These are strange times indeed for some of the biggest names in Irish football as we prepare for the arrival of 2009, the year that will decide our World Cup fate and so much more beside.

In less than 12 months from now we will know if Team Ireland is to join the 31 other best footballing nations in the world in South Africa.

This time next year we will know if Trap really has what it takes.

The 2010 finals - which may be taken away from the African nation if they don't get their building fingers out soon by the way - are seen by many here at home as a reasonable target for our new boss Giovanni Trapattoni.

With seven points in the bag from three games so far there is indeed reason to be cheerful if you are an Irish fan - so long as you stay away from the headlines of the past few days.

As things stand our national team captain Robbie Keane is currently so frozen out at Liverpool that he could be on his way back to Spurs in January, less than six months after a £20 million move from Tottenham.

Keane was left on the bench for the full 90 minutes on Saturday as the Premier League leaders struggled to a 2-2 draw at home to surprise packets Hull City - and that after the Tigers had the cheek to take a two goal lead at Anfield.

With Fernando Torres still out injured, an off-color Liverpool side was crying out for a striker with Keane's ingenuity, but manager Rafa Benitez left the livid Dubliner sitting on the bench.

By Sunday morning the papers, my own Star included, were full of suggestions that Keane could be set for a swift return to White Hart Lane, a story that gained more legs on Monday thanks to a former Red by the name of Mark Lawrenson.

In the course of his weekly chat with the omnipresent Matt Cooper on Today FM, Lawrenson let slip that he had been talking to Steven Gerrard on Saturday night when the Liverpool captain all but suggested that Keane would be on his way as soon as the transfer window opens.

Now, while Gerrard may not thank Lawrenson for revealing the details of their little chat, there's no doubt there is an element of truth to the suggestion, even if the two clubs may have to bend the Premier League's transfer rules slightly to facilitate such a move.

Lawrenson's other revelation - that Liverpool have only paid a quarter of the huge fee so far - may help in that regard, but no matter how you look at it this is not good news for Trapattoni.

Ireland's next World Cup fixture is at home to Georgia at the tail end of February, and the very last thing Trap needs for that game is another player frozen out at club level, particularly one so vital to his cause as Keane.

The news is no better regarding the Celtic winger Aiden McGeady who, like Keane, missed the November friendly defeat to Poland when a few home truths came, well, home to roost at Croke Park.

McGeady is also in the wars after another bust-up with Celtic manager Gordon Strachan over his current predicament at Parkhead.

Quite aside from the fact that McGeady's season has been seriously hampered by a knee injury, the young Irish winger has taken exception to a perceived lack of real opportunity under Strachan's tutelage this season.

McGeady did play the full 90 minutes of Saturday's uninspiring 1-1 draw with Hearts but was clearly none too impressed with the role he was asked to play by his manager, or the reaction from his boss in the dressingroom afterwards.

Apparently the pair had what we tabloids like to call a "good old bust-up" immediately after the game.

Full details are still sketchy, but on Tuesday afternoon Celtic announced that McGeady has been fined two week's wages and suspended for two games for a breach of club discipline.

The fact that his ban, suggested by Strachan and backed by the Celtic board, includes the next staging of the Old Firm Derby at Ibrox on December 27 tells you all you need about the severity of McGeady's row with Strachan.

McGeady's agent, a man by the name of David Holbrook, had denied all knowledge of any rift early in the week but by Tuesday he was claiming, "Aiden's shocked, disappointed and I can say he will be appealing. He feels that the action is completely unjustified."

Of course McGeady feels any punishment is unjustified, but I have bad news for him - he's picked the wrong man to cross in Gordon Strachan.

The fact that Strachan is prepared to do without his talent for a game against Rangers tells you all you need to do about the manager's intent on this issue.

There is, however, some good news on the Irish front - if we can believe anything that Stephen Ireland has to say on any subject anymore.

In Sunday's Star newspaper, my colleague Alison O'Reilly wrote of an afternoon spent in the company of Stephen's father Michael down in Cork last week.

Among other things, Michael thankfully put to bed the notion that Stephen was "bullied" by any other members of the Irish soccer squad before his walk-out last year, a pathetic claim that has been doing the rounds for some time now.

He also revealed that his son will return to the Irish squad sometime in the near future, a claim reiterated when Stephen rang his dad during the course of the interview and confirmed as much to Alison.

The Manchester City player didn't put a timeline on any return, but the ball is now firmly back in Trapattoni's court.

All the latest gaffer has to do now is name Ireland in the squad for that Georgia game and put it up to the form Irish player in the Premier League.

If Stephen Ireland can be true to his word for once then he should be welcomed back for Georgia and a line drawn in the sand.

Considering the current predicaments of Messrs Keane and McGeady, our international team boss could do with some good news.