GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI INSISTED that he has plenty of options at left-back after Ian Harte branded him “a clown” on Twitter earlier today.
“To all those asking if I have retired from international football. No I haven’t,” the Reading defender tweeted this morning. “Trap didn’t even know I was Irish #whataclown”
Harte, 35, last played for Ireland in 2007 and previously claimed that the only reason he was not still involved at international level was that Trapattoni did not know he was eligible.
But announcing his team for tomorrow’s friendly against Poland, Trapattoni said this was not the case and that he has more options than just Harte on the left side of defense.
“I know him. I saw many games,” an exasperated Trapattoni said. “John [O'Shea] can play on the left. We have [Greg] Cunningham. We have other tactical situations. We have also [Stephen] Ward.
He added: “I think it’s better [that they] play for us, but every manager thinks what they want.”
Later Trapattoni slammed as “disgraceful” the newest alleged instances of match-fixing in football, made public yesterday as part of a Europol investigation.
“I can’t say I’m happy with what I’ve seen because now I know that there is an international criminal organisation.
“I never in my life made a bet,” he added. “I couldn’t think about selling a game or not selling a game. For me, it’s disgraceful.”
