International friendly: Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland (tonight, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm)
GLENN Whelan was always the under appreciated foot soldier. Perhaps not on the pitch, but in the stands and the press box.
He was the most unromantic of footballers. For 10 years he was the man trusted to ‘mind the house’.
His centre backs must have loved Whelan.
He wasn’t an ambitious footballer. He wouldn’t glory-hunt for goals.
In 84 appearances he scored just two goals – against Georgia and Italy during the 2010 World Cup qualification campaign.
When a player knows his limitations he’s on the right road.
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Glenn Whelan knew his: sit in front of the back four, make tackles, read the game, snarl plenty, and when you get the ball give it to somebody better equipped to attack.
“We always looked for an upgrade on Glenn,” said former Stoke City boss Tony Pulis, “someone we thought was more mobile, technically better, quicker, stronger, but every year the bugger would confound you by playing better and better and get his place back.”
Whelan is one of the game’s great survivors.
In Dublin tonight, the veteran midfielder will get the chance to perform his blue-collar duties one last time on the international stage against Northern Ireland.
If it’s okay for England to recall Wayne Rooney, then it’s okay for Ireland to recall Glenn Whelan.
Since Euro 2016 the Aston Villa player has slipped down the pecking order to the point where he stopped receiving international call-ups.
Whelan accompanied Republic boss Martin O’Neill at yesterday’s pre-match press conference in Abbotstown. The Dubliner has never courted the media spotlight.
In his final few years on international duty he would skip through post-match mixed zones, ignoring reporters’ calls for a “quick word”.
Whelan endured his fair share of criticism throughout his 10-year senior international career and was on the receiving end of some negative hyperbole from former RTE pundit Eamonn Dunphy.
Everybody, it seemed, paid the price as Whelan refused to engage with anyone from the Irish media.
Asked about the negative commentary that appeared to engulf his every midfield performance for Ireland, Whelan said: “I didn’t care. Obviously that’s maybe something you boys would want to answer – you write the headlines.
“When I came in, all I wanted to do was impress my family first and foremost, and then I wanted to impress the manager. I wanted to play. So headlines and stuff like that, I didn’t try and make them better.
“I’d like to think the players I played with, if you asked them what I was like, then they would tell you the truth.”
It reached the stage where the criticism, he felt, became personal, which undoubtedly soured part of his international career.
“I’m a normal person away from the pitch. I thought there was certain stuff that got a little bit personal,” he says. “Things can’t be rosy all the time but I think there were certain times when it got a little bit much. It didn’t hurt me but maybe it hurt the family.”
Whelan, who had spells with Man City, Bury, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke, owes everything to former international manager Giovanni Trapattoni.
The wily Italian liked the discipline and order Whelan brought to Ireland’s engine room and when he was fit he was one of the first players on Trapattoni’s team-sheet.
After making his debut against Serbia in 2008, Whelan didn’t ever imagine he would clock up as many caps as he did.
“The Serbia game was one of Giovanni Trapattoni’s first games in charge so I tried to impress him and give him something to think about,” he says.
“For me, it was about enjoying it as much as I could and hopefully get some more caps down the line. So I definitely wasn’t thinking about the long-term future.”
Keith Andrews and Whelan became mainstays of Trapattoni’s central midfield and both remained first choice throughout Ireland’s ill-fated Euro 2012 campaign in Poland.
Whelan lasted the pace longer than Andrews and he was still punching his weight by the time the next Euros came around, under Martin O’Neill.
He lost his place for the Republic’s final group game against Italy in Lille and with James McCarthy finding his feet at international Euro 2016 was probably the beginning of the end for the teak-tough midfielder.
“Despite the fact that he is seemingly a pretty quiet lad, I thought he led the team and he was captain of the side too under me,” said O’Neill yesterday, “and he had a really good period before that under Giovanni [Trapattoni]. He’s missed out in the last year – he’s getting on a wee bit; I would like if he was younger – but, honestly, he’s been really excellent.”
O’Neill added: “We’ve had the occasional difference of opinion – I’ve obviously been right! But, overall, I’ve got great respect for him. He’s never shirked his responsibility even when things weren’t going so well personally or for the team. He was always there to receive the ball. That’s a sign of a decent player. He has never hidden during the time he’s been there.”
In the fullness of time, Irish fans will probably appreciate what Glenn Whelan did for his country. They will get the chance tonight to pay homage to one of Ireland’s most diligent foot soldiers.
