With the countdown
to the European Championships well underway the issue of who should go or not
go on that plane to France with the Republic of Ireland is an interesting
debate.
Despite the recent
squad announcement for the friendly games against Switzerland and Slovakia that
failed to include Damien Delaney, people still stating the Delaney should go to
the Euro’s.
Shane Duffy showed
why Delaney is not needed last Friday night against the Swiss and why if any
new face should be added to the group that qualified then he should be that
man.
Damien Delaney has
had a great couple of seasons with Crystal Palace but for whatever reason he
has not been available to Manager Martin O’Neill. Talk of a bust up with Roy Keane and failure
of assurances of a regular starting berth under O’Neill are just some of the
stories doing the rounds to explain his exile, both of which Delaney has
denied.
At 34 years of age
O’Neill is right to not go chasing the defender. If history has thought us anything chasing
players to represent your country is nothing but a waste of time. Stephen Ireland and Jack Grealish come to
mind. Both of whom will be lying on a
beach this summer as Ireland kick off their tournament against Sweden on June 13th,
for their own reasons.
Of course chasing
players to represent the country, albeit through the regular channels or the famous
granny rule has been fruitful in the past, if a player wants to play for his
country he should be willing to swim across the Irish sea to do so, O’Neill,
Keane or anybody else should not have to negotiate terms or conditions with the
player. It should be an honour.
Delaney
previously featured for Ireland under O'Neill in the summer of 2014, playing a
friendly game against Turkey in Dublin. However, according to the former
Leicester boss, the defender was not willing to travel to the United States for friendlies against Portugal and Costa Rica.
Shane Duffy showed
last Friday that it was indeed an honour, the stand out player from the players
hoping to impress O’Neill ahead of the squad announcement in May. The Blackburn
Rovers defender shone alongside goal scorer Ciaran Clark as they kept out the
Swiss attack.
Duffy made his Ireland debut, under
O’Neill in 2014 against Costa Rica in America.
He was called up to train with Giovanni Trapattoni's' Ireland squad as
an 18-year-old at the end of the 2009-10 season where he suffered a lacerated
liver in a freak accident in a practice match and underwent emergency surgery
with his life on the line.
After loan
spells at Burnley, Scunthorpe and Yeovil he eventually landed a permanent switch to Blackburn Rovers, where
his career has now started to take off and has now seen him back in the
thoughts of the Ireland manager.
At just 24 years of
age Duffy is one of a few young players making the next step in their
International careers. It would be a
mistake on O’Neill’s part to include Delaney at 34 he will offer little to the
future of Irish football at this stage and although performing very well at the
highest level for Crystal Palace, O’Neill needs to think ahead to who will be
around when hopefully he is selecting his squad for Russia and World Cup 2018.
At that stage Delaney
will have turned 37 while at the age of 26 Shane Duffy should be a regular in
the Irish defence alongside Ciaran Clark.
The end of this
summer’s tournament could also see the end of the road for John O’Shea, Robbie
Keane, Shay Given and Wes Hoolahan in an Irish jersey. O’Neill needs to plan ahead with what will be
his squad going forward and Duffy will be a major part of that, sadly for
Delaney with just 9 caps to his name, maybe he has had his chance but didn’t
fully grasp it.
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