Why can’t these two just get along?
Whether it is Roberto Martinez or Ronald Koeman in charge, there is tension between Everton and the Republic of Ireland management.
Bobby M used to have his say, Martin O’Neill would counter.
Now Koeman is charged with protecting his players such as Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy and the on-loan Aiden McGeady. Earlier this season Roy Keane sniped back in classic Keano fashion, questioning Everton’s performances when they questioned whether or not James McCarthy is being overloaded.
Now we’re back in that territory again. No one is blaming the Ireland set-up for Seamus Coleman’s horrendous double leg break (Fifa are piling the responsibility for that solely on the shoulders of Neil Taylor), but McCarthy’s fitness is again under the spotlight.
Ronald Koeman upon spotting James McCarthy in @FAIreland starting XI #coybig pic.twitter.com/7o2X4Ankhe
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 24, 2017
The midfielder is missing Saturday’s Merseyside Derby after aggravating a hamstring injury in the warm-up for the Wales game.
In Friday’s pre-match press conference, Koeman read a prepared statement. What is it with Merseyside managers and prepared statements?
“James had an injury when he reported for Ireland duty last week,” said the former Southampton boss.
“The Everton medical team made the Ireland medical team aware of this.
“The Everton medical team advised extreme caution, not just because of the current injury but due to previous injuries as well.
“The assessment of the Ireland medical team was that it would be high risk for James to play against Wales.
“But of course James is strong and he decided to play for his country and when asked if he was fit to play he said he felt he was fit and and he was selected to start the game by the Ireland manager who in my opinion, in this instance, was not protecting the player.
“Clearly James was not fit to play. He had trained for only two days and he broke down during the warm-up.
“He played only game from the start of 2017. He didn’t play for three weeks before the Wales game. In my opinion he would have needed one full week of training with the team to be declared fit.
“I spoke to James and he needs to take responsibility for this.
“It’s not the first time this has happened. I’m not surprised but I am disappointed.”
The old “I am not surprised, but disappointed” line. We all know that one, never good to be on the receiving end of that.
However the line that stands out is when Koeman said O’Neill, in his opinion, “in this instance, was not protecting the player”, is what stands out.
Don’t expect O’Neill or his assistant to forget that in a hurry.
