Ruthless? There’s for sentiment in No room this role
O’SHEA SAYS HE IS READY TO MAKE THE BIG CALLS
JOHN O’SHEA is prepared to be ruthless over the next week as he bids to flex his managerial muscle.
The former Manchester United and Ireland defender played under some of the game’s toughest bosses including Alex Ferguson and Martin O’neill.
Fergie was famous for his so-called ‘hair-dryer treatment’ – flying into a rage at his players whenever they underperformed.
And O’neill’s sweeping changes midway through Ireland’s Euro 2016 campaign paid off when his muchchanged side defeated Italy in Lille to qualify from the group stages.
O’shea was a victim of that overhaul, as both he and centre-half partner Ciaran Clark were replaced by Shane Duffy and Richard Keogh, while interim coach Glenn Whelan was another experienced star to face the axe in France.
While he only has two games in which to make an impression – against Belgium on Saturday and Switzerland next Tuesday – O’shea knows this is a big week in his fledgling coaching career.
Plenty of eyes will be on the Waterford man as he takes on the top job for the very first time.
And it is widely being seen as an audition for a future attempt to land the senior Ireland job on a permanent basis, given that the FAI say they already have a man in mind for an early-april announcement. So he won’t be afraid to upset people over the coming days. Asked if he would show the same ruthless streak as O’neill in 2016, he replied: “Yeah, you have to be.
“Obviously we have a squad of 25, so there are obviously going to be people disappointed.
“But that’s what I spoke to the players about initially, in terms of what you take to win matches at international level and to qualify for tournaments; it’s a squad of players.
“Over the course of the two games there will be changes. Obviously you can have six subs as well.”
Belgium are firm favourites to win on Saturday – despite the absences of Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne through injury – but O’shea is planning for an upset. Look, it will be the full focus on Belgium, picking a team that can obviously cause Belgium problems but that can also be compact and tight as well,” he said.
“There are still no decisions made on the team. That’s what we spoke about - the intensity needed in training. And then we wait and see what happens closer to Saturday.”
O’shea’s predecessor Stephen Kenny widened the pool of players significantly by handing debuts to 21 players during his reign.
Two more fresh faces are likely to be capped for the first time – Blackburn’ Rovers’ 27-goal star Sammie Szmodics and Jake O’brien.
O’brien admitted on Tuesday, when speaking to the media, that he looked up to interim Ireland boss O’shea as a youngster. “Jake really
wants to get in the team,” joked former Manchester United man O’shea, referring to the flattery. “I tell you what, he’s playing well so far.
“As I think Jake mentioned himself, the growth he’s had in terms of his footballing knowledge over the last year to 18 months has been fantastic.
“He has settled in well into the group. The level he is playing at is really high. But obviously the level of competition we have in that area of the pitch is very good, so just carry on with what he is doing, hopefully.
“He’ll be very close to being involved in both games and defensively it will be important in both games too because it’s top quality opposition, and at any level now in international games you have to get the house in order in terms of clean sheets to give you a chance of winning games.”