Trapattoni wants Stevie to 'show his Irishness' | 0 |
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Ireland's self-imposed exile from the Irish squad is discussed by their
manager, while ours assesses Elano & the situation on Danny
Sturridge.
Irish Independent
"Trap bans City ace Ireland from World Cup bandwagon"
GIOVANNI
TRAPATTONI has told Stephen Ireland that he won't be welcome back in
the Irish camp if qualification for the World Cup is secured.
The
door is still open for the Manchester City midfielder to make himself
available to contribute to the battle to get to South Africa, but he
has refused to take up that option.
And now the 22-year-old has
been warned by the Irish boss -- in the clearest possible terms -- that
it won't be acceptable to come back with cap in hand should the ticket
to South Africa be booked.
"Obviously if we qualify with this
group, he cannot say at the last minute 'I am available', he can't make
himself available," said Trapattoni, speaking yesterday morning after
Wednesday's dramatic 2-1 win over Georgia at Croke Park. "Not for him,
but out of respect for the others. He has to show his Irishness and his
willingness to play for Ireland."
Trapattoni is refusing to rule
out a role for any his midfield exiles in the remainder of the battle
to top Group 8, although the other players out of the picture-- namely,
Andy Reid and Lee Carsley -- are in that predicament because of the
manager's preference.
"I am not excluding any possibility, I have
never excluded any possibility with Reid or Ireland. Also, Carsley,"
said the animated 69-year-old.
"If there is injury or suspension,
I need to call in other players. But a team is strong when a team is
compact, consistency comes with practice so you cannot keep changing
players because it changes the system and changes the habit.
"In the future, I will look and see many players. I will look at Sunderland or Manchester City.
"We
have already discussed about Ireland, we wait. When he decides, maybe,
he wishes to come back then we'll take him into consideration."
However,
Trapattoni again asserted his frustration that discussion over
experienced absentees such as Reid and Carsley continues when he seems
to be unconvinced about their track record.
"I don't want to be
polemic," he said. "But you keep going on about player selection. It's
not as if when certain players were here, the team was winning."
The Sun
"You're still one El of a good player"
by Martin Blackburn
BRAZILIAN ace Elano has been told by Mark Hughes he can still have a big future at Manchester City.
But Sparky warned the Samba star he must quickly get used to the idea he will not be starting every week at Eastlands.
Elano
reminded everyone of his undoubted talent with a goal and starring show
for Brazil in their 2-0 win over Italy at the Emirates on Tuesday.
And
a ban for Shaun Wright-Phillips means he could come into contention for
City’s re-arranged league match against Portsmouth at Fratton Park
tomorrow.
Yet his relationship with Hughes has been uneasy all season and the fans’ favourite has not been a regular starter.
The City boss said: “I’ve been pleased with Ela recently.
“He has had an understanding of where we want to go, we want him to be part of that.
“His football hasn’t been affected by not starting games and we want him to stay here.
“What
I’ve noticed of late is that Elano understands now it’s a squad game
here and he’s very much part of what we’re trying to do here.
“He’s more comfortable with that than initially he was.
“He doesn’t take not starting very well and there are lots of players similar to that. But there’s no doubting his talent.”
The Times
"Mark Hughes refuses to bow to Daniel Sturridge’s demands"
Mark
Hughes, the Manchester City manager, has urged Daniel Sturridge not to
price himself out of a new contract after making it clear that the club
will not be held to ransom by the highly rated young striker.
Sturridge
is out of contract at the end of the season, but while Hughes accepts
that the 19-year-old is in a position of strength after expressing
dismay that City have not resolved his future before now, the manager
appears willing to lose the player rather than do long-term damage to
the club’s pay structure.
Despite Sturridge having made only
five starts in the Barclays Premier League and 11 in all competitions
for City — scoring five goals — his representatives are understood to
be asking for at least £65,000 a week, which is more than £20,000 a
week more than the club are prepared to pay.
To put Sturridge’s
demands into context, £65,000 a week is about what Stephen Ireland,
City’s best performer this season and one of the most influential
members of Hughes’s team, stands to earn when talks about a new deal
for the Ireland midfield player commence shortly.
Asked
yesterday whether Sturridge and his representatives were asking for too
much, Hughes paused tellingly, then requested the next question.
City
hope that Sturridge will stay, but it seems increasingly unlikely that
the matter will be resolved until nearer the end of the season, with
both parties digging their heels in. Regardless of the wealth of Sheikh
Mansour, the City owner, the club are determined not to pay over the
odds on wages, as well as transfers. Sturridge, though, is mindful
that, as a free agent, he could demand a significant salary elsewhere,
with Chelsea one of several clubs monitoring the player’s situation.
“We
want him to stay, he’s an outstanding player,” Hughes said. “He knows,
and his advisers know, he is in a position of strength. At the moment,
we’re not close to an agreement. We made it clear that we feel for his
sake this is the best place for him. Other things are of more
importance to others around him but we’re trying to make sure Daniel is
here and not anywhere else.”
City travel to Portsmouth on
Saturday for the only Barclays Premier League game of the weekend, with
Hughes indicating that Elano may come in on the right side of midfield
for Shaun Wright-Phillips, who is banned for the club’s next three
league matches after being found guilty of violent conduct this week.
Elano
has claimed that he has no problem with Hughes, despite publicly
criticising the manager during a television interview last November
after taking exception to being dropped, an outburst for which he was
fined a week’s wages, about £40,000.
The Brazilian has been
accused of being a disruptive influence in the dressing-room, but
Hughes believes that the player is maturing and still has a future at
the club. “Before Christmas he found it more difficult not being in the
team, but what I’ve noticed of late is that he understands it’s a squad
game here,” Hughes said.
Portsmouth, who were beaten 6-0 at the
City of Manchester Stadium in September, are without a manager after
the sacking of Tony Adams on Sunday, only 16 league games into his
reign. Adams’s departure preceded the news that Luiz Felipe Scolari had
been dismissed as Chelsea manager after seven months at the helm and
Hughes fears that the lack of time that managers are being given could
prompt a shift in their thinking.
managers themselves might start looking at jobs simply as short-term
opportunities,” he said. “What that then does is change their thinking.
They start to look at short-term fixes rather than long-term plans that
will ultimately help sustain the club as a whole.”
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