Harry Kane able but not willing for Ireland, says Martin O’Neill
“Yeah it is,” said the Derry man, speaking at his latest squad announcement in Dublin. “I was talking to somebody about this and we were saying that Harry himself always wanted to play for England. It was as simple as that.”
Eligible for Ireland through his Galway-born father, the striker — who is in red-hot form for Spurs — seems assured of a first senior England call-up for the upcoming games against Lithuania and Italy but, yesterday, O’Neill revealed how, for the briefest of times, he had hopes that the London boy might go green.
“The order of events is that initially the agent got in touch and said he (Kane) would have a keen interest, and we wanted to go and chase it up,” he explained. “But then I noticed in the newspaper where he said he wanted to play for England. And that has remained the same. Someone was even speaking to him recently and that was exactly the same conversation. Fine, if that’s the case.”
But, still, a good one that got away? “It would have been really nice, absolutely, yes,” O’Neill agreed, adding with a smile, “and there’s a fairly decent chance he might have had a few caps for us before he actually makes his debut for England, considering the way he’s playing.”
So no Kane then, but Robbie Keane is still on the case, despite the fact that Ireland’s skipper and record-breaking striker was relegated to the bench for the Euro qualifier in Glasgow, a game which, the manager needed no reminding, Ireland lost having failed to score.
“These things can happen,” O’Neill observed. “We said ourselves — and Robbie has mentioned it — that playing up on his own, particularly away from home, can be a problem for any 34-year-old. Ask Drogba, it can be a problem — it’s not just with people here. And if it’s not the sort of role that you have been used to for quite some considerable time — and it’s certainly not your role when playing in the MLS — then that is a difficulty.
“Robbie is our best scorer. If Robbie was 28 or 29 we would find a role for him somewhere along the way in the team. His experience, his goal-getting, his canniness is an absolute asset for us even now, and you could not be without him. It would be nice to think that some other people might come up and take his place but just look at the record. For us at this minute, even at 34, he is still valuable.”
All of which prompted this reporter to ask if there wasn’t then a persuasive case for returning the veteran to the starting line-up for the home game against Poland in just over a fortnight.
“Well, don’t stick a load of words into my mouth but, in the end, I think the way we play and if there is a difference in playing home and away — which I obviously think that there is — I don’t see a problem,” O’Neill replied.
“We have to try and find a goal, we have to find a goal to win a game, particularly at home, with the onus on us to attack Poland. And Robbie Keane’s record is there for all to see.”
If that can be interpreted as a strong hint that the LA Galaxy striker will be reinstated in the starting line-up on March 29 then, to judge again by the manager’s comments, Stoke City’s in-form Jon Walters is another player who should feel optimistic about making the match-day cut.
“Jon is not only wholehearted, when he is wide on the right hand side you know what you are going to get,” O’Neill enthused. “Jon is not going to beat three or four players and put in a great cross. What he will do is work for you there and he will hold it in his position. And he will get in at the far post when the play is being built up on the left-hand side. He’s done remarkably well, considering he has now become a mainstay of the Stoke side when at the start of the season he thought that his time was nearly up and he had to be convinced by the manager to stay around. So that’s how things can change. For us, he’s been excellent.”
One Irish Premier League regular who hasn’t even made the provisional squad, however, is Crystal Palace defender Damien Delaney, with O’Neill explaining that while at one point he thought the Corkman might be on the brink of international retirement, a conversation between the two clarified the situation — it seems that while Delaney will continue to make himself available, his main order of business involves concentrating on playing regularly for his club. “So that’s fine and he’s not in the squad at this minute,” O’Neill remarked. “But I could have easily added him into a provisional list — I think only Paul McGrath has missed out again!”
