STEPHEN KENNY HAS not exactly been blessed with good fortune in his time as Ireland manager, but the fates have relented to the point he has this month been able to pick two of the players he rates most highly.
“I feel as though I have unfinished business in a way”, says O’Dowda, “and the gaffer here has been great with me, with phone calls and checking up on me to see how I am. I want to repay that loyalty he has had in me as I did start quite a few of his early games.”
O’Dowda hasn’t played since the bleak, pandemic winter of 2020, forced to sit and watch as Ireland slowly improved under Kenny. He is back for the upcoming Nations League games against Scotland and Armenia, however, after an appalling string of injuries.
Knee and hamstring issues restricted O’Dowda to 17 appearances in the calendar year of 2021, and the injuries robbed him of rhythm and momentum.
“It was tough. I just felt like it was one after another, like a knock-on effect. But I like to think I am quite a positive person as well. I had good people around me to help, as well, which was probably the key thing. I am positive, and I always try to look at the positives in it, whether I can strengthen other areas, or analyse my game, and stuff. But it also is part of the game and it comes with it.” He didn’t, however, doubt that he could return to the international fold. “No, if I’m being honest. I truly believe in my ability in what I can offer, so it was never really a doubt in my mind.”
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This summer marked his exit from Bristol City, with whom he spent six years, close to an eternity in the modern game. With a few offers on the table, O’Dowda joined Cardiff City, also of the Championship, crediting manager Steve Morison with the move.
“I’d been at Bristol City for a long time. I had seen everyone come and go bar a couple of young graduates really. I had interest from quite a few clubs and it was Steve Morison who convinced me with the style of play and what he wanted to achieve and the players he wanted to bring in, which suited me. I have so much respect for Bristol City but I needed a new challenge as well and yeah, delighted to get it all sorted in a short space of time.”
Morison, however, was sacked this week, with his side a point clear of the relegation zone after 10 games. O’Dowda hinted at frustration.
“I felt we as players owed a lot to Steve Morison. He was the one that did it for me, he was the one that got it over the line. I need to be careful what I say, but I’m quite disappointed with it all, but I guess that’s football.”
O’Dowda also has a good relationship with his international manager, whose backing gave him some motivation during his injury lay-offs. Though that wasn’t the sole driving force.
“It gives that added motivation with my rehab and stuff, but I fully back myself. I don’t want to be one of those guys when I retire and people say injuries tarnished his career or he didn’t fulfil his potential because of injuries. Hopefully this is the season I can kick on and truly just get back to my being at my best playing regular football.”
O’Dowda cites versatility as one of his strengths, and he hasn’t had the chance to fit into the Irish team since it changed to the current back-three system. Stephen Kenny has previously said he sees O’Dowda as playing off the left of a front three, though there has been no front three from which to play in Ireland’s last two games, with the attack pared down to two strikers to allow for an extra body in midfield.
Callum O'Dowda in action against England in a 2020 friendly. Tommy Dickson / INPHO
Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO
He has, however, been pressed into all kinds of roles during his short stint with Cardiff thus far, paying off the right and left of the attack but most often appearing at left wing-back, a position in which O’Dowda would vie with James McClean and Brady for a starting role.
“The [position] I enjoy the most is probably playing higher up, further forward. But I think especially in this Ireland team, whether on the left side, I think that could be my strongest position. I’ve been quite versatile, I’ve operated left wing, right wing, left back, left wing back, and further forward.”
Versatility runs in the family. O’Dowda’s sister Jade won a bronze medal representing Britain in the Heptathlon at the summer’s Commonwealth Games, following it up with a seventh-placed finish at the European Championships.
“I was extremely proud. It was lovely. I went to watch her in Birmingham and she did fantastic. They say she is the proper athlete. Myself and Jade are very close. She’s worked extremely hard to get into this position.
“She did a bit of Irish dancing when she was younger, probably noticing she could run and do all these things multi-events for the heptathlon. She is exceptionally good at all of them. I noticed it because I spent lockdown with her. I was going to say she that she outstayed her welcome [laughs], but I could see how much of an athlete she is. She’s done really well to achieve what she has.”
