Source: Telegraph
Andy Reid loved by Sunderland if not by Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni
Reid has been overlooked yet again by Trapattoni as he finalises his preparations for the Saturday's World Cup qualifier against his Italian compatriots and then against Montenegro the following Wednesday in Dublin despite his splendid form for Sunderland this season.
The former Tottenham midfielder, 27, has caught the eye for Steve Bruce's side this term after shedding excess weight over the summer and set up Sunderland's second goal in the 2-2 draw at Manchester United last weekend.
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Despite this, Dublin-born Reid, who has 27 caps to his credit has been unable to win over Trapattoni who has dipped into the Championship to call up Queens Park Rangers midfielder Martin Rowland rather than turn to a player whose career started at Nottingham Forest.
It is a situation that has divided many observers in Ireland although former Republic striker Quinn, Reid's chairman at Sunderland, would give him a ringing endorsement should Trapattoni ask him for a reference.
"Andy's statistics are frightening in terms of the ground he is covering and that work rate allied to his quality makes him a key player," said Quinn who represented his country at the 1990 and 1994 World Cup finals.
"You can see the crowd's reaction to him when he goes to take a corner that people recognise the improvement that he has made and Andy has realised at Sunderland that if the fans see effort then they will be with you and when that effort is allied to the level of natural ability very few people have it is a devastating combination.
"The penny has dropped with Andy who wants his last seven or eight years in football to be at the very top and he is flying. You can see that really professional look on his face now and the fact that he is smiling so much it shows that he is enjoying it as much as he has ever done.
"He is a classic example to everyone at the training ground that the level of desire has to come from within and when you look in the mirror look at nobody but yourself. We could not be happier with him."
