LONG GOODBYE?
Southampton ace left out of squad along with Brady
AS expected, the surname Long has been included in the Republic of Ireland squad for next Thursday’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland.
Only it isn’t striker Shane of Southampton who has got the nod of approval from manager Mick McCarthy but defender Kevin of Burnley instead.
After 12 and a half years, 82 caps and 17 goals, the vastly experienced Long is the big loser in the McCarthy reshuffle ahead of battle at the Aviva Stadium.
Instead, McCarthy has opted for a quartet of strikers, none of whom has scored a goal for Ireland, a point probably not lost on Long as he licks his wounds.
His first 16 minutes of the season, as a substitute for the Saints in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night, came too late to convince McCarthy he was required for duty against the Swiss, or the friendly with Bulgaria.
Unlike March and June when Long was named by McCarthy only to then drop out with injury, this time he stays in the shadows. And it will hurt. Long has been a mainstay under Steve Staunton, Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin O’Neill, either in tandem with Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle and Jon Walters in attack, or as a rightsided raider.
He’s played in two Euro finals and his goal against Germany in October 2015 was the most famous in Dublin since Jason McAteer’s winner against the Dutch in 2001.
He also scored for Ireland at Wembley in a 1-1 draw against England in 2013.
What Long does next will be intriguing.
Does he knuckle down to procure game time at Southampton, or elsewhere, to remind McCarthy of his worth? Or does he throw a
strop and retire from the international cause?
I hope it’s not the latter as Long has much to offer in terms of pace, physicality and big match experience.
From the outside, it appears Long has had ‘previous’ with Irish managers who overlooked him for selection in the past.
When left out of the Ireland XI against Serbia in a friendly in August 2016, Long insisted he had been fit to play, a point of view which Trapattoni described ‘idiotic.’
Towards the end of O’Neill’s reign, there seemed to be something amiss as Long was given just a quarter of an hour in the two-legged World Cup play-off with Denmark. That Daryl Murphy, at 34, started both games inside three days while Long, four years younger, was overlooked didn’t sit right from the press benches. When McCarthy was appointed manager, Long needed to land running but instead was held up by injuries which enabled David McGoldrick to seize his chance to lead the line.
Seanie Maguire and Scott Hogan each clocked in and have started one game out of four under McCarthy. All three forwards have since totted up more game-time at club level in the fledgling new season than Long.
Perhaps the greatest threat to Long has been the emergence of Callum Robinson, who can play up top or on the right flank.
He missed the March game but made amends by impressing McCarthy in the Portugal training camp, after which he figured as a substitute against Denmark, and started against Gibraltar.
A summer move to newly-promoted Sheffield United further elevated his position in the hierarchy of Irish attackers.
So is this the end of the road for Long or a kick in the backside?
Kevin Kilbane, a centurion and former international colleague of Long’s is certainly not writing the Tipperary native off yet.
‘You asked me six months ago if it was the end of the road for Glenn Whelan, so it’s never the end of the road. I don’t think there is any need for Shane to retire or anything like that,’ said Kilbane.
‘He has to keep his head down, work hard and get back in his club side. It might be away from Southampton, it might be a January move, it might be a loan move away until the end of the season to get back playing games.
‘He was in form at the back end of last season, scoring goals and that was something we hadn’t seen in a while.
‘I do think he has to react in a positive way for himself but it’s difficult because sometimes when you feel that hurt and rejection, you think everyone is against you and you go into your shell a little bit. But I don’t think he will have that attitude. Knowing him and how he plays and trains, I think he will get his head right and prove himself again.’
Long is not the only loser in McCarthy’s revised squad of 25 as Robbie Brady is also marked absent.
According to Burnley, Brady is on stand-by for the two games, which suggests he has been overlooked by McCarthy.