teammates and supporters alike.

And yet, just when everyone thought his time had come, with Doyle sidelined and Keane doubtful, it seems that Long must play the surrogate striker once again, and this time to a no-name forward who struggles to get in the West Brom team.

Trapattoni’s list of decorations is beyond reproach, but it's been a while since he was operating at the top level and the rap-sheet as Ireland manager is lengthening by the day.

Quite apart from the language barrier which remains as comically pronounced as it was three years ago, quite apart from the cautious style of play which has disappointed even supporters for whom expectations are low, it is plain that there is a severe lack of discipline, which manifested itself in the unexplained manner of several squad withdrawals in recent weeks.

And cack-handed management like bringing Simon Cox from way out of left-field at the expense of Shane Long can only deepen a resentment which is already clearly apparent.