THE END IS NEAR for Signor Trapattoni, it would seem.
Ireland are in Torshavn for what is just their third game of the current World Cup qualifying campaign but if reports that the FAI are ready to cut their losses with the Italian, tonight could soon be remembered as the last time he took charge of the Boys in Green.
Whatever happens after the final whistle, there are still 9o minutes of football to be played and due to the unavailability of several regular names on the teamsheet, tonight’s starting XI actually looks quite a promising one.
There are first competitive starts for Robbie Brady and Marc Wilson, who come into a team already possessing youth in Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy.
We follow Wilson for a long time,” Trap said yesterday. “He has a good technical quality, he is also a little bit fresh. (Stephen) Ward has a swollen knee but that’s not the reason (he doesn’t start). We need fresh players and more energy. Two or three changes could be very important.”
Returning captain Robbie Keane has said they owe the country for the shambles that was last Friday and added that he has been trying to “rally the troops” in training this week.
Ireland have beaten the Faroes, who are ranked 130 places below us in the FIFA rankings, on the two occasions that the sides met previously and normally you would expect the result to be a foregone conclusion.
However, preparations have been far from ideal and it will be interesting to see if Ireland can recover from what has been a strenuous couple of days.
Kick off is 7pm tonight so, how do you think it’ll go?
Let us know in the comments section below.
