Caoimhín Kelleher unsure if January will provide Liverpool exit

LIMBO: Ireland goalkeeping coach Gudmundur Hreidarsson with Caoimhín Kelleher during a Republic of Ireland training session at the FAI National Training Centre in Abbotstown, Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Uncertainty is an everyday reality for the reserve goalkeeper and Caoimhín Kelleher has no idea as yet whether his spell in limbo at Liverpool will extend beyond the January transfer window.

The current Republic of Ireland No.1 has attracted plenty of admirers despite the paucity of opportunities in his five years at Anfield, but circumstances have not allowed him to, literally, move on with his career.

Now 25, the Cork native was the subject of concrete interest during the summer. Nottingham Forest supposedly had a handful of bids rejected by the the Merseyside club before the latest window slammed shut. He admitted on Monday that his “mission” is to go out and play, that he is good enough to do that every week, and that Liverpool did not accede to those ambitions.

Jurgen Klopp was always effusive in his praise for the Irishman but Arne Slot is the gaffer now. The club’s recent signing of Giorgi Mamardashvili, who will remain with Valencia for the season, was a clear signal that Kelleher needs to push for the exit.

“From the outside looking in, it looks like they have made a decision to go in another direction,” he admitted.

This has been a long-running saga, his intermittent performances in cup games, and when Alisson was injured last term, feeding in to a debate as to whether he should stay with the Premier League giants or just go.

If he vacillates before then his mind is set now but it’s hard to see him given the green light in the New Year when Mamardasvili will still be plying his trade in La Liga.

“I am not sure, to be honest. It’s a quick turnaround since the window closed last week. There was some bids rejected in the summer.

“I don't know if that will get revisited in January maybe. Them discussions need to be had in the coming months but for the next few months I will be committed to Liverpool.” 

It is a decision that remains out of his own hands, which must be especially frustrating for a man who earns his living with them, but all he can do now is continue to frank his value with performances like the one he gave against England on Saturday.

His saves were crucial in preventing what was a chastening 2-0 Nations League defeat from spiralling into an outright embarrassment and it calmed again any fears that his long spells on the sidelines might blunt his edge.

Ireland's Caoimhín Kelleher embraces Liverpool teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold of England.

He had no fears of that himself.

“I have always been confident in my ability to perform, when given the opportunity.

"I always train to a high standard, I am always professional, prepare correctly whether I am playing or not.

“If you take those attributes you'll always have a good chance of playing so I am always confident, even if I am not playing regularly at club level, that I have the ability and I am capable enough of putting in good performances when I play.” 

He ranks his display at the weekend as probably his best for his country but it wasn’t one replicated out the field as Heimir Hallgrimsson’s first game in charge turned into a deflating experience for a squad that is low in confidence after so many reversals in recent years.

Can a corner be turned against the Greeks?

“Within the squad we definitely have a lot of belief and confidence in ourselves. Maybe the start we had on Saturday didn't help, conceding early on in the game maybe dents the confidence.

“Like you say, it was going to be an uphill battle always against England, second in the European Championships, obviously a squad full of great players, but definitely within this squad I know the quality.

“I see it every day when we are training, how good this squad is. We have confidence in ourselves and if we get a good result against Greece that will give us even more confidence and then we can push on and do well in this group.” 

Time is not their friend here.

Hallgrimsson spoke after the England defeat of how they couldn’t afford to “cry” about the result with a second fixture just three days down the line. Add to that then a manager still familiarising himself with his players and expectation shouldn’t be too high on Tuesday evening.

“Listen it's obviously been a bit of change,” said Kelleher. “There’s always going to be a bit of change when the new boss comes in. Like I say, he's come in with some new ideas but also it's a short period of time.

“It’s his first camp so we also need to use the basis of what we've been doing in the last few camps with John [O’Shea] and Paddy [McCarthy]. It takes time to adapt to new ideas so we need to listen to the manager's new ideas but also implement the stuff we've been doing in the last few camps because if we do too much and change too quickly, obviously that's very difficult for us players to adapt to.

“Yeah, he's come in with a lot of new ideas and stuff, and we're trying to take that on board and work with it.“