KILBANE
GO ON, STEPHEN, MAKE THAT CALL TO MARTIN
IWOULD love to see Stephen Ireland back in an Ireland shirt. There, I said it. Now, calm yourselves. We all know his name alone is enough to create a severe reaction among supporters. For some, he’s the man who lied about the deaths of two grandmothers just to get out of playing for his country and has shown no real desire to return in the eight years since.
For others, he is just misunderstood. Goodbye and good riddance, then? No. I think it’s time to think again. I believe he is one of the best talents we have produced in the Premier League over the last decade.
He is 28 and seems to be settled with Stoke City. Finally. He can still pull the strings from the middle of the park and change any game with his ability. For Ireland and Martin O’Neill, he might just be the difference in the remainder of this Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
Think back to that grim November night in Glasgow last year and the blatant lack of creativity or ingenuity in the final third against Scotland. Stephen is a player who can see that pass but he is also a player who can pick it out. There’s a difference between vision and execution.
Roy Keane got a front row seat to his talents last weekend and even though Jon Walters was the one who finished with a hat-trick and the match ball, the Ireland assistant would have driven home with thoughts of Ireland’s two assists swirling around in his head. The instinctive back heel and well-timed return pass. It was pure class.
O’Neill is not in a position to disregard anyone and if a player is playing regularly in the Premier League, and playing well, scoring goals and making assists, he should be considered for selection. Stephen Ireland is no different and should not be treated as a special case.
He does, however, have to pick up the phone and tell Martin he wants to return. I’d love him to do that. Leave the agents out of it and just have a chat. I don’t know if that will happen and for me, it’s a real shame and very sad that we have not seen him in a green shirt enough since his breakthrough at Manchester City.
I’d say Robbie Keane is also thinking of what might have been had Ireland been around. Imagine how many more goals he might have had the Cork man been seeing his runs and finding him with a through ball. There could well be more than 65, that’s for sure.
It’s a long way from Tallaght to the White House. But didn’t Robbie look at home on his latest tour of the Obama’s gaff? As soon as I saw the photos of him standing next to the American president this week, as he proudly held up his LA Galaxy shirt, I fired off a couple of sarcastic texts. He didn’t get back to me, though.
The MLS do it in style. And there is something rather special about their ‘soccer’ champions going to the White House and taking the plaudits from the leader of the free world, just like the stars of baseball, American football and basketball.
It was Robbie’s second visit to the White House, and he was singled out in his speech by Barack Obama, who obviously recognises talent when he sees it.
It’s a shame the rest of the world, particularly English fans, have been slower to acknowledge Robbie’s brilliance. And I’m convinced it’s because he is Irish.
There is no one still playing at the top in world football with a better goal scoring record, and he is still going, and still scoring. And he’s looking to continue doing that until he is 40. I would not bet against it if he is still fit. The start of the MLS season comes next month, just a couple of weeks before Robbie will lead out the Republic of Ireland in our massive Euro 2016 qualifier at home to Poland.
By then, he will have a good Christmas break, and a strong pre-season behind him. He is also going to be buoyed by the prospect of Steven Gerrard landing in California at some point during the summer.
AYEAR ago Robbie was coming back from a serious operation but this year he has not faced those problems and knowing him, he will have worked hard on his fitness during his off-time in Ireland and he will be flying and raring to go for the new MLS season. That hunger will still be burning inside him and I’m convinced he will come into Dublin for the Poland game with a little point to prove after he was left out of the defeat to Scotland.
Scouring the divisions, with a month to go before we can expect Martin O’Neill to name his squad, quite a few of our regulars are in good form at the start of 2015. That will be good news for the manager. And maybe a call from Stephen Ireland will make things even better.