BRIAN KERR FEARS that one of the altercations between Ireland players and Roy Keane to which Martin O’Neill recently alluded may have played a role in Declan Rice’s supposed uncertainty over his international football allegiance.
Rice is currently mulling over an approach to play for England, the country of his birth, despite representing Ireland from U16 level upwards and having three caps with O’Neill’s senior team.
The West Ham 19-year-old, whose grandparents hailed from Douglas in County Cork, had previously stated there was no decision to be made regarding his international future, but has been left out of Ireland’s squad to play Wales and Poland. The former Uefa Nations League fixture is competitive and would see Rice locked in as an Ireland player were he to feature.
“I feel Martin thought it was done (Rice’s commitment to Ireland),” Kerr said. “I don’t accept that it was something to do with a new manager at the club and getting his place back [in West Ham's team], because I was at the game at the weekend and he was warming up extensively as if he was going to come on. I don’t think that’s an issue at all — it should mean he’s more committed to playing with Ireland if he’s not playing with the club.
“I think something has changed dramatically since all of those lovely statements he made and the games he played. I remember he played an international match in Turkey, then came back and played an under-21 match during the week – I was at the game and he was the best player; he celebrated with everyone at the end of the match.
“And as Martin said, the [Ireland] jerseys are in a case at home.
All those things make me think something has changed dramatically. I don’t believe it was the influence of the agents, I don’t believe that Gareth Southgate – impressive and all as England were at the World Cup – that that has changed him, because his statements are so certain.
I hope there wasn’t any incident or remarks made to Declan Rice that affected his view of the Irish setup. He did seem so happy within the environment.”
Declan Rice celebrates Sean Donnellan's late goal for Ireland U21s against Azerbaijan Oisin Keniry / INPHO
Oisin Keniry / INPHO / INPHO
Former Ireland manager Kerr also insisted that the current Fifa rules surrounding international eligibility are ‘wrong’, expressing his belief that Rice’s three Ireland friendly appearances should preclude him from switching his allegiance to England.
“I was able to pick Aiden McGeady, when he was a young lad, to play in a friendly match for us, and that was the end of it – there was no going back,” the 65-year-old said.
We had a situation where it used to be if you played underage football, that was the end of it. Now, it’s wrong how the rules are: I think if you play in a friendly game at senior level, that should be the end of it. And we need our people who are strong in the political circles within European football to go and make that case.
“We have taken advantage of the rules by taking players from Northern Ireland – now we may suffer on the rules.
“Something happened in the last few days. Martin didn’t reference this – the week of football in Cork, Martin did high-profile interviews. There was no mention of a complication with Declan Rice. Something has happened.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
12 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'I hope there wasn't any incident or remarks made to Rice that affected his view of the Irish setup'
BRIAN KERR FEARS that one of the altercations between Ireland players and Roy Keane to which Martin O’Neill recently alluded may have played a role in Declan Rice’s supposed uncertainty over his international football allegiance.
Rice is currently mulling over an approach to play for England, the country of his birth, despite representing Ireland from U16 level upwards and having three caps with O’Neill’s senior team.
The West Ham 19-year-old, whose grandparents hailed from Douglas in County Cork, had previously stated there was no decision to be made regarding his international future, but has been left out of Ireland’s squad to play Wales and Poland. The former Uefa Nations League fixture is competitive and would see Rice locked in as an Ireland player were he to feature.
Speaking on TV3, Kerr claimed he wasn’t buying the plethora of reasons behind Rice’s cold feet which were proposed by manager O’Neill at Monday’s press conference.
“I feel Martin thought it was done (Rice’s commitment to Ireland),” Kerr said. “I don’t accept that it was something to do with a new manager at the club and getting his place back [in West Ham's team], because I was at the game at the weekend and he was warming up extensively as if he was going to come on. I don’t think that’s an issue at all — it should mean he’s more committed to playing with Ireland if he’s not playing with the club.
“I think something has changed dramatically since all of those lovely statements he made and the games he played. I remember he played an international match in Turkey, then came back and played an under-21 match during the week – I was at the game and he was the best player; he celebrated with everyone at the end of the match.
“And as Martin said, the [Ireland] jerseys are in a case at home.
“I hope it wasn’t something that happened when he was in with the team; I hope that there wasn’t some incident. I mean, Martin recently confirmed that there were altercations between players and one of the staff – with Roy Keane.
Former Ireland manager Kerr also insisted that the current Fifa rules surrounding international eligibility are ‘wrong’, expressing his belief that Rice’s three Ireland friendly appearances should preclude him from switching his allegiance to England.
“I was able to pick Aiden McGeady, when he was a young lad, to play in a friendly match for us, and that was the end of it – there was no going back,” the 65-year-old said.
“We have taken advantage of the rules by taking players from Northern Ireland – now we may suffer on the rules.
“Something happened in the last few days. Martin didn’t reference this – the week of football in Cork, Martin did high-profile interviews. There was no mention of a complication with Declan Rice. Something has happened.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
Duff: We can’t afford to tell Declan Rice to ‘go do one’ – our players aren’t good enough
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Brian Kerr Declan Rice theory