Andrew Omobamidele expresses shock at Daniel Farke sacking

The Republic of Ireland defender, who will be hoping to face Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal this week, was given his chance in the Norwich City first-team by the German

Andrew Omobamidele. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie

Andrew Omobamidele has expressed his shock at the sacking of Daniel Farke as Norwich City manager and thanked the German for giving him the opportunity to play for the Canaries and, because of that, the Republic of Ireland.

“Definitely,” said the Leixlip man who confirmed that the players had spoken to Farke after the news broke. “We had a lot of faith in him, we've all been working with him for a while and we're all very close to him but that's the nature of the game.”

The Leixlip United youngster was parachuted into the City defence in the latter half of last season as the club went about claiming it’s place back in the Premier League, and he has been given further opportunities in the top tier this year.

The knock-on effect to all this has been a call-up to Stephen Kenny’s senior squad during the summer and an international debut back in September when he replaced the injured Dara O’Shea away to Portugal.

Farke had spent over four years in East Anglia and secured promotion to the Premier League on two occasions but he exited the club at the weekend shortly after the team had claimed its first win of the season, against Brentford. Norwich's previous stay in the top flight had lasted just one campaign.

“It was after the game, we got the win so it was mixed emotions,” he explained. “What he has done for the club is just amazing for the last four-and-a-half years. Personally, he has been great, he gave me my debut and put me in the window to be here for internationals.

“He put his trust in me to play games at the crunch time of last season in the Championship and he's trusted me to give me a couple of appearances this season and I will be forever grateful for that.”

Omobamidele has since earned another three caps for his country, proving as he has with Norwich that when the chance is there he is more than ready and able to take it. Not easy for a young player given both teams have had their struggles recently.

“It's (the same) position for any young player,” he said. “It wouldn't have really mattered if the team was winning or struggling because if you've got the chance you've got to give it 100%.

“At this stage of my career, I'm still trying to establish myself. And whether it's international level, if I play games, even if it's back-to-back games, I still have that mentality that I have to solidify my position.”

Next up is Thursday’s return meeting with Portugal in Dublin. Last time Ireland contained Ronaldo for 89 minutes but still lost out to his two late headers. Solving that conundrum will be a task all in itself this week.

“I don't think there's a set way to stop Ronaldo. Yeah, obviously, you have to give him respect. He's the best player in the world but, at the end of the day, it's 11 v 11 on the pitch and we're all human so it's just how we play on the day.”