O’Neill admits playing Sean Maguire would be a risk
The Preston North End striker was named in yesterday’s provisional squad for the World Cup qualifiers, but manager Martin O’Neill played down the Kilkenny man’s prospects of being fast-tracked into the team.
“You’re gonna ask me could I throw him into some of these games here,” he said. “I don’t mind taking a chance, but I think that would be risky not only for us but maybe for the lad himself.
“I don’t have any major problem about picking players in the League of Ireland, but you have to appreciate that it is a really big step. What happened with Dundalk last season was absolutely fantastic and their exploits in European football does help you make your mind up about somebody being able to cope. If I am going to make a decision on some players, it is easier for me picking them once I see them do it at a bigger level, but it has not stopped me in the past.
“If he [Maguire] had stayed on at Cork, there’s still a fairly decent chance, on what I saw, that I probably would have put him in the squad, because we need a goalscorer, we need somebody who can find the net. I probably would have done, but I have to accept still that it’s a big, big step up.
“What I’d like to be able to do is bring someone in so that they get used to the surroundings, but the overall purpose for entry is for someone to be good enough to play here, and I don’t think any of us around this table — and I’m supposed to be the expert — can tell if someone is good enough to be an international player because they’ve scored a couple of goals, and I don’t just mean for Cork, I mean even at Preston. That is my answer today to the feeling that I’m putting him into the squad now, whereas ‘you didn’t put him in when he was at Cork’. When I saw him play in the cup final, I can’t say I was overly impressed that day, but when I saw him against Dundalk [in early June, when he scored a hat-trick at Oriel Park], I thought his movement was better, his confidence was better too, and he moved like someone who could maybe score a goal.
“Finding a goalscorer, finding someone that you think actually can put the ball in the net, I’d be ecstatic if someone could do that for us, and do it regularly. Is there a Robbie Keane out there? He’d have to be pretty impressive to be another Robbie Keane.”
Comparing Maguire’s claims to those of Scott Hogan, the Aston Villa striker who, O’Neill revealed yesterday, is now on the brink of becoming eligible to play for Ireland, the manager said: “I’ve seen much more of Scott Hogan, in fairness, than I have of Sean Maguire. I’m in a better position to make some sort of judgment on someone like Hogan than I would be with Sean. I think Sean’s time will come. He’ll be a bit more mature, he’ll be ready for it. I notice he didn’t start the game on Saturday [for Preston against Leeds]. This will be all new to him.”
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