Laid back but keen to play a more central role

Interview with John O'Shea Tom Humphries finds the Waterford giant engagingly free of "star" quality and coping well with recent ups and downs at Old Trafford

There's something not quite right with John O'Shea. Nothing to worry about but just something a little off. To be blunt, he doesn't quite fit the world of Premiership Babylon. He has no DNA of Charlie Big Potatoes in him. He doesn't go dogging or roasting or front-paging. He has squired no starlets, bedded no Spice Girls, punched no paparazzi.

And here's the killer. You may want to sit down. Alone of Premiership footballers, his mobile phone number hasn't changed in five years. At Manchester United players change their mobile phone numbers more often than they change their shorts. So what's eating John O'Shea? What's with this spiky individualism.

He laughs. He's unshaven and a good deal bigger around the shoulders than he was when you last saw him up close. His transformation from gawky talent to fully fledged athlete is the product of many hours' sweat. Another sign of the hidden steel.

"Yeah I suppose the phone hasn't changed. Why should it? You change it and people don't know how to get in touch with you. Then they all scramble around and get your new number and you're off again. People don't need to be ringing me that much."

Probably he's right. Certainly he's the sort of Premiership footballer you don't meet every day. Or rather, he's the sort you could meet every day if you wanted to. He's just strolled from Portmarnock up to Malahide to sit and take the ease in a little coffee shop, next to the Extravision. No heavies, no fuss. He likes his connection with the real world. With a bit of sense the smart footballer can hide in plain sight.

"It's about where you're from I'd say. If I wanted to be in certain situations or be talked about I could start doing it. You can go to certain clubs or certain bars and you know you'll be noticed and photographed or whatever.

"Just growing up where I did and then going to Manchester United early there and you see certain players and the way they do things and you take the lesson from them.

"Obviously Dennis Irwin did it very well. Dennis lived his life without any fuss. The two Nevs (Gary and Phil Neville) have been a big influence. And now in the past few years Keano has had more of an influence. He's taught me a lot."

An obvious follow-up question at this point might be an inquiry as to what wisdom Keano had shared with Sheasy. You can't help yourself though. The thought of big, easy-going John O'Shea rooming with the most intense man on the planet seems so much like the basis for a great sitcom that you can't help yourself.

"You and Roy? Isn't that just a remake of The Odd Couple?" He laughs again.

"Ah no. He's chilled out. He's cool. He's great to share with."

So after bad games Roy doesn't threaten to eat any of O'Shea's vital organs with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. But still.

John continues on the theme of his life and very quiet times.

"I still go to the nightclubs. I don't know if I'm a bit better at not getting caught or what. I don't get noticed. I'd have people over for the games a lot, people from Waterford, so we'd go our own way. And then the amount of games we play as well, it's tough going. There's not a lot of time for a night on the lash. After games I'd be one to take it fairly handy."

Since the English season ended, Manchester United's players have been - well, they've been thinking about next season. O'Shea got a little time for a holiday in Portugal with some friends from Waterford. Just golf and sun.

He hasn't been home much and what of Waterford he has seen has been in sadness.

"I only got down for a few days. My gran passed away last week. My mam's mam. When we were growing up she lived on the Cork Road about 15 minutes away from us so we would have been in and out of her house a lot. She was 91 years of age, so a good life."

Home is a constant theme and a constant pull. When he talks about Manchester United, the season past and the season ahead he punctuates the conversation with references to home and getting time to go home. At Old Trafford there's probably not too much concern with how much time he spends in Waterford. There's a different perspective on the world. Last season finished with the FA Cup final.

"Yeah. We're still in shock. In a way that game summed up the season - we were dominating games and still not making progress. It hurt that bit more of course that it was Arsenal and that we had played so well. Arsenal tried to surprise us a bit with the system, playing a 4-5- 1 to match us. We coped well, we fairly dominated the game. Arsenal didn't perform but at the end they celebrated.

"We were playing so well. Maybe they were a bit shocked by the way we came at them. Wayne (Rooney) and Ronaldo were causing them the most problems in particular. Causing them grief. It hurt alright. The way we had done so well against them earlier in the season. The extra importance of picking up the trophy. We missed out on the Carling Cup as well. The FA cup seemed to be a lot more significant this year because it was Arsenal in the final."

