DYLAN WATTS TURNED down Stephen Kenny once before.
He won’t do it again.
Not now that he is Republic of Ireland manager.
In the summer of 2018, it was a different story.
Watts’ contract at Leicester City was not being renewed and after six-month loan stint with Bohemians, during which time he impressed with his all-round midfield performances, Stephen Bradley convinced him his future in the League of Ireland lay with Shamrock Rovers.
Kenny, then in charge at Dundalk, had tried to bring the 21-year-old Dubliner to Oriel Park.
“Yeah but I ended up coming here instead,” Watts shrugs.
Fast forward almost four years and the Rovers midfielder might just be emerging on Kenny’s radar once again.
Bradley hailed his “mature and consistent” performances last year following the departure of Jack Byrne.
Now that the playmaker has returned for a second stint with the Hoops, it has brought into a sharper focus the potential path set out in front of Watts given his club teammate became a full international when Kenny’s predecessor, Mick McCarthy, handed him his debut during his first spell.
Daniel Mandroiu, another former Bohs man who headed across the city to join Rovers prior to last season, was also named by Kenny in the summer training camp so making that breakthrough is not something that feels beyond him.
“I don’t think so,” Watts insists. “It’s a goal, it’s every kids’ dream to play for your country and I’m no different. I think I need to push on again, go another couple of gears to try and find that but it’s something I believe is possible.
Of course, I saw it with Jack and with Danny so it’s a possibility… It’s massive for players that the manager is watching the games,” he continues.
“You see him at a lot of League of Ireland matches. It’s brilliant for the league that he is watching and if you can put together a run of performances, that there is a chance you can get called into the squad.
“I think it is massive for every League of Ireland player that he is watching. You’d see him at most of our games anyway. It is massive.”
Bradley put demands on Watts to find a consistency to his game last season following the departure of Byrne and Aaron McEneff, the latter heading to Hearts.
He rose to the challenge and the Rovers head coach is adamant aiming for international recognition
“His level of ability can go there. Again, he just needs to focus on his game and what he is doing at the moment,” Bradley insists.
“He is maturing really nicely at the moment so he needs to keep that going, keep maturing, keep improving in every aspect, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where it led him because his level of ability can take him there.
“He has always been a talker, Dylan, maybe you don’t hear it where you are, because he is clever, he gets the game, so you’ll always hear him talking to players around him about the game, in terms of where to be and where we can hurt them, what’s working, what’s not working, he is always talking in training, so he is a talker.”
“He grew last year, it was a big year for him when we lost Jack and Aaron,” the Rovers boss adds. “We needed that to be filled and Dylan stepped up and produced it weekly which was really important.
“We always knew he had the ability and talent but he definitely matured last year and he has shown that this year.
He’s one of very few players in the league who can play through the thirds very quickly off either side. He takes very limited touches which always speeds up the game and helps you unlock opponents.
“He is clever and creative… [but] for the level of player he is and the positions he gets in, he can definitely add more goals.”
Watts agrees – his one goal this term is just shy of a paltry two from 2021 – and while Kenny will be naming his squad next week for the upcoming friendlies with Belgium and Lithuania at the end of the month, domestic matters take priority with a derby against Bohs tonight.
Tallaght Stadium has been a 7,500 sell-out since Tuesday and, after two defeats and two wins from their opening four games, the champions are already
“It’s been quite a stuttering start,” he accepts. “Disappointed to lose up in Derry and to lose away at Pat’s as well.
“I think we will get stronger as a group and I wouldn’t be worried. We know ourselves that we can go up another couple of gears, and I think we will.
“The standards at this club the last few years demands that we win games so it’s a massive game to kick start our season.
We have a few more gears to go in us but it’s up to us now to find them. I think we will.”
