FORMER IRELAND INTERNATIONAL and RTÉ pundit Eamon Dunphy has hit out at the Irish management over their treatment of Aston Villa starlet Jack Grealish.
Martin O’Neill recently suggested Ireland’s upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland would be “too big” for the 19-year-old and Dunphy criticised Giovanni Trapattoni, along with O’Neill, for their failure to recruit top-quality English-born players over the years.
“The last two regimes have been hopeless… We could have had Harry Kane,” Dunphy told RTÉ’s Game On. “He was in Tottenham’s reserves this time last year, and if you offered him a cap, he’d have jumped at it — Jack Grealish likewise. He could easily have been capped in the game against Gibraltar.
“He’s actually insulting him — he said the Scotland match would be ‘too big’ for him. And a few days later, Grealish was the most important figure at the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.”
Dunphy also criticised Keane, after the assistant boss publicly made some remarks that appeared to disrespect Grealish’s father.
“To be blathering on in press conferences shows such disrespect to any player,” he added. “Never mind one who’s been a seminal figure in a Wembley FA Cup semi-final and a relegation fight.
“It’s a disservice to Irish football and it’s absolutely outrageous.”
The RTÉ pundit also suggested that O’Neill’s behaviour was arrogant.
“I’m going to try and restrain myself here in what I say but if people think that they’re too big to manage the Irish team and that their egos are more important than the job they’re getting a million quid a year to do, then when or if we don’t qualify, I hope they’re judged very harshly.
“I don’t think Jack Grealish will ever play for Ireland and I don’t think what these guys have done has helped.
“To say that the Scotland game was too big for him… Scotland are a team full of journeymen, they wouldn’t be too big for me.
“Someone’s getting a million quid a year to manage Ireland, blathering on as if they’re in a bar… This is irresponsible, it does no good to Ireland and most importantly, it does no favours to the Irish fans who are paying top dollar to be going into the Aviva Stadium to support the team and often, to travel away as well.”
