Jokers In The Pack

It’s the Thursday evening before Ireland’s 1-0 smiting of Bosnia & Herzegovina and John O’Shea – he didn’t play because of an ankle niggle – and his roommate Stephen Hunt are winding up an interview with Today FM’s Matt Cooper.

This being the tenth anniversary of Saipangate, the pair have been asked for their thoughts on Roy Keane’s dramatic departure from the Republic’s World Cup training camp.
“I obviously didn’t let Mick McCarthy know that Roy Keane was my favourite player before signing for Wolves,” Stephen Hunt says in an accent that positively screams “Waterford!”
“It’s something I’ve kept to myself ‘til now, like,” the 30-year-old resumes. “It’s made the FAI ensure that everywhere we’re going the preparations are spot-on. It’s about the level of professionalism being turned up a few notches.”
“We raise our glasses of orange juice in toast to Keano every time we’re traveling first-class these days,” O’Shea adds with a chuckle.
The very nice FAI lady has told us that John and Stephen are the comedians in the squad – a post-footie career as Burly & Curly awaits – and they don’t disappoint with a constant barrage of one-liners and barbs, most of them directed at each other.
Reminded that in his last Hot Press interview he’d called his friend “bonkers”, O’Shea pulls a face and says, “That’s right… and he’s gotten worse!”
Other things we glean from their tête-à-tête with Matt Cooper is that they’d both step up and take penalties if any of Ireland’s games end in a shoot-out; the atmosphere in the squad really couldn’t be any better; despite being in LA, Robbie Keane hasn’t gone Hollywood and if forced to choose they reckon that Cristiano Ronaldo is a marginally more complete player than Lionel Messi – we look forward to that debate raging on the hotpress.com Message Board.
If the lads think that radio duties completed they’re heading back to the team hotel in Malahide for dinner, they’re very much mistaken.
Their own extremely pertinent list of questions needing to be answered, our men Stuart Clark and Craig Fitzpatrick are outside the Last Word studio waiting panther-like to pounce.
Here’s what two of professional football’s most amiable men had to say…

JOHN O’SHEA

In the 18 months since we last shared a sparkling Ballygowan – neither of us are ones to defile our bodies – there have been numerous changes in John O’Shea’s life, both on and off the pitch.
First of all he got married in June 2010 to his childhood sweetheart Yvonne Manning; not long after, they welcomed into the world baby Alfie; and last July he brought the curtain down on his 12-year Manchester United career by joining Sunderland.
“I’m looking forward to catching up on my sleep over the next few weeks,” he laughs. “No, it’s been a pretty hectic year or two. I’d always spoken about leaving United if the manager came to me and went, ‘I can’t guarantee you enough first-team football’, which is what happened at the end of 2010/11 season. It was a quick conversation – Sir Alex told me he had some signings in mind and a couple of young lads coming through. He was very nice about it and said, ‘You’re too good to be sitting on the bench.’ I had absolutely amazing years at United; won pretty much everything in club football that could be won – but it was time to move on.”
Following him out of Old Trafford not long after was Ireland teammate Darron Gibson.
“He’s a player reborn since joining Everton, who also made a really astute signing bringing in Phil Neville. You see Darron now on the training-pitch and he’s bursting with confidence. At his age – 24 I think it is – you need to be playing week in, week out – which wasn’t happening for him at Man U. He went for £500,000, which has got to be one of the best bits of Premier League business ever.”
Is John impressed by the growing clamour for Everton’s David Moyes to take over the managerial reins from Fergie when he finally departs the dug-out?
“It depends on what type of manager they’re looking for, but I’d have David Moyes on the shortlist, definitely.”
Another man likely to be in the Old Trafford frame when Sir Alex retires is Martin O’Neill, who transformed Sunderland’s season in January when he replaced the sacked Steve Bruce. One of the first things he did was hand a league debut to James McClean, Trap’s last minute addition to his Euro 2012 squad – who was turning out for Derry City vs. Monaghan United when Ireland’s qualifying campaign kicked off away to Armenia. What makes him such a special talent?
