Ireland need to call upon Sean Maguire now rather than later
“It’s a big step up” is not a convincing argument for Ireland’s most in-form striker.
Cork City’s Sean Maguire has been named the SSE Airtricity and Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland Player of the Month for March.
In that time, the Kilkenny native has bagged eight goals in eight games for John Caulfield’s side, seeing Cork City sitting on top of the league with 27 points and a hundred per cent record thus far.
His scoring prowess has always been prominent. Having finished joint-top scorer of the First Division back in 2012, he joined West Ham on a two and a half year deal. During his spell in England, Maguire returned for a loan spell at Sligo Rovers where he scored 18 goals.
Maguire failed to make the breakthrough at West Ham, rejoining the League of Ireland briefly with Dundalk, before finally getting a chance at Cork in 2015 — going on to finish the 2016 season as the league’s top scorer with 18 goals.
Just like Dundalk’s Andy Boyle and Daryl Horgan last year, the rumours regarding Maguire’s future seem to point towards a return to English football. However, with the Republic of Ireland struggling on the goals front Maguire should first be given a chance in the upcoming internationals.
The history of domestic payers who have been given a shot at the big time with the international squad makes for poor reading. Since Jack Charlton took the helm in 1986, the likes of Pat Byrne, Peter Eccles, Barry Murphy, Johnny Glynn, Stephen Geoghegan, Glen Crowe, Jason Byrne and Joe Gamble have made cameo appearances in the green jersey, but failed to truly make an impact.
Glen Crowe, for example, was prolific for Bohemians when he was called up to the Ireland squad for a friendly in Greece in 2002. He only managed a few minutes as he came on for Robbie Keane against Norway the following April.
Jason Byrne is another striker who failed to make an impact when called up to the international scene; coming on for Clinton Morrison a few short seconds before the final whistle in a friendly in Poland in April 2004.
Following the heroic performances of Dundalk last season, Martin O’ Neil was left with little option but to include some of the Lilywhites’ standout players. Boyle and Horgan became only the 12th and 13th League of Ireland player to be called up to the national team since 1986, and both have since moved across the water to Preston North End.
In World Cup qualifying, Ireland has so far scored seven goals in five games with three of those goals coming against group minnows Moldova. When one looks at the Irish squad selected for the last qualifier against Wales, you would have to acknowledge that none of the strikers selected were in goalscoring form.
Shane Long is struggling to cement a first team position at Southampton and after the weekend’s substituted on, substituted off incident he doesn’t appear to be a huge part of Claude Puel’s plans. He has also only managed to score one goal in our qualifying campaign so far.
Jon Walters, despite being a regular starter for Stoke and scoring four goals so far this term, is not utilized as an out an out striker when playing in the international team. This in part is the reason for his lack of a single goal so far in the qualifying campaign.
Kevin Doyle’s campaign at Colorado Rapids hasn’t exactly been a huge success, with the Wexford man being plagued with injury finishing with only one goal in 2016. Doyle has also only made two appearances in the green shirt since his move state side and has yet to score.
Andy Keogh has been in good form in the A-League, Enda Higgins has made his argument to help fill the goals void:
Maguire cannot fall victim to the “it’s only the League of Ireland” argument. Former Republic of Ireland captain Kenny Cunningham argued last season that some of the Dundalk players would be well capable of holding their own in the Irish squad. However they are two exceptions to the rule.
Why should League of Ireland players have to wait to move to England before being called up to the Irish squad? Once Brian Lehinan moved from Cork City to Hull City he was immediately included in the squad for the World Cup qualifier against Scotland.
Wes Hoolahan, despite enjoying a fantastic League of Ireland career, including being part of the Shelbourne side that almost reached the Champions League group phase, never received international credential until years into his career in England.
Maguire has himself acknowledged in an interview recently that he does want to play at the highest level. “I think my long-term goal would be to play at the highest level,” he said.
“If it’s in England or in Europe, I feel that I can, I can prove I can go play at the level.”
The attitude of League of Ireland players not being good enough is damaging to both the league and the Republic of Ireland squad itself. With the inclusion of Boyle and Horgan it seems the tide may be shifting but there is still a lot of work to be done. The fact that the top goalscorer in our own league doesn’t automatically warrant a chance in the squad is ridiculous, especially with the lack of scorers currently in the squad.
Hopefully O’Neill will recognise the talent Maguire possesses and rewards him with a call up, and show to other young players within the league that the Irish national team isn’t a distant dream.
