MANY OF THE Ireland players taking part in the upcoming summer friendlies would rather be heading off on their holidays than linking up with the international squad.
That’s according to former midfielder Ronnie Whelan, who earned 53 senior caps for the Boys in Green.
Martin O’Neill named a provisional 32-man panel ahead of the friendly with Turkey in Dublin on 25 May. Six days later, Ireland take on Italy at Craven Cottage before embarking on a trip to the US where games with Costa Rica and Portugal await on 7 and 10 June respectively.
And while Whelan suggests that those involved would welcome a rest after just finishing a long season of club football, he also believes it’s an ideal opportunity for some to stake a claim in the team with the start of the Euro 2016 qualifiers just four months away.
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“These end-of-season games, I know the players don’t want to be there,” Whelan said. “The season is over, they’ve had a hard season and now we’ve got four games.
“You’ve had the season and you think it’s over. Plus the games are stretched out. The season is finished and they have to wait and have a rest for a week then get back training again.
“It’s a little bit higgledy piggledy. But if they want to get in that team then they have to go prepare and go play.
The qualifiers are coming up though and players are thinking that they want to be in the team: ‘If I play well in these four games, I will be in the team when the qualifiers start’.
“That’s probably the way Martin will sell it to them as well. He will want to get his team right for the qualifiers to go and try win all of these games.”
The squad features just two uncapped players (Rob Elliot and Shane Duffy) and, although the likes of Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy and David Meyler have all enjoyed productive seasons, O’Neill has in the past expressed his concern at the lack of young footballers coming through.
And Whelan agrees: “There are so many countries going through the same thing and you’re not seeing great kids coming through.”
“We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting and we’re still looking for the next generation to come through. You had your Duffers and Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne. But since then, you’re still trying to find where the Paul McGrath or the Roy Keane?
“There is nobody coming through and you’ve still got more or less the same squad with not many, if any, new faces in there.
“You just keep wondering and we’ve been wondering for a long time about why haven’t they been coming through. If I knew the answer to that I’d be pretty rich.”
Whelan: Players not into summer friendlies but they offer a great opportunity
MANY OF THE Ireland players taking part in the upcoming summer friendlies would rather be heading off on their holidays than linking up with the international squad.
That’s according to former midfielder Ronnie Whelan, who earned 53 senior caps for the Boys in Green.
Martin O’Neill named a provisional 32-man panel ahead of the friendly with Turkey in Dublin on 25 May. Six days later, Ireland take on Italy at Craven Cottage before embarking on a trip to the US where games with Costa Rica and Portugal await on 7 and 10 June respectively.
And while Whelan suggests that those involved would welcome a rest after just finishing a long season of club football, he also believes it’s an ideal opportunity for some to stake a claim in the team with the start of the Euro 2016 qualifiers just four months away.
“These end-of-season games, I know the players don’t want to be there,” Whelan said. “The season is over, they’ve had a hard season and now we’ve got four games.
“You’ve had the season and you think it’s over. Plus the games are stretched out. The season is finished and they have to wait and have a rest for a week then get back training again.
“It’s a little bit higgledy piggledy. But if they want to get in that team then they have to go prepare and go play.
“That’s probably the way Martin will sell it to them as well. He will want to get his team right for the qualifiers to go and try win all of these games.”
The squad features just two uncapped players (Rob Elliot and Shane Duffy) and, although the likes of Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy and David Meyler have all enjoyed productive seasons, O’Neill has in the past expressed his concern at the lack of young footballers coming through.
And Whelan agrees: “There are so many countries going through the same thing and you’re not seeing great kids coming through.”
“We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting and we’re still looking for the next generation to come through. You had your Duffers and Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne. But since then, you’re still trying to find where the Paul McGrath or the Roy Keane?
“There is nobody coming through and you’ve still got more or less the same squad with not many, if any, new faces in there.
“You just keep wondering and we’ve been wondering for a long time about why haven’t they been coming through. If I knew the answer to that I’d be pretty rich.”
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COYBIG David Meyler Friendlies Martin O'Neill Ronnie Whelan summer tour Ireland Republic