John Hartson: We’d beat Ireland all day long
“We’d beat Ireland all day long,” he baldly states. “If we played now, we’d beat Ireland. You know it and I know it.”
And the former Wales striker and assistant manager has news too for those who think Ireland’s prospects would be still rosier on the road to Russia if, for any reason, Wales were shorn of Gareth Bale.
“Yes, Gareth is a massive player but I would not say we are a one-man team,” he maintains.
And it’s not just because Wales are, he insists, stronger as a group and benefiting from a sprinkling of Premier League experience, that he thinks they’d have the upper hand over Ireland. He also believes that, in terms of the overall player quality currently at the disposal of, respectively, Chris Coleman and Martin O’Neill, the Welsh are at a high point in a cycle whereas the Irish are at a pronounced low.
And not even Jose Mourinho could rectify that, he suggests.
“If this was the Ireland team of 10 years ago, with McGrath, Moran, Keane, McAteer, Quinn, and Robbie Keane as a youngster, I’d say, well, Ireland will thump us,” he says.
“But right now we’re in the ascendency and with the feelgood factor. Where Ireland are — and I follow the Republic of Ireland, I’ve played with a lot of the guys and played under Martin for five years — I just think that they’re going through a difficult period. And I don’t care if it was Jose Mourinho in charge. I don’t think it’s really got anything to do with the manager. It’s not a fantastic group of players you’ve got.
“We’ve got a player who is one of the best three or four in the world and he’s inspiring the rest of the group. When you had Roy Keane and the players walked out alongside him, they grew 10 feet because they knew they had a leader, someone who could point the finger, both on the pitch and in the dressing room. And that lifts other players. It’s similar to what Gareth Bale is doing now. Wales are in a great moment.”
Hartson is also full of praise for the job manager Chris Coleman has done since taking over the reins after the death of Gary Speed, a tragedy which he says badly affected the players.
“The next manager had to be somebody who was capable of taking it on,” he reflects. “I was assistant manager to Chris Coleman when he first took the job and our first game was Serbia away and we got thumped six goals to one. We couldn’t win a game.
“But since then they’ve slowly got better. Chris Coleman has just galvanised the lads, made them feel good about themselves. Winning games breeds confidence and they’ve started to win. I think they’ve only lost one in their last 14 . Great form. So that’s what they’re doing. They’ve now got a group who believe, and to take four points off Belgium, to have played six games in this campaign and still not lose...and they’re there. They’re in France. Book your tickets.”
While he’s busy puncturing Irish delusions, Hartson also offers a reality check for anyone who imagines that Jack Grealish declaring for the Republic would significantly alter the picture.
“I don’t think he can radically improve it. He’s not a young Gascoigne, is he? He’s done well. He was poor in the FA Cup final, very poor. He was excellent in the semi-final against Liverpool. He’s young, he’s developing and I think Tim Sherwood will try and nurture him. I don’t think he’ll play every game next year, I think he’ll be in and out.
“I can’t decide for him whether he should play for Ireland or England, that’ll be his decision. Again he’s someone that can help the squad but I don’t think he will radically improve it. I don’t think he goes down as a world class player right now. Somebody like a (Aaron) Ramsey would, he plays every week for Arsenal, a top player. And that’s not me being biased.”
By contrast, Hartson’s fellow Setanta Sports analyst Matt Holland would welcome a Grealish decision to commit to Ireland, believing that the gifted young midfielder could be the key to recovering lost ground with four games remaining and qualifying for next year’s Euro finals in France.
“We’ve seen enough in his time at Aston Villa, and in big games as well, to say that he could come into this set-up and make a difference,” says the former Ireland international.
“From what I saw of him last season in the Premier League and FA Cup, anyway. In the big games, he’s shown that he can do it at that level.
“Particularly at international level, it’s easier to keep a clean sheet than score plenty of goals. If you’re looking for someone to unlock a defence, someone to do something special to win a game, then he’s got that.”
Presenter Conor Morris and pundits John Hartson, Matt Holland and Kenny Cunningham were at the Setanta Sports studios in Dublin yesterday to mark the return of ‘Premier League Central’ which is back on air tomorrow, Saturday August 8, at 8.30pm.
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