CLUB FORM AND status has not always been at the forefront of past managers’ minds when it comes to selection for the Ireland team.
Under Jack Charlton, Mick McCarthy — a very decent but hardly great player — was continually picked in favour of David O’Leary, an Arsenal legend who was by most accounts the more talented defender, but was ostracised from the team for many years before eventually being recalled and scoring a famous penalty at Italia 90.
Similarly, under Giovanni Trapattoni, highly-rated footballers such as James McCarthy and Seamus Coleman were often overlooked, while markedly less high-profile players including Paul Green and Simon Cox were selected.
Nevertheless, despite being considered a conservative coach by some, O’Neill has shown so far that he is not afraid of making big decisions, even if they impact on a player of considerable status.
He dropped Robbie Keane for the team’s vital Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland last November, while he opted to pick veteran Shay Given in goal for the team’s recent game against Poland, having previously resisted the temptation to pick the Aston Villa man following the player’s decision to come out of retirement.
And O’Neill may have another big decision on his hands, after Forde and Wigan’s James McClean were both relegated from the Championship last night.
The Ireland boss seems to value top-level experience more so than his predecessor Trapattoni — against Poland, Robbie Keane and Wes Hoolahan were the only non-Premier League players to start.
Moreover, in his last squad for the game with Poland, not one player below Championship-level featured, while Paul Green and Simon Cox — lower-division players regularly picked under Trapattoni — were chopped from the final squad.
Granted, club form is hardly the be all and end all for O’Neill. The Ireland boss has stayed loyal to the likes of Stephen Ward and Aiden McGeady in various qualifiers, despite these players often struggling to get a game domestically. Consequently, it would hardly be a shock if the manager stuck by McClean and Forde even if the pair are playing League One football next season.
(Millwall’s Forde has shipped 72 goals in the Championship this season)
Nevertheless, it certainly won’t do the duo’s respective situations any favours if they drop d0wn a level. Forde’s somewhat disappointing form at club level must surely have come in to O’Neill’s thinking amid his decision to go with Given for the Poland encounter, seeing as the Millwall man hasn’t done much wrong in recent times at international level.
Similarly, McClean has been in and out of the Ireland team, perhaps partially owing to his lack of experience playing at a particularly high level over the past two seasons.
However, while their clubs have struggled, it hasn’t been a disastrous season for McClean and Forde from a personal viewpoint. Both footballers have been first-team regulars for their respective sides and two of their team’s better performers to boot.
Nevertheless, being a big fish in a small pond might not earn the players any brownie points as far as the Irish management are concerned, especially when you consider how Roy Keane often cites ‘big-game experience’ as being vital. Furthermore, the pair need only look at Kevin Doyle as one example of a player whose form and international prospects have undoubtedly suffered, after the striker dropped to League One with Wolves in 2013.
Of the two players though, McClean appears to be in a much better position to earn a move away from his beleaguered club. Forde will be 36 in December and is clearly coming towards the end of his career, so it seems unlikely that other teams will be queuing up to install him as their new first-choice goalkeeper.
On the other hand, McClean, at 26, still conceivably has his best years ahead of him. Both Newcastle and Celtic have been linked with the winger in recent months, and with the Latics inevitably needing extra cash owing to their relegation woes, they may look to cash in on the Derry native.
The former Sunderland man is popular with the Ireland supporters, as the loud roar that greeted his bone-crunching tackle against Poland illustrated, and there will be no doubt many calling for McClean to start against Scotland in June, irrespective of his club woes.
Nevertheless, playing in a level as low as League One on a regular basis creates bad habits in players, hence McClean, and Forde to an extent, will likely face an anxious wait for their long-term futures to be resolved this summer.
