Squad has 'grown' says contented Trapattoni

GIVEN HIS long and glittering career in club management, Giovanni Trapattoni's willingness, at 69 years of age, to take on the challenge of managing the Republic of Ireland team surprised some of his closest admirers, who expected him to move home to Italy from Austria and start to wind down.

Nothing about him would suggest he regrets his decision but retirement has clearly crossed his mind too; yesterday he acknowledged that if he made a success of it he would be happy for his stint with the Republic of Ireland to be his last big job in football.

"I would love to finish with Ireland qualifying for a tournament but I will decide after we qualify. . . if we qualify," he said before leaving London for Portugal, where he will tonight watch his team's World Cup group rivals Georgia.

Trapattoni's failure to win a trophy during four years in charge of his own country's national side probably still rankles, but just to lead the Republic to a major finals, as he did twice with the Azzurri, would clearly be regarded a significant achievement.

The morning after his side's fortuitous defeat of Colombia he was asked whether a place at the World Cup in South Africa is a realistic target; his reply was the same as it had been before he had seen his squad at first hand.

"Why not?" he asked. "We have a good team."

Of course he went on to concede there were "no superstars" and "no Ronaldo" in the squad.

He came across as well satisfied when he listed his options, in the various areas of the pitch, for the autumn qualifiers. And while the likes of Damien Delaney, Glenn Whelan and Andy Keogh will head off on holidays happy they are in his plans, it is unlikely Trapattoni's rivals in Italy or Bulgaria will be put out to see their names on team-sheets come the qualifiers.

The return of Stephen Ireland, Steve Finnan and Andy O'Brien would help matters, but in that context Trapattoni sounded less sure yesterday than at the start of May, when he had suggested the Liverpool defender at least had committed to playing again once fit.

"I called again last week and left messages and said, 'You know my number.' Now I am waiting," he said. "I have taken a step and if they take a step too then a meeting is possible. But in the future when Ireland are playing well and having success I think they will come back."

In the meantime, he insists, he is pleased with the progress made by some of some of those who have benefited from the trio's continued absence.

"Since I started to work with the squad two weeks ago we've grown. We've played four games and each time we've moved to a new level. Our defence came through the game (against Colombia) without making any errors. Dean Kiely was excellent and prevented two certain goals and we kept a clean sheet. A lot of players have showed how they have grown but I was especially pleased for (Paul) McShane. On Saturday a lot of people talked about the mistake he made but he was not the only player to make a mistake and this time he was one of the best players on the pitch."

Trapattoni's problem, of course, is that he will have just another few days with the squad before the serious business of the qualifying campaign gets under way in September.

"I wish we had more time," he said. "The two weeks were great, but I would have liked to have more time and more tests like Serbia and Colombia."

The friendly away to Norway in August will be an opportunity to get more done but the Italian has given written advice to most of the players on what they need to work on while with their clubs, and he is hoping to organise some one-day get togethers: "In Italy we had them and they were very, very good, so I have asked the association about the possibility. I'm told it's difficult but we will try."

Already, though, he feels the basis for a good working relationship with the players has been established, squad members having seen over the past fortnight the sort of experience he brings.

"The young players are always hungry and want to learn," he said, "but the older ones first want to study you and make comparisons. When the players believe in you you can make progress and I can say, 'I was in Budapest and the team lost because; I was in Spain and the team lost because . . ."

The message was clear: he knows what he's talking about, and if the players listen they can learn from him.

Whether we have seen anything over the past two weeks to suggest this group is, even with his guidance, good enough to earn a place in South Africa in two years' time remains questionable.

His decision to use just two substitutes late on at Craven Cottage was, he says, influenced by his desire to not to upset what he felt was a "well balanced" team by throwing on young players "who sometimes don't know what they're doing".

Sure enough, the win, however much it flew in the face of the balance of the game, was welcome but his concern that using more of his squad in the second half would have imperilled it does not quite tally with his persistent expressions of faith in the players.

In the circumstances he believes, like Jack Charlton before him, that the Irish must develop their own style and play to their strengths. And clearly Trapattoni brings a Charlton-like talent for developing a sense of common purpose in a team.

Equally clear, however, is that he doesn't have anything like the depth of talent available to him that Charlton did, something Trapattoni will be well aware of after the last two weeks. So, if he really does hope to bow out on the high of Irish participation in a major championship finals anytime soon, it appears the 69 year-old really does have his work cut out.