John Fallon: Ireland are keen on Liam Delap. Time for the striker to make a decision
WELCOME WITH OPEN ARMS: Chelsea's Liam Delap ahead of their Premier League match against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire.
If Liam Delap insists on a guarantee to international stardom, he can expect some home truths from the Ireland management team.
Indicators had the bustling striker heading in the England direction when he represented his homeland at every level up to Under-21 but similar to many a predecessor, he’s encountered a bottleneck at the tip of the pyramid.
That reality for a forward bought by Chelsea last June for €40m, coupled with a meeting held with Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson, has skewed the trajectory seemingly mapped out for the Boy Wonder.
Only he’s no longer inhabiting the category of potential. At 23, the prediction was for Delap to be an established Premier League striker by now.
Read More
He gained that status last season, scoring 12 goals over 32 appearances during a campaign of struggle for relegated Ipswich Town, but if the decision to join the Moneyball meat market at Chelsea looked misguided then, it’s been proven since.
Albeit injuries have been a factor, his peripheral role and a return of just one goal heading into the turn is damning.
All it heightens is the necessity to get the next big decision about his career correct.
Ireland are keen for his allegiance and seem quietly confident of reversing the trend they suffered with in the cases of Declan Rice and Jack Grealish.
Hallgrímsson was fiddling with attaching a HDMI cable to a big screen after the dead rubber against North Macedonia 15 days ago when the posed a query on the player’s intention. The same question was tabled in May of last year.
“He hasn’t played for England, and it doesn’t look like he is going to the World Cup,” said the Icelander as he gathered his thoughts in front of a media coterie. “It looks like he is far away from that."
Delap will only be tied to England permanently when he plays a minute of competitive senior action. Spain at Wembley on September 26 is Thomas Tuchel’s next opportunity of wedding the striker to the cause but it wouldn’t appear that the German is of a mind to engage in entrapment tactics. His sole task under direction from upon high is ending an agonising 60-year major trophy fame.
Hence, the next five months could be crucial. Delap only needs to look to Will Keane as an example of someone whose dithering cost him an international career of note.
He, too, was tipped for greatness from his upbringing at a Manchester superpower, opting to throw his lot in with England despite the option of representing his ancestral home. Keane was eventually squeezed out, suffered a spate of injuries, descending into a Championship regular.
By the time he jumped ship to Ireland, he was 26. A paltry five caps later and his international career fizzled out.
Delap cannot be accused of being an opportunist, only a dallier.
Of course, his father Rory is a former Ireland player, born to parents John from Letterkenny and Maura from Kells.
He graduated from the Under-21s to win 11 caps, and it made sense that he accompanied his son to the meeting with Hallgrímsson and John O’Shea last year.
Although he’s made it clear there's no role for him in where his son’s international future resides, he wasn’t excluding his father from contributing to the debate.
“They’ll listen to him quicker than they will me,” Delap told the Irish Post about his sons' closeness to their Granddad.
“You hope the importance of being Irish resonates with them. It meant everything to me growing up. We’ve gone back to the same places I went to when I was a child in Donegal and Meath. They loved it.
"Their granddad has drilled it into them that if they’re any good at anything, it’s Ireland they have to represent. When he said it, they took it all in. So that’s one issue done and dusted then.”
The other son is Finn, a defender currently playing with League One club Burton Albion.
He’s eligible for the current Ireland U21 squad and it's understood the likelihood is of him donning the Ireland jersey before his brother does.
That doesn’t mean Liam is shoo-in to join – just think of the Xhaka, Boateng and Williams brothers representing different countries – but would shine the spotlight further on his dilemma.
Nothing can be taken from his bungling Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior last week predicting a bright international career for Ireland or England, but the key man may well be John O’Shea.
He was within a yard of his boss when the subject recently resurfaced and declared a "let’s wait and see" approach.
O’Shea worked with Delap during a loan spell at Stoke City and given he’s seen as the incumbent’s heir the link is bound to have relevance.
All that said, forward options is the one of the two departments Ireland are flush in. Troy Parrott’s explosive confers first-choice status, and the hope is that surgery finally relieves Evan Ferguson of the injury misfortune he’s endured.
Then there’s Adam Idah and Johnny Kenny. Coming up from the rear are Mason Melia and Michael Noonan.
Should Delap eventually see sense, then it’s one switcher we can believe has love of the country.
Ireland’s representatives in Uefa’s club competitions are set to massively benefit from a projected 40% increase in the European governing body’s commercial income to over €1bn.
Despite Drogheda United being expelled by Uefa due to multi-club restrictions, Ireland’s three qualifiers all grossed seven-figure prize-money pots.
St Patrick’s Athletic earned €1.075m from three Conference League qualifying rounds before their run was ended by Turkish giants Beşiktaş while progression by Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers to the league phase was reflected by prize money of €4.45m and €5.9m.
This year’s qualifiers, Shamrock Rovers, Derry City, Shelbourne and Bohemians, will begin their quest for a similar collective €10m return this summer but the major spike in prize-money is due from 2027.
That’s because two additional global sponsorship deals are close to being agreed by Uefa.
UC3, the commercial joint venture owned by Uefa and the clubs, is finalising agreements with an official payments provider and technology partner, which would complete their roster of premium global partners and see sponsorship income rise by more than 40%.
Uefa currently allocates 74% of its prize fund and 56% of its club competition revenue to Champions League clubs, and 17% given to the Europa League and 9% to the Conference League respectively.
Government funding towards academy development will finally start to be drawn down after the FAI assembled their final panel for clubs to employ academy directors and heads of coaching.
With the pledge of €3m for the first year of multi-annual funding came strict criteria.
That entailed the FAI centrally interviewing contenders, the latest for head of coaching being hosted by academy development manager Will Clarke, senior women’s assistant manager Gary Cronin and former Waterford academy director Mike Geoghegan.
That produced 32 individuals, the same number as the academy directors, but several of the same names appear in both categories. Among the newcomers on the second list are former Ireland international and Cork City captain Alan Bennett, former City boss Stuart Ashton and LOI manager Martin Russell.
Annual salaries of €43,500 for the senior role and €38,500 for the coaching position are available from the State but these can be topped up by the club.
Under the regulations, clubs can only select contenders from the panel, which is updated twice per year, and must interview three before making an employment offer.
That selection process is well underway, with announcements due in the coming weeks.
Email: john.fallon@examiner.ie.
