Callum O’Dowda: No generation gap in Ireland dressing room

By Brendan O'Brien

Callum O’Dowda knows the score.

Like the rest of his teammates this week, the youngster understands that standards need raising. That the punishing defeats to Denmark and Wales in recent times require positive ripostes.

The natural follow-up for many a footballer in this instance is to voice the need to atone for such past shortcomings but the Bristol City player bristles at the suggestion that this Ireland team needs to get the fans back onside.

“You can’t say that. I don’t think it’s healthy to be in that mindset. You don’t want to change your emotions going into the game or put any more pressure on other players. I wouldn’t be saying to our defenders that they need to be acting differently because they beat us last time. The hunger is still going to be there. And it’ll be nice to be playing at home with all our fans there instead of like the Wales game where they didn’t give much space to the fans. It will be nice to have the Aviva going again.”

That may be pushing it.

It may prove to be that the Danish and Welsh games were temporary speed wobbles by a team that can still go places. They could also mark the beginning of a precipitous decline in fortunes for a side that had clung precariously to a spot above their station.

If there is an upside to the humiliation in Cardiff it is the likelihood that things can hardly sink any lower.

Surely.

“You have games like that. It’s football. And you have to give them credit, they were good on the night as well. But, yeah, we should have been a lot better than that, which was the annoying thing about it.

“I’m actually getting frustrated just talking about it now, if I’m being honest. I thought they dominated us and it hurts me to say it. I wouldn’t say we rolled over. I’d just say it was one of those games where we didn’t have much of the ball.

“They were very possession-based, they had good players and a good formation on the night. But we’ve learned from that. In the Poland game I thought we were a lot better.

“It’s not about everyone getting together and discussing what went wrong. We did discuss it anyway but we just know in ourselves that we can’t be putting in performances like that.”

Watching the Republic play football has often been a trial in and of itself, of course, but the prospect of an actual game does at least offer the opportunity for all and sundry to park the off-field soap operas for a bit.

O’Dowda let out a light laugh when asked about Roy Keane’s barneys with Harry Arter and Jonathan Walters. Not because he took it lightly but because he hadn’t given them a shred of thought until asked by the media.

“It’s nice to see Harry but it’s not something you really think about.”

Maybe not, but the incidents have spawned all sorts of loosely-related debates, among them the assertion that maybe the younger generation of professional players is far more thin-skinned than their elders and in need of some toughening up.

“I dunno, I think it’s the same game, really,” said O’Dowda. “I know people talk about different generations but you’re still playing the same game. I’ve worked with older managers, I’ve worked with younger managers.

“I’ve worked with experienced and inexperienced managers and I think it’s the same. People say the game’s changing but I’m not so sure. Football is football, really, at the end of the day.”

If Ireland are to improve at it then it will fall to younger players such as the 23-year-old to provide the impetus and there is a sense at both club and international level that O’Dowda has more in his locker than seen so far.

Martin O’Neill called him a natural talent after the defeat of the USA during the summer and the former Oxford United winger impressed in spells away to Wales and in that follow-up friendly against Poland.

The word in Bristol is that he is on the verge of signing a new contract at Ashton Gate but it is his international future that takes precedence for now.

“As I’m getting older I think I’m starting to grow into it a bit more. I’m trying to become more established in the team. And I want to be involved in the major competitions. That’s what I want to do.

“You’ve got these Nations League games, the Euros and then the next World Cup – I’m already thinking to that. I know I was close to the Euros when I first came in and being around the squad then was probably one of the most enjoyable times of my career.

“Just being a part of it, and I didn’t even go, but I loved every minute of it. And then there were the World Cup qualifiers. It’s the biggest stage and that’s why you play football. Those are the moments you live for.”