Old Firm to auld enemy.
The first question put to Liam Scales was in Irish. Sasana got a mention in his short answer ‘as Gaeilge’ but the Celtic defender gave the media plenty of usable quotes ‘as béarla’ before England come to Dublin for the opening Nations League fixture on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium.
“It’s not happened before that a player will have Rangers one week and England the next, it’s as good as it gets. Hopefully we can do as well as we did on the weekend against Rangers [3-0], and bring that into Ireland against England.”
Across Packie Bonner’s 20 years and almost 500 appearances for Celtic, the Donegal goalkeeper faced Rangers and England in close proximity. Just not inside six days.
“It’s different, playing for Celtic and playing for Ireland,” Scales continued. “With Celtic we have time to work together every day and get things right. Here it’s got to be everyone in and straight at it, take it all on board as quickly as possible.
“That’s what we are doing, trying to get the information, the way we want to play, bring that into the game on the weekend and hopefully we’ll get a good result. It is a similar sort of intense rivalry, in that it’s not just about football.”
Heimir Hallgrímsson, the new Republic of Ireland manager, has gone heavy on meetings in recent days, expecting his players to retain the tactical plan they need to get a respectable result against England and beat Greece on Tuesday.
“It’s nothing we are not used to,” said the 26-year-old. “We had it with previous managers, it’s good because we are getting a clear message of what’s wanted from us in his first few days.”
The Wicklow native could have declared for England as his father is a Londoner, who did the opposite to Harry Kane’s dad by moving to Ireland before starting a family. But the suggestion of divided loyalties in the Scales family is quickly dismissed.
“He’ll be in the Irish end, definitely. If I can get tickets: they’re very expensive.”
With the cheapest seats costing €90 and prices rising above €150, the FAI only sold out the Aviva on Tuesday.
“He is fully invested in my career for so many years now that it’s not even a choice for him. He used to bring us to the Irish games when we were kids and he has followed Irish football longer than me.”
If Hallgrímsson leans into a five-man defence, despite Irish wing backs being regularly pinned down since Stephen Kenny introduced the system against Portugal in 2021, Scales could start at left back, where he previously played European football for Shamrock Rovers.
Callum O’Dowda and Robbie Brady are in the squad, although both are left wingers by trade, wing backs at a push, with O’Dowda exposed defensively against Greece last year in Athens.
The alternative is to reward Scales for club form in Scotland by deploying him as the left of three centre halves.
“Being a centre half that is left-footed does give me an advantage but the manager is going to pick what he thinks is the strongest team and there is massive competition in that area.
“We have four centre halves that are playing in the Premier League, but that will bring the best out of our players because it is competitive and that’s what will bring the best out of everyone.”
Scales holds another advantage over Jake O’Brien at Everton and Andrew Omobamidele at Nottingham Forest as he has clocked up 450 minutes this season, while the Premier League pair only played 90 minutes of cup action.
Nathan Collins and Dara O’Shea are the established Ireland starters while Séamus Coleman could fill the right centre-half position if Matt Doherty starts at right back.
“I just have to hope that I get the nod, and if not I will still be ready to make an impact off the bench if I’m needed.”
Another conundrum for Hallgrímsson is who to play in midfield alongside Southampton regular Will Smallbone, with Alan Browne, Jayson Molumby and Jason Knight in the frame to replace the injured Josh Cullen.
Sammie Szmodics and Chiedozie Ogbene, both recently signed by Ipswich Town, seem certain to feature behind a lone striker. That could be Evan Ferguson after assistant coach John O’Shea described the teenage striker as “nice and sharp” at training in Abbotstown.
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