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Versatility runs in the family for returning Irish international Callum O'Dowda
STEPHEN KENNY HAS not exactly been blessed with good fortune in his time as Ireland manager, but the fates have relented to the point he has this month been able to pick two of the players he rates most highly.
Robbie Brady has returned to the squad for the first time in 18 months, along with Callum O’Dowda, who hasn’t played for Ireland in nearly two years.
“I feel as though I have unfinished business in a way”, says O’Dowda, “and the gaffer here has been great with me, with phone calls and checking up on me to see how I am. I want to repay that loyalty he has had in me as I did start quite a few of his early games.”
O’Dowda hasn’t played since the bleak, pandemic winter of 2020, forced to sit and watch as Ireland slowly improved under Kenny. He is back for the upcoming Nations League games against Scotland and Armenia, however, after an appalling string of injuries.
Knee and hamstring issues restricted O’Dowda to 17 appearances in the calendar year of 2021, and the injuries robbed him of rhythm and momentum.
“It was tough. I just felt like it was one after another, like a knock-on effect. But I like to think I am quite a positive person as well. I had good people around me to help, as well, which was probably the key thing. I am positive, and I always try to look at the positives in it, whether I can strengthen other areas, or analyse my game, and stuff. But it also is part of the game and it comes with it.” He didn’t, however, doubt that he could return to the international fold. “No, if I’m being honest. I truly believe in my ability in what I can offer, so it was never really a doubt in my mind.”
This summer marked his exit from Bristol City, with whom he spent six years, close to an eternity in the modern game. With a few offers on the table, O’Dowda joined Cardiff City, also of the Championship, crediting manager Steve Morison with the move.
“I’d been at Bristol City for a long time. I had seen everyone come and go bar a couple of young graduates really. I had interest from quite a few clubs and it was Steve Morison who convinced me with the style of play and what he wanted to achieve and the players he wanted to bring in, which suited me. I have so much respect for Bristol City but I needed a new challenge as well and yeah, delighted to get it all sorted in a short space of time.”
Morison, however, was sacked this week, with his side a point clear of the relegation zone after 10 games. O’Dowda hinted at frustration.
“I felt we as players owed a lot to Steve Morison. He was the one that did it for me, he was the one that got it over the line. I need to be careful what I say, but I’m quite disappointed with it all, but I guess that’s football.”
O’Dowda also has a good relationship with his international manager, whose backing gave him some motivation during his injury lay-offs. Though that wasn’t the sole driving force.
“It gives that added motivation with my rehab and stuff, but I fully back myself. I don’t want to be one of those guys when I retire and people say injuries tarnished his career or he didn’t fulfil his potential because of injuries. Hopefully this is the season I can kick on and truly just get back to my being at my best playing regular football.”
O’Dowda cites versatility as one of his strengths, and he hasn’t had the chance to fit into the Irish team since it changed to the current back-three system. Stephen Kenny has previously said he sees O’Dowda as playing off the left of a front three, though there has been no front three from which to play in Ireland’s last two games, with the attack pared down to two strikers to allow for an extra body in midfield.
He has, however, been pressed into all kinds of roles during his short stint with Cardiff thus far, paying off the right and left of the attack but most often appearing at left wing-back, a position in which O’Dowda would vie with James McClean and Brady for a starting role.
“The [position] I enjoy the most is probably playing higher up, further forward. But I think especially in this Ireland team, whether on the left side, I think that could be my strongest position. I’ve been quite versatile, I’ve operated left wing, right wing, left back, left wing back, and further forward.”
Versatility runs in the family. O’Dowda’s sister Jade won a bronze medal representing Britain in the Heptathlon at the summer’s Commonwealth Games, following it up with a seventh-placed finish at the European Championships.
“I was extremely proud. It was lovely. I went to watch her in Birmingham and she did fantastic. They say she is the proper athlete. Myself and Jade are very close. She’s worked extremely hard to get into this position.
“She did a bit of Irish dancing when she was younger, probably noticing she could run and do all these things multi-events for the heptathlon. She is exceptionally good at all of them. I noticed it because I spent lockdown with her. I was going to say she that she outstayed her welcome [laughs], but I could see how much of an athlete she is. She’s done really well to achieve what she has.”
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Callum O'Dowda jade o'dowda Multi-talented Republic Of Ireland