IT WAS A lively night in Montrose this evening as Liam Brady, Richie Sadlier and Eamon Dunphy were in flying form.
After Juventus progressed to the Champions League decider thanks to a draw in Madrid, attention turned to the topic preoccupying Irish football fans: Jack Grealish.
Dunphy insists that comments from the Irish management — like Martin O’Neill’s insistence that the Scotland game was too big for the Villa winger — have not been positive.
“[Grealish] has been magnificent — and he was again last Saturday,” he told Darragh Maloney. “This is a good, promising young player. Remarks made by O’Neill and Keane have not been helpful to the cause of getting him to turn out for Ireland in my opinion.”
Richie Sadlier suspects we won’t see the Birmingham-born star in a green jersey again.
“It’s a huge decision that he has to make and if he’s unclear about it, he’s right to take some time to take as long as he needs to take it,” Sadlier said.
“I would suspect he’s made up his mind privately and he’s not going to be an Irish international again. I’m not sure why he would be unsure. He’s been part of the FAI scene for years so he knows what’s involved. He made the statement that he’s out of international football til September to concentrate on club football and he’ll be back for the 21s then; that doesn’t add up for me.
“I would be surprised if he played for us again.”
Liam Brady concluded: “He’s got to go where his heart tells him to go. Not his head, his heart.”
