WIGAN ATHLETIC MIDFIELDER James McCarthy was the surprise omission as Giovanni Trapattoni picked his final 25-man squad ahead of next month’s Euro 2012 qualifiers.
The 20-year-old was originally named in the manager’s extended panel for the games against Slovakia and Russia, but has now been made available to U21 boss Noel King instead.
Ciaran Clark, Damien Delaney, Marc Wilson and Jon Walters have also been left out, while Paul McShane and Seamus Coleman are absent through injury.
Although McCarthy didn’t feature in the recent friendly draw against Croatia, Trapattoni’s decision to omit both him and Wilson will be seen by some as a snub to players with whom the manager has had very public disagreements in recent months.
McCarthy was at the centre of a high-profile breakdown in communications between player, club, and country when a row erupted over his fitness for the final Carling Nations Cup fixtures in May.
The youngster’s absence came just two months after a long-running will-he-or-won’t-he-saga surrounding his international declaration was finally put to bed in March.
Wilson, who made his international debut earlier this year, was also targeted by a furious Trapattoni after he withdrew from June’s friendly against Italy with an injury.
Again, the Italian felt that he had not been kept in the loop regarding Wilson’s availability, saying that if players “are in hospital or they are dead, that is okay, but if there is an injury they should see our doctor.”
Both Wilson and Stoke team-mate Walters subsequently failed to report for international duty ahead of the friendly against Croatia earlier this month, again citing injuries.
The Irish squad will meet up early next week ahead of the game against Slovakia on 2 September, before travelling to Moscow to face Russia on 6 September.
Republic of Ireland squad: Given, Westwood, Forde; O’Shea, Foley, Kelly, Ward, Dunne, Kilbane, St Ledger, O’Dea; Whelan, Gibson, Andrews, Fahey, Keogh, Duff, McGeady, Hunt, Lawrence, Treacy; Keane, Doyle, Long, Cox.
No need to escalate things! Give them a bollockin’ behind closed doors and move on! Walters is in great form at the moment. McCarthy also playing very well… Why potentially jeopardise qualifying for Euro 2012 over no-shows for some poxy friendlies?
That’s the thing. They dont have contact and were no shows so now they are dropped. Good enough for them. Friendly or not, If they want to play for the country show respect for your teammates manager and fans.
In general I agree with your sentiment Conor, but having those Carling Nations Cup games at the end of the season was ridiculous. All players (or any person) would want to do after a long season is go on holidays. The croatia game is slightly different, but again it was a silly international date. Shouldn’t be a friendly fixture so close to the start of the new season…