Trapattoni cautions McGeady

SOCCER:AS AIDEN McGeady returned to Scotland from Moscow yesterday to ponder a move to Spartak, Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni suggested the young Celtic winger might better develop his talent and advance his career by staying closer to home.

“I am happy for him that he has this opportunity,” said the Italian at a press event to announce the major new sponsorship of the Irish team by mobile telecommunications firm 3, “but I wish to speak with him, clarify his position and tell him about my experience.

“I have seen in it Portugal for example where players go far away and they get homesick,” continued the Italian who feels the player’s talent present him with options in “Scotland or England or even with a European team. For example, Bayern Munich and other teams have asked me about him.

“I think Russia is too far and the championship is not easy. I want to ask him if he is ready psychologically, because McGeady is a very sensitive man and he is very young. Maybe it is a great opportunity, though, and I will be happy for him if he is sure he wants to go. If he is convinced, then okay.”

Trapattoni confirmed Glenn Whelan and Seán St Ledger will miss next week’s friendly international against Argentina but dismissed suggestions Robbie Keane might be missing for the same reason. “They (Whelan and St Ledger) want to play but I say to them to be quiet because I want them to play in September; it’s more important. This game can be an opportunity for some new players like (Paul) Green.

“Robbie is not injured, though. At the moment he is looking at his position in Tottenham. I think we have the news it is not an injury.”

Keane, he said, again finds himself with a major decision to make regarding his career.

Asked about the Airtricity League side’s hefty defeat by Manchester United the previous night, Trapattoni lamented the two early goals conceded but sought to be positive about the approach adopted by Damien Richardson’s players. He also claimed to have been following the progress of a number of those who featured including Galway United’s highly-promising young striker Karl Sheppard and St Patrick’s Athletic’s winger Ryan Guy.

When it was pointed out to him the latter is American, Trapattoni smiled and observed: “He is American now! Maybe in the future he is not American.” The 24-year-old has been living in Ireland for three and a half years and could apply for citizenship in early 2012 in the event the idea appealed at that stage to both parties.

FAI chief executive John Delaney, meanwhile, described the unveiling of 3 as the new main sponsor of the Irish team, just a day after the football match in the new stadium, as “the start of a new era” for the association.

The deal with the telecommunications company is worth some €7.5 million over four years with the potential for various add-ons including, most obviously, performance-related bonuses but also it seems a share of profits the company might make by marketing itself to members of the extended “football family”.

“This is a fantastic strategic fit for is,” said Robert Finnegan, the company’s CEO, “and the ambition at 3 is to become the network of choice for all football fans.”

The company, which has made sports sponsorships a key element in its marketing strategy in recent years, says it hopes to develop a range of packages for sale to and through clubs which, Finnegan says, can benefit all of the various parties involved.

Delaney, meanwhile, insisted a league XI would again be fielded when the FAI organises the next round of pre-winter season friendlies at the Aviva Stadium. Next year, he said, the plan is to stage a four-team tournament involving three overseas teams and, despite the hammering sustained on Wednesday night, a team comprised of the best locally-based players.

“First of all it (the game) profiled players in a way they were never profiled before and they got to play in front of 49,000 people,” he said.

“This is something we are going to do every year. We are bringing three big clubs in and then putting an Airtricity team out as the fourth team. For me, it is not to be judged on one game. It’s to profile players annually in a way they have not been profiled before. Over a period that will bring in more to watch our domestic game.”

Asked whether Richardson would be in charge next year, he said that that was a decision for another day and that he would talk to the former Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers boss over the coming weeks. His observation that “Damien deserved for what he had done for Irish football to manage the team (this time)” tended to suggest the appointment would be a one-off.