Storm of vile Twitter abuse as Grealish stays out of Irish squad
Grealish suffers vile abuse after snubbing Ireland
DESPITE pleas from Martin O’Neill not to demonise him, Jack Grealish was subjected to vicious abuse on social media yesterday after turning down an invitation to join the Republic of Ireland squad.
O’Neill had attempted to draft the 19-year- old Aston Villa midfielder into his 33-man panel for the friendly with England and the Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland next month but was rebuffed. The 11th- hour change caused yesterday’s press conference to be delayed, with O’Neill admitting he was disappointed by the turn of events.
‘I think Jack just didn’t want to make his mind up at this stage, he wanted to complete the season at Aston Villa,’ said the Ireland manager.
The snub prompted a flood of Twitter users to send Grealish vile sectarian messages.
‘F*** off you British c***,’ said @fernando_shane. ‘f*** you ye English p****,’ wrote @SeanYeah1, with @DickensLewis posting: ‘I expect you at away matches singing F*** the IRA’.
However, O’Neill urged supporters to try and understand the predicament the Birmingham-born star, who has been capped by Ireland at youth level up to Under 21s, finds himself in now that the country of his birth is showing interest.
‘You do remember, he is English, he was born in England, his father was born in England,’ O’Neill pointed out. ‘ He’s actually enjoyed playing for Ireland because the FAI and the lads like Noel [King] and all the people that work with him have
SO, fair to say Jack Grealish has won over Martin O’Neill. On the day the Republic of Ireland boss named a 33- man provisional squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier which could ultimately seal his fate, he spent time on the phone with the player whom, four weeks ago, he asserted was not ready to play against Scotland.
As it happened, O’Neill was only trying to draft the Aston Villa star for the friendly which precedes next month’s main event. His thinking was clear: give the 19-yearold a taste of life with the senior squad against England without forcing him to pledge his international future.
The question is, shouldn’t the Ireland boss have done it last summer when they embarked on a post- season tour of America? Grealish may have had far less experience than he does now but, out of all those who starred for Noel King’s Under 21s in 2014, he was the one tipped for advancement in a green shirt.
Crucially, he was also eager to try and impress at senior level having delayed booking a summer holiday of his own just in case he got the call. It never came, but it did yesterday morning and O’Neill was keen to defend the way in which he has approached the pursuit of the Birmingham-born teenager, who is now very much on the radar of Roy Hodgson’s England.
‘Sometimes along the way you have to have a gut feeling about these things. I’ve a lot of gut feelings about it and I don’t think — and this is my own view from my conversations with him in the past — I’m not so sure that going to visit him would have done the trick,’ he explained.
‘That’s just my view. You might tell me it would be worthwhile at the end of it all. I’ve been considering this since he’s come into prominence. Again, I’ll come back to the point, I didn’t see it becoming a major issue before. And it’s not just because I’m meeting you here today, but I understand that Jack didn’t really want to make his mind up.’
Eventually he will have to. However, O’Neill’s admittance that he never foresaw the furore over Grealish’s future is almost cruelly apt considering it is only now, after his starring performance against Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final last month, that most of England has awoken to the potential on their own doorstep.
Ireland had their opportunity to steal a march but O’Neill accepts the lure of England could be too much for a son of Solihull to ignore.
‘I think at some stage or another, let’s be fair about it, I think Jack’s got to make his mind up. He really has got to make his mind up. I think that would be the message coming f rom not j ust me personally but probably coming from club level as well.
‘I would say that it’s pretty open. I would certainly not rule i t out, him playing for Ireland. I would not rule that out at all,’ he added.
‘I think that this is a decision, as a young kid, he will have to stay with for the rest of his time as a professional player.
‘Jack’s been born in England, his father’s been born in England — I can genuinely understand those ties. That’s really understandable. And I’m sure if England were to come calling that’s something that might be hard to resist for him. But I don’t think England have been calling. I don’t know that for certain but I don’t think they have.’ O’Neill stressed he has not discussed England’s intentions with counterpart Hodgson but is aware that with the Three Lions almost qualified for the Euros, they could afford to throw Grealish into the mix for a competitive game with minimum risk and therefore tie up his eligibility. ‘That’s a possibility and I do accept that it i s something that he might experiment with. But he might experiment with other players. I don’t know. Roy is dealing with experienced players and even the younger l ads at this moment that he has are vastly more experi enced than Jack at club level.
‘He (Hodgson) sees the same things that I would see. If he does not think that he is ready for England at this moment... there’s a f airly decent chance that he doesn’t.’ O’Neill now does. He was impressed by Grealish’s performance against Liverpool but it has been his ability to make an impact over the course of 90 minutes in Villa’s last three Premier League games that has changed his opinion.
Tim Sherwood’s side are now four points above the relegation zone and Grealish was named man-ofthe-match in the most recent win over West Ham United which has all but secured their safety.
O’Neill revealed he was attempting to capitalise on the positive vibes around Villa Park by first contacting the player’s father and then Grealish himself.
‘I feel that last victory has done enough for Villa to stay up,’ said O’Neill. ‘There’d be a massive relief around the place and he might be in this position, over the last day or two, to think about it and maybe that might be a type of release for him. But no is the answer.’
And it was definitive.
‘I didn’t see this becoming a huge issue like it has’