Soccer:Stephen Ward is putting a painful campaign behind him and focusing on Poland, where he and, quite possibly, three of his relegated Wolves clubmates are intent on ending the season on a high.
Club life has been miserable for Ward, Kevin Doyle, Stephen Hunt and Kevin Foley this year. Mick McCarthy, a popular manager, was pushed out the door by an owner with no apparent plan B, and respected assistant Terry Connor suffered in a job nobody but the guy who was shoved wanted.
The players got on with it, but it looked for a long while like they wished they were somewhere else. With two games to go, a fortunate few very nearly are. They'll find out for sure when Giovanni Trapattoni reveals his squad on Monday.
“When you’re in the relegation trap it’s a tough situation, and it’s hard to look at something like the Euros and get excited about them,” said Ward today. “I suppose, now the writing’s been on the wall for a while and we know what our fate is, it’s definitely something we can look forward to as hopefully something that can give us a bit of a boost.”
Ward sees his future at Wolves, as it stands, and is not turning his back on the club he is "in debt to”, unless he’s told. For now, he seems to just need a break.
For a man coming off the back of a few hidings over the season, the Dubliner is upbeat about the squad’s chances at the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine next month.
“First and foremost, I think if we can get out of the group, then it would be a fantastic achievement. But if we can get out of that, then anything can happen, it all depends on who gets out of the other groups.
“As I’ve said before, we’re a strong squad with a really, really experienced top manager; the way he has us playing and sets us up I think we can be a match for anyone.”
His fellow Ireland full-back John O’Shea last month dismissed those who tried to plot the paths of least resistance through the group, but Ward is all for it. He sees Italy as a team “we would have wanted in the group”, opponents against whom Ireland can target three points.
Speaking at the launch of the eFlow FAI Summer Schools in Dublin today, Ward insisted: “He’s [Trapattoni] going to know them [Italy] inside out, and we’ve had a good result against them a few months back. They’re a team that we tend to do quite well against. I’m sure they’ve looked at the draw and been a little unhappy about seeing us and Giovanni Trapattoni as manager.
“We just need to make sure that we’re still in contention going into that last game. If so then I feel we have a great chance of qualifying and going on to the next phase.”
Now, that would lift the spirits.
