Captain Sensible means business
ARMS folded, eyes looking straight into the camera, Séamus Coleman meant business in Belgrade yesterday.
And that’s a positive ahead of tonight’s World Cup battle because with captain Coleman restored to the team – as he surely must be – Ireland are always in a better place.
Devoid of ego, Coleman put everyone first, no one more so than his old Evertonian friend, Shane Duffy, who has endured a torrid time in his personal and professional life in the past 10 months.
Duffy, who has held the armband for all eight games under Stephen Kenny, has struggled at Celtic since the turn of the year but, Coleman insisted, deserves the ‘full support’ of everyone, for what he’s had to go through.
Between the football side of things, family loss, and social media vilification, Duffy has not had it easy but he’s always turned up for Ireland, without question, and given his all, which Coleman stressed. ‘Shane Duffy is a warrior,
Shane Duffy is a leader. He doesn’t sulk, he’s a great character around the place,’ said Coleman.
‘I think all us Irish people have seen that over the years with his performances and yeah, listen, he’s not had the easiest time over in Scotland.
‘I’ve watched the games that he’s played and I don’t think Shane is the reason why things aren’t going the way they wanted.
‘I don’t know if he’ll mind me saying this or not but Shane’s dad (Brian) passed away last summer and not long after, he was straight on a plane to Brighton and then up to Celtic. I don’t know if he even had the opportunity to mourn his dad properly.
‘I think Shane Duffy has enough credit in the bank for his country for us to keep supporting him. As media and as players, we should support him.’
Coleman has been absent for 10 games over the past 17 months since a red card during a Geneva downpour on a difficult night in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
He was as much missed, as he has missed being part of things.
‘I can’t explain how much I’ve missed it. It’s been something that’s been on my mind,’ he said.
‘I was injured for most of the selections, unfortunately. I was doing quite well at club level and just picked up a niggle before we met up, which has been disappointing. To get here, to be with the lads, to be with the staff, is an amazing feeling, but then ultimately getting out there and putting on the green shirt is what we always want.’
Coleman will be 33 by the time of the Qatar finals, and he’s unlikely to get another World Cup shot, not that he is worried about that, as he has always put the team first. ‘My frame of mind is I want Ireland to get to the World Cup. When that ends, that ends,’ he said. ‘It’s never a case of it being, “Ah, this could be my last one.”
‘I want a World Cup for the lads that are here, for the fans at home, whether it be the last or the second-last, whatever the case may be, I don’t care. I just want a World Cup for the country.
‘And then I’ve had my time, I’ve had my Euros, I’ve had my caps behind me and I’m not thinking that this could be the last one. That doesn’t enter my mind whatsoever.
‘There’s a bigger picture than this being Séamus Coleman’s last chance at a World Cup, definitely.’
Coleman is one of the handful of survivors from the Euro 2016 finals in France, where he played all four games and first wore the captain’s armband.
‘The Euros were amazing, I would imagine a World Cup would be even better. It’s just what it means to the people on the street back home in Ireland and how it would lift the spirits of everyone,’ he said. ‘I will have something to say to the players before the game. Let’s hope it can give us that extra little bounce going into the game.
‘I sit here and do these press conferences and say the right things but we all know we will be judged on what we do tomorrow. Let’s hope that’s a positive rather than a negative.’
Captain Sensible is back, just when he’s needed most.
“I don’t know if he mourned his dad properly”