WHEN STEPHEN KENNY named his first squad as Republic of Ireland senior manager last month, there were talking points relating to notable omissions in defence, midfield and attack.
Among the players who could count themselves unfortunate were Ryan Manning, Jack Byrne, Josh Cullen, Michael Obafemi and Ronan Curtis. Yet the one area in which there were no contentious calls was between the posts – simply because Kenny’s options there are so limited.
Darren Randolph has been a dependable custodian since assuming first-choice status during the qualifying campaign for Euro 2016, but worryingly for the new boss, Ireland currently have a dearth of goalkeepers playing regularly for their clubs – a category Randolph also fits into, in spite of his many outstanding displays at international level.
Should the West Ham United back-up netminder become unavailable for one reason or another, Kenny will be faced with a major headache when choosing his most able deputy.
Randolph was initially joined in the squad for the recent games against Bulgaria and Finland by Mark Travers and Kieran O’Hara, but there are question marks over that duo’s availability ahead of today’s squad announcement for three upcoming fixtures, the most notable of which is the European Championship play-off clash with Slovakia.
Travers was named as a substitute for Bournemouth’s game against Norwich City on Sunday, before being forced to withdraw as a result of an injury sustained during the warm-up.
The Kildare native, 21, started in his club’s 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers on the opening day of the Championship season. Since then he has lost his place to Asmir Begovic, although he did get the nod for last Thursday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.
O’Hara, having been released by Manchester United, joined League One side Burton Albion earlier this month. However, the 24-year-old hasn’t played a game since February as a result of a suspension which has been carried over from his loan spell at Burton last season.
After O’Hara pulled out of the Ireland squad during the most recent international window, he was replaced by Caoimhin Kelleher, who was Kenny’s preferred goalkeeper during his spell as manager of the U21 national team.
Yesterday’s news that Liverpool have sent both Loris Karius and Kamil Grabara out on loan has seemingly solidified Kelleher’s status as third-choice goalkeeper for the Premier League champions, which will limit the 21-year-old Corkman to another season that’s likely to consist mostly of non-competitive games for the club’s U23s.
The only other senior Irish goalkeeper on the books of a Premier League club at present is Crystal Palace’s Stephen Henderson. Like Kelleher, he’s third in his club’s pecking order and hasn’t played competitively since December 2018, when the 32-year-old Dubliner joined Wycombe Wanderers on an emergency loan from Nottingham Forest.
Rob Elliot remains unattached since he was let go by Newcastle United in June. The 34-year-old has played in four senior friendlies for the Boys in Green and last appeared in the squad for the 2018 World Cup play-off defeat to Denmark.
In the Championship, 35-year-old Keiren Westwood hasn’t played a game for Sheffield Wednesday since last November after falling out of favour under manager Garry Monk.
Bristol City’s Max O’Leary received his first call-up from Mick McCarthy in May 2019. The English-born stopper has been providing back-up to Daniel Bentley in the Championship, but he did play twice in the Carabao Cup this month. The 23-year-old also gave a good account of himself while on loan at League One club Shrewsbury Town last season.
One man with experience of being in the Ireland squad who is getting regular game-time at the moment is Danny Rogers. Owing to an injury to Jake Eastwood, Rogers has started Kilmarnock’s last eight Scottish Premiership games and kept a clean sheet in Saturday’s 1-0 win over St Mirren.
The 26-year-old, who joined Killie from Aberdeen during the summer, was capped by Ireland at U21 level and also received a senior call-up from Martin O’Neill for a double-header of 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Moldova.
His deputy at Kilmarnock is compatriot Colin Doyle, who’s on loan from Hearts. The 35-year-old Corkman was capped at senior level as recently as June 2018, but he hasn’t played a competitive club game since September of last year.
Back in England, Gavin Bazunu has caught the eye with some spectacular saves for Rochdale in League One since joining Brian Barry-Murphy’s side on loan from Manchester City. The 18-year-old former Shamrock Rovers man was capped twice by Stephen Kenny at U21 level last November following an injury to Caoimhin Kelleher.
Former Ireland youth international Jack Bonham has also started the season in good form for Gillingham. The 27-year-old, who was reportedly being considered for a senior call-up by Martin O’Neill when he was at Bristol Rovers, was yesterday named in the League One Team of the Week for his performance in Gillingham’s 2-0 win against Blackpool on Saturday.
Down in League Two, former U21 international Ian Lawlor – who featured in senior squads in 2014 and 2016 but wasn’t capped – is starting for a struggling Oldham Athletic side, who he joined on loan from Doncaster Rovers last month.
Ian Holloway’s Grimsby Town are captained by 31-year-old ex-youth international James McKeown, while 39-year-old Dubliner Joe Murphy – who won senior caps in 2003 and 2010 – is the secondary option at Tranmere Rovers.
Closer to home, another 39-year-old is preparing for one of the biggest games of his career. Gary Rogers, a Stephen Kenny signing during his time as Dundalk manager, will play for the Lilywhites on Thursday night as they aim to book a place in the group stages of the Europa League by defeating Faroese club Ki Klaksvik.
Rogers, who’s uncapped but was called up twice during the Martin O’Neill era, made a decisive penalty save in last week’s shootout victory over Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol.
Other goalkeepers currently plying their trade domestically who have previously featured in the Ireland squad are Aaron McCarey (Rogers’ deputy at Dundalk), Waterford’s Brian Murphy and James Talbot of Bohemians.
Further afield, Sean McDermott of Norwegian club Kristiansund and Ryan Meara of Major League Soccer outfit New York Red Bulls have both been sidelined by injuries.
McDermott has yet to be capped, despite featuring in the senior squad under both Martin O’Neill and Mick McCarthy. US-born Meara trained with Ireland before a 2014 friendly against Portugal in New Jersey.
Players like Mark Travers, Caoimhin Kelleher, Gavin Bazunu and Kieran O’Hara have the potential to ensure that Ireland will be in safe hands in years to come.
For the time being, the situation isn’t too encouraging.
