Caoimhín Kelleher not ready to hand over Irish number 1 shirt

After finally getting his Ireland future into his hands, Caoimhín Kelleher looks poised to do likewise on the club circuit.

Gavin Bazunu’s misfortune in falling injured right at the start of the last two Ireland camps has switched the gloves into the Corkman’s possession but there’s every chance the handover would have occurred regardless.

Twice in the build-up to Saturday’s opening Nations League group game in Armenia Stephen Kenny cited a dilemma over his goalkeeping selection, a deviation from the solidified status Bazunu held since one match into last year’s World Cup qualification campaign.

Once Kelleher assumed the position for the March friendlies against Belgium and Lithuania, avoided blunders and initiated passages of play with his precision passes, he began to close the gap.

Bazunu hadn’t been the source of any mishaps either but given his last club action for on-loan League One outfit Portsmouth came back on April 30, the argument about the advantage he held over his rival for sharpness waned.

If any of three stoppers had a case based upon momentum and minutes at club level, it was Mark Travers but the blemish of Belgrade – when Aleksandar Mitrović lobbed him for what proved the decisive goal of the opening World Cup qualifier – is the unspoken taint yet to be vanquished.

It was only on the eve of the Yerevan assignment that Kenny revealed the back injury Bazunu was carrying but attached the upbeat confirmation of his availability. That was tallied by his involvement in goalkeeping training outside on the pitch led by Dean Kiely and it took until his pre-match interview for Kenny to reveal Bazunu was ruled out.

“I found out I was starting on Friday but I don’t think there had been a decision made on who was playing,” explained Kelleher yesterday.

“I was just preparing as though I was going to play, as all three of us were. Once I got the nod, I was ready and prepared to go.” 

Bazunu was released from the squad on Sunday night and the onus is now on Kelleher to keep the competition at arm’s length.

That he’s playing the main block of four internationals in 2022 heightens his chances. Two games against top seeds against Ukraine, sandwiched in between by Scotland’s trip to Aviva Stadium on Saturday, should provide plenty to do and underline his worth to the team.

Add it to the pair of run-outs in March and Kelleher has within his control the ability to nail down the spot for the remainder of the year - and into the start of the Euro 2024 qualifiers next March.

Fresh from his first competitive cap on Saturday, following four in friendlies, the Mahon man was on media duties yesterday. His last appearances before the microphones and cameras last October centred on an inquisition about his reasons for sticking at Liverpool as a benchwarmer when Bazunu was doing the opposite.

Though a correlation was posited to their placings within the international hierarchy, the 23-year-old was having none of it, adamant that their cases were different and incomparable considering the age gap.

Since then, he started in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge, got another couple of FA Cup games in and, most impressively, played all bar but one match on the Reds’ successful march to Carabao Cup success. That was crowned by his penalty-shootout heroics in the final against Chelsea at Wembley.

Asked yesterday if being elevated to Ireland’s No 1 ‘keeper, amid competition from a regular at promoted Bournemouth in Travers, justified his stance on staying at Liverpool, he offered a cautious answer.

“I’m not sure,” he began. “I just want to be ready to play all of the time. If you perform when you get here, I don’t know if that’s good enough or what the situation is.

“I was lucky I was selected when Gavin got injured. Hopefully I can put in the performances to justify that decision and hopefully it stays the same.” 

Fleeing from the shadow of Alisson appears his next move to copperfasten that outcome. There’s only so much success he can feel part of at Liverpool when the reality of his peripheral role in it triggers a pining for action. Fellow Premier League clubs would gladly borrow him for the season.

“I'm not sure what's happening yet,” he said about his club future.

“I'm still finishing this season and then we will have conversations after that to see what happens.

“Obviously, I need to play these few games and see what happens with these and maybe decide after that.” 

Trust Kelleher to maintain the art of decision-making he’s perfected to date on and off the pitch.