“First off, his attitude in taking the game to the opposition,” O’Shea proffers. “There aren’t many players these days with the determination and skill to take the ball from outside your box and a few seconds later be attacking their goal. You see the big lads Ronaldo and Messi doing it effortlessly every game, but not so much in the Premiership.
“I’m a big League of Ireland fan, but in terms of the physical and mental demands, there’s no comparison with the English top-flight. He’s taken it in his stride, which must be an inspiration to some of the lads who went across the water when they were 15 or 16, did silly things maybe and came back to Ireland thinking, ‘That’s it.’ James and Seamus Coleman – who’s unfortunate to have missed out this time – are both proof that big clubs are keeping a close eye on football here.”
Was it a case of Martin O’Neill spotting something in him that Steve Bruce had overlooked?
“No, it wasn’t that at all. James picked up a little bit of an injury, which kept him out of the pre-Christmas reckoning. He was well aware of his talent – we all were – but at the time when the team needed freshening up Steve Bruce wasn’t able to pick him. Martin O’Neill saw James put in a man of the match performance – he was taking the ball all the time and attacking – for the reserves against Manchester United in atrocious conditions and thought, ‘His time has come’. And he was right of course.”
Given his aversion to fast-tracking youngsters into the team, Giovanni Trapatonni must have been mightily impressed by what he and Marco Tardelli’s saw of the Sunderland rookie.
“The big thing for the manager was when James started scoring,” O’Shea ventures. “Goals in this tournament are going to be so precious. Him being an attacking threat is probably what sealed his place in the squad.”
Another man sitting out last Saturday’s game was Shay Given. He’s adamant he’ll be fit for the Euro 2012 kick-off against Croatia, but if that knee doesn’t mend itself in time, how will Sunderland number two Keiren Westwood cope as his stand-in?
“Brilliantly,” John responds. “I know Shay sees himself playing ‘till he’s 60, but he’s going to have to hang up his international boots sometime and Westy will definitely be the man to fill that role. He was playing constantly for Sunderland up until January, then missed the Manchester City game we won 1-0 through illness. One of the stand-out players that day was his replacement Simon Mignolet, who held on to his place for the rest of the season. You only have to watch Westy in training to know that he’s ready if called on.”
Flashing back to his Leaving Cert days, how would John compare and contrast Trap and O’Neill’s managerial styles?
“Well, the passion and hunger is there in both of them. You just see it in different ways. Martin O’Neill’s livelier around the place, but when both of them speak you see their experience and absolute desire for the team to do well. Luck doesn’t bring you the level of success they’ve had throughout their careers. It’s all down to hard work and meticulous preparation.”
The latter means that come their arrival in Tuscany there’ll be a big pile of Croatia, Italy and Spain DVDs for the lads to watch.
“Yeah, a different kind of action movie,” he laughs. “We’ll watch as many of their Euro 2012 qualifiers and pre-tournament friendlies as possible, and factor that into our preparation.”
Does Sunderland beating City 1-0 at home and then drawing 3-3 in the reverse fixture make O’Shea a bit less afraid of taking on the likes of David Silva and Mario Balotelli?
“The manager’s spoken to us about Greece winning the Euros in 2004, and the fact that it was Chelsea and Bayern in the Champions League Final rather than Real and Barcelona. On their day everybody in this competition is capable of beating everybody else, and maybe this is the year of the underdog!
“Going back to us taking four points off Man City – yeah, it does make them seem a bit more mortal! There’s no getting away from the fact though that Silva’s a world-class player. He’s always looking for little slide-passes in behind the defenders and you know if you give him the time he’ll cause problems. We’ll watch our DVDs, but in terms of going into things in minute detail – that comes a couple of days before a game, so it’s all fresh in your mind and you know what to do when various situations arise.
