Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny spent much of yesterday’s media conference at the Aviva Stadium emphasising the importance of James McClean to the international cause since 2012.
But the tribute to McClean paled in comparison to how important Kenny believes a Dublin teenager named Andy Moran can become to Irish football.
“Andy Moran will definitely have a good career for Ireland, he will definitely be a senior international player,” said Kenny. “He is something different, a dribbler from midfield who opens up the game.”
Curiously, McClean (34) and Moran (19) have been left out of the 24-man squad to play European Championship qualifiers, against Greece next Friday in Dublin and Gibraltar the following Monday at Estadio Algarve in Portugal.
On Thursday morning, McClean announced his intention to retire from international football at the end of 2023. Three hours later he was cut from the Ireland squad despite starting the last game, a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in September.
“James has had a terrific career,” said Kenny. “Young Irish players can learn a lot from him, how he approached his career. Ireland was always at the forefront of his thoughts, it was always the pinnacle for him, always the most important thing, to play for his country. You had to respect that.
“From my point of view as a manager, he’s so forceful in his training performances, sometimes he gets himself in the team by just his sheer intensity in the sessions.”
And yet, the Wrexham winger and Blackburn Rovers midfielder are deemed surplus to requirements ahead of Gus Poyet’s Greek side coming to Dublin next week, where they hope to repeat the 2-1 defeat in Athens on June 16th that dented Irish hopes of qualifying for Germany 2024.
Southampton’s Ryan Manning and Celtic’s Liam Scales are the left-sided defenders called up ahead of McClean with Kenny travelling to Glasgow on Wednesday to watch Scales in the Champions League defeat to Lazio.
If Scales replaces the injured John Egan at centre half, Matt Doherty has proved himself at left wing back, specifically away to Portugal in 2021 and at home to France last March. This would allow Festy Ebosele transfer his Serie A form to the international stage, having featured on the right for Udinese this season.
When asked about overlooking Blackburn attacker Sammie Szmodics, who has six goals in 10 EFL Championship starts, Kenny stated that regular trips to Ewood Park have convinced him of Moran’s future potential.
“The player that has caught my attention the most has been Andy Moran. He has been absolutely terrific in both Blackburn’s games last week. He was very close to being called up. Physically, when you step up to international football, as we found with some of the young players, it is a big jump.
“I was tempted to bring him in for this game [against Greece], very tempted. But if he came in, would he make the squad? Then you are taking away from the under-21s.”
Jim Crawford’s Ireland under-21s face Latvia in Riga in a Euros qualifier on October 13th, so Moran could still make his senior debut three days later in Faro.
“We’ll see about Gibraltar, but he is a very good player,” Kenny continued. “He has not played much as a senior footballer. It’s hard to judge him in Brighton’s Under-21s when you are watching those games, it’s hard to equate that with senior international level.
“He started off by coming on for Brighton, but his performances last week, when he got his two goals, I was at that game and it was an absolutely fantastic performance. I know Cardiff made 10 changes, but that was a real standout performance and I think he is going to be an excellent player for Ireland.”
Szmodics, Kenny explained, was overlooked for this camp as he did not want to disrupt the group with a player who would not feature against Greece.
“I know he [Szmodics] has probably played more than Callum Robinson, who has come back recently, but Callum knows exactly how we play and with three days to prepare for the game against Greece, I want to make sure everyone knows exactly where we are. Because we have had a lot of change. I’m not looking for any more at the moment.”
Changes forced upon the Ireland manager, whose contract runs until the end of the current campaign, include injuries to Egan, Séamus Coleman, Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher and Cardiff City winger Callum O’Dowda.
Veteran midfielder Jeff Hendrick and Troy Parrott are other notable exclusions from a panel that does include the return of Evan Ferguson, Mikey Johnston and Robinson.
Along with Moran, Kenny has kept Sinclair Armstrong in the under-21 squad as Jamie McGrath and Mark Sykes fill the remaining midfield slots. Neither McGrath nor Sykes are expected to feature against Greece.
It’s a vital match for Poyet’s team as victory or a draw tees up the Netherlands, on October 16th in Athens, as both nations seek to claim the second qualification spot behind France to reach next summer’s Euros.
Ireland are clinging onto the hope of reaching a play-off tournament next March, but only if results in other groups fall in their favour.
Republic of Ireland Squad
Goalkeepers: Gavin Bazunu (Southampton), Mark Travers (Stoke City, on loan from AFC Bournemouth), Max O’Leary (Bristol City).
Defenders: Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Festy Ebosele (Udinese), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Shane Duffy (Norwich City), Dara O’Shea (Burnley), Andrew Omobamidele (Nottingham Forest), Liam Scales (Celtic), Ryan Manning (Southampton).
Midfielders: Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Alan Browne (Preston North End), Will Smallbone (Southampton), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Jamie McGrath (Aberdeen), Mark Sykes (Bristol City).
Forwards: Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Adam Idah (Norwich City), Aaron Connolly (Hull City), Chiedozie Ogbene (Luton Town), Callum Robinson (Cardiff City), Mikey Johnston (Celtic).
