Sadlier: Radical change needed

Richard Sadlier has called for a radical overhaul in the way young players are developed in this country.

Twelve years have passed since Ireland last reached the World Cup finals while last season’s Premier League top four didn’t field a single Irish player. Sadlier fears Ireland will continue to fail to qualify for major competitions unless “significant changes” are made.

“Other countries, and I really passionately believe this, are putting in place youth structures, long-term plans that will make a difference,” the RTÉ pundit said.

“Belgium are the obvious example. France did it years ago, Spain have done it, Germany have done it, they’ve all made significant changes. I haven’t seen any sign of that happening here.”

Sadlier said the lack of a single academy structure in Ireland was an indictment of the way young players are developed here.

“Are the youngest kids who start out, are ‘A’ licence coaches coaching them? Are pro-licence coaches coaching them? Or is it a case of we’re happy to let all the best kids just stumble along and appear at the age of 14 and we put them in a representative team at the age of 15 and we think ‘right, we’re doing our job here’. We’re not. There’s not one academy structure in this entire country and that is a little bit embarrassing. There’s nowhere that focuses all its efforts solely on preparing children to be adult professionals.”

Referring to the lack of Irish players playing for the Premier League elite, Sadlier said it is now far tougher for young players to make the breakthrough.

He said: “The landscape has changed. When I went to England in the mid-90s, the majority of English football was made up of British players, Irish players, maybe a scattering of Scandinavian players and some Europeans. Now, that’s not the way. The best African teenagers are being looked at, the European teenagers, teenagers from all over the world so the Irish kids at the moment — if they have an ambition to go to England — it’s a lot tougher than it ever was.”

Ireland may again be absent from the World Cup but Sadlier can’t wait for the tournament to begin.

“Look at the quality in the squads, Germany, Spain — I don’t know how Brazil are going to cope with the pressure of being hosts — England is a mystery and there’s always unforeseen stuff, there’s always surprises and there’s always off the field controversy. There’s loads to look forward to. I really can’t wait.”