“I’ve played against Balotelli a few times – the first being for United Vs. Inter Milan. He was obviously a little bit younger then but already a bit of an, er, handful physically and mentally. He’s a talented lad but you can easily upset him.”
He can plead The Fifth on this one if he wants, but has it crossed John’s mind to test the shortness of Balotelli’s fuse with a few choice verbals?
“Quite possibly,” he admits. “Especially now he’s been playing for a few years, he ought to be able to put up with a bit of banter on the pitch, but if not… If you see he’s getting upset you might go in and tackle him hard and hard again straight away. If the situation’s there you exploit it, but only, I hasten to add, within the rules of the game. The last thing you want as a defender is to pick up a yellow card, and the referees in Poland and The Ukraine are going to be far fussier than their Premier League counterparts.”
None of us probably thought it was possible, but Cristiano Ronaldo has become an even better player at the Bernabeu than he was at Old Trafford.
“He’s been immense. It’s like any other exceptional talent – it’ll take a team effort to shut him out. These players don’t just play in one position – they travel across, they float around the frontline – so you’ll be asking your wingers and midfielders to help you out. It’s not about one-on-one battles against Spain and Italy because of the movement they have in the team.”
Croatia are no slouches either.
“Ah listen, any team with Modric, Krancjar and da Silva in it is capable of scoring goals. I don’t know if he’ll start but Jelavic was a monster for Everton against Sunderland in both the Cup and League. We’ll treat them with just as much respect as the other sides in the group – but not fear. Like I say, we’ve the beating of all three.”
One of the striking things about the qualifying campaign was how Trap constantly rotated who partnered Robbie Keane up front. Can John run the slide-rule over the four contenders – Simon Cox, Jonathan Walters, Shane Long and Kevin Doyle – for us?
“You’re looking at Coxy being a little bit similar to Robbie – dropping off, taking the ball and getting in the holes behind the midfield. Obviously then Jonathan, Shane and Kevin have that bigger physical presence and are looking to be more direct in behind the defenders, causing problems that way. The choices we have are fantastic. When called on, they’re all capable of scoring vital goals.”
Trap’s routinely accused of being overly defensive, but unlike the three or four favoured by countries like Germany, Poland and France has gone for five strikers in the squad.
“The manager knows that any of those two can play together, which is a real luxury going into a big tournament.”
If the footballing gods are feeling mischievous and Ireland end up playing England in the latter stages of the competition, how does he think things would pan out?
“Believe me you’d see eleven possessed Irishmen going out on to the pitch that night!” he grins. “It’d just be an amazing occasion. As for whether we can beat them – absolutely. England hold no fear for us.”
We shall see my Waterford friend, we shall see!
There’s been talk of Ireland mounting a joint Euro 2016 bid with Wales and Scotland. What’s the likelihood of John O’Shea being there?
“The way I’m feeling and playing now? Definitely. I can’t think of a better way to bow out – other than with a season at Waterford United!”

STEPHEN HUNT

As the looming figure of John O’Shea braces himself for a Paxman-like grilling from Stuart Clark, the irrepressible Stephen Hunt bounds into my eyeline. A miniature force of nature, he’s all smiles and handshakes, following me into the air-conditioned (thank Christ) meeting room we’ve managed to blag in Marconi House.
We size each other up across the table. I’ve no idea what he makes of me, but Hunt himself is full of an incalculable amount of beans. 2012 has been pretty bleak for him so far: sidelined with injury for much of the time, he could only watch as his club Wolves were relegated from the Premier League. Nonetheless, there’s a smile in his green eyes today. He’s really looking forward to the Euros.
If he’s a warrior on the pitch, getting up the big lads’ noses, he’s more serene in person, channeling that ‘get amongst them’ energy into rapid-fire conversation. Not a man for clichés, I soon learn there’s revenge and history on his mind. Refreshingly, there’s neither an air nor grace in sight.
