John O'Shea: Ireland to benefit wherever Caoimhín Kelleher plays his football

Goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher during a Republic of Ireland training session. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Final confirmation of his move from Liverpool to Brentford has still to drop but Caoimhín Kelleher was back in Dublin on Tuesday training with the Republic of Ireland ahead of their Friday friendly against Senegal.

The move is as good as done, but it wouldn’t do for anyone in the Ireland camp to be declaring that publicly. So it was that John O’Shea had to go around the houses when discussing the potential worth of the transfer to the national team.

“He was training today, yeah,” said O’Shea, the assistant coach. “He trained very well. He trained well. He did okay. Listen, we've nothing to confirm yet. Obviously it's not for us to confirm anything. But listen, if it does happen, something happens. Fantastic.

“If it doesn't, we still have a very good goalkeeper on our hands either way.” 

Kelleher has spoken in times past of his wish to avail of regular first-team football across the water and the potential knock-on effects of that to his country are all too obvious as the final touches are applied to his big move down south from England’s northwest.

“Listen, every scenario will be different,” said O’Shea. “Like the manager has always stressed, we'd love our players to be playing. It's as simple as that. He's obviously at a very good club, has had success, and whatever happens next, hopefully he's playing. It's as simple as that.

Assistant head coach John O'Shea, right, and goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

“And we hope the same for all the squad, all the players involved over the last couple of squads, that they get themselves playing as much as possible.

“It just helps us because, listen, this man alongside me [Jason Knight] is so consistent and you can see in his performances for us the benefit of playing week in, week out, maintaining that consistency.

“That's what you want in a team because obviously time-wise, when we get together, the limited time period we have, the fitter the players are, the better it will help in the game.” 

O’Shea knows something of the decision Kelleher has faced.

The Waterford man had well over a decade at Manchester United where he won pretty much every trophy on offer but limited playing opportunities persuaded him to move on to Sunderland in 2011 and he made another 226 appearances for the northeast club.

Kelleher has won League Cup and Premier League medals at Anfield but found himself behind Alisson whenever the Brazilian wasn’t out injured. At the age of 26, Kelleher has clearly come to a point where the desire to play every week is paramount.

“Obviously it's not an easy thing for him to do. He's proven the quality that he has every time he's been asked to go in as the number one for Liverpool, the run of games that he's shown, that he's been able to show the consistency that he's shown when he's had a run, that they haven't missed Alisson when he has been injured.

“I think that's what the whole of Europe and the whole of the world has seen when Caoimhin has been in goal for Liverpool. So, listen, whatever happens, I'm sure we'll get the benefit of it.”