Route to top much tougher now for Irish

There was a painful inevitability about Arsenal and Chelsea releasing their last Irish players recently, continuing a trend which adversely reflects on this country’s reputation for producing talent capable of cutting it at the very top level.

But why should we be lamenting that Conor Henderson and Conor Clifford are discarded by the two London clubs hot on the heels of the Manchester clubs offloading Greg Cunningham and Robbie Brady?

Clifford, Brady and Cunningham all left these shores as teens (Henderson is the sole English-born of the quartet) straddled with expectation, yet fully aware of the congested route they faced to succeed at their respective top-flight clubs.

Factors other than internal ones contribute to the present situation whereby none of the top four clubs in the English Premier League have an Irish representative amongst their first-team roster.

Not since John O’Shea skippered Manchester United to their semi-final win over Schalke almost two years ago has one of the Boys in Green figured in the Uefa Champions League for a Premier League outfit.

There was a sustained period during the 1980s and 1990s when Irish players populated the title-chasers, especially at Liverpool, but to compare that upsurge to the modern dearth is unfair.

Massive television investment in the newly-branded Premier League from 1992 enabled clubs to spread the recruitment net far and wide.

Instead of competing against the best of UK players for spots, the Irish were now up against the pick of talent from across the world attracted by the salaries and profile the English game commanded.

Sure, as one of our best exports during that era, Liam Brady, pointed out earlier this month, deficiencies exist in the Irish structure that make the FAI’s task of nurturing elite gems all the more challenging. But equally Brady, in his current role as Arsenal’s Academy guru, appreciates the changed terrain to that he crossed to become a Gunners legend.

“It’s much tougher nowadays for youngsters to break through at the top clubs,” he affirmed. “It’s a worry but you just have to hope that we do get another batch of Robbie Keanes and Damien Duffs along and see how it goes from there.”

Both Keane and Duff were both made to do a stint in the second tier in the late 1990s before stardom arrived and it’s to the Championship that the latest prospects have turned once again.

Cunningham was the first to change lanes. Propelled into Manchester City’s first team by Roberto Mancini in early 2010, the Galway left-back’s ascent gained altitude as another Italian, Giovanni Trapattoni, took a shine and capped him three times by that year’s end.

City’s wealthy Asian owners, sadly, weren’t the patient types to wait for home-grown talent to flourish, instead wedging Mancini up with transfer funds. An unfortunate broken leg suffered while on loan at Leicester City didn’t help Cunningham’s cause but his exit wasn’t long in coming last summer.

“I needed to start making a name for myself and that wasn’t going to happen at Manchester City,” admitted the defender, who joined Bristol City on a four-year deal.

“Winning the Premier League was great for the club but I wasn’t part of it. More signings landed in and I needed to get out.”

Brady, too, had sampled life with the first teams of Manchester United and Ireland by the time his parting from Alex Ferguson occurred in January.

For all the inroads made by Brady — such as becoming United’s first Irish debutant for seven years last September — Fergie had lined up the purchase of another young flanker, Wilfried Zaha, in January.

“United accepted a decent bid from Hull City and, for me, it meant getting regular games,” reasoned Brady. “I don’t see moving to the Championship at this stage of my career as a backward step. Of course, making it at United was the dream for me but another door has opened. My target of becoming a Premier League player is very much still alive.”

For Henderson, the sentimentality of featuring for his boyhood club Arsenal alongside friend Jack Wilshere waned long before it was agreed he will leave the club this summer.

Arsene Wenger had gushed about the playmaker’s abilities around the time of his debut in the FA Cup two years ago, but there’s been stony silence from the Gunners boss as Henderson’s contract ticks down.

“There wasn’t even adiscussion with Arsene Wenger about a new deal because both of us knew there was no point,” reflected the 21-year-old. “What chance have I of getting into the first team when there are players bought for €5million not even getting on the bench?”

Watching expensive recruits leapfrog him in the pecking order became customary at Chelsea for Dubliner Clifford, captain of the Blues’ triumphant 2010 FA Youth Cup team.

Signals had been encouraging for the diminutive midfielder a few months later when a place on the bench in a League Cup tie was granted, only for Carlo Ancelotti’s subsequent sacking to provoke further instability at the Bridge.

“Chelsea were able to spend big for potential across Europe, like €12 million on Romelu Lukaku, and they’d put them straight into the reserves alongside me,” explained Clifford.

With no elbow room, Chelsea chiefs allowed the Irishman leave at Christmas. Similar to Brady and Cunningham, Clifford had his admirers in the Championship and a fortnight ago Leicester City converted his trial period into a contract.

A record number of Irishmen (30) played in the Championship on one day this season and all indicators point to a continuation of that pattern.

Whereas Jack Charlton could name a back four containing two Manchester United centre-backs in Kevin Moran and Paul McGrath flanked by Liverpool full-backs Mark Lawrenson and Jim Beglin, Trapattoni’s defence on Friday night in Stockholm were drawn from Stoke City, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Everton.

Unpalatable as it may be, the global nature of the Premier League dictates we’ll just have to stomach the fact that the sight of another Roy Keane or Denis Irwin barnstorming their way to a Premier League title is a long way off.