“So Stephen, how’s the groin?” is my cheery opening gambit. I’m merely concerned about his fitness. Honest. The winger grins widely.
“The groin’s okay, lad,” he laughs. “You’ll be glad to know! I’m feeling sharp and getting better and better every day in training. Extremely excited. Almost too excited – I have to pull the reins on it sometimes. You don’t want to kill your brain before you get there. Try and stay relaxed.”
Not to dwell on the negative – but what did he think when the manager who brought him to Wolves, Mick McCarthy, was let go in somewhat cavalier fashion post-Christmas?
“It was a very frustrating season,” he says. “One, the manager getting sacked in February and, two, the situation not being dealt with in the right way. I think everyone agrees on that. But we take it on the chin and move on. Unfortunately for me, I came back for the last four games, had a massive impact to a certain degree – but we were ultimately relegated.”
Heading for Poland must be a tonic in the circumstances.
“It was always a distraction to a certain degree,” he agrees. “When you’re at Wolves, you know what’s coming around the corner is very difficult. I’d be lying if I said I was 100 per cent focussed on Wolves, because you have the European Championship in the background. Now I’m confident that I can reach my goals.”
Before we look ahead to those goals, let’s recall the famous four that Ireland put past Estonia that November night in Tallinn. How was it for Stephen?
“To have an impact was the biggest thing. Coming on, we were 3-0 up and thinking, ‘Okay, it’s not dead yet’. I played a ball into Robbie Keane, a little diagonal one. I wasn’t going to go at the time and then I got a shout from Keith Andrews: ‘Go Hunty, go!’ I had a good 100 yards to make up but luckily I overlapped him for my own pass, unheard of to a certain degree! But I did it, Robbie played me back in, and I was taken down for a peno. So it was nice to have something to talk about when you’re older: ‘Yeah, I played a part in that great victory’.”
In a few weeks, he’ll have another story for the grandkids. Yes, he’ll say with a wry grin in 2052. Ireland played Spain and I was part of the set-up.
“They’re World Champions, European Champions,” comes the wide-eyed reply. “I can’t wait to play them. They’re obviously top of the world – very few others have stayed there. They’ve won two tournaments in a row – but it will be very difficult for them to win another one. So you’ve got to take those positives from it.”
Your HP correspondent will always remember La Roja knocking the Boys in Green out of the WC on penalties a decade ago when we’d clearly had the better of the exchanges. We need some revenge. Do it for us, Stephen.
“Ha! Well, I think revenge is a strong emotion with Ireland at the moment. Everyone’s looking for France! But first of all, we’ve three massive games. I think Croatia will be a difficult game. We’ll be seen as pretty close teams, so there’ll be a lot of pressure on us there. Come the Spain and Italy fixtures, I think we’re going to have to have a right good go, to try and get through.”
As the wild-haired winger from Waterford notes, you don’t want the fulfillment of a boyhood dream “to turn into a nightmare!”
What are his first memories of watching Ireland as a kid?
“Well, 1990 is the biggest in my mind. The World Cup in Italy. Watching us go up against star players like Schillaci, things like that stand out. Then you go later down the line to 2000. Seeing Damien Duff bowing [his infamous oriental celebration – CF], I was thinking, ‘Ah God!’. My career was in tatters at the time, so it was something I aspired to. Not for one minute did I think I’d end up here. But if it wasn’t for my belief then, I probably wouldn’t be.”
Does he feel vindicated? The odds were certainly against him along the way.
“The weaker crumble and the stronger survive,” he says. “And don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a luxurious lifestyle in the last five or six years. I’ve had a tough year – but, oh my god, a lot of people have had it a lot tougher than me.”
Liam Mackey noted recently in The Examiner that, “The supporters clearly see something of themselves in Stephen Hunt”. They relate to the passion, work ethic and honesty.
“I think that honesty can be good but it’s also let me down sometimes!” Hunt responds, with a roll of the eyes heavenwards. “It causes controversy but that’s the way I am. I’m straight up and to the point. I expect everyone to try their best. If they don’t then I’m moaning about them.”
