EURO 2012 QUALIFYING: MARY HANNIGANtalks to Stoke City's Glenn Whelan, who has had a heartening turnaround in form from last season
THIS TIME a year ago, when he was struggling to hold on to his first-team place at Stoke City, the looming transfer deadline would have been a concern for Glenn Whelan. After an encouraging start to the new campaign, though, he was less worried this week about being summoned by his club to return from international duty to complete a last-minute move.
“The phone is going to stay on, just in case,” he smiled, reluctant to take anything for granted. But while his club’s pre-deadline pursuit of multiple new recruits, not least Spurs midfielder Wilson Palacios, won’t have left him, or his team-mates, feeling too secure, his mood is good, his confidence restored.
“Things are going really well,” he said. “I got back in to the team near the end of last season and played a lot of games. I’ve stayed in there and we’ve got off to a good start in Europe and the league.”
There’s even talk of an extension to his contract, although there’s “nothing concrete” so far. Still, it’s a heartening turnaround from last season when he started just 14 league games for the club, coming on in 15 more, unused for the rest.
“I spoke to the manager (Tony Pulis) probably every week I wasn’t playing, just knocking on his door to see where I stood and what was happening,” he said. “But he’s always been honest with me, he told me to sit tight and wait for my chance and that it would be up to me to take it. Luckily, I have done that and hopefully I’ll stay in the team.
“I know I have to keep playing well to stay there and I know there are a few new players coming in, so that’s going to make things a little bit difficult when we get back.
“But, yeah, of course, it was a frustrating time. You are trying all sorts in training to get back in the team. You are training twice as hard trying to prove something to the manager, but at the time they had two players in there doing really well. Performances were decent and results were good so there isn’t much you can do except keep going until someone gets injured or suspended and you go from there. Once the manager told me that I was still in his plans I was just trying hard to get in.”
While being a regular on the international front, having secured the trust of Giovanni Trapattoni, might seem like a reasonable way of convincing your club boss you’re worth a place in his starting 11, if anything Whelan reckons his involvement with Ireland has cost him. Not that Pulis has anything against his internationals, he’s just had a preference for fresh legs come the end of an international week.
“Yeah, there have been times I have come away with Ireland, played, then got back and not been in the team. But it’s just down to what the manager thinks is best at the time. Of course it’s disappointing when that happens, and you do disagree with his decisions, but he is doing it for a reason and you just have to get on with it.”
Whatever impact his international career has on his club situation, though, his commitment, he said, will never lessen.
“I know how privileged and really lucky I am,” he said, before being reminded that it’s the 10th anniversary of that World Cup qualifying victory over the Netherlands at Lansdowne Road. Back then he was 17, starting his English career at Manchester City having been signed from Cherry Orchard.
“I was in digs at the time, there were four Irish lads all in the one bedroom watching it, screaming and shouting. There was myself, Willo Flood (now Dundee United), Stephen Elliott (Hearts) and Stephen Paisley (Shelbourne), all in the same digs.”
“We had our jerseys on, had our scarves going, and we were singing when McAteer put the ball in the net. I was a fan then, but I’m still a fan now. I supported Ireland when I was a kid and when I finish playing football I’ll still always support them. I know people out there would love to be where I am. But it’s not just for myself, it’s for family and friends who have helped me from when I was a kid and are looking after me now. I’ve got great pride in wearing the jersey and knowing that I’m doing it for everyone in the country, hopefully.”
And now he wants to get some of that 2001 feeling back. Positive results against Slovakia tomorrow and Russia next week would, he said, go some way towards that goal.
“Definitely so. Slovakia is a huge game for us, we won’t think too much about the Russia game until after that. But we know how big a week this is in the group. It’s massive.”
