FRIDAY NIGHT’S GAME against Germany will be different to anything Seamus Coleman has ever experienced before in an Ireland jersey.
For the first time in his international career, if he turns to the dugout for tactical instruction or encouragement, Giovanni Trapattoni won’t be there.
If for any reason he needs to call upon the vast experience of veteran defensive partners John O’Shea and Richard Dunne, they won’t be there either.
In fact, with Ireland’s first-choice central pairing suspended for the trip to Cologne, Coleman’s 17 caps might well be the most on show in Noel King’s back four.
Between them Damien Delaney, Ciaran Clark and Marc Wilson have only amassed a combined 21 appearances, although King could defer to Stephen Kelly (35 caps) or Sean St Ledger (36) if he is concerned about naming such an untested defence.
It’s a daunting thought as Coleman prepares to come face to face with one of the world’s best footballing nations.
And that’s before the shadow of last October even comes to mind.
Almost exactly a year ago, on the day of his 24th birthday, Coleman made his first competitive start for Ireland in the 6-1 defeat to Germany.
It was a night to forget but from that point on Coleman started every competitive fixture for the remainder of Trapattoni’s reign while also nailing down his club place at Everton, where he has been an ever-present so far this season.
“I never look at myself as a regular,” he says, allaying any fears that his growing confidence as a player might cross the line into complacency. “That’s just the way I am.
“I take each game as it comes and I think you’ve got to perform at your best because at club level you’ve got great players waiting to come in.
I’ve got confidence from playing for my country regularly and for Everton but I’m one of those players who takes it one game at a time.
Though the Trapattoni era ended on a rather sour note once Ireland’s World Cup hopes petered out last month, the Italian’s reign was overall a positive one for Coleman.
“It’s been different,” he said of this week’s training camp in Malahide. “It’s all I have ever known since I came into the senior setup, Giovanni Trapattoni, so it’s been different.
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“For me personally there was [sadness]. He was great with me personally. He gave me my first cap and he gave me plenty after that so I never had any problems with him.
We’re obviously sad to see a manager go but we have to look forward now. The players have to impress Friday night and Tuesday night because the new manager could be watching.
They’re anxious to impress too for King who briefly worked with Coleman at U21 level. Ireland’s interim manager has spoken this week of the need to forget last year’s embarrassment but Coleman senses a chance to right that wrong.
“It was a very disappointing night. As players you never want to get beaten by that margin so it’s something that we want to put right.
It’s going to be difficult and we’ve got to set up well but hopefully we can get a positive result and go out and show that we can play good football.
He added: “Obviously we want to go in and make sure that doesn’t happen again. We won’t go in with a hangover from it, we’ll go in wanting to impress the new manager and obviously Noel as well on a big night for him, his first night in charge of the senior national team, so we’ll want to do well for him.”
