Gavin Cooney reports from Republic of Ireland training at Abbottstown
GLENN WHELAN SPEAKING to the media ahead of a game against Denmark – the team to which we can’t say goodbye and a player to whom we thought we had said it.
While Whelan appreciated Martin O’Neill’s gesture of a farewell game against Northern Ireland last November, the ‘farewell’ bit wasn’t his idea.
“It wasn’t a case of me coming in and rubber-stamping it, saying ‘That’s me finished, I’m done.’ I’d never do that. I’d be in a wheelchair and I’d be wheeled out if I had to.”
Thus his international retirement lasted one game – against Denmark, naturally – and Whelan was back in the Irish team for their next game at the Aviva Stadium, against Georgia.
He was terrific in that game, and will likely keep his place for the challenge of Christian Eriksen and co. in Copenhagen on Friday.
While Whelan has earned an international reprieve, he won’t get one at freshly-promoted Aston Villa. After two seasons in the Championship, they are heading for the Premier League and have decided not to renew the midfielder’s contract.
“I signed for two years at Aston Villa to get them back in the Premier League and I got them there, so for me, mission complete”, reflects Whelan.
“To be released wasn’t a surprise, obviously [given] what stage I’m at in my career and where Aston Villa want to go. I’m very pleased with what I’ve achieved over the last few seasons.”
While his expecting the news mitigated most of the disappointment – it didn’t fully eliminate it.
“There was only one disappointment for me. I went away on the Tuesday with the family and when I landed back in here on Tuesday, I had two missed calls, one from a journalist saying I’d been released and one from the manager to give him a call, so from that point of view, it was disappointing, but something I expected, to be honest.”
This is less a function of circumstance than ignorance on Villa’s part – Whelan knew he was unlikely to fit in a meeting with the club given family time and international commitments. “There were no hard feelings”, says Whelan.
“I’ve been in the game too long to hold grudges.”
Whelan mused that this is the first time he has been unemployed in 20 years…although won’t be for long as he is clear he intends to keep on playing.
“Definitely. I’ve just had Real Madrid on the phone there before I came in. No listen, I want to play as long as I can and as high as I can, I want to try to make an impact wherever I go.
“I’ve said already today in interviews, I don’t want to go anywhere and be a cheerleader, I want to go and have a chance of playing.
“I’m willing to fight for a spot, but as long as there’s a fair fight, then I’ll go and do that.”
Whelan’s immediate focus is on the upcoming qualifiers with Denmark and Gibraltar, and then plans to sit down with his representatives to discuss what comes next. He says there has been lots of speculation as to his next destination, but has yet to receive a concrete offer. Everything should be sorted in the next couple of weeks.
“I’d like to think so. The two years I’ve been at Aston Villa I think I’ve played close to 70 games, so I’d like to think I could go and make an impact and bring some positivity to somebody.
“If there’s anyone out there…is this like an audition?”
At this point Whelan looked down the lens of a camera in front of him.
“So if there’s anyone out there, I’m available.”
Available, and fit.
“I think I missed one game this season for Aston Villa this season, I hurt my shoulder but other than that I have been available for every game, trained all the time.
I’ve played with some lads who have gone on to play until they were 38, 39. I was at Manchester City at the time that Stuart Pearce was there and I think we was still playing top level at 39 or 40. I think for some reason, you get to a certain age and a lot of people just think: ‘Bosh, that’s you done,’ but that’s not for me. Listen, I won’t hang around. I won’t be like a bad smell. I’ll know that when I’m done, I’m done but if I can make an impact, I am more than happy to stick around.
“Like I say, I feel fit, I’ve been lucky with injuries. I’ve never been quick enough to get a hamstring…I’m okay on that side of things.”
The option of going beyond Britain has been made available to Whelan, but he says he is likely to stay in England for now to help his international prospects.
As for the imminent challenge of the Danes, Whelan says it is important for Ireland to impose themselves on the game more than has been the case in these games thus far.
“The way Mick [McCarthy] wants his teams to play, he wants them to be aggressive and in their face. He doesn’t want to sit back and left the opposition play their nice stuff, he wants us getting after them.
“We’ve seen that against Georgia. They are a very good footballing side, and we went out and matched them, if not bettered them. “We need to be wary of Denmark’s players, but don’t forget about what we’re good at.”
That shift in mentality has benefits beyond Friday’s game, according to Whelan.
“I had 12 months out of the team, and then I was fan.
“When results don’t go a certain way, obviously there’s a backlash. You have to look at the attendances at the Aviva at last few games. It’s understandable, it’s not cheap to come and watch the team play.
“We’re wary – I’m certainly wary – of giving them something to cheer about when we are there, whether it’s a shot on target or a tackle, anything to get the crowd going.
“Hopefully we’ve brought that back a little from performance and result against Georgia but we’re only one game away from things sliding. Listen there’s a little bit of confidence and boost that we have, try and use that to our advantage.”
