Kevin Foley

[the bear]

i'm not saying he would be a wonderful centre midfield player.

nor am i suggesting he would be the man to play there for a team whos gameplan involves holding onto the ball.

i think he would be good for us at cm in the way we play, ie. traps vision of a cm. this involves harrying and breaking up play as well as holding a shape. the shape thing is where people will tell me i'm wrong with hunt. maybe i am, but i think he would be a better option than whelan who offers pretty much nothing to the team in attack or defence and whos continual involvement bothers me.

[Charlie Darwin]

You just described Paul Green. Although I'm not sure how you propose both harrying and holding a shape.

[the bear]

i was trying to describe what trap likes in a cm, i might as well of just put up a pic of paul green.

i meant if someone comes into your position you harry them, otherwise theres not much point in being there at all

[geysir]

When the Hunt for centre midfield Q came up before I think it was Charlie who referred to his ADHD tendencies.
Ever since then, whenever I see Hunt in a game, all I seem to notice is how he wanders. On the plus side, he is also a player who can end up in the box, stealing the ball from the opposition and you wonder where did he come from, how did he get there?

[AlaskaFox]

Paul Green would be far better in CM than Hunt. Stutt's "head up" player analogy is spot on.

[the bear]

would you describe whelan, andrews and green as heads up players in the mould stuttgart described earlier? i wouldn't. my point was hunt could do what they do. keith fahey is the closest thing we to the heads up man. i would personally play him cm.

maybe green got more stick than he deserved but some of his play for us was absoloutley shocking. i can remember 1 time he failed to control a simple ball under no pressure and lost it, nearly conceding a goal in a crucial match

[Charlie Darwin]

Nobody's saying Green is a great player but there's no doubt that his instincts are those of a central player and he does a generally OK job of it. Andrews is a really good player - he definitely plays with his head up. Whelan is flaky.

[the bear]

hard to argue with that CD.

andrews is no xabi alonso but he is a very good player.

[mark12345]

Very impressed with Foley today in the first half for Wolves. Did a lot of ferrying the ball back and forth between midfield and attack. For me he's an option in the Irish middle..

[DannyInvincible]

According to Rory Houston of RTÉ.ie:

Kevin Foley made a full return to training in Italy this evening ‪#rtesoccer‬

[Irwin3]

“It’s hard to take,” he said shortly after the end of last night’s game. “I feel sort of betrayed and I said that to him [Trapattoni]. I don’t want to go into too much detail. I just feel betrayed. I have to look forward and go back to see my family and that’s it.“I wanted to prove a point [tonight] – that I was fit to play. Because from what I understood I could have trained last week, Thursday, Friday and been involved in the game.
“He said there was no rush and we will wait to train in Italy. So I felt great for two days in Italy and then all of a sudden he pulls me this morning and says: ‘you are not in the squad’ and that is hard to take.
“I have done everything I can but I was under the illusion that I’d time to train in Italy, play tonight and be in the squad.”

Absolutely gutted for Foley. He's been strung along by Trap for years now but this is the final blow I feel. Devastated for him.

[Predator]

Trap didn't win all those trophies by playing favourites.

Oh wait.

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It's very unfortunate for Foley. He's been great at answering the call and after these comments you get the impression that he probably won't while Trapattoni is still in charge.

[Irwin3]

Trap didn't win all those trophies by playing favourites.

Oh wait.

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It's very unfortunate for Foley. He's been great at answering the call and after these comments you get the impression that he probably won't while Trapattoni is still in charge.

Huh? Is this comment in the wrong thread?

[BonnieShels]

I find it hard to believe that Trap wouldn't have explained the reasoning behind his exclusion.

If it was me in Foley's shoes I would probably feel the same however I don't believe that by making statements as he has is in the best interests of the team.
There is every chance that he will still be in the squad as Josh is seemingly crocked.

Is Emmett Malone trying to be the new Tom Humphries? (without the same predilections)

[backstothewall]

Euro 2012: Kevin Foley feels betrayed by Giovanni Trapattoni

Kevin Foley says he feels "betrayed" by Giovanni Trapattoni's decision to leave him out of the Republic of Ireland squad for Euro 2012.

The 27-year-old defender was stunned on Tuesday after manager Trapattoni dropped him from the 23 despite naming him in the squad three weeks ago.

"It is hard to take. I don't want to go into too much detail. I just feel betrayed," said the Wolves defender. Trapattoni included Paul McShane in his squad instead of Foley.
McShane had been on stand-by before being drafted into the party as defensive cover last week.

