O’NEILL REELS AT9 COLEMAN AGONY
MARTIN O’NEILL winced. He did not want to know that Seamus Coleman’s lower leg had been left dangling at a right angle.
We have since learned that the cherished Republic of Ireland captain sustained a double leg break during Friday night’s goalless draw with Wales in Dublin.
There were initially fears Coleman’s career could be under threat and, while a recovery time of six months has now been estimated, there are no guarantees the 28-year-old will again be able to scale the heights of this season, arguably his best in the blue of Everton and green of his country.
Coleman’s break was inflicted by Wales midfielder Neil Taylor in the 69th minute of the ill-tempered match, and the perpetrator was duly shown a straight red card.
O’Neill was less than 20 yards from the incident and hopped in disbelief on the touchline at the sound of contact. ‘I was pretty shaken by it,’ said the Ireland boss, who has visited Coleman in the hospital where he had surgery to insert screws into his fractured tibia and fibula yesterday.
There will not, however, be a phone call to Everton boss Ronald Koeman. O’Neill tried to make contact a fortnight ago to discuss the fitness of midfielder James McCarthy, but the Dutchman rejected the approach.
McCarthy was subsequently named in the starting XI for the World Cup qualifier against Wales after overcoming a hamstring problem only to withdraw during the warm-up.
O’Neill said: ‘Let me be clear on this. I asked to speak to Ronald a couple of weeks ago and he refused to do so. That’s all right, that’s fine. It’s not a problem at all. Seamus Coleman’s injury can happen in the game. Why would (I call him now)? This happens. At club level, I have lost players in the past myself to injuries.’
O’Neill insists that he will feel the loss of right-back Coleman as much as Koeman. ‘I could not stress enough how badly he will be missed — the way he is around the place, his commitment to us, his drive and determination, all of those things,’ he added.
‘He has just been fantastic since I have arrived here — his whole playing ability and demeanour, everything about him. He’s a great character and captain, considering he is so quiet off the field.’
John O’Shea was also set to visit his stricken team-mate this weekend and the Sunderland defender is thankful he is not in the same ward. He needed stitches after feeling the full force of Gareth Bale’s studs moments before Coleman’s injury, but the Wales forward escaped with a booking.
‘There were plenty of stitches put in there,’ said O’Shea. ‘I am very lucky, when you consider what has happened to Seamus. On another night, they could have had two red cards.’
The fall-out from this fixture, it would appear, is far from over, especially given the severity of Coleman’s injury. Wales boss Chris Coleman, however, does not attach any blame to his player.
‘I just feel sorry for Seamus, sometimes unfortunately things like this happen, someone gets a tackle wrong, it can be a bit high or a bit late, and sometimes the consequences can be grave,’ he said.
‘So we’ve just got to hope and pray that it’s not too bad for Seamus and hopefully he will be back sooner rather than later.’
Coleman described Taylor as being ‘numb’ in the dressing room afterwards. ‘He hasn’t said a word,’ added the Wales manager.
‘I was the first one into the dressing room after the game, he was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. But no matter how badly he feels, or we feel, it’s worse for Seamus.’