Carla Ward: Katie McCabe a modern day Roy Keane, bite and all
Head coach Carla Ward during a Republic of Ireland women's media conference at FAI Headquarters in Abbotstown, Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Carla Ward is already establishing herself as the FAI’s friendly face.
Any question flung at Ireland's women’s manager tends to elicit a straight response. More often than not, they are forthright in nature.
If people were perplexed by the purpose of Monday’s press briefing, when there’s another gig next week to announce her squad, they were glad of the time expended by the end.
While her honesty on certain topics since taking charge four months ago may have made her employers squirm, there’s enough punch for her views to be worth hearing.
Vera Pauw was similar, typically deviating off-topic to offer a stance framed by her worldly experience.
Ward falls into the outsider category too but her background in the growing behemoth that is the English Super League commands respect.
She didn’t figure prominently in the public discourse for the vacancy because the assumption was she’d revive a club career parked on her own terms at Aston Villa.
Over the course of her 30-minute chat behind the Abbotstown desk, a range of matters were covered.
Her take on the Camogie skorts controversy caught the afternoon headlines but no query was fudged – even when provoking a rebuke for the FAI.
That was on the folly of scheduling a series of All-Island fixtures in direct clash with the Champions League final on Saturday week, May 24.
Ruesha Littlejohn has already indicated she’ll be skipping her Shamrock Rovers fixture to be in Lisbon to watch a fleet of Arsenal friends, including Katie McCabe.
“You’ve got one of Ireland’s most decorated footballers in probably the biggest worldwide game,” noted Ward about her skipper facing champions Barcelona.
“There’ll be young girls looking up to Katie that will play on the day and could be sat watching the best team in the world Barcelona against Arsenal.
“For young girls not to be able to watch that game live is disappointing.”
The Ireland captain will be flying the tricolour in the first European decider for an English team since her compatriots Emma Byrne, Yvonne Tracy and Ciara Grant helped the Gunners over the line in 2007.
Ward has attempted to solve the McCabe riddle.
Unlike Austria’s men, who redeployed David Alaba from his left-back berth at Bayern Munich into an influential midfielder, the experiment backfired in Ward’s second game at the helm.
That 4-0 defeat in Slovenia means they must better that margin in the rematch at Pairc Uí Chaoímh on Tuesday, June 3 to usurp them for promotion to League A of next year’s World Cup qualifiers.
McCabe, suspect temperament and all, holds exalted status in Ward’s mind. She even went so far to float the comparison with Roy Keane for the purpose of context.
"If Katie is English, everyone is talking about her as the best left-back in the world,” Ward declared, confirming her friend Emma Hayes launched an unsuccessful tilt at luring her to Chelsea two years ago.
“But they don't because she is Irish. When Katie McCabe is on her day, I don't think you will find a better left back, I really don't. As manager of Birmingham and Villa, I used to highlight her in the opposition.
“She’s worked hard to become one of the first names on the Arsenal team-sheet and the Champions League would be the icing on the cake.
"She’s a bit like Roy Keane, although Roy Keane probably wouldn't be able to cope in this day and age.
“You don't want to take that away from them. Sometimes it is managing it, but Katie McCabe without a bite, you would lose a lot."
Speaking of elite, her desire is to see Marc Canham's successor in the chief football officer’s role be “someone who has been at the very, very top of the game.”
She added: “It must be the best person for the job for sure, but it must be someone with top-level experience, international experience. Because, if not, we might find ourselves in a place we don’t want to be.
“Marc brought me in. It’s really important whoever comes in has the same mindset towards the women’s team because he has pushed for change and got more for the women’s team.”
Back to the broader outlook and Ward doesn’t agree with the recent court decision to ban transgender players from the women’s game. No such restriction applies in Ireland.
“You hear talk about sport for all so we shouldn’t take that away,” she said.
“It’s a really dangerous place to be and I don’t quite understand it to be honest.
“Bang, all of a sudden, their football was taken away. I think the repercussions for those young athletes could be dangerous.”
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