Crawford wary of complacency as U21s face minnows
SOME 17 years after the Republic of Ireland were spared a Serravalle slip-up by a last gasp Stephen Ireland goal, the U21s are on Euroduty in San Marino’s Italian hideaway today (5.0).
Nothing less than a win will suffice to stay on track for the finals but manager Jim Crawford won’t be side-tracked by giddy talk of a goal-rush against the bottom seeds in Group A.
‘I’ve got beaten (as a player) in numerous FAI Cup games against lower league teams. It’s not nice,’ he recalled.
‘All it takes for one player, two players to say “This is going to be an easy ride”, and straight away you’re down to nine against 11.
‘It’s one of those things that you can’t let that seep into your camp and I’ll certainly make sure it won’t.
‘If you start cutting corners, take your foot off the pedal, there are consequences,’ he warned.
‘And the one thing I don’t want when the final whistle goes is to say to yourself, “Could we have done more?”’
Crawford will lean on midfielders Andy Moran and Joe Hodge to provide leadership before they link up with the seniors for Tuesday’s friendly with Switzerland at Aviva Stadium.
‘Two exciting players. I don’t think they’re near their ceiling at the minute, but they’ll certainly get there because of their attitude, said Crawford.
‘Joe’s played a bit more of an advanced midfielder with QPR when he’s played, and he’s been effective.
‘It’s been a little bit of a dry period for Andy at the minute with regards firstteam minutes with Blackburn, but he’ll be fine.
‘He understands the situation, he doesn’t sulk, he just gets on with it and that to me is the character of the individual.’
Hodge is ‘buzzing’ to have the senior game to look forward to on his return from San Marino and hopefully join Moran as a senior capped player.
‘He (O’Shea) told me he was watching me play recently at QPR, thought I was doing okay and that he was giving me the opportunity to come in to the senior squad. I was buzzing.
‘Looking through the squad the other day there are loads of lads who have been there around the 21s who I played with before. Everyone can see the pathway is there if you get the opportunity to show what you can do.’
Crawford has hailed the interim appointment of O’Shea with the senior team.
‘John will bring an air of calmness. He was extremely influential with us when he took us to the last play-offs. He had a lot of input,’ said Crawford.
‘John has fantastic knowledge of the game. As a head coach you need to be able to control your emotions and he certainly can do that.
‘He sees the game in a very clear way and he has the communications skills to be able to transfer his ideas to the player without any problem.
‘When you go in as a head coach it is totally different to being a player. It is a different skill set. But the fact John was hugely successful with Ireland and Manchester United will help him in this role.’
Meanwhile, Alan Reynolds is set to be confirmed as the new boss of Bohemians 17 months after he turned down the job.
Bohs have acted quickly after parting company with Declan Devine by identifying Reynolds as the manager to lift the club back among the League of Ireland elite.
The move will see Reynolds reunited with Pat Fenlon, the Director of Football at Dalymount Park, for a third time.
The duo were previously in harness at Shelbourne, when Reynolds was still a player.