In the end, it seemed sudden. Despite weeks, months and, in some cases, years of calls for Giovanni Trappatoni’s head, the abrupt end to the Italian’s tenure was in stark contrast to the drawn-out process that led to his appointment back in 2008.
Keen to avoid further backlash after the calamitous tenure of Steve Staunton, the FAI passed the appointment of Staunton’s successor onto a three man panel who settled on the Italian. If you think they got it wrong then remember that for a long time, it seemed like Terry Venables was to be the man to take charge.
Most Irish fans breathed a sigh of relief hearing that Trap had parted ways with the boys in green. But was he really so bad? Do the players we have deserve better?
Trap’s first opposition were Serbia in a friendly in Croke Park. A goal down in second hald injury time, it seemed grim. (“Feck this, I’ve a Junior Cert to be studying for”). Andy Keogh’s late, late equaliser sent us home with smiles on our faces. The future seemed bright.
And bright it was. At times. Never reaching the heights of World Cup 2002, never plummeting to the lows of San Marino/Cyprus away under Staunton. Trapattoni brought Ireland to successive 2nd place finishes despite 3rd seed rankings. Only Thierry Henry’s hand denied us a penalty shootout to compete at the World Cup. Tens of thousands of Irish fans, meanwhile, owe Trap a debt for the engineering the once-in-a-generation experience of seeing Ireland on the international stage last summer.
The way we performed on that stage, however, was the footballing equivalent of forgetting your lines, dropping your pants and beginning to weep uncontrollably. Hard to watch, harder to make sense of. We never recovered from the pummelling in Poland. Our performances in this qualifying group have been far from acceptable and for that reason, it’s time to part ways.
Ireland took two points from top opposition in their WC qualifying group.
I’ll remember late heartbreaks against Italy and France, against Austria but also the invaluable tight wins away to Cyprus, Armenia and Georgia. Going ahead in Wembley and believing, for just a few short minutes, that I was going to witness something special in Poznan. And who could forget that fateful day when Ireland emerged victorious from the marvellous tournament that was the Carling Nations Cup? Most people, it seems.
Let’s remember the better days. Let’s acknowledge objectively that, whether or not you liked his style, broken English or even his haircut, his last two games aside, we can be happy with the stint Trap put in. Football fans are a fickle bunch. To be honest, I really don’t know from where we get the nerve to demand any better than Trapattoni has done over the course of his management. Should we have finished ahead of Italy? Or Russia? Should we have emerged from the Group of Death in Poland last summer?
The calls would occasionally come for a saviour not being picked. Andy Reid, James McClean, Wes Hoolahan: players whose accumulative market value would amount to the same as an old receipt signed by Gareth Bale’s sister.
What I concede, without reservation, is that Trap made things hard for himself. Shane Long, Stephen Kelly, Andy Reid, Marc Wilson, Darron Gibson and Kevin Foley will all attest to that. Two steps forward, one step back. Three points won, one more player alienated. A fresh face in the hotseat should provide a welcome shake-up.
We’ve had the good, the bad and the attractive interpreter. We’ve witnessed happy, sad and batshit crazy scenes. History will remember Il Trap with more fondness than Paddy and Phil down the local over the weekend. No one can deny now, however, that we reached the end of the line in Vienna. Thanks for your efforts, Mr Trapattoni but it’s time to say “arrivederci”.
