Maguire now ready for the full squad but does Hogan really fit in?
MARTIN O’NEILL names his squad for the final two World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday and I don’t think we are expecting any major surprises.
Last month the Ireland manager named of an initial squad of 35 and he will start with around the same number and familiar faces.
Preston North End striker Sean Maguire was among those who missed out on the final cut when it was whittled down by O’Neill. I could understand that but this time he deserves to be in the full squad.
There have been calls from League of Ireland fans for Maguire to be included since he started banging in the goals for Cork City. So he has been on the fringes and I always felt he needed time in England to get himself in the Preston team and scoring goals.
He started the season, now he is in the team regularly and playing very well and the goals have started to come. Preston are only a few points off the top of the Champion- ship and look set for a run at the top six.
Now he has made the ideal case for inclusion and all the arguments about whether he’s ready can be put aside because of his performances and goals.
In the strikers’ hierarchy we have Shane Long and Jon Walters, followed by Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick, and then Kevin Doyle.
Maguire is playing at a higher standard than Doyle now because the MLS is not as good as the Championship and he can compete for a place on the bench with Murphy and McGoldrick.
We don’t have a lot of strikers to choose from and there may be a time when the manager looks at the bench, wondering where a goal might come from. Maguire is capable of grabbing one out of nothing.
Martin O’Neill has spoken about him needing to work on his hold-up play and I saw him play against Sheffield Wednesday and I thought the one thing that stood out was his hold-up play. It was superb.
He didn’t really get much service against Wednesday and the way he held up play to get support was first class. He is only going to get better and develop as a player and the things we were all looking at him to improve on, he is doing himself. He will always get himself into goalscoring positions and always plays centrally in front of goal.
You look at his movement when the ball goes wide, he just immediately goes to get a goal right in the middle of the goals. It is a knack that some of the really good goalscorers have.
It is a big ask to be called up for the first time during a qualifying campaign and especially at this stage but I am not saying Maguire should start. He is not as good as Jon Walters or Shane Long but he deserves to be considered.
The other striker who will be considered is Scott Hogan after he finally declared for Ireland. I have to say I am quite sceptical, though. He has taken so long. Part of me – and only a small part – can understand that he would want to concentrate on getting fit before making his decision.
If I had been through two bad injuries, come back, got fit again, started playing, scoring, getting a bit of attention, I would have sent out all the right the signals to say, ‘I want to play for Ireland’. It would not have been in my head to concentrate on my club football.
It is easy to say he wanted to bide his time and you can always make the argument that he wanted to make sure he was 100 per cent fit.
A small percentage of me might buy that but every Irishman and woman wants to play for their country, and they would do anything to do so. That is a simple fact.
It doesn’t matter where you are physically or what game-time you’re getting or whether you are 100 per cent match fit. If you are physically fit you will do anything to play for your country, if you are given the chance, because it is the only thing that is in your mind.
We don’t have many striking options and players scoring goals so it is good he has declared although he is not a regular starter for Aston Villa and only has one league goal so far to his name.
Part of me will have reservations until he is fully integrated in the squad and fully aware of what it means to play for Ireland. I think we have every right to be sceptical given how long he has taken to say he is available for Ireland. This should have been done two years ago. This is not new. Hogan has not just come on the scene. He was called up to an Under 21 squad and, although he may not have played, he accepted the callup. So my feelings on that will never change. If you’ve represented Ireland at underage, then it is Ireland for life. I understand it is a different mindset among the players today. But I would always have wanted to play for Ireland, no arguments.