“Where is the next generation of young Irish players?” asks Stephen Byrne.
Following Tuesday’s humiliating defeat at the hands of Denmark, consternation flowed quicker than the pints that drowned our collective sorrows.
“That was embarrassing!”
“…O’Neil’s tactics belong in the 80s!”
“We should’ve won the group!”
“Why won’t he pick Wes?”
“The Guinness in Russia is shite anyways!”
Beyond the anger and rightful disappointment the real question is: Where do we go from here? And in turn, who do we turn to next?
Let’s take a look…
Liverpool currently has four Irish players in their ranks at under 18/23 level.
Defender Corey Whelan, who can play anywhere across the back line, but prefers centre-half, captains Liverpool’s Under-23 team who are currently two points clear at the top of Premier League 2.
Alongside Whelan in the heart of that defence is Conor Masterson (18), who has been playing for both Liverpool’s U23 team and Steven Gerrard’s U19 Champions League team this season. Jürgen Klopp has been full of praise for the young Dubliner, describing him as being one of the next boys to come through at Liverpool.
Also in the defensive ranks in Cork stopper Caoimhin Kelleher (17), who trains with Liverpool’s first team at Melwood. Kelleher’s impressive displays earned him a call-up to the Ireland U21 squad for the first time this week. However, Kelleher will have to dislodge Manchester United U23 keeper Kieran O’Hara before he gets between the sticks at that level.
Also plying his trade at Manchester United is Waterford defender Lee O’Connor (17) whose impressive displays have seen him nominated for young player of the season at Carrington.
Back at Liverpool we have Kingswood goal-getter Glen McAuley, the young Tallaght man (17), scored 16 goals in his first season, and has been impressing for Stevie G’s U18 and U19 sides this term, with the Liverpool legend describing McAuley as a natural goalscorer.
Even though these players haven’t played for Liverpool’s first team their Welsh compatriots Danny Ward, Harry Wilson and Ben Woodburn have all been called up to Wales squads, with little if any regular first team football to their names. Shouldn’t Ireland be at least taking a look at what these players have to offer?
At Everton, Sam Byrne and Steven Kinsella are among the Irish hopefuls, along with Harry Charsley, who finished joint top scorer in the Toffees’ title-winning U23 side last season.
You’ll already be familiar with Burnley’s five Irish internationals, but could attacker Khius Metz become their sixth?
The speedster broke Darren Campbell’s 200 metre school sprint record which stood for twenty-years. Also on Burnley’s books is former Manchester United centre-back Jimmy Dunne. The Dundalk man is currently on loan at Burrow.
There is a dearth of Irish players at Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea, but midfielder Kian Flanagan will be hoping to stake a claim in London at Crystal Palace. While a trio of young Hammers led by midfielder Declan Rice (18) will be hoping to make the grade at the London Stadium.
Rice has been one of the only positives for West Ham in a poor start to the season which saw manager Slaven Bilic sacked. Let’s hope the young midfielder continues to progress under David Moyes. Also out to impress the chosen one will be midfielders Conor Coventry (17) and Anthony Scully (18).
Down at West Brom, defenders Kevin Healy (17) and Robert McCourt (19) will be hoping to catch the eye of defensive maestro Tony Pulis.
Surprisingly, Brighton Hove Albion may prove to be the unexpected source of a considerable pool of Irish talent with five Irish charges on their books – defender Rian O’Sullivan (18), midfielders Dessie Hutchinson (18), Jayson Molumby (19), Daniel Mandroiu (19), and striker Aaron Connolly (17).
Down at Southampton, Irish players dreaming of one day playing for Liverpool include Jonathan Afolabi, Thomas O’Connor and Michael Obafemi. The trio are part of the current Ireland Under-19 squad. Afolabi scored a brace in Ireland’s recent 5-0 thrashing of Cyprus.
Also appearing in the U19 setup is Tyrese Williams (17) the solid Manchester City defender helped his side beat Napoli home and away in the U19 Champions League recently.
Huddersfield Town have two Irish players in their ranks currently. Stopper Tadgh Ryan and defender Danny Kane who has represented Ireland up to U21 level and was U17 player of the year in the 2015/16 season. Also on their books is former U21 International Sean Scannell who, despite making over 140 appearances in the Championship has never got a sniff of playing for the senior squad; at 28 his chance has probably passed him by.
Meanwhile, Eddie Howe has Irish U21 striker Joe Quigley at his disposal at Bournemouth, with U19 stopper Mark Travers currently on-loan at Weymouth. Other Irish players in the ranks of Premier League clubs include Leicester midfielder Dylan Watts (20) who moved from UCD in the summer of 2016 and Nigerian born Irish striker Shola Ayoola (18) at Stoke.
Sure, there’s not a lot of known entities here and there’s no guarantee that any of them will go on to have successful careers, but there’s obviously a lot of Irish talent out there. And there’s plenty more in the Championship and elsewhere.
Let’s hope it can be nurtured properly so we’ll get to roar the Boys in Green on in Qatar in 2022.
Stephen Byrne is the editor of GoldenPlec.com
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