FREE agent Glenn Whelan has no intentions of retiring from football after being released by English Premier League new boys Aston Villa – and feels he can still do a job at any level as long as it’s a “fair fight”.
The 36-year-old Dubliner was called back into the Republic of Ireland fold by new boss Mick McCarthy in March, even though his international career appeared to be over under former manager Martin O’Neill.
Despite the creeping years Whelan performed admirably in Ireland’s Euro 2020 Qualifier win over Georgia and hopes to hang around for some time yet.
Currently on the look-out for a new club after playing over 70 games in two seasons for Villa, the defensive midfielder has absolute faith in his own ability but knows he needs to be playing regularly to remain in McCarthy’s thoughts.
“I’ve missed one game this year out of 50-odd,” he said.
“I’ve trained every day, I’m fit and healthy, I’ve not gone in and asked any manager for a rest or a break. In two seasons at Villa I’ve played 70-odd games.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been lucky with injuries. But if I’m not playing well at club level then I won’t have a chance at international level.
“That’s the disappointing thing, you see the stats and when you do play and what you cover - and I only noticed this now because I’m playing alongside Conor [Hourihane], who is younger - but I’m fit and healthy.”
Prior to his alleged ‘farewell game’ against Northern Ireland last November there was an awkward moment during the pre-match press conference while sitting beside Martin O’Neill he insisted he wasn’t retiring.
“When I got the phone call from Martin O’Neill I was delighted,” Whelan said.
“It was really respectful of him to ask me to come in and to say I’d get the farewell. But Martin at the time had his way of thinking and where the team was going to go. I shook his hand and I was delighted with that.
“Then a few months later, obviously things didn’t go well with a couple of bad results again, and there was a change of manager. I got a phone call, I think it was October, and he (McCarthy) asked me if I’d retired. I said I’d never retire, obviously I understood where the manager was going at the time, but he said, ‘If I need you, or if there was a development, would you come back in?’ I said, ‘Yeah, as long as I’m not going to be a cheerleader’. I wanted to come back in and have a chance to fight to play.
“I wanted to come back in and play and make an impact, or at least have a chance of getting into the 11. I moan and groan and if I don’t have a chance of playing, then I could be even worse. I’m willing to fight anybody and any player as long as it’s a fair fight.”
Whelan could be handed the onerous task of marking Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen in Copenhagen’s 38,000-capacity Telia Parken stadium on Friday night as the Spurs man tries to put behind him the north London club’s Champions League final defeat to Liverpool last weekend.
“He's a top player,” Whelan said of Eriksen, whose hat-trick in the 2017 play-off second leg in Dublin knocked the Irish out of contention for a place at the World Cup finals in Russia.
“I've played against him quite a few times and done okay against him so if I get the nod, and he's the man I look after, then hopefully I'll let him know that he's in for a game. He's top class, you can see from what he's done with Spurs, the Champions League final, he's definitely one of their best players and someone who needs to be looked after.”
