It has taken national protests and threats over his very posistion as manager but Il Trap has finally accepted that sticking to the wise old heads of Ireland's former golden generation, Duff, Dunne, Given and Keane is now over.
For too long the Italian with a half century of footballing knowledge has shown loyalty to the foursome that made Irish football a force to be reckoned with.
After public spats with Fulham defender Stephen Kelly and falling out previously with Andy Reid and Stephen Ireland it was looking as though the wily Italian had lost the dressing room but it now seems as though he is finally accepting that Robbie Keane and Dunne are struggling to play regularly and well at a high level and Duff and Given will not return to the international fold.
For many of the Irish football public this was over due, the selecting of MLS players Keane and O'Dea ahead of high peferming Premier League players Shane Long and Seamus Coleman had frustrated football fans for over a year.
However it looks as though his selections have turned a corner with Wes Hoolohan finally included in an Irish squad with a chance of having an impact from the bench and a young energetic approach to a side of Premier League standard players, who excluding Sunderland captain John O'Shea are the right side of 30.
The passion and ability in the squad from Westwood to Mclean and Brady to Clark shows a strong, youthful group of players who will hope to start a new chapter of Irish football tomorrow night as they take on Greece at the Aviva.
The foursome that made Irish football's spirits rise over the past decade have given more than enough to the cause and we will hopefully see Keane and Dunne feature again in Green as new names and raised hopes come into the fold tonight and moving forward.
Rep of Ireland (v Greece) : Keiren Westwood; Séamus Coleman, John O’Shea, Ciaran Clark, Stephen Ward; Robbie Brady, James McCarthy, Glenn Whelan, James McClean; Simon Cox, Shane Long.
Substitutes : Darren O’Dea, Stephen Kelly, Keith Andrews, Andy Keogh, David Meyler, Wes Hoolahan, Conor Clifford, Kevin Doyle, David Forde, Darron Randolph