Emotions run high but still a job to do

SOCCER:It's it hard not to feel for Kevin Foley after his cruel omission, and we can only hope he will feature for Ireland again, writes EMMET MALONEIn Montecatini, Italy

THERE WAS an unmistakeable sense of sadness about the way the players congratulated Kevin Foley on his role in the Republic of Ireland’s fifth goal against a selection of lower Italian league players in Pistoia on Tuesday night.

Jonathan Walters had tapped home after the 27-year-old’s curling free-kick had been parried, but most of those not directly involved made their way first to the defender whose dreams of featuring at a European Championships had been shattered earlier in the day.

When word got out that the Wolves defender was to stick around for what was a pretty meaningless game that night, there was a fair bit of talk of how around the place about how the gesture typified the character of one of this group’s genuinely good guys.

There is little question about Foley’s dedication to the cause. You only have to look back at how many times he was called up to the Irish squad between his first appearance back in May 2006 and his actual debut three years later against Nigeria in London.

Six years after that first call-up he has just eight caps to his name but he has always previously been gracious about his own place on the margins and generous in the way he has rooted for other members of the group.

On Tuesday, though, he stuck around and played not as one final magnanimous gesture but rather, it turned out, to publicly counter the claim by the man who was sending him home that his lack of fitness had played a part in the decision-making process.

Foley’s assist for the goal will have felt particularly satisfying for the player in the circumstances but the reality is that his comments afterwards may prove counter-productive in terms of his longer-term career.

At times during the mixed-zone interview he was so emotional he was struggling to maintain his composure and speak.

It is to be hoped Giovanni Trapattoni keeps that in mind when he weighs up whether to recall the former Luton Town player either, in the event that there are further injuries, next week or, assuming he is still at the helm, at the start of next season when it is time to embark on the World Cup qualifying campaign.

The defender’s repeated use of the word “betrayal” may play particularly badly with a manager who has previously shown himself to have a pretty ruthless streak when it comes to dealing with players, especially those who are far from central to his plans.

Hopefully, when the initial tidal wave of hurt and disappointment passes, Foley will not be left with that bitter a taste in his mouth but then you can still clearly sense Gary Waddock’s pain 22 years on when you talk to him about his omission, in fairly similar circumstances, from Jack Charlton’s squad for Italia ’90.

Waddock, a manager himself these days with Wycombe Wanderers, acknowledges now that Charlton had to do what he felt was best for the team and the country but simply points out how little consolation that is when you are on the receiving end of the decision. Similarly, of course, Trapattoni must also do what is best for the team.

Sensing, one suspects, that Foley was being critical earlier, the manager kicked off his post-match press conference on Tuesday night with an impassioned defence of the decision.

The 73-year-old is paid a lot of money – estimates vary but around €1.2 million per annum seems to be in the correct ballpark – to manage Ireland and, frankly, if he did not have it in him to let a player down, even an enormously nice one, then he wouldn’t be earning a fraction of that.

In the course of his statement he specifically referred to his “duty” to the team and “the country” and there is undeniably a logic to the case he made, that with Seán St Ledger, Richard Dunne, Darren O’Dea and John O’Shea all less than 100 per cent fit, he needed a right back who could cover central defence more than he needed one who could cover the right side of and central midfield.

That many supporters appear to think Paul McShane is simply not good enough to be in the squad regardless, really is another day’s work.

Foley’s gripe is that he feels he could have trained last week but was told not to risk it as there would be plenty of time to step up his return once the squad came here to Montecatini. That delay, he now believes, has cost him the opportunity to go to a European Championships.

He may have a point although it is hard to understand why Trapattoni would set him up for a fall like that after calling him up ahead of McShane in the first place, and all too plausible that Foley was inclined to read the worst into things at what was a very bad time for him.

Trapattoni insisted that the conversation had been difficult for both men and seemed to suggest that he too had been emotional during it although a few feet away Marco Tardelli was completely dismissive when Trapattoni was asked if there had been tears shed: “He is a man,” he exclaimed .

Outside, in the mixed zone, several players, including the entirely blameless McShane, expressed considerable sympathy for their departing team-mate.

But Dunne also provided an inkling of just how quickly the rest of the squad will move on when he observed: “It’s very important that the manager makes these decisions and we trust him. It’s unfortunate for Kevin but we have to move on and Kevin will support us as he always does.”

It’s the way of football that the players will forget Foley for the moment and push on to Poland, where dwelling on perceived injustices would do no one any good.

If the Wolves defender slips off the Trapattoni radar because of what was said on Tuesday night and the Italian starts telling journalists at press conferences not to worry about it because “I follow” – as the manager usually answers when asked about players overlooked in his squads – they should remember him.

At that stage some of Foley’s friends should have the wherewithal to go to the Italian and point out that really, the defender deserves a little better than that.

As Kevin Foley left for home yesterday, the remaining Irish players in Montecatini enjoyed a break from training with about a dozen playing golf and most of the rest embarking on tours of the local area and nearby cities.

There appears to have been no new injuries in the wake of Tuesday night’s training game.