‘He was a dream teammate when on Ireland duty’

THERE was a massive change in how things were done from when I first came into the squad to when Glenn and some others came through under Giovanni Trapattoni. Before, lads would come in early, maybe a day or two ahead of schedule, and arrange for a few drinks. We found, as time wore on, that became more and more difficult. Glenn would still be one of the lads. He would enjoy himself when we could but it became so much more difficult with smart phones, people recognising you and the issues that came with that.

Glenn was a player’s player. A dream team-mate. He wasn’t brash or in your face, he was a really sound lad who got on with his job. As time wore on, he became more and more influential. He wanted things to be done right – training, travel, things around the hotel. He wouldn’t mouth off for the sake of it but would make his opinions known.

There were very few players who could play the role he did as good as him and it will be a long time before we have someone who can do it at the top level like he did for so long.