JAYSON MOLUMBY WAS one of those players that would have caught Heimir Hallgrimsson’s eye before a ball was even kicked in the English Championship season.
A red card for punching a Majorca player in a pre-season friendly led to a charge of violent conduct from the English FA.
The West Bromwich Albion midfielder admits it’s “something I’m not proud of” but explains how a build up of “a lot of frustration, a lot of anger” in the seven months while he recovered from foot surgery had taken more of an emotional toll than he realised.
“I didn’t handle myself the best there and was probably going through a difficult time. I can only hold my hands up when I’m wrong,” he said.
“Off the pitch I’m not an aggressive person at all, I’m quite calm and relaxed but I think I just go into competitive mode when I cross the line. It’s a different ball game.”
Molumby was one of the poster boys of the Stephen Kenny era, promoted from the U21s when the former manager also progressed as part of the FAI’s succession plan.
He will earn his 25th cap under Hallgrímsson, though, and after turning 25 last month it looks set to come against England in the Nations League on Saturday.
“For us as a group we need to start taking the next step. Competing isn’t enough anymore, we want to actually start getting points, hopefully starting on Saturday.
“There’s no more excuses for us anymore. We were young lads coming in but now we’ve got the experience, it’s not good enough any more to say, ‘Ah, you’re young or whatever, you know’. We’re experienced now at the international level. It’s time to kick on for us.”
Molumby scored for West Brom last weekend before joining the international set-up and is playing in what he describes as a No.8 role.
“Everyone has a different opinion. Growing up, I used to play number six a lot. It’s a matter of opinion, different style. It’s what the manager wants.”
Hallgrímsson has spoken openly of wanting to get back to basics, of being a more defensively solid side that benchmarks itself on clean sheets and making the game as difficult as possible for opponents.
“Playing at home you want to make it as uncomfortable as possible for everyone. The atmosphere itself will do that. As players, as well, that is probably a strength of mine where I try and make it uncomfortable for players.
“I like to get tight to people, leave a bit on people, let them know I‘m there. So yeah, that’s probably a big part of my game, try and put energy into the game, give the team a lift.”
Talk of wanting more bastards in the team and the current squad being too nice was put to Molumby.
“Wouldn’t say too nice, maybe a little bit. Maybe we need to play the game a bit better,” Molumby says. “We need to be a bit nastier, you could say. We’re not going to get anything easy at home. We come from a small country. Irish people pride themselves on being hard-working. That runs deep in our core.”
The 25-cap mark is a milestone worth marking. “Getting thrown into the deep end probably a bit earlier than I expected or others might have expected but I feel in the long run it’s benefited me now,” Molumby says.
“I feel comfortable playing for Ireland and something I’m very proud of. I feel ready and ready to come in now.”
