The latest Republic of Ireland squad has me confused and concerned, but mainly I am scratching my head.
Take James McClean. One of the group’s leaders, by deed rather than word, starts against the Dutch in September, having replaced Enda Stevens at half-time in Paris, after a wrong selection call saw the 33-year-old EFL Championship full-back repeatedly humiliated by Ousmane Dembélé.
McClean kept his place on the left for the Netherlands’ visit to Dublin, when a spirited opening 45 minutes by Ireland ended with them chasing shadows.
An argument can be made for McClean being at fault for both Dutch goals, by losing his man, but all of a sudden Ryan Manning and Liam Scales have pushed him out of the squad, based on club form? It does not add up.
Scales has impressed at centre-half for Celtic this season and Manning is going well at Southampton in the Championship but this is a significant about-face by the manager. Kenny did mention that McClean has dropped to the fourth tier of English football with Wrexham but to cut him loose a few hours after the FAI announce his planned retirement from international football in November? Very odd.
Mikey Johnston comes back into the squad having clocked zero minutes for Celtic this season. Same goes for Andrew Omobamidele, who has not featured for Nottingham Forest since last month’s move to the Premier League side.
McClean has been an incredible servant to the Irish cause, featuring at two major tournaments and joining the 100-cap club during the most tumultuous time for the FAI in living memory. Now he is on standby. Strange.
With hopes of featuring at next year’s Euros in Germany fast receding, it felt like Kenny was beginning to shape the team for the 2026 World Cup campaign. That’s why Sinclair Armstrong and Festy Ebosele appeared in the dying minutes against Holland, right?
Ireland need to win a bloody game of football. They must go directly at Greece next Friday. Like Armstrong does week in, week out for QPR. Yet he has been sent back to the under-21s.
Kenny also spoke in glowing terms this week about Andrew Moran’s breakthrough at Blackburn Rovers. Why on earth would the Ireland manager describe Moran’s recent performances, which he witnessed from the Ewood Park stand, as “absolutely terrific” and “fantastic,” even adding that the 19-year-old will be “an excellent player for Ireland” if he is not going to have a closer look?
Moran is the type of player Kenny’s Ireland have lacked. A creative midfielder who naturally opens the play, he can become the perfect foil for Evan Ferguson. Like Damien Duff was to Robbie Keane.
But to suggest Sinclair and Moran are better served by an under-21 international in Latvia, over training with the senior squad and potentially turning heads, is hard to fathom. Kenny knows this could be his penultimate international window as the manager. Why wait?
The reason given was the “big jump” in physicality from the Championship to international football. Speaking from experience, there is a massive leap in technical ability but the physicality of the old first division is pretty much the same as a Euro qualifier against Greece. The body is stressed either way. Moran can cope once the ball is at his feet.
Kenny also praised the versatility of Sammy Szmodics but the Championship’s in-form attacking midfielder is overlooked for a collection of decent professionals operating in the same league.
The manager is hardly sticking to the tried and tested. Poor results demanded a shake-up for this window.
Josh Cullen is an automatic starter and Jason Knight’s energetic displays against France this year have been encouraging but the others – Jayson Molumby and Alan Browne – are midfielders who can cope with the physicality of international football. Neither offers a solution to Ireland’s creative limitations.
Jamie McGrath, the Aberdeen playmaker, appears to be picked ahead of Szmodics and Moran. It raises the question, why? And where is the logic in recalling Mark Sykes?
The group that lost to Greece in Athens will be given a chance to make amends. Again and again, big decisions to ensure our national side remain in contention to reach major tournaments have come up short under Kenny.
After three years of patience in his ambitious rebuild, can anyone define the team’s style of play? Will he stick with three centre backs or revert to a back four? This call has been forced upon him during matches, especially in Athens when he said he did not recognise himself in the team that he put out on the pitch.
My concerns stem from Adam Idah’s revelation that the players failed to react to Koeman’s half-time switches last month and Shane Duffy taking it upon himself to become an auxiliary striker. Tactics and positional changes are the manager’s primary duties, not the players.
It’s a frustrating time for everyone who cares about Irish football. Especially Kenny’s hardline supporters, most of whom refused to waver despite defeats to Luxembourg and Armenia.
But the horse bolted out of the Opap Arena in June. That was the night when Kenny’s three years of team-building were supposed to deliver. It means that little is expected from the last three outings of a campaign already on life support, so to stick with players and plans that have Ireland on course to delivering their worst qualification finish since … ah, I cannot revisit our Euro 2008 campaign under Stan.
Suffice to say, this squad, at this moment in Irish football history, looks like an opportunity missed.
