Trapattoni: Papering over the cracks

Before the game, the vast majority wanted him gone. At half time, those that wanted him to stay were hard to find. Yet at the end of 90 minutes in the picturesque confines of Torshavn, Ireland had three points and Giovanni Trapattoni, with more credence now to keep him in his job, insisted once again he is going nowhere.

When the news broke an hour before kick-off that his habitual post-match press conference in Dublin was cancelled, the obituaries were being written on Trap’s tenure as Irish boss.

In the end, it transpired that he is homeward bound due to the hospitalisation of his sister. Personal reasons and not an imminent sacking, it seems, was behind the decision, though it is hard to understand why the FAI didn’t come out with the statement when tomorrow’s media itinerary was ripped up.

Whether the team’s second half performance, coming after what must be stressed was an awful first 45, was enough to save his job remains to be seen. But as Trap has insisted since taking the job, it is a results business he is in. If you want to be entertained, go to the theatre. And the gathering of three points against an opposition whose ranking deceives the difficulty of getting a result against them shows that, three games into the campaign, Ireland remain on track for second place.

Were those four goals and 45 minutes enough to completely exorcise the demons of Friday though?  The red faces sustained by that embarrassment of the Germany performance, regardless of the result in Torshavn, will take time to disappear fully.

There were, however, plenty of positives to take. James McCarthy looked comfortable, composed and metronomic in midfield alongside Keith Andrews, while Seamus Coleman has now made the right-back berth his own. Marc Wilson, replacing the hapless Stephen Ward, on the left side of defence, was outstanding, claiming a deserved goal –a spectacular one at that – and an assist.

Overall, while Ireland struggled to break the Faroes down before half-time, there was freeness to their play. As if, for some reason, a weight had been lifted. It would be wrong to stretch as far as saying they played with abandon, however, because the brand of football remained the same.

Indeed Trap appeared relaxed on the sideline, with perhaps a different mentality and entusiasmo having set in following the recent criticism. Does he know something we don’t?

The players were insistent that he was going nowhere, with Robbie Keane and James McCarthy both stating their support for the 73-year-old in the game’s immediate aftermath. Keane’s defiance both after the game and in the lead-up to it has been most commendable, regardless of whether Ireland will have a new manager before their next qualifier in March, an acid test away to Sweden.

With the bookmakers suspending betting on Trapattoni leaving, it appears the end-game is still in sight however. Patience has been lost by the fans, the media and, certainly, some of the players.

Stephen Kelly’s argument, despite Keane claiming incidents such as his bust-up with Marco Tardelli before flying to the Faroe Islands happen all the time, is an indicator that not all is well behind the scenes.

The key to whether the manager stays or goes, many assume, rests in the hands of a third party though, with Denis O’Brien, who stumps up the cash to pay Trap’s hefty salary, all but expected to contribute to any severance package if the FAI decide they want Trap to walk.

The football might be over until the middle of November, when Greece come to the Aviva for a battle of the bailouts, but the pantomime off the field looks set to continue full speed. Whether the FAI will need their own bailout after paying Trap off or whether he will power through the storm and remain in the dugout, will become a lot clearer in the coming hours.