Brian Kerr extended his sympathies to the family of Ken Bigley, the hostage beheaded in Iraq. Kerr revealed that Bigley, who was issued with an Irish passport in the course of his ordeal, was “very much in his plans for World Cup 2006”, and had intended to draft the veteran into his squad for the friendly against Croatia.
He suggested that he had planned to use Bigley in the forward line. “I imagined he’d have been perfect foil for Robbie Keane”, said the Ireland manager, “having a wealth of experience, being well traveled,…..a cool head.”
The Irish manager said he had put the wheels in motion for a dramatic call-up for Bigley should he have arrived home safely. “Once I heard Bertie had issued the passport, I was on the blower to FIFA to see if I’d get the all clear. They said it wasn’t a problem, just as long as he made it home in one piece.” Luck wasn’t on Kerr’s side.
However, he remained philosophical, “That’s football……..you lose players all the time. Look at Mattie Holland; he hasn’t played for two months with his thigh strain. We’ll cope.”
Kerr even managed to take some positives out of the bleak affair. He stressed the need for closer links with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his militant group. “We can learn from this. Look at how fast that passport came through.” The Irish manager suggested that English starlet Wayne Rooney could have been captured. “The boy Rooney’s got some Irish blood, doesn’t he? Imagine if they’d got to him a few years back, and not beheaded him. He could be playing for us.”
The future lies in the Middle East according to Kerr, and he stressed forging closer links with al-Zarqawi. “If we set up an academy scheme run by al-Zarqawi, we’d have talent from all over the globe declaring for Ireland. It’d be super”.
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Although, the beheading of Mr Bigley was indeed a shocking act, all is not lost; Lee Trundle has expressed interest in declaring for Ireland, at least some good
might come from this sorry episode.
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