Scales elevation decisive factor in McClean axing
McClean will hang up his international boots after Ireland's friendly against New Zealand next month.
The emergence of Liam Scales as a Celtic regular pushed James McClean out of the Irish squad, confirmed Stephen Kenny.
Odd timing of McClean’s intention to retire next month being announced this morning gained some rationale when he was dropped from the panel for the Euro qualifiers against Greece on Friday week and Gibraltar three days later.
Kenny had last month indicated McClean’s drop into League Two with well-heeled Wrexham wasn’t ideal for his international future and the centurion was badly exposed for both goals in Netherlands’s 2-1 win last time out.
Scales, by contrast, is operating at Champions League level – with Kenny at Parkhead last night to see him play 90 minutes – and is in line for his senior bow at the age of 25.
Ryan Manning is also an option, especially as Enda Stevens remains out with the injury he suffered in the defeat to France last month.
It seems likely the friendly against New Zealand at Aviva Stadium on November 21 will be used as a farewell for McClean on the occasion of his 103rd cap.
“James was named in the provisional squad and I have regular contact with him,” Kenney explained about the centurion, whose formative years he oversaw at Derry City.
“From my point of view. I managed him as a teenager, gave him his debut and then sold him to Sunderland. But people change in that period and obviously he's a different personality then when I manage the Irish team because he's in his 30s by the time I take up the Ireland team.
“James has had a great career and it's not beyond possibility I'll be calling him at the weekend after there's injury and asking him to come back in and play. That is the reality sometimes when you name squads.
“He’s due to play league games next week, as they don't break for the international window, but if we get an injury in that position, he’s next man in.
“Liam Scales is actually in very good form at Celtic playing in the Champions League, and he's played a lot on the left side as well. Ryan Manning has had some good form for Southampton recently too.” Caoimhín Kelleher was another notable omission, though the injury he sustained in training at Liverpool didn’t prevent him dislodging Gavin Bazunu. Kenny was always sticking with the incumbent despite Southampton having one of the worst defensive records in the Championship.
“Caoimhín got 12 stitches in a leg joint,” he explained about the Corkman.
“Sometimes with stitches if it’s a calf, a thigh or facial injury you can get on with it, but you can’t if it’s on the joint. It reopens all the time.
“It’s unfortunate for Caoimhín really. He has played in the Europa League and was going to play tonight (against USG), making in three weeks in a row of starts.
“With Gavin, I’ve been at a few Southampton games. Even though they were conceding a high number of goals early on, you’d be struggling to look at it and say, ‘that goal was Gavin’s fault.’ “Sometimes that can happen. You don’t want your goalkeeper conceding a high number of goals but they have had two good wins, conceded one last week and had a clean sheet the other night. They will take confidence from that.” Four defeats from their five games has left Ireland only marginally mathematically in the equation to claim one of the two automatic berths to next year’s Euros in Germany.
The visit of Gus Poyet’s team is effectively a shootout to avoid finishing fourth when the group concludes next month.
Kenny said: “Greece are a fine team – their game against the Dutch was probably an anomaly, “Holland found themselves 3-0 up at half-time, but it wasn’t a 3-0 game “It shows the importance of set pieces. Holland played very well in Amsterdam that night. Greece had a good game against France and had a convincing win against Gibraltar. They are a good team and it’s a game we have to make sure we are ready for. It’s an important game for us.”
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