Stands by decision to drop Maguire England manager has no regrets after Greek scandal
Peacock-Farrell saves 10-man Northern Ireland from defeat
GAVIN WHYTE’S late header earned 10-man Northern Ireland an unlikely draw and their first ever Nations League point as it finished 1-1 against Romania in Bucharest, but manager Ian Baraclough owed a huge debt to his goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
The Green and White Army were frustrated for much of the night, falling behind when George Puscas poked Romania in front after 25 minutes, and then losing Josh Magennis to two soft yellow cards before half-time.
Peacock-Farrell made a
GARETH SOUTHGATE will welcome Harry Maguire back into the England squad next month and has no regrets about the way he handled the decision to select then swiftly withdraw the defender.
Already the most complicated international camp of the
Three Lions boss’s tenure due to the impact of Covid-19, the dilemma over the availability of the 27-year-old only added an extra layer of difficulty.
Southgate publicly backed Maguire when calling him up for the Nations League double-header with Iceland and Denmark, only to make a quick about-turn following the verdict of a Greek court.
The defender was withdrawn from the squad after being handed a suspended 21-month string of top-class saves to keep his side in it in the second half before substitutes Kyle Lafferty and Whyte combined to snatch an equaliser four minutes from time.
There was still time for Peacock-Farrell to make another fine save, pushing Denis Alibec’s shot on to the crossbar.
The second half will offer huge encouragement to Baraclough sentence, having been found guilty of assaulting a police officer, swearing, resisting arrest and bribery during an incident in Mykonos.
Maguire maintains his innocence and has lodged an appeal with the Greek court system, with Southgate sticking by the Manchester United captain despite that decision to take him out of the squad.
“We’ve been in touch right the way through the last two and a half weeks,” the England manager said in his first press conference since then.
“This has been clearly a really difficult period for him and I think the last few days have been very important for him to be able to relax, get away from all the attention and get a rest.
“Mentally get a rest because of course he had a short break
– appointed to replace Michael O’Neill back in April but only now getting his first game in charge.
And much of it was down to another man who has endured a long wait for action, with Peacock-Farrell showing why Burnley have handed him a new contract if not yet a debut as he starred on his first competitive outing since Northern Ireland’s last match in November. anyway but then the events that happened in Greece had really dominated that.
“I think he needed that switch-off and he’ll be able to go back to his club and absolutely we’ll be looking to involve him in October.”
England skipper Harry Kane also revealed he had contacted Maguire after the incident.
“I spoke to H a couple of days after everything had happened and to see if he needed any help,” he said.
“He was fine and said it was a crazy few days. He said he would explain to me when he was in the camp but that is not the case.
“But the lads who are close to him said he is in a good place. The last few weeks have been an experience for him but I guess it is something which will make him stronger.
“We back H all the way and we look forward to seeing him in the October camp and hopefully he can get his head down and get back in the team at Manchester United.”
Southgate’s handling of the situation has been widely debated, after he withdrew Maguire from the squad just hours after calling him into it.
Asked if there was any moment when he felt embarrassed or that he had made the wrong decision by initially selecting the defender, the England boss told talkSPORT: “No. Not at all.
“I think everybody is now aware how complex this case was, which wasn’t as it was initially reported in any way.
“I felt it was important to support our player, so I always knew that the timing of the case was potentially going to mean we would have to change something in a relatively short period.
“But we had a squad to pick of 25 and lots of things to prepare for, medically and everything else, so we couldn’t delay just for one situation.
“That ended up being as it was. I have to live with that. It didn’t bother me the reaction to it, I knew that would come.”