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: °C Sunday 26 May, 2013

‘McClean won’t start against Germany’, says Trap

The Ireland boss added that he is not angry about the winger’s tweet from last week.

McClean comes on for Kevin Doyle last night.
McClean comes on for Kevin Doyle last night.
Image: INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan

JAMES MCCLEAN IS not first choice for Ireland’s qualifier with Germany next month, according to manager Giovanni Trapattoni.

With Damien Duff recently retiring from international football, it was expected that the talented Sunderland winger would push for a place on the flanks during the current World Cup campaign.

The 23-year-old started in the friendly against Serbia last month but did not make an appearance in the 2-1 win away to Kazakhstan, which prompted him to tweet his frustration.

McClean later apologised for his actions and Trapattoni insisted that the matter was forgotten about.

He was left on the bench for last night’s 4-1 win over Oman at Craven Cottage and, after seeing Andy Keogh and debutant Robbie Brady begin ahead of him, the former Derry City player was given a huge cheer when he entered the fray on 60 minutes.

Clearly eager to impress, he looked lively during the cameo and was yards away from scoring a spectacular volley.

When asked about the likelihood of him starting against the Germans in Dublin on October 16, The Guardian report the Italian manager as saying:

Probably no. Because I think about Aiden McGeady and others. Every manager must think about the strength of the opponents. I am not angry with him (about the Tweet). I never get angry with my players and I don’t watch Twitter.”

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Comments (13 Comments)

  • Nivek 12/09/12 #

    What others has he got, Andy keogh or Simon cox!! Not even wingers leave alone good enough

    Reply
  • Last night was a false dawn, back to normality now where we’ll play the same team and utilise the same tactics against Germany as we used against Kazakhstan and we’ll use against the Faroe Islands which will also be used against Sweden, Austria and again against Kazakhstan which coincidentally enough was the same team and tactics we used against Spain, Italy and the Czechs.

    Reply
  • McClean might as well not turn up or answer the call while Trap’s in charge.

    Reply
  • This is a farce, not just Trapatoni’s refusal to play McClean, but his refusal to change from the deadwood we currently have playing for us, McShane Keogh & Keane etc etc. I refuse to watch any more Ireland games till he’s gone (trapatoni). coybig no more.

    Reply
  • Trapattoni is always going on how he likes players with “personality”, McClean is clever on the ball, beats his man and has a good delivery. This shows lots of the personality he is always banging on about. He also seems to be suggesting that he wont play against Germany because they are a good team? Yeah that’s a great idea, don’t play your best players against a good team. Lets keep Andy “not good enough for wolves” Keogh in the squad or Simon “even I know I’m useless” Cox.
    Such a progressive manager with innovative tactics.

    Reply
  • trap sticking with the old guard..i thought trappatoni knew his stuff..seems he knows nothing..get rid of the old team n play the team he played last night..passion n flair even if it was only Oman!!! the germans wont know wat hit them..whelan n andrews in midfield..i’d play better myself then them two dipsticks n i’m 44..aiden mcgeady 2 goals in 60 internationals!! how many asists?? he wasted on the wing..stick him behind the front 2..darren gibson to replace whelan…i said all this b4 the euros n whealen was showin up for the 2bit player he is..he aint no roy keane!! mr giovanni trappatoni..get a grip on the situation or GO!!!

    Reply
  • Well what else have we got in the Left Midfield position Trap? Duff is retired and if you leave out McClean then who? Cox, Keogh? No Trap. McClean is a rare Irish talent and he needs to start

    Reply
  • Relax the kax everyone! Here’s how it is. Look at the teams around us with similar resources, Scotland (has its own pro league), Wales and northern Ireland, none of them came within an arses roar of qualifying for the Euros and none of them will come close to qualifying for he world cup. Wales were hammered by a team we played off the park (I was at that game), Scotland couldn’t beat Macedonia at home, and our northern brothers couldn’t beat Luxembourg at home! We’re in good shape. Holland also had an horrendous euros but they’re not panicking. It ain’t pretty to watch but neither were Spain on tuesday against Georgia. That game proves there are no easy games anymore. So relax the kax and get behind Trap and the team!

    Reply
    • Of course everyone will get behind the team, we all want Ireland to do well and in fairness we are a damn sight better than our celtic cousins but me and many like me want to see our better players get a chance and for trap to cop on that his system is an abomination.
      It worked for a while – horrible football but it worked with a massive slice of luck but teams have copped on that trap doesn’t change his ideas, no doubt we’ll be back playing 4-4-2 with the same players against Germany, we were found out and exposed way to early in the euro’s by teams who done their homework and seen that we stick to the same rigid formula every single game…
      There’s no easy games anymore – that’s becasue even these so-called lesser nations know how to mix it up a wee bit – trap doesn’t.

      Reply
    • Figo, the issue is not the quality of the other teams. The issue everyone has here is that Trap will not use the best players at his disposal. This is what really frustrates people. We all know that Players and Managers clash from time to time , but trap seems to be clashing with the vast majority of the strongest first 11 . Take the game the other night for example. Which would you have

      Darren o Dea or Ciaran Clarke in defence
      Stephen Ward or Seamus Coleman in defence (O Shea could switch wings to accomodate)
      Glenn Whelan or Wes houlhan/Stephen Reid in midfield
      Shane long or Robbie keane in attack
      Kevin doyle or Jon Walters in attack
      Simon Cox or Jim mclean on the wing

      This was 6 big options available to trap and in every case, he went with the weaker alternative.

      We know Stephen Reid is retired but judging by his articles in the indo , he indicates he would still like to play for Ireland if the right man was there.

      Reply

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