The Manchester United dressingroom at the butt end of a trophy-free year and a poke in the eye from Arsenal cannot be a good place to be. Fortunately O'Shea and Gary Neville were hauled away for drug tests and missed the initial reaction. If there were hot hairdryer words to be said, they missed them. He feels that by then there was only philosophising to be done.

"What could the manager say? I missed it but I don't think there was anything too harsh said. He told everyone to enjoy the night as best they could. With a club the size of United there's always the potential for success. It's built for success. When you don't get it that's a huge disappointment."

So next year loomed early for United. They knew from March anyway they wouldn't be winning the league and they began building toward next season. The players are back for pre-season training a little early, on June 27th. And of course they are indentured to new owners. As ever O'Shea is unfazed.

"There's been that off-the-field stuff. Some players would be chatting about it. I wouldn't be that bothered. I don't think it would have that much effect on how the players are performing. It shouldn't. I've never met either of the lads who owned United before. I'm sure I won't be meeting the new fella either."

Even if O'Shea's media profile is solely restricted to the back pages and if his interaction with speculators is non-existent, the amount of back-page speculation about his future must play on his mind a little. On most of the lists of who will be coming and going at Old Trafford this summer he is named as being in the queue for the exit door. Which seems a little harsh. The suggestion doesn't stir him.

"Ah sure I'd say this season was a mixture of ups and downs and a bit of misfortune thrown in along the way for me. I had a chance a couple of times to get a good run and got niggling injuries, nothing too major. Still overall I had 37 appearances. I'll be looking to improve next year, make my game better and play more, but I have been working hard. Physically I have improved.

"Obviously with every season you gain a lot more mentally and it benefits you knowing what lies ahead. Experience has helped me in that way. As for transfers I have a year left and I'm in negotiations at the minute to stay. I've heard enough about it though. When I was in Waterford for a couple of days there, Liverpool were just after winning the Champions League and I had an interesting time from all the Scousers in Waterford. Would I be joining Liverpool? Did I think I'd make it at Anfield? I had a good laugh with it."

Part of the difficulty is that O'Shea hasn't won security of tenure on any one place in United's first team. Versatility can be a curse for a young player. It makes you too useful for the bench, too attractive for the market. He knows it.

"As long as I'm in that 11, I don't care too much, but hopefully down the line I can nail down a position centrally, whether it's centre half or central midfield. I know I can do a good job at either position. I've developed my game and that's what I'd be hoping for."

If playing for United is a dream the flipside having realised the dream is, well, not playing for United. Being out of the team or being out of the club drains the spirit even of one of life's optimists.

"It is stressful. Privately you take it to heart. Different things hit you but you learn quickly at United that you just have to move on. It will show in your game if you don't. Being left out of squads when you think you should be involved or playing more is tough. I'm not starting as many games as I would have liked. How you cope with it is down to you. You don't go running to the manager. Well, not straight away. You work harder and then look at that option after a while. I have never been afraid to go to him with a problem and he's never had a problem listening but he has had 17 or 18 years of managing it. I've often come out with none of my questions answered. He's a politician in that way."

This weekend he's back at the shoulder of another wily character. Brian Kerr's political nous would be a match for Ferguson's; he just has a more gentle touch.

The time has come though to deliver something substantial. Ireland need to beat Israel this evening. O'Shea has no doubts.

"We learned in Tel Aviv that basically we have more than the capabilities of beating them comfortably if we apply ourselves. We have to keep attacking. They have players who can punish you if you don't. Against France in Paris, they could have snuck away and won it. From my point of view how we did in Israel was very good. We dominated. There's no bad time to score a goal but it maybe affected us a little bit getting one so early.

"We had good counterattacks over there, but this time they'll sit back. It's hard to know. There's a bit of patience required by everybody. And we need to know that we need to keep going for 90 minutes."

He talks about Tel Aviv, how interesting it was, the walks down to the marina and the beach, the coffee shop where they did a nice cappuccino. He likes getting out, seeing the world, enjoys the life away from football. Himself and the girlfriend are off to Florida soon for a holiday. Last year they were there and ran into America's biggest United fans.

Nightmare? "Ah no. It was quite funny. That wouldn't bother me at all."

Hard to find anything that bothers this singular man. Long may he run.