EVERTON MIDFIELDER Darron Gibson said on Thursday that he is ready to return to the Ireland fold now that Giovanni Trapattoni is no longer manager.
The 25-year-old former Manchester United player has been in self-imposed international exile since failing to play at the 2012 European Championship.
However, with Trapattoni having left his post by mutual consent last week, Gibson is ready to don the green shirt again. In interviews to reporters yesterday to launchEA Sports Fifa 14 in Manchester, he said he was ready to return “because Trapattoni is gone”.
“I never really wanted to make a big deal of it, to be honest with you. But after what happened at the Euros, I just felt I couldn’t play under him anymore,” he added.
“I was embarrassed when I came back from the Euros (after) not winning a game and not getting on the pitch. I was playing every week at the time for Everton and we finished in the top six of the Premier League.
“Obviously I didn’t get on and I just felt he had some sort of problem with me, but I felt he had a problem with me before the Euros as well, as I never played.
“Like I said, I didn’t want to make a big deal about not playing under him, so I kept myself quiet. But I am available to come back now.”
Ireland are yet to appoint a successor to Trapattoni, who stepped down after a 1-0 loss to Austria all but ended Irish hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup in Brazil.
