Open-door policy and a singing coach are creating harmony
THE days of drinking sessions to kick-start international duty, or doing an all-you-can-eat Harry Ramsdens Challenge the day before a vital qualifier may be long gone, but some oldschool values still remain within this Republic of Ireland squad.
Whatever about the little quirks of the ultra-competitive players, backroom staff and management team, according to one source, the current Ireland dressing room is ‘one of the best dressing rooms I’ve ever been involved with’.
There’s the horse-racing set, the likes of John O’Shea and Glenn Whelan, who share a love of the matters equine. Over the past week, Ruby Walsh et al will have been up for discussion as much as anything else.
There’s the chess club, FIFA brigade, golfers and, of course, the close-knit management team which boasts experienced story tellers, a chain-smoker and at least one who regularly breaks into song. And, of course, there’s Roy Keane.
‘People have this perception of him that you don’t go near him unless he says so,’ adds the source, ‘but, if you’re having breakfast and he’s sitting beside you, it’s not like he’ll ignore you. For some reason I can’t see someone like, say, Sven Goran Eriksson sitting down chatting to his players eating a bowl of Rice Krispies but Roy would.
Things will snap, crackle and pop as the week intensifies. The fourmonth hiatus following the richlydeserved 1-0 victory away to Austria last November has finally come to an end. Ireland players reunite today and before their focus sharpens on the World Cup qualifier with Wales on Friday it is time to don their glad rags.
The FAI International Awards take place at RTÉ studios in Donnybrook this evening as a successful 2016 is bookended with a string of gongs handed out. Jeff Hendrick, Seamus Coleman and Robbie Brady are all nominated for senior player of the year.
The latter is suspended for the Wales tie but may still join up for the full camp with a view to playing in the friendly with Iceland at Aviva Stadium four days after the competitive action is over with.
O’Neill named a provisional 39man squad for the back-to-back games and he is expected to trim that down before the first training session at FAI headquarters in Abbotstown tomorrow morning. Should new boys John Egan (Brentford defender) and Liam Kelly (Reading midfielder) make the cut, they will get their first experience of ‘The Voice’.
It’s not Martin O’Neill or Keane, though, rather goalkeeping coach Seamus McDonagh who is prone to burst into song around the team hotel or on the bus to and from training and matches.
‘You can always hear him,’ our insider adds. ‘He loves to belt different songs out.’
McDonagh is not the only engaging member of O’Neill’s staff. Coach Steve Guppy will make sure he is in position to welcome new arrivals to the squad as early as possible and it is interesting to note that his relationship with James McClean is now on much more solid ground than when the pair worked together at Sunderland and were often at loggerheads.
Former Arsenal and West Ham United defender Steve ‘Wally’ Walford, one of O’Neill’s longest-serving lieutenants, tends to work on shape with the back four.
Keane, meanwhile, explained this week that he has become much more hands on with players on the training field compared to his time as a manager with Sunderland and Ipswich Town. And it doesn’t take long for his presence to be felt.
‘You come out a bit early and are knocking the ball about with him, he will absolutely drill a pass into you to see how you cope with it,’ our source continued.
‘You don’t want to look silly with a poor touch, it’s not intimidating but even then you’re making sure you are sharp.’
Keane, unsurprisingly, remains fiercely competitive with everything he does, even down to getting involved in some of the impromtu post-training free-kick competitions that materialise.
At the team hotel, meanwhile, the Ireland squad will have a floor to themselves. It’s the norm for all of the doors to be left open as players and backroom staff – from strength and conditioning men to physios and video analysts – move from one to the other. There are no cliques but, naturally, some have their preferred ways of passing the time.
At Euro 2016, for example, Hendrick, Aiden McGeady and Richard Keogh all developed a competitive streak with games of chess, while David Meyler and Harry Arter are the resident FIFA aficionados who will often have challengers trying to knock them off their perch.
The same goes for the pool and table tennis tables in the games room and it is that competitive streak, mixed with the bonds which have been forged, that have helped create the current environment.
It has served Ireland well so far as another big week beckons.