It’s a joke. I’ve seen Stephen Kelly’s phone, pretty much every one of the Reading lads have seen it, and we’re thinking: ‘What’s going on’? If the press were to see the full text, that would be the end of Trap. That would be the end of Giovanni Trapattoni
“I think Given looked overweight and was clearly unfit during the European Championships. I don’t think that’s a forgivable crime. I wouldn’t have him”
“Germany suffered a 5-1 home defeat in qualifying for World Cup 2002. They kept their manager and went on to reach the World Cup Final.
Maybe if they were beaten 6-1 at home they’d have won the World Cup.”
“It is an uncomfortable contest. I think their fans are crazy but in a good way. I heard they have a new stadium, there will be 40,000 crazy fans of Ireland. It will be a difficult match, we need to prepare well.”
“But of course we will travel there tomorrow and get the three points on Friday.”
“’Do your own thing when you get the ball,’ was all I ever said to him…I haven’t any football pictures around my house but there is one of Duffer giving me a hug”
“(Trap) told us to keep it going and congratulated everyone, not for getting this far; it’s not f*cking X-Factor. He thanked us for everything we achieved so far.”
“On a personal level, I’m delighted to see so many of the players I had the honour of working with achieve their ambition in getting to these finals. They are, to a man, special individuals at a time when many modern-day players invite spite” – Brian Kerr
“We are not going there for the craic. We will leave that to the fans. They are there to enjoy themselves. We will enjoy ourselves by doing things right”
“Henry is one of those players that every fan should love. I’m Irish and despite an instinctive handball that knocked Ireland out of the World Cup I won’t hear a bad word said about him.”
Whatever, it will be a fantastic experience for our players to take on Spain and Italy at Euro 2012. It’s a challenge they will, I’m sure, relish rather than fear. We’re well organised, we have a good spirit and great morale – it’s quite possible that we can do something extraordinary.