CORK CITY MANAGER John Caulfield says he was delighted to learn of Sean Maguire’s inclusion in a 39-man provisional squad for the Republic of Ireland’s upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Serbia.
Maguire has been selected by Ireland boss Martin O’Neill for the first time, having left Cork City three weeks ago to join English Championship club Preston North End.
Many supporters have been critical of O’Neill for not picking Maguire during his time in the League of Ireland. The 23-year-old striker scored 56 goals in all competitions in 18 months on Leeside.
Caulfield insists that although it would have been satisfying had Maguire been called up while still a Cork City player, there’s no bitterness on the club’s behalf about the timing of his international recognition.
Maguire scored in his first game for Preston — a friendly against Burnley — and made his competitive debut by starting in their 1-o win against Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day of the season in England’s second tier.
“I’m delighted for him. It’s great for him,” Caulfield said this afternoon. “I’ve always felt he’s a special boy and everything he gets, he deserves. Fair dues to him. Let’s hope he gets into the final squad.
“I don’t get wound up about when they get called in, whether it should have been three weeks ago or a month ago or now. The most important thing is he was called up. Everyone knows where he came from. Everybody knows what he’s done for the last 18 months and we have to take pride and honour in that.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Cork City attacker Karl Sheppard, who’s adamant that Maguire’s form in his final two months with City — and not his move to England — was what convinced Martin O’Neill to include him.
O’Neill was at Oriel Park on 2 June when Maguire scored three times against Dundalk ahead of Ireland’s games against Uruguay and Austria. The former U21 international netted another hat-trick in the second leg of City’s Europa League tie against Levadia Tallinn on 6 July.
“To be honest, I think he’s probably in on the back of his performances in June and July with us. I think that’s probably what’s got him in. I’d be surprised if Martin watched his game against Burnley and the one that he had in the Championship,” Sheppard said.
“I know he watched him live against Dundalk and we all saw how good he was that day. Obviously in Europe he got another hat-trick so I’d say it’s those performances that got him in, rather than the few when he was over there.”
While acknowledging the significant gulf in standard that exists between the League of Ireland and football at international level, Caulfield was reluctant to criticise Martin O’Neill.
He also also reiterated his desire to see some of the League of Ireland’s top players invited to train with the senior Ireland squad, as City goalkeeper Mark McNulty was earlier this summer for the training camp at Fota Island.
“From our point of view, to think that he [Maguire] could leave us and a week later be starting in the opening game of the Championship, it shows that there are players who can do that. But at the same time, there aren’t a lot of players who can do that,” said Caulfield ahead of Friday’s Premier Division game against Sligo Rovers at Turner’s Cross.
“While deep down everyone would have loved if he was called up and had Cork City after his name, the way I feel about it ultimately is that he’s been called in effectively being a Cork City player, because he’s only really played one game at Preston.
“Martin and Roy [Keane] have a difficult job and everyone has their opinions. But from my point of view I’m just delighted he got called in. And as I keep saying, perception is the thing out there, in that the perception of our league isn’t the best. That’s what we have to keep working at. We have to keep promoting and that’s what I always try to do.”
Caulfield added: “Maybe if we could go back and see could we bring in two or four players, like in the old days, who’d go in and train. Obviously Mark McNulty was in training with them when they were in Fota and there have been other players too.
“It would be good for guys if they could [get called up] but at the same time I suppose there are Irish lads in the Championship and probably League One in England — guys like [Conor] Hourihane, John Egan — who have been around for a while but only got called up recently. They’ve all been in the Championship and they were probably saying that they should get called up as well.
“It’s a hard call because I suppose there’s so many players outside the Premier League and it’s probably different for the manager because they’re not at the highest level, which is the Premier League, so it is difficult.
“My thoughts might have been different 10 years ago but it got to the stage where we need to change the perception of our league. We have some quality players — not all, but some — and I just think that as a club, we should take great pride that he got called in this week. That’s the way I view it.”
