GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI’S 74TH birthday was a relatively intimate affair. There was cake but there was also training and a press conference to be taken care of last Sunday, not to mention the fact that only 13 of his 23-man squad were available for the first day of the squad’s camp in Malahide.
Sean St Ledger was one of the lucky 13, back in the manager’s plans after almost five months on the sidelines with a troublesome hamstring injury. Surely being there on the gaffer’s birthday was worth a few extra brownie points in his bid to start against Sweden tomorrow night?
“I gave him a birthday kiss,” he laughs. “I thought that would do the trick.”
As if that wasn’t enough, the two were spotted in deep conversation on the pitch in Malahide, presumably talking tactics and readying the battle plan for Stockholm.
Or not.
“We were talking about the Pope,” St Ledger explains, leaving the gathered media in confused silence before he clarifies, for effect. “I’m being serious.
“I can’t say I know him personally but I think the manager was saying he knows the Pope so I was shocked, unless we got mixed up in translation. I’ve gone back and told my friends the manager knows the Pope. I’ve asked him if I can meet him so we will see if we get that. You never know.”
This is typical St Ledger, a player who wears his cheeky grin like a badge of honour. If he’s a little bit giddy you can forgive him because this has not been the easiest of seasons. Back in October, he hobbled out of Leicester’s win against Bristol City with a hamstring problem. It didn’t seem that serious initially; a few weeks, maybe, and he expected to be back in action.
But a month became two and by early December, he had decided to fly to Germany to seek the help of Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wolfahrt, a man renowned for his work with Bayern Munich and the German national football team. The problem — a patch of blood in his hamstring — was identified and a recovery programme was fixed.
(L-R) Paul Green, Simon Cox, Jeff Hendrick, Conor Sammon and Sean St Ledger watch as Giovanni Trapattoni blows out the candles on his birthday cake (Sportsfile)
“They said it was going to be another two months if you go to Germany and have the injections. That would have been the lowest period because I hate missing football games. Being involved, there is nothing better.
“I think you always have to try and stay positive but like I said earlier, the football club have been fantastic with me, from the physio, the manager, the fitness coach. It’s a real good club and if I was low, the manager put his arm around me and tried to cheer me up. It was good.
“I hated being injured, don’t get me wrong, but I have a lot to thank Leicester for.”
Once he was sure that the hamstring would stand up to scrutiny, the real fun began. That recovery period was like doing pre-season all over again, he reflects, but the slog is behind him now. He returned earlier this month to a Leicester side battling to stay in the hunt for the play-offs (when he was got injured they were top of the Championship), and has come through two full games without any worries.
It’s unlikely that Trapattoni will throw him straight back in to face Zlatan Ibrahimovic and company tomorrow evening, with all of the signs this week pointing towards Ciaran Clark as the preferred partner for John O’Shea in the centre of defence, but fitness isn’t an issue, St Ledger insists.
“I would say I am ready to go. I think I have proven that. I played two games in a short period of time which is exactly what is required here with Friday and Tuesday, so I’m fit and ready for selection. Probably after Tuesday I was a little bit stiff and took me a bit longer to recover than it usually would do but I was fully prepared for the game against Derby and my hamstring feels fine.”
He adds: “I thought Ciaran did great against Poland against a real good striker. We will just have to see what the manager decides. He has seen me playing enough times, he has got the experience, and I am sure he has been in this position many times
“Every one of us in the squad that has turned up wants to start but there is only eleven places. The main objective for us is try and get to the World Cup. Whatever way we can do that is perfectly fine with me.”
