REPUBLIC OF IRELAND manager Giovanni Trapattoni insisted today that he’s still the boss and brushed off the suggestion that his authority has been undermined by the Football Association of Ireland.
FAI bosses were slow to back Trapattoni this month amid speculation that he was set to be sacked in the wake of the embarrassing 6-1 defeat to Germany.
And when the board finally broke their silence after Ireland’s win in the Faroe Islands, their support was quickly followed by a number of suggestions about how Trapattoni could improve his job performance.
“To have somebody make a suggestion doesn’t take the authority away from me and the team,” the Italian said in Abbotstown today, announcing his squad for next month’s friendly against Greece in Dublin.
It does not cancel my authority because my authority is with the players and the team.
One FAI suggestion was that Trapattoni travel to England more regularly to watch Ireland’s players in the Premier League, rather than relying on video tapes as he has done in the past.
It is a move which has already paid dividends as out-of-favour Wes Hoolahan impressed Trap in Norwich’s 1-0 win against Arsenal and earned himself a recall for the Greece match after four years in the international wilderness.
Travelling to games in person is not a problem, Trap said, even if sometimes it can be difficult to be in the right place at the right time.
“I drive in England to the pitch [and] they don’t play, because in the morning, the players don’t know if they will play.
He added: “But for me, it’s no problem to fly or to go but I change also sometimes with the driver after 100 kilometres, we change because [the player] says I won’t play.”
Trapattoni defended his use of video tapes, explaining that they were key to a lot of the team’s improvements.
When I make a recording at home, I review every game — what happened with this mistake. With the players, I say watch this.This has improved very, very much since the first time I was in Ireland because I show players why you make in this position this foul, [why] it’s dangerous.
At the ground, you can’t always see the action clearly, he continued. ”With the recording, it is possible to see and show the players this, this, this and this.”
