Darren Randolph is raising the standard
Speak to any Republic of Ireland player in camp this week and the talk is of a happy and committed collective. It’s been that way more often than not for 30 years now and it probably hasn’t been hindered by the sense that wearing the green jersey can be good for a man’s career.
Many has been the Irish player who has flown into Dublin short on game time and long on motivation. Darren Randolph was that soldier for long enough but it was the week after an impressive performance against Austria last November he finally got his big break with West Ham.
The signs were Slaven Bilic was ready for change by then anyway. With Spanish international Adrian struggling in a team lacking form, Randolph went to Vienna where he made two crucial saves and saw another shot cannon back off the crossbar as he posted a clean sheet.
Seven days later and he was promoted to number one for the Premier League tie away to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. After 18 months playing second fiddle, he had arrived - first choice with his club and with his country - even if it hasn’t made him stand any easier between the sticks.
“No, because you can always be replaced. There’s always someone, whether it’s club or country. Every player wants to play. There’s always pressure. You have one goal and you get to that goal. Then you set another goal and you have to work towards that.
“And if you get that goal there’s more pressure on you to set another one. It’s constant. I suppose once you feel you’ve reached all your goals then maybe you’d think ‘that’s my time’. But I’ve got a few years before that happens.” He hasn’t yet convinced every Hammer he is the man for the job.
His performance in the 2-2- draw against Liverpool at Anfield in December - when he dropped a clanger for a Divock Origi equaliser before making a wonder save from Jordan Henderson - maybe sums that up, and the stats only add to the uncertainty.
Where Randolph has conceded 1.77 goals in 18 league games this year, Adrian has let in 1.81 in 11. Either way, Bilic insists he is happy with both as speculation linking the club to Joe Hart and Asimir Begovic in recent times has been dismissed and his current custodians talked up.
It surely helps, too, that Bilic is a former Croatia manager and knows the benefits of the international scene to his players. He kept in touch with Randolph during last summer’s European Championship and wasn’t exactly displeased by Ireland’s 2-2 draw with Croatia’s bitter rivals Serbia in Belgrade last September.
That marked the beginning of a campaign that has proven profitable through four games for the Republic but Randolph is among a chorus of players who haven’t forgotten how they sat fourth midway through the last, successful, campaign and virtually written off from contention.
This latest group could still go one way or another and the slew of injuries suffered by some key Irish players will be all too noticeable for Randolph tomorrow night when he lines out without the preferred centre-back pairing of Ciarán Clark and Shane Duffy ahead of him.
That said, he isn’t put out by their expected replacements. John O’Shea brings 116 caps and a successful Premier League career to the table while Richard Keogh has partnered the Sunderland veteran on more than a few of his 15 appearances, including last summer in France.
“I’ve played games behind Sheasy and Keoghsey before,” said Randolph who will be hoping to make it eight clean sheets in 19 appearances for his country tonight. “Bags of experience there. It’s good to have Sheasy, with all his experience, still here.
“Everyone here are good players. They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. Injuries happen, it’s just we’ve had more for this round of games than before. That’s why you have a squad. And it’s good that we have players of that calibre that can come in and play.” And happy to do it, too.
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