I put it to him that he’s also been called the most Irish-looking player of all time. It’s meant to be a good-natured compliment, positioning him as a man of the Celtic people, but mock-indignation spreads across that (undeniably Irish) face.
'I don’t know about that, there’s a few more! Kevin Moran – surely he’s more Irish-looking than me!? There’s a few of them a lot worse than me I can tell ya (laughs).”
It must be weird, knowing that a depressed country is looking to the Irish squad for inspiration. He takes a rare pause. “Six months ago you probably would have asked me that question and I would have said, ‘There’s a great buzz!’ – but I probably would have been lying. Now I’m home and closer to the time it’s like, ‘Here we go, it’s going to happen!’ I’ve been injured and so I’ve been annoying my wife, living like a nightmare for the last four or five months. Sitting at home, feeling your groin, ‘How is it? It feels good’, but it’s not. Trying to convince yourself. But the last four weeks? Bang. Ready to go.”
The papers will be saying that this is a chance to put himself in the shop window now that Wolves have been relegated.
“People said that to me earlier today. But I think every Irish player, the 23 of us that will go there, will want to put ourselves in history. The history of Ray Houghton. The history of Packie Bonner making a penalty save. It will all be about history. I think the good thing about us is that there’s no individuals – we’re a team and we’ll all want to do well for each other. Hopefully we can do well for us – and for the nation.”
Hunt is passionate about playing for Ireland – which is why he lambasted Eamon Dunphy back in 2009 wfor describing a draw with then-World Champions Italy as “shameful”. He disagrees with the notion that we’ve suddenly developed a ‘hoof the ball’ style in recent years.
“We’ve always been that way,” he counters. “You look at footballing history. There’s Brazil: football, football, football. Italy: tactics, tactic, tactics. Spain: free-flowing, can be beaten with a defensive style, as proved when Inter beat Barca. It’s very difficult to get out of a pattern. Brendan Rodgers tried to do it at Reading and they sacked him after six months. And now look at him at Swansea. So it’s very difficult for a manager to come to Ireland and change our philosophy.”
Are you suggesting it’s in our DNA?
“It is. It needs four to six years before you start adapting to a style. Because people coming up through the ranks need to see it.”
What does he say to the pessimistic view that we’re only Poland-bound to make up the numbers?
“It’s a feature of modern society. There’s always going to be a bit of negativity around the place. It’s just the way journalism and the media has gone. We just hope it doesn’t go too far across the line and end up like they are in England. They can be very harsh on players over there and we have to be careful we don’t go there. The ones playing for Ireland love playing for Ireland. We’re close-knit and always stick together when the going gets tough. And it’s going to get tough!
“This society has changed from ten years ago,” he continues. “No matter how well the teams from ten years ago did, they were going to be heroes. The players mingled a lot more back then and they had a lot more freedom. Now we’re structured in a way that means we’re hidden away. We’re almost seen like rock stars – it’s hard to get close to us. So there can be a little bit of hatred. So we have to deal with a different kind of pressure to ten years ago. I think the players are realising that if we go there and do well, it will be unreal.”
Finally, I have to ask him what the lads will be listening to in the dressing-room?
“My taste might be a little different to what goes on! I’m into The Script. A bit cheesy! I play rugby songs, ‘Ireland’s Call’ and the like, which probably pumps me up too much, until I’m like a mad man! I downloaded all the rugby union songs, apart from the English one of course. Well… unfortunately that one came with the others!”
With Leinster having recently won the Heineken Cup, maybe some of that success will rub off? Ireland’s number 13 furrows his brow dramatically.
“I’m a Munster man so I’d be a little bit jealous!”.
A sore point. But hey, for the summer, we’ve the football – and we’re all Irish.
“Exactly!” Stephen Hunt exclaims, ready and itching to get into the fray. Exactly.