Wolves full-back Foley spent the last week or so working his way back to fitness after a hamstring problem but he insisted that he is now fully fit and played in Tuesday's 5-0 friendly win over a Tuscan Select.

However, Trapattoni decided that injury concerns over John O'Shea and Darren O'Dea made McShane a better option as he can play at both right-back and in central defence.

"I wanted to prove a point, that I was fit to play because from what I understood, I could have trained last week, Thursday, Friday and been involved in the game [against Bosnia on Saturday]," said Foley.

"He [Trapattoni] said there was no rush and we will wait to train in Italy, so I trained for two days in Italy and felt great.

"And then all of a sudden, he pulls me this morning [Tuesday] just before the end and says, 'You are not in the squad', and that is hard to take.

"I have done everything I can. That is all I can do. Words can't really describe it. It was tough.

"The lads have been great, but what happened happened, there's nothing I can do about it now.

"I hope the lads go on and do as well as they can from the tournament."

Trapattoni said after Tuesday's friendly that the decision to exclude Foley had been an intensely difficult one. The Republic boss invited the player to remain with the squad, which heads for Hungary on Sunday and then Poland two days later but Foley has declined the offer.

"I go home tomorrow. I don't want to talk about that."

Hard not to feel for him

[kennedmc]

Absolutely gutted for Foley. He's been strung along by Trap for years now but this is the final blow I feel. Devastated for him.

How has he been strung along for years by Trap? By being picked in Irish squads and playing for his country?

It is disappointing and unlucky for Foley but Trap has done it to bring in CB cover. Simple.

[tetsujin1979]

He's been in loads of squads, without seeing much game time and I can't recall him ever complaining about it, like Joey O'Brien. With Kelly already in the squad as specialist cover at right full, he's unfortunately surplus to requirements, and, as has been pointed out, McShane can cover two positions that we need cover in, with O'Shea still not 100% and Dunne only just back from injury.

Not to tempt fate, but if O'Shea did have to pull out before the tournament starts, would he be brought back into the squad?

[Murfinator]

He's been in loads of squads, without seeing much game time and I can't recall him ever complaining about it

This should never be something to praise a player about, it should be the expectation of everyone. I think Foley has been mistreated here by the very fact the original squad announcement was made as final, it should have been extended if trap wasn't 100% happy with the balance in it. But in the end Trap made the right decision for the squad, which happened to the be the hard decision. He's put himself in that position and must deal with the consequences of upsetting a player but I'm pleased to see he didn't shy away from what was in the best interests of the team.

[mark12345]

as has been pointed out, McShane can cover two positions that we need cover in, with O'Shea still not 100% and Dunne only just back from injury.

Is this the same McShane who's been moved on from United to Sunderland to Brighton to West Brom to Hull City, and has not figured in the campaign for the Euros. McShane is one of the worst defenders we have ever produced. Foley on the other hand has bags more ability, even if he has to cover in the middle. Ridiculous decision by Trap - just to think we have a squad with Paul Green and Paul McShane in it. Let us pray to Saint Paul for salvation.

[Irwin3]

How has he been strung along for years by Trap? By being picked in Irish squads and playing for his country?

It is disappointing and unlucky for Foley but Trap has done it to bring in CB cover. Simple.

By turning up to every squad that he was picked for which is the majority of Trap's squads. And then by starting an enormous 5 matches out of Trap's 44 when he has watched the likes of McShane and Kelly start 15 and 16 times even when the former has become a Championship journeyman and the latter was and probably would still have been a reserve at club level if not for an injury to his rival this season.

Plus there was the infamous 'Kelly is taller' line when it looked like Foley was nailed on to start a big game.

If you disagree then great.

If a CB isn't fit then he shouldn't be brought. Even if it is JOS. Trap had several options by the way. He could have kept the original squad and if JOS or whoever was injured then he could have brought McShane in by the 10th. Or he could have brought 8 defenders in the first place like many people said he should have done. The only way that McShane is CB cover is if 4 out of Dunne, St. Ledger, O'Dea, O'Shea and Kelly are injured/suspended at the same time.

He also said he didn't want to name a 26-man panel or whatever to avoid disappointing people. What he's done here is far worse. He's led a player to understand that he will be in the squad for weeks IF he gets himself fit. Said player has got himself fit and has family/friends with their tickets booked. Then at the 11th hour the player is told 'you're fit, great but we're bringing MCShane in to cover the potentially injured CB's' WTF.

I see it as a case of stringing along and it's extremely unfortunate that it happened to the player who I think has been in my opinion let down a bit over the years by Trap.