THE RICE IS RIGHT SAYS REID
THE FAI could seek to appoint a new Under-21 manager after revealing news on Noel King’s future is imminent.
Since King, right, was appointed in 2010, Ireland’s long wait for a major tournament continues.
King’s men made a lively start to their most recent campaign, amassing 10 points from their opening four matches but won only one of their remaining six games to finish third.
It is believed the campaign has been reviewed by High Performance Director Ruud Dokter, chief executive John Delaney and King since the concluding game in Germany last week, a 2-0 defeat.
Tom Mohan, under-19 manager, would be the early favourite to replace King. But former
Ireland midfielder Lee Carsley, currently working with the English FA, is considered an alternative and has expressed his desire to assist the FAI in developing the next generation. BY
EMOTION got the better of Andy Reid when he advised Martin O’neill to “cut the cord” to Declan Rice.
The midfielder, above, who represented Ireland at all levels from Under-15 to seniors was disgusted when the West Ham United midfielder decided last month to make himself unavailable after winning three Ireland senior caps.
On reflection, however, Reid believes Ireland’s parlous state means beggars can’t be choosers.
Like O’neill, Reid is prepared to afford the 19-year-old time and space to resolve his dilemma on whether to return to the Ireland set-up or defect to his homeland of England.
Reid said: “I was asked about the situation in a radio interview just a few hours a`fter hearing the news and felt pretty emotional speaking about it.
“It meant a lot to me every time I played for my country, and when I first heard it my initial thought was, if he doesn’t want to play for us, cut the cord.
“Now, the more I think about it, I wonder can we afford to just cut the cord with a player of that quality? Probably not.
“I would suggest we should do all we can to get him involved again.”
Meanwhile, Reid insists he doesn’t dwell on his five-year exclusion from the Ireland squad by Giovanni Trapattoni, above.
“I’m not exactly going to go for a few pints with Trap but I don’t think even think about him that often,” he said.
“It was a pity because I was probably playing the best football of my